Impact of national traumatic events on consumer purchasing

The purpose of this research is to evaluate differences in consumer perception before and after national traumatic events such as the terrorist attacks that took place on 11 September 2001. The authors found a significant difference in consumer ethnocentrism, patriotism, time management, attitude towards regulation of business and product quality following the terrorist attacks. These differences impact consumer purchase decision processes and become important to businesses that are targeting these consumers with their product offerings. In addition, marketing managers' understanding of change in consumer perceptions and attitude should impact how consumer products are marketed.     

The Third-Person Effect in Advertising: A Meta-Analysis

Prior meta-analyses have found evidence for differences in the third-person effect across message types, indicating that the third-person effect is a communication context-specific phenomenon. These meta-analyses do not explain why effects of the perceptual hypothesis in advertising are smaller when compared to communication in general; they do not address the broad range of consumer behavior variables that are affected by third-person perceptions; and they have not investigated whether the perceived effects on the self or on others are better predictors for behavioral responses than third-person perceptions in advertising. This meta-analysis addresses these issues and investigates the perceptual and behavioral hypotheses of the third-person effect in an advertising context. Findings indicate that third-person perceptions in product advertising are weaker when compared to other communication messages due to developments over time and the mixed gratifications provided by product advertising messages. Third-person perceptions in advertising can increase or decrease consumer behavior depending on whether the behavior is self related (e.g., body-related responses) or other related (e.g., support for regulation). Furthermore, perceived effects on self or on others are better behavioral predictors than third-person perceptions, providing managerial implications for advertising campaign pretesting.     

Psychological associations with shopping: A moderator variable perspective

This article takes a moderator variable perspective on the relationships between two psychological variables: shopper decision-making styles from the consumer behavior literature and the concept of time perceptions as developed in the psychological literature, and shopping behavior, defined as shopping frequency and time spent shopping. Two hypotheses about potential types of moderation are examined to determine if time perceptions moderate relationships between shopper styles and shopping behavior. The finding show that time perceptions operate as a pure moderator for shopping frequency but as a quasimoderator for time spent shopping. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Conceptual Advances in Consumers’ Semantic and Episodic Brand Memories: A Mixed Methods Exploration

Consumers strongly rely on their memories and experiences during their decision‐making processes. Yet, despite empirical evidence that both semantic and episodic brand memories affect consumer behavior, literature on their distinction and differential impact is scarce. This empirical investigation seeks to reduce this imbalance by enhancing the understanding of these consumer knowledge structures. Using a mixed methods approach including a collage technique and one‐to‐one interviews (N = 118) consisting of open‐ended and closed‐ended (survey) elements and a subsequent content analysis, this research (1) explores differences in memory between brand users and nonusers, (2) evaluates the distinct impact of semantic and episodic memories on brand perceptions, and (3) presents a taxonomy of the principal domains of semantic and episodic brand memories and their implications for brand management. The article concludes by discussing theoretical, methodological, and managerial implications, as well as opening new avenues for future research directed at understanding and managing consumers’ semantic and episodic brand memories.     

Investment with a Conscience: Examining the Impact of Pro-Social Attitudes and Perceived Financial Performance on Socially Responsible Investment Behavior

This article addresses the growing industry of retail socially responsible investment (SRI) profiled mutual funds. Very few previous studies have examined the final consumer of SRI profiled mutual funds. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to, in an exploratory manner, examine the impact of a number of pro-social, financial performance, and socio-demographic variables on SRI behavior in order to explain why investors choose to invest different proportions of their investment portfolio in SRI profiled funds. An ordinal logistic regression analysis on 528 private investors revealed that two of the three pro-social variables had a positive impact on how much the consumer invested in SRI profiled funds. Moreover, there was proof of a non-altruistic motive for investing in SRI as consumers who perceive that financial return of SRI is equal or better than “regular” mutual funds, invested a greater proportion of their portfolio in SRI profiled mutual funds. Furthermore, the results showed that women and better-educated investors were more likely to invest a greater proportion of their investment portfolio in SRI. Overall, the findings indicate that both financial perceptions and pro-social attitudes are connected to consumer investment in SRI.     

