The impact of consumer decision‐making styles on consumer confusion in Mauritius: An empirical analysis

This article investigates the effects of consumer decision‐making styles on consumer confusion and harm. While consumer confusion has been well documented in the literature, this investigation attempts to bridge our understanding on its relationship with consumer decision‐making styles. Empirical data was collected from a field survey where 400 consumers selected at 20 supermarkets in Mauritius were asked to respond to a questionnaire measuring three variables under study: consumer confusion, consumer decision‐making styles, and situational factors. Findings from the MANOVA parametric test showed that there is a significant difference between consumer decision‐making styles and consumer confusion. Even when covariate situational factors were controlled through the parametric test MANCOVA, results still showed a significant difference between consumer decision‐making styles and consumer confusion. More specifically, ANCOVA tests showed that the findings were specifically significant for three types of confusion: product confusion, packaging confusion, and product complexity. The study tends to confirm that a consumer's style of decision making does impact on consumer confusion.     

Consumer confusion from own brand lookalikes: An exploratory investigation

Lookalikes are a new generation of own brand products that have similar packaging and labelling characteristics to leading branded products. Their current success and proliferation (in Britain) has raised ethical and legal issues about whether they confuse consumers. A set of factors that foster or inhibit consumer confusion adapted from a framework on consumer confusion, were tested on a sample of 50 shoppers at the end of their shopping visit. No incidents of consumers having falsely bought a lookalike product were identified. However, low‐price products subject to impulse buying were found to be more likely to confuse shoppers. Additionally, elderly and impulsive shoppers appear to be more susceptible to confusion. Thus, effective brand identification or confusion‐protection strategies are more important for the above sets of products and shoppers. However, future research should concentrate on what extent consumers infer “misleading” that the original brand attributes are similar to the lookalike brand attributes and how this is linked to their choice.     

Sophisticated but confused: The impact of brand extension and motivation on source confusion

Legal and consumer psychology scholars have focused recent attention on source confusion, which is the likelihood that consumers will be confused regarding the company that is a product's source or sponsor. The authors evaluate two potential antecedents of source confusion: (1) consumer motivation and (2) a brand extension that has been undertaken by a competitor. There have been disagreements in the courts, the scholarly legal literature, and the consumer psychology literature concerning the nature and extent of the impact of these two variables on the likelihood of consumer confusion. Based on schema theory, the authors hypothesize that consumer motivation and brand extension will influence the likelihood of source confusion. An interaction between the two variables is proposed, with consumer motivation having an effect that is opposite to the effect typically identified in the literature and case law. The results of a controlled laboratory experiment support the theoretical predictions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

What drives consumers to customize products? The mediating role of brand experience

Brands are increasingly seeking ways to engage consumers in deep and meaningful brand experiences. As technological advances have developed, brands have an increasing arsenal to draw on in creating brand experience. One increasingly common tactic is product customization, whereby consumers are provided the ability to create their own products from a set of options. With this study, we seek to understand the mediating role of brand experience in consumer decisions to customize products. Specifically, we investigate the interplay of non-brand drivers (those intrinsic to the consumer) and brand drivers (those extrinsic to the consumer) in the context of customization. In doing so, we develop an understanding of consumers' intention to use a customization toolkit and their subsequent intention to purchase customized products. We find brand experience drives intention to use a customization toolkit, mediating the relationship between individual factors and usage intentions. A customer's prior experience and their intention to use a customization toolkit are also direct drivers of customized product purchase intention.     

品牌原产地困惑对于消费者喜爱与购买本土品牌和境外品牌的影响

以消费者行为理论和品牌原产地效应的研究文献为基础，通过对调查数据进行统计分析，本文提出与检验了品牌原产地困惑对于中国消费者喜爱与购买本土品牌和境外品牌的影响作用。结论如下：第一，在中国现有环境下，消费者越是误认为一个本土品牌是境外品牌，就倾向于越喜欢这个品牌；越是误认为一个境外品牌是本土品牌，就倾向于越不喜欢这个品牌。第二，本土品牌知名度对于本土品牌原产地困惑和消费者喜好本土品牌之间的正相关关系有负向的调节作用；不过，境外品牌知名度的调节作用则不明显。第三，品牌原产地困惑对于中国消费者购买本土品牌有负向影响，对中国消费者购买境外品牌则无显著影响。     

Customer Confusion: The Mobile Phone Market

The consumer confusion phenomenon is associated with highly turbulent industries, which are characterised by rapid, technological change and evolving competition. These factors impede consumers' understanding of such markets and consequently effect their decision making process. This research focuses on the effect of confusion on information search behaviour which is part of the decision making process in the mobile phone market. Understanding search behaviour is of great importance to marketers, especially in designing marketing strategy and tactics.

The findings reveal that although consumer confusion exists in the mobile phone market, it does not have a detrimental effect on the market. In addition, the findings also suggest that suppliers should buildup a strong brand image and be aware of the importance of word of mouth sources since both of these are considered to be very significant reference points for consumers. Finally, further reductions in call charges, the maintenance of good quality service and customer care are essential for customer retention.     

基于情境理论的消费者行为影响因素研究

情境是影响消费者行为的重要因素之一。在贝克情境理论的指导下,提出17个影响消费者行为的情境变量,通过对其进行因子分析得到了六个情境因子:心理、环境、营销、时间、物质及互动因子,并进一步分析指出,情境因素对消费者行为的影响受到其他影响因素的交互作用。该研究既对以往有关消费者行为影响因素的研究进行了完善,又有利于企业更好地了解消费者行为,具有较强的理论价值与实践意义。     

If all their products seem the same,all the parts within a product seem the same too: How brand homogeneity polarizes product experiences

Many different factors affect brand homogeneity, including the different products associated with a brand, how they are made, and how they are branded. How does the perceived homogeneity of a brand’s offered products, in turn, affect consumers’ experiences with those products? Nine experiments reveal that consumers have more polarized judgments of product experiences when the sampled products are perceived to belong to more homogeneous brands. When a consumption experience is positive, the consumer has an even more positive experience when they think the sampled product came from a homogeneous brand; however, when a consumption experience is negative, the consumer has an even more negative experience when they think the sampled product came from a homogeneous brand. This polarization occurs because the individual product inherits the brand-level quality of perceived internal consistency—when a brand seems homogeneous (i.e., consisting of homogeneous products), consumers also perceive any individual product from the brand as similarly consisting of homogeneous ingredients or parts. We suggest that brand homogeneity leads to selective processing of individual product experiences, which makes products seem more coherent, products rated faster, and ratings of different product ingredients or features more highly correlated. The perception that all of the parts within the individual sampled product are homogeneous in quality polarizes judgments of the product experience.     

The moderating effect of individual level collectivist values on brand loyalty

In today's dynamic business environment the success of a firm often depends on its ability to create brand loyalty. While there is a large body of research exploring brand loyalty and its antecedents, little has been done to examine how the relationship between these antecedents and brand loyalty is moderated by consumer differences in individual level collectivist values. This understanding is important however as consumers high in individual level collectivist values have been found to make different brand choices than consumers low in individual level collectivist values. We develop and test theory that suggests consumer differences in individual level collectivist values have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value, perceived quality, brand trust and brand loyalty. The results show that consumers high in individual level collectivist values are significantly more loyal to a focal brand, especially when brand trust and perceived quality are at relatively low levels.     

品牌资产引擎视角下的品牌价值模型及其应用研究

品牌资产引擎(Equity Engine)是一种基于消费者认知的评估模型。在该模型中亲和力、功能表现和价格构成了品牌价值的三大要素。亲和力是品牌受到的来自消费者的信任和尊敬。功能表现是品牌资产的另一个重要组成部分。品牌对消费者而言的终极价值是品牌资产和价格的共同作用。品牌资产引擎可以帮助商业企业定量地测量品牌资产,了解品牌的显性和隐性驱动因素和最大化品牌资产。     

Brand experience and consumers' social interactive engagement with brand page: An integrated-marketing perspective

As consumers increasingly go online to communicate about brands, brand marketers have been utilizing a popular platform to interact with them and create brand communities, namely a brand page. Prior studies have examined factors that promote the success of a brand page by narrowing focusing on only two influencing factors of engagement with the brand page: individual consumer characteristics and brand page features. Taking an integrated marketing perspective, this study extends that research by examining a broad range of influencing factors affecting engagement with brand page, such as sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioural brand experiences. Building upon the fundamental motive framework, we demonstrate that brand experience enhances consumers' motivation to participate, socialize, and perceive benefits from others involved within the brand page regardless of individual propensity to socialize online. Furthermore, as consumers are engaged in social interaction within a brand page, they are more likely to be involved in positive WOM about the brand. The theoretical and practical contributions of our study are further discussed, along with suggestions for future research in this important and growing field.     

Modeling the brand extensions' influence on brand image

Brand-extension strategies enhance success chances of new products, even though they expose brand image to dilution risks. The present work analyzes how brand-extension evaluation can affect the current brand image and proposes a theoretical model formed by five main factors related to brand associations, extension congruency and extension attitude. The model estimation includes structural equation analysis using data from 699 surveys developed under market conditions. The results verify that extension attitude influences brand image, whereas initial brand associations and perceived fit between the new product and either the remaining products (category fit) or the brand image (image fit) are able to strengthen consumer attitude. The study also explains the role of consumer innovativeness as a moderating factor, suggesting that the characteristics of consumer personality could be more important than expected.     

Perceived situational effects on price sensitivity

In this article, the multidimensionality of price as perceived by members of a consumer panel is examined. Respondents are first classified as price-sensitive or non-price-sensitive with respect to a durable and a nondurable product. Several dimensions of price are then described within the framework of brand purchase decision situations, and consumer evaluations of the importance of each situational dimension are measured. Dimensions perceived as important by price-sensitive persons are different from those considered important by non-price-sensitive consumers. Variations exist in the importance of price dimensions based on type of product.     

Consumer Confusion in Internet-Based Mass Customization: Testing a Network of Antecedents and Consequences

Mass customization is an increasingly used strategy to create value by customizing products to customers’ needs and simultaneously keeping costs low. By means of configuration tools, customers are enabled to tailor products to their individual wants and needs. This increases variety, in many cases information overload. In this study, we test a network of antecedents and consequences regarding three dimensions of consumer confusion (similarity, overload, and unclarity confusion) in mass customization. Product knowledge and usability decrease consumer confusion. Consumer confusion is negatively related to satisfaction with the product, experienced fun during the configuration process, and trust. Through these processes, consumer confusion also affects word of mouth.     

The Role of Brand Detachment on the Dissolution of the Relationship Between the Consumer and the Brand

Given the growing role of affective factors in consumer behaviour and particularly on brand loyalty, the deterioration of these factors can provide an additional explanation of the dissolution of the relationship between the brand and the consumer. A new concept, brand detachment, was developed in marketing research to enhance understanding of the dissolution process of the relationship between brands and consumers. Brand detachment results from the dissolution of the affective bond existing between a brand and a consumer and can be seen as an attitudinal aspect of the dissolution process of certain relationships. After conceptualizing brand detachment, the results of a quantitative study (N=434, use of regression analysis) allow this concept to be used as an indicator of the consumer's propensity to end the relationship with the brand. Thus brand detachment has a negative influence on the consideration of the brand and the consumer's subsequent buying behaviour in relation to it.     

Antecedents and consequences of consumers' attribution style: Measuring the impact of negative celebrity information

This study investigates the antecedents and consequences of consumers' attribution styles in the evaluation of negative celebrity information. In its evaluation of negative celebrity information, this study examines the effects of consumers' different attribution styles, level of identification with a celebrity endorser, and level of brand commitment. To test its hypotheses, the study employs a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject factorial design. The three factors are attribution style, level of identification with a celebrity endorser, and level of brand commitment. Conducted through the Internet, the experiment recruited a total of 229 students from a southwestern university in the USA. The study found that people making dispositional attributions judged the endorsed brand more negatively than those making situational attributions. Confronted with negative celebrity information, consumers who identified highly with the celebrity were likely to maintain a positive attitude toward a brand and continue purchasing it. In the same conditions, people with high brand commitment showed more positive brand evaluation as well as higher purchase intention than people with low brand commitment. The research findings contribute to a better understanding of the effects of negative celebrity information on consumer attitudes and beliefs.     

Preservation,rejuvenation, or confusion? Changing package designs for heritage brands

Updating a brand's packaging presents a challenge, especially for heritage brands. This study examines how and when continuity in visual package design influences brand heritage perceptions. A pre‐study uses focus groups to corroborate evidence for the constructs and processes involved. Three experiments show that lower continuity designs create confusion, which in turn damages a brand's heritage identity. Study 1a provides initial evidence for the process and demonstrates that effects occur regardless of prior brand usage. Study 1b replicates the mediating role of confusion with two different product categories, controlling for brand attachment. Study 1c rules out alternative mediating processes through other emotions. Employing a quasiexperimental design involving ten brands, Study 2 demonstrates that a brand's mascot can buffer against detrimental effects of low design continuity on confusion and consequent perceptions of brand heritage and purchase intention while controlling for brand familiarity and need for cognition. Together, these findings contribute to a better understanding of consumer responses to changes in package design and heritage brands.     

Priming a Cross‐Category Brand Alliance: The Moderating Role of Attribute Knowledge and Need for Cognition

Firms often enter cross‐category advertising brand alliance strategies with the goal to increase their market share by association with popular but noncompeting brand allies. However, firms are often not aware of the effects of these alliances on consumer perceptions of participating brands. This research explores the factors moderating brand attribute inferences following exposure to a cross‐category advertising brand alliance. It is proposed that attributes of a brand ally may serve as anchors that produce assimilation effects and move perceptions of a target brand toward the ally's attribute value, or as standards of comparison that produce contrast. This work provides evidence that attribute judgments in a cross‐category advertising brand alliance are moderated by attribute knowledge and individual differences in information processing motivation as reflected in self‐reported need for cognition (NFC) ratings.     

The effects of 2-tier store brands’ perceived quality,perceived value,brand knowledge,and attitude on store loyalty

This paper divides store brands into generic ones versus individual ones. Accordingly, two types of store brand loyalty are discussed, namely general versus individual brand loyalty. It also analyzes perceptions of 2-tier store brands in terms of perceived quality and value, and explores the respective effects of consumer knowledge and brand attitude on store loyalty. Results show that both low-priced and medium-priced store brands are able to build individual store brand loyalty and store loyalty among customers. Managerial implications are also provided.     

Responses Toward Corporate Crisis and Corporate Advertising

This article investigates how individual differences affect consumer responses to corporate advertising during a corporate crisis. Study 1, based on qualitative data, showed brand ownership, involvement with the crisis, and news media exposure were important factors in understanding consumer response toward the crisis and the company. Study 2, a survey, empirically demonstrated that prior attitude toward the company was the most critical factor affecting advertising-related behaviors. The study further suggested consumers of the brand were more likely to view the company favorably, to know more about the company, and to be more involved in their following of the crisis.