The role of aesthetic taste in consumer behavior

In light of the increasing interest in hedonic aspects of consumer behavior, it is clear that consumer taste plays a critical role in judgment and decision making, particularly for hedonic products and services. At the present time, however, our understanding of consumer aesthetic taste and its specific role for consumer behavior is limited. In this article, we review the literature from a variety of fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and consumer behavior in order to develop a conceptual definition of consumer aesthetic taste. We then explore various issues related to taste and develop a conceptual framework for the relevance of expertise vs. taste in consumer decision-making. Finally, we present an agenda for future research on this important topic.     

消费者情感依恋形成机理研究演进

消费者情感依恋是消费者与产品或者品牌之间的情感联结,是研究消费者忠诚形成的一条新路径,也是近年来消费者行为研究的新视角.综观20多年来国外心理学依恋理论及营销学中有关消费者情感依恋的研究成果,人们对情感依恋理论的起源、内涵、影响因素及作用机理已有相当了解,这对于企业与消费者形成稳固的长期关系、赢得持续竞争优势具有重要的...     

On the significance of statistically insignificant results in consumer behavior experiments

Experimentation is the sine qua non of consumer behavior research, and much of what is thought to be known about the behavior of consumers is based on findings from experiments. However, many articles that report consumer behavior experiments contain one or more results that are significantly insignificant. That is, one or more experimental results are so unusually weak or minuscule that they are unlikely to have come about by chance. As such, significantly insignificant results can be due to the “failure” of the theory underlying an experiment and/or the flawed design or implementation of an experiment. Consequently, significantly insignificant results have implications for the theories and methodologies employed in consumer behavior experiments, the quality of conclusions drawn from the experiments, and the credibility of the consumer behavior research discipline as a whole.     

An empirical test of the Causative Markov model of consumer behavior

This paper examines an extension of the Markov model of consumer brand switching behavior, which captures the nonstationarity in the consumer decision processes over time. The extended model has been labeled as the Causative Matrix model. The model is put to test on empirical data, and compared with the stationary version of the model. The Causative Matrix model is shown to be a better forecasting tool. Its ability to yield additional insights into consumer brand choice processes is also discussed.     

Attitudes of advertising executives toward the consumer behavior course

What should be taught to marketing students has always been an intriguing question. The marketing curriculum as a whole and specific courses have been the topic of much debate. One of the marketing courses, consumer behavior, was the subject of this research. A survey of advertising executives revealed some interesting perceptions regarding the consumer behavior course. Most executives believed the course was helpful in making decisions in the advertising area. However, the advertising executives ranked the consumer behavior course as only moderately important in usefulness to advertisers when compared with nine other marketing courses. Interestingly, the executives that had completed a consumer behavior course ranked the course lower in importance than the executives who had not taken the course. Generally, advertising executives believed the consumer behavior course was too abstract and theoretical in orientation and could be imporved through the use of case studies and more direct application examples of the consumer behavior theories presented in the course.     

A conceptualization of the consumer behavior discipline

Consumer behavior, as a social science discipline, is analyzed from a developmental perspective. Seven developmental levels or stages are identified reflecting the growing role of consumer behavior study in applied social settings. A classification schema is also presented in an attempt to categorize consumer behavior research     

Life course perspectives on consumer behavior

Although marketing researchers have recognized the importance of early life experiences in shaping patterns of consumer behavior in later life, they have inadequate theoretical and methodological bases for investigating consumption-related issues over the life course. As a result, relatively little is known about the changes consumers experience over time, how they respond to these changes, and how early life experiences affect their consumer behavior. The life course approach, developed as an interdisciplinary program for studying various aspects of behavior, offers a framework for filling gaps in previous efforts to study consumer behavior over time. The purpose of this article is to advocate the life course approach for studying various types of market behavior. First, the author presents a general conceptual life course framework that serves as a blueprint for discussing theoretical perspectives and organizing, integrating, and reporting consumer research relevant to the life course paradigm. Second, methods of data analysis compatible with life course research are discussed. Finally, select areas of interest to marketing researchers (materialism and compulsive consumption) illustrate how the life course approach might contribute to previous efforts to study these consumer behaviors in an innovative way.     

个性化广告：影响过程、消费者态度和交互作用

基于消费者内隐与外显偏好,个性化广告为消费者提供大量可能性选择的预筛选并根据可能的吸引力进行排序推荐,使得消费者更快地识别和找到符合需要的产品,有利于促成消费者采取与主观偏好紧密结合的决策行为。尽管个性化广告在业界实践中较为普遍,但学界鲜有探讨消费者对个性化广告的反应。总体而言,消费者对个性化广告通常持正反两方面的态度,消费者决策与个性化广告之间的交互影响表现出“良性循环”的价值链。     

宁波市青少年体育消费需要类型的比较研究

本文以体育社会学、消费行为学、消费心理学等理论为基础,采用了文献资料、社会调查、数理统计等研究方法,就我市不同性别青少年体育消费需要的基本类型、内容和特点等进行了深入研究,以更好地把握青少年体育消费需要与行为的内在规律,正确引导青少年体育消费心理预期,为政府有关部门和企业制定有效的调控政策和营销策略提供理论依据。结果表明在现实需要中我市青少年依然注重体育消费品的经济性、耐用性和实用性.     

Models of consumer behavior: The state of the art

Models of consumer behavior have gained much acceptance since the early sixties. The purpose of this article is to examine the state of the art by reviewing the often cited models: Nicosia, Howard-Sheth, and Engel-Blackwell-Kollat. Specifically, a major objective is to consider these models from their practical utility standpoint, i.e., whether the models can be tested and used by marketers. To accomplish this, a set of criteria is developed for evaluation of models in general, and consumer/buyer behavior models in particular. The criteria used for evaluating the state of the art in consumer behavior models are largely derived from model building sources in various fields. The results indicate that although the models are quite impressive in scope, they are inherently weak to be of much help to the marketing practitioner. Indeed, none of the models have been tested as a whole in their original form because they lack specificity and thus are difficult, if not impossible, to operationalize. This article is partially based on a paper which received an award in an Academy of Marketing Science student paper competioion. The Academy encourages scholarly work by various groups through annual competitions and awards.     

品牌关系对消费者品牌形象感知及购买行为的影响研究

品牌关系被关系研究学者视为品牌的本质所在和品牌提升的直接途径;品牌形象是消费者对品牌的综合感知,是影响消费者购买决策等行为的重要变量.以全国679个消费品调研样本为基础,运用结构方程模型(SEM)和路径分析方法,实证研究品牌关系对消费者品牌形象感知及购买行为的影响,结论显示:品牌关系是影响消费者品牌形象感知的直接变量,...     

Why don’t some people complain? A cognitive-emotive process model of consumer complaint behavior

This article reports the development of a theoretical model of consumer complaint behavior by using cognitive appraisal theory as its foundation. Because of its importance to management and lack of attention in the marketing literature, specific emphasis is placed on the phenomenon of noncomplaining and the role of consumer emotion in dissatisfying marketplace experiences. The model presents cognitive appraisal as the key element in the evaluation of consumer threat and harm, which subsequently may result in psychological stress. Stressful appraisal outcomes are suggested to elicit emotive reactions that, in conjunction with cognitive appraisal, influence the type of coping strategy used by the consumer. Three coping strategies (problem focused, emotion focused, and avoidance) are identified and discussed. Key propositions are illustrated by using in-depth interview data from a sample of older female consumers. Nancy Stephens is an associate professor of marketing at Arizona State University. She has published a variety of studies on consumer behavior, services marketing, and marketing communications issues in such publications as theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Advertising, and theJournal of Services Marketing, as well as many conference proceedings. Kevin P. Gwinner is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business at East Carolina University, North Carolina. His research interests include performance issues of customer-contact service employees, consumer complaint behaviors, and corporate sponsorship issues. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theInternational Journal of Service Industry Management, International Marketing Review, and theJournal of Marketing Education.     

Anticipatory consumer socialization

While most consumer socialization research has focused upon the development of consumer orientations that young people can enact, little research exists on how children and adolescents develop consumer orientations that have relevance for adult consumer behavior. This article addresses the concept of anticipatory consumer socialization by focusing on a variety of consumer cognitions and how they are acquired.     

On the meaning and measurement of religiosity in consumer research

The role of religiousness as a variable in models of consumer behavior is not well-established. Research findings in this area tend to be sparse and conflicting, and measurement issues have yet to be addressed. This article reports on an empirical investigation of religiosity in a causal modeling framework. The results suggest that religiosity is a viable consumer behavior construct in that it (1) did correlate with the life-style variables selected; (2) contributed directly to the model along with sex, age, and income; and (3) was successfully operationalized through multiple measures.     

Theory in consumer behavior: A status report

This article examines the attitudes of 40 opinion leaders in marketing toward theory in consumer behavior. These individuals exhibited favorable attitudes toward theory in marketing in general. More favorable perceptions of the value of the contributions of theory to consumer behavior existed than for promotion and channels of distribution. In comparison to eight other areas of marketing, the consumer behavior area was perceived as having made the greatest past contribution to marketing thought and the one most likely to make worthwhile future contributions. The sample believed that much future effort was needed in progressing toward a general theory of consumer behavior and that such effort would indeed be forthcoming.     

The facilitating influence of consumer knowledge on the effectiveness of daily value reference information

As a means of enhancing consumer understanding of nutritional information, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 requires the provision of percentage daily values (%DVs) on food labels. Findings from existing research, however, vary in their support for the assumption that including %DVs will assist consumers in their efforts to comprehend nutritional information. To shed further light on this issue, the present study examines the moderating role of consumer knowledge about how to use %DVs in evaluating a product’s healthiness. The results indicate that the usefulness of providing %DVs on a nutritional label depends strongly on this form of knowledge. Implications for public policy and directions for future research efforts are presented. Fuan Li (Ph.D., Florida International University) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Walker School of Business at Mercyhurst College (Erie, Pennsylvania). He has been a faculty member at East China Normal University (Shanghai, China) and St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota). His current research interests include consumer choice, consumer responses to trust advertising appeals, and relationship marketing. His work has been published both in English and in Chinese. Paul W. Miniard (Ph.D., University of Florida) is the BMI professor of marketing and the Ph.D. program director in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (Miami, Florida). His research focuses on consumer behavior and advertising and has been published in a number of business and psychology journals. He is also a coauthor of a consumer behavior textbook. Michael J. Barone (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) is an associate professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa). His research, which primarily involves consumer responses to advertising and consumer choice, has been published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Marketing Letters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, andJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, as well as in various conference proceedings.     

关于消费者行为学教学校内实践的思考

消费者行为学是一门实践性和应用性很强的学科,仅仅依赖课堂理论讲授难以培养学生的动手能力,现有的"案例教学"和"情景模拟"也不能真实地再现消费者的行为。基于校园环境设计的"大学生消费行为调查"和"校内销售观察"两种实践方式可以达到锻炼学生实践能力的目的。     

我国旅游者消费模式与行为特征分析

目前我国经济体制转轨过程中面临着有效需求不足的问题，释放被旧体制抑制的消费能量已成为经济工作的重点。旅游具有高效快速拉动消费的功能，因此研究旅游者的消费模式及行为特征极具现实意义。首先澄清了经济意义上常被混淆旅游者消费与旅游消费的概念，其次提出了多维度的定义模式。把心理体验、社会互动、经济支持这些旅游者消费的突出特征，定义为内层维度，把空间维度、时间维度、文化维度这些限制内层的因素定义为外层维度。最后，分析了每一纬度的消费模式及相应的行为特征。