Ambiguity and Exaggeration in Price Promotion: Perceptions of the Elder and Nonelder Consumer

This paper examines the effects of plausible as well as implausible or exaggerated tensile discounts on consumer discounting behavior, price perceptions, and behavioral intentions. The effects are compared across two consumer segments, elder and nonelder, for a product and a service. Findings indicate that age of the consumer had a significant interaction with discount level for consumer discounting behavior regarding the product offer. While consumers were skeptical of implausible discounts, the effects of implausible and high-plausible discounts on price perceptions were higher than that of low-plausible discounts. In addition, there were no significant differences between the implausible and high-plausible discount levels for price perceptions or behavioral intentions. The results provide implications for public policy makers.     

Business Unethicality as an Impediment to Consumer Trust: The Moderating Role of Demographic and Cultural Characteristics

The article reports the findings of a study conducted among 387 consumers regarding their perceptions of the unethicality of business practices of firms and how these affect their response behavior, in terms of trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. The study confirmed that high levels of perceived corporate unethicality decrease consumer trust. This in turn reduces consumer satisfaction, which ultimately has negative effects on customer loyalty. It was also revealed that, although both consumer gender and urbanity have a moderating effect on the link between perceived unethicality and trust, the age group and level of education of the consumer did not exhibit such an effect. With regard to consumer cultural characteristics, both high uncertainty avoidance and low individualism were found to increase the negative impact of business unethicality on trust, as opposed to power distance and masculinity that did not have any moderating effect on this relationship. Implications for managers are extracted from the study findings, as well as directions for future research.     

The impact of attributions about life events on perceptions of foreign products: Contrasts in individualism and collectivism

An event important to a consumer that occurred in a foreign country may serve to affect perceptions about the products from the country. Life events represent important experiences or circumstances that tend to exert a major influence on the individual. This article examines how consumer attributions made about a life event occurring in a foreign country vary across individuals from individualist and collectivist cultures, which serve to moderate the impact of the event on product perceptions. The research literature on life events, attribution theory, and cross‐cultural differences are used to formulate propositions regarding the relationship between life‐event attributions and subsequent perceptions of products from the foreign country. Implications and research directions are provided. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effects of consumer perceived value and subjective norm on mobile data service adoption between American and Korean consumers

The effects of consumer perceived value and subjective norm on using mobile data services between American and Korean consumers were examined to explain the differences and similarities in consumer mobile data service adoption behavior in this study. The antecedent effects of four dimensions of consumer perceived value showed different behavioral intention to use mobile data services between the two countries. Emotional value was found to be the most significant effect on using mobile data services for consumers in the two countries. Subjective norm was a significant antecedent of attitude and behavioral intention to use mobile data services for American consumers, but it was not evident for Korean consumers.     

Public Information and Consumer Skepticism Effects on Celebrity Endorsements: Studies among Young Consumers

This article reports on a survey and an experimental study that were conducted to determine the extent to which public information about celebrity endorsers influences consumers' attitudes and perceptions, and whether this was moderated by an individual difference factor, consumer skepticism. Participants in the survey were more likely to recall and discuss negative events involving male sports celebrities; thought that these negative events had little or no effect on their perceptions of brands or companies associated with embattled celebrities; and focused discussion on the case of Kobe Bryant, when they were asked to discuss a specific case of a controversy involving a celebrity endorser. The experimental study revealed significant main and interaction effects of nature of information about a celebrity and consumer skepticism. It revealed that consumer skepticism has its greatest impact when information is neutral. The experimental study established that advertisers have to take into account the level of consumer skepticism when they use celebrities in their advertisements to target different groups of consumers.     

Subcultural influences on family decisionmaking

This investigation assessed Mexican-American and Anglo wives' perceptions of family decisionmaking roles for the purchase of eight different goods and services. This comparison was used to explore the impact ethnic subculture plays in consumer behavior. The findings indicate that ethnicity significantly affects wives' perceptions of family decisionmaking roles for expensive items, and that this is not just due to common associations with other variables. This is an under researched area in which cross-national differences and basic socioeconomic disparities are often inaccurately attributed to culture.     

Retailer corporate social responsibility and consumer citizenship behavior: The mediating roles of perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust

Retailers often face pressure from stakeholders to address social and environmental issues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of retailer corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumers' perceptions and behavior. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of social identity theory and signaling theory, this study presents and validates a unique model which examines the mediating effects of perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust on the relationship between retailer CSR and consumer citizenship behavior. Using a sample of 407 consumers in China, results of structural equation modeling show that retailer CSR is positively associated with consumer citizenship behavior. Additionally, perceived consumer effectiveness and consumer trust positively mediate this association. Taken together, these findings provide support for retailers to develop CSR programs that remind and reinforce consumers’ perceptions about socially responsible behaviors.     

Factors influencing buying behavior of Lebanese consumers towards fashion brands during economic crisis: A qualitative study

The purpose of this article is to contribute to an understanding of the impact of the Lebanese economic crisis on fashion buying behavior. It uses a qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews with 29 Lebanese consumers. The study reveals that consumer fashion purchases are motivated by emotional, social, and functional drivers. It also indicates that subjective norms, such as societal and cultural values dictate buying behaviors. The findings provide further insights into social media and highlight its influence on shaping trends and making fashion products desirable. The article concludes that Lebanese consumers exhibit impulsive buying behavior, and explains how fashion brands can remain relevant amidst a wrenching economic crisis.     

Celebrity Endorsements in Advertisements and Consumer Perceptions: A Cross-Cultural Study

ABSTRACT

We studied consumer perceptions of celebrity endorsements from a cross-cultural perspective. In empirically examining consumer perception of celebrity endorsement, we used Hofstede's cultural dimensions to develop research propositions and examined these propositions through focus group discussions involving consumers from India and the United States. Findings indicated that specific differences and similarities exist in how consumers across India and the United States perceive celebrity endorsements. There is a positive, although moderate, impact of celebrity endorsements on attention and exposure of consumers. Implications for marketers as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Impact of Eco-Design Packaging on Food Waste Avoidance: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Eco-design packaging is a potential tool to reduce food waste. However, the absence of a theoretical basis regarding the relationships between eco-design packaging and consumer food waste behavior obscures the social impact of this packaging. This study assesses research linking eco-design packaging and food waste avoidance from a consumer perspective. The authors analyze 22 articles in top-tier journals, and conclude that consumer perceptions of eco-design packaging could reduce food waste. Results lead to a conceptual model of the mechanism whereby consumer perceptions of eco-design packaging influence food waste avoidance intentions.     

The effect of culture on perception and cognition: A conceptual framework

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the role of culture as a source of variation in many phenomena of central importance to consumer research. This review addresses a gap in cross-cultural consumer behavior literature by providing a review and conceptual analysis of the effects of culture on pre-behavioral processes (perception and cognition). The article highlights a series of important perceptual and cognitive differences across cultures and offers a new perspective of framing these differences among cultures—that of “culturally conditioned” perceptual and cognitive orientations. The article addresses several theoretical issues and suggests directions for future research as well as managerial implications.     

Opinions on Consumer Issues: A Review of Recent Studies of Executives and Consumers

How do consumers and marketers differ in their views on consumer issues? Have these differences changed over time? In an attempt to answer these questions, this paper compares findings from five major attitudinal studies conducted between 1971 and 1977, which examined the attitudes of the two groups. This analysis focuses on five key issue areas: product quality, advertising, consumer information, perceptions of corporate attitudes and government regulation. Consumers and business executives were found to have wide differences of opinion in all the studies examined. The differences were particularly sharp on perceptions of corporate attitudes and on the need for more government regulation.     

A psychometric evaluation of a revised version of the Lennox and Wolfe revised self‐monitoring scale

Self‐monitoring has developed over the past decade or so to where it has become an important construct in both psychology and consumer behavior. Even though there is now a considerable literature largely in psychology, concern still remains at both a theoretical and measurement level about this construct. This article attempts to address some of the concerns raised in the literature about measuring self‐monitoring. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore the robustness and fit of a revision of the Lennox and Wolfe (1984) revised self‐monitoring scale and to test differences in variables across respondents' degree of self‐monitoring. The findings from a data set of 450 respondents indicate a factor structure similar to that found in previous studies, but with improved reliability and fit to the data. The results were sufficiently strong to warrant continued use of this instrument. