Consumer Evaluations of Competing Brands: Perceptual versus Predictive Validity

This study applies the concepts of consumer predictive and confidence values of information to consumer evaluations of food quality. Examining hypothetical findings from a thought experiment, the study offers advances in cue utilization, predictive validity, and achievement of consumer's perceived quality and actual quality. Separately, metrics for these concepts were applied in a consumer product‐quality evaluation study of three brands of peanut butter. Actual quality was operationally defined in terms of Consumers Union ratings of the peanut butter. Using a between‐groups, posttest only experimental design, female graduate students (n = 98) tasted and rated one of three peanut butters on the basis of quality and nine product attributes. These informants received no knowledge of brand names or comparative qualities prior to the test. The analysis indicates a nonsignificant correlation between actual quality of the brands and quality as perceived by the informants. The major cues used by informants in making their qualitative judgments (cue utilization) differed from the significant dimensions associated with actual quality (predictive validity). The findings inform the suggestion for consumer training in the process of making accurate quality evaluations.     

Competition for memory retrieval between private label and national brands

Perceptions of private label brands (PLBs) reside in consumer memory along with national brands (NBs). When a consumer engages in a choice situation, both PLBs and NBs rely on links to retrieval cues in consumer memory to give them a chance of purchase. This study examines the underlying competition between NBs and PLBs across different retrieval cues. The findings show that PLBs link to the same attributes as NBs and so compete with NBs for retrieval. However, while any brand typically competes most with the brands more commonly associated with any specific cue, the study finds evidence of PLB sub-categorization. That is, if a consumer elicits one PLB for a certain cue, he/she has four times the propensity to elicit other PLBs than elicit a NB for that same cue. This heightened propensity suggests that when a consumer learns that one PLB has a particular quality, the consumer generalizes that quality to other PLBs. Therefore, retailers should realize that the image of competitor retailers' PLBs affects the image of their own PLBs.     

Semantic cues in reference price advertisements: The moderating role of cue concreteness

Retailers use a variety of semantic cues to advertise discounts at their stores. In this paper we introduce the concept of cue concreteness and examine its impact on effectiveness of semantic cues. Four studies were conducted which concur with the findings of earlier research in this area and expand our knowledge about the effectiveness of semantic cues. Results indicate that between-store cues are perceived to be more effective than within-store cues at moderate price discount levels only when the cues are concrete in nature. In addition, a between-store cue resulted in more favorable evaluations than a within-store cue when the ad was viewed at home, but only when the cue was concrete. Implications for marketers and public policy makers are discussed.     

Japanese consumers' use of extrinsic and intrinsic cues to mitigate risky food choices

The stated preference data were used to simulate and examine consumers' valuation of important extrinsic and intrinsic cues that are associated with risky foods. This analysis generates information on how consumers assess trade‐offs between price and selected intrinsic and extrinsic cues to determine their choice among alternative products. From this, optimum level of product quality attributes (i.e. intrinsic cues) and optimum price level for import products can be derived. Also, most effective sources of communicating food safety and risk management can be identified. The results show that the country origin cue is a key factor in understanding consumers' choice behaviour for food product that entails potential risk, which may suggest that consumers are using this information as a risk‐reduction strategy.     

What you touch,touches you: The influence of haptic attributes on consumer product impressions

The present research builds upon the touch literature to show that the salience of haptic product attributes related to product surface texture (smooth, rough) and weight (light weight, heavy weight) influence consumer product impressions. We propose that haptic cue congruity across texture and weight drive consumer product impressions depending on a consumer's need for touch (NFT). We show that high autotelic‐NFT consumers who touch for sensory pleasure enjoyed the incongruity between smooth texture and heavy weight haptic cues, and consequently showed favorable evaluations towards exciting brands. In contrast, low autotelic‐NFT consumers prefer the anticipated match between smooth texture and light weight haptic cues, which conformed to their expectation about the nature of a sophisticated brand personality. Further, we show how the interactive effect of haptic attributes and a consumer's autotelic‐NFT on willingness to purchase is mediated by product personality. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

What constitutes a “good assortment”? A scale for measuring consumers' perceptions of an assortment offered in a grocery category

This research investigates how consumers form subjective judgments of what constitutes “a good grocery assortment”. By conducting three exploratory focus groups and a field study, we develop a multi-item scale that reflects consumers' cue utilization processes in forming perceptions of a grocery assortment. Our findings suggest that consumers use only a limited number of informational cues to form perceptions about four higher-level assortment dimensions: (1) the assortment's pricing, (2) its quality, (3) its variety, and (4) its presentation. In line with the attitude theory, we found that consumers integrate these higher-level assortment dimensions into a summary evaluation of the grocery category's attractiveness. Accordingly, we derive the grocery assortment perception (GAP) scale as a second-order construct composed of four first-order factors. Significant positive relationships between the GAP scale and customer satisfaction as well as loyalty intentions provide empirical support for the scale's predictive ability and nomological validity. In the last section of this article, we discuss how the GAP scale will support category managers in their assortment decisions and provide directions for further research.     

Should businesses use religious cues in advertising? A comparison of consumer perceptions across Christianity and Islam

While religious cues are used in advertising efforts, research has yet to adequately understand perceived motives behind such religious cue use and how this influences consumers’ evaluations of a brand. Thus, this research addresses this gap through two studies examining cue measures, businesses’ motives for using cues, consumer affect, and brand evaluations. Specifically, Study 1 (an exploratory study) explores evaluations and associations evoked by religious cues representative of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Study 2 narrows down the focus to Christianity and Islam to probe the outcome of religious cue use on businesses employing them in their advertisements. Specifically, Study 2 finds that consumers perceive businesses’ motives behind religious cue use as primarily trying to reach a specific target market but also as trying to witness and communicating reverence to God. Surprisingly, religious cue condition (Christian, Muslim, or none) did not directly influence business evaluations. Further analysis revealed that when affect toward the ad with religious cue was included in the model, that Muslim cue condition had a significant influence on affect, and such affect significantly influenced business evaluations. Interestingly, no similar effect could be established for the Christian condition. Discussion builds on the theory of visual rhetoric. Implications for marketing practice are also provided. The studies are limited by data collection only in the United States.     

How product–cause fit and donation quantifier interact in cause-related marketing (CRM) settings: evidence of the cue congruency effect

We are the first to examine the joint impact of product–cause fit and donation quantifier in the cause-related marketing (CRM) domain. We show that these two CRM cues interact in a unique manner, reflecting the cue congruency effect. Specifically, congruent combinations of these two cues result in high purchase intentions when the cues individually have positive effects. In all other cases, however, purchase intentions are low. Furthermore, we identify moderators of the above cue congruency effect. In Study 1, we show that the cue congruency effect is moderated by product-type, evidencing only in more hedonic product contexts. In Study 2, we show that the above cue congruency effect is moderated by purchase-type, evidencing in planned purchase contexts, but reversing in impulse purchase contexts. We discuss the process mechanism driving these effects, specify the contribution of this research for CRM, cue congruency and impulse purchases, and outline implications for practice.     

Place and certification cue usage with Canadian forest products

Place-based promotion is used in many industries, including food and wine products, to create a competitive advantage. This study focused on consumer behaviours related to cue usage of origin (i.e. local and imported) and certification (i.e. sustainable products) with the goal of understanding the importance of these two cues used together or separately in the context of Canadian forest products. The study asked consumers in a small Canadian city about their quality beliefs, value assessments and purchase intentions for local and/or certified products. Using a quasi-experimental design, the manipulations include location (local vs. imported), certification (certified vs. uncertified) and product type (commodity vs. value-added). A repeated measures ANOVA found that both cues of origin and certification were important as respondents perceived local products as better quality and higher value, and respondents were more likely to purchase them over most other types. A regression analysis indicated that in most cases quality and value were predictors, but value was the most important indicator of the likeliness to purchase specific forest products. This study has the potential to aid marketers because certification cue usage does not appear to have been examined in conjunction with a product’s local vs. foreign origin.     

Consumer knowledge measures as predictors in product evaluation

An experiment was conducted to test whether measures of consumer knowledge predict utilization of extrinsic product cues and willingness to pay for a product. Consumers have been shown to value some extrinsic cues more than others, and this study shows that knowledge measures moderate the evaluation of some extrinsic cues. Compared to measures of familiarity and subjective expertise, objective expertise is found to be a more efficient predictor of product evaluation and to be more consistent in valuing extrinsic cues in accordance with their diagnostic utility. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effects of age cues on preferences for organic food: The moderating role of message claim

Organic food, a form of green consumption, is a growing industry, with consumers purchasing for both altruistic and egoistical motives. However, there is limited research into how marketers can develop advertising strategies to promote organic food. The present research examines how age cues influence consumer preferences for organic food. Across two experimental studies, this research demonstrates that consumers exposed to a younger cue show higher preferences for organic fruits when evaluating an altruistic claim. More importantly, this research draws upon psychological reactance theory to test the opposite effect, such that consumers exposed to a younger cue show lower preferences for organic fruits when evaluating an egoistic claim. Further, the emotions of compassion and anger are established as the mediators of the interactive effect between age cue and message claim on consumer preferences for organic food. These findings thus offer theoretical and managerial implications for the use of age cues and motivational claims, specifically in promoting organic food.     

A dual-process model of how incorporating audio-visual sensory cues in video advertising promotes active attention

Capturing consumers’ attention to video advertising is a key marketing challenge. Using real video advertising viewed by a sample of consumers matching the US population on age and gender, the authors examined attention to audio-visual and visual sensory cues identifying the brand using a biometric measure, phasic heart rate. The findings show differences in attention type depending on which senses are stimulated by the sensory cue. This research uncovers a mechanism (internal processing) for how consumers process multisensory cues (audio-visual) in video advertising and confirms visual sensory cues can elicit automatic attention through the orienting response. In addition to the dual-coding explanation for the superiority of audio-visual sensory cues, the present research suggests a second reason: that audio-visual sensory cues can elicit additional internal processing of the brand name, resulting in active attention and better storage of the brand in memory. This has implications for the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing, as well as for marketers relating to the type of content recommended to follow an audio-visual or visual sensory cue in video advertising.     

The Contingent Effects of Semantic Price Cues

This research endeavors to understand the contingent effects of semantic price cues while taking into consideration several important contextual factors. These factors include where the customer encounters the semantic cue (in-store, at-home, online), whether the consumers’ shopping goal is hedonic or utilitarian in nature, the impact of shopping alone or with a companion, as well as the consumer's motivation to process the product information. Findings indicate that a within-store cue (compared to a between store cue) enhances evaluations when the shopping in a store with a utilitarian goal, when shopping alone, and when their motivation to process is low. A meta-analysis of the results demonstrates the robustness of the differential impacts of these semantic cues.     

When open-mindedness lowers product evaluations: Influencers to consumers’ response to religious cues in advertising

Prior research has examined response to Christian religious cues used in secular marketing messages but has inadequately explored the underlying reasons for such response as well as why religious cues may negatively influence product evaluations. These limitations are addressed in this research work through three studies utilizing religious cues. In Studies 1a and 1b, ads with a Christian or Muslim religious cue (no religious cue) were found to produce lower (higher) product evaluations. Studies 2–3 then examined why religious cues in ads can produce lower product evaluations to show that open-mindedness moderated this effect (Study 2), and priming open-mindedness also influenced this effect (Study 3). Most interestingly, open-minded consumers were more negative toward religious cues in marketing communications than close-minded consumers, and priming open-mindedness magnified this effect. These novel effects are discussed in relation to the literature on open-mindedness and value-based consumption. Additionally, implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The Perfect Fit: The Moderating Role of Selling Cues on Hedonic and Utilitarian Product Types

With the need among retailers to create effective promotional campaigns, scarcity, and popularity cues are increasingly used. Drawing from regulatory focus and popularity versus scarcity cues literature, this research explores the impact of popularity versus scarcity cues and product types on consumer perceptions of risk, product uniqueness, and purchase intentions. Results from three studies provide primary insights: (1) A utilitarian product aligns with prevention goals and hence the popularity cue will enhance consumers’ purchase intentions, and (2) a hedonic product aligns with promotion goals and hence the scarcity cue will enhance consumers’ purchase intentions. Further, we theorize that perceived risk and perceived product uniqueness will act as psychological mechanisms. We discuss theoretical contributions and strategic insights for retailers and marketers that the findings indicate.     

Effectiveness of Marketing Cues on Consumer Perceptions of Quality: The Moderating Roles of Brand Reputation and Third‐Party Information

Consumers usually infer unobservable product quality by processing multiple‐quality cues in the environment. Prior research considering the simultaneous effects of marketing cues on consumer quality perceptions is sparse. Despite the growing importance of third‐party information, research examining its simultaneous effects with marketing cues on consumers’ decision making is especially absent. This research, drawing on cue‐diagnosticity, cue‐consistency, and negativity bias theories, proposes and tests a conceptual framework to reveal interplays among various marketing‐ and nonmarketing‐controlled product cues. The first study examines how two‐ and three‐way interactions of high‐scope (i.e., brand reputation) and low‐scope marketing cues (i.e., price and warranty) affect consumer perceptions. The second study examines a set of interaction effects between third‐party quality ratings and marketing cues (i.e., price and warranty) on consumers’ perceptions. Overall, the results reveal theoretical and managerial implications for processing multiple‐quality cues in consumers’ inference‐making behaviors and suggest that consumers generally aggregate perceptions in more complex ways than suggested in the prior literature when making global product quality evaluations.     

Twisting Tradition: Consumers' Behavior Toward Alternative Closures

Consumer evaluations of products are not entirely based on the absolute attributes or value of the product, but rather on the discrepancy between the product's attributes and the expectations consumers have for that product. Following the Dowling and Staelin model on perceived risk, an evaluation was made of how alternative product closures interplay with consumers' situational use, subjective knowledge, level of self-confidence, and gender to influence the purchase decision.

The results provide support for the importance of such factors as situational use, the consumer's gender, level of self-confidence, and subjective knowledge, and how the style of closure affects the purchase decision. Managerial implications of the findings are mentioned.     

Malleability of taste perception: biasing effects of rating scale format on taste recognition,product evaluation,and willingness to pay

Product-related cues, such as brand or price, can influence consumers’ taste perception. Going beyond this observation, we examine the extent to which a stimulus-extrinsic factor, such as the format of the measurement tool on which consumers describe attributes of a taste sample, influences concurrent taste perception, and in turn, later taste recognition, overall product evaluation, and willingness to pay (WTP). The results of two experiments show that rating scale format (i) influences consumers’ concurrent impression of a taste sample, (ii) systematically biases later identification of the sample in a taste recognition test, and (iii) affects overall product evaluation and WTP. However, scale format (iv) does not influence ratings and downstream judgments when consumers are highly knowledgeable in the product domain. These findings demonstrate that the experience of taste is fleeting and not well represented in memory, and that like other subjective experiences, taste needs to be reconstructed based on accessible cues.     

Trust or not: Heuristics for making trust-based choices in HR management

The present two studies examine how the participants (i.e., 150 managers) make trust-based employee selection in hypothetical situations, based on five cues of trustworthiness derived from previous surveys. In Study 1, each executive participant is presented with a pair of candidates with different cue profiles so that the choice would favor one of them based upon each of the four following heuristics: Franklin's rule, likelihood expectancy, take-the-best (TTB), and minimum requirement (MR). Study 2 adopting a within-subject design jointly compares the four heuristics. The results show that simple heuristics (MR and TTB) outperform the more complex strategies (Franklin's rule and likelihood expectancy) in their predictive accuracy. The MR heuristic, a heuristic tallying the frequency of passes against a set of minimal rather than optimal or satisfactory requirements, performs even better than the TTB heuristic, particularly when the number of the cues identified as MRs is small.     

Customer-centric pricing: The surprising secret for profitability

Companies spend enormous amounts of energy and capital in creating value for customers, but less regard is given to actually capturing the value they have created. Segmentation based on buying behavior uncovers a tremendous differential in willingness to pay for subjective product attributes such as convenience, status, and quality. Purchase decisions are made through an assessment of a myriad of factors balancing perceptions of value components against price in a subtle, complex, and often sub-conscious decision matrix. Customer-centric pricing requires the simultaneous and continuous assessment of product attributes, customer perceptions, and the circumstances of time and place by listening to customers' actions. It is a means of assuring that companies assess the value they create for customers and extract that value from the marketplace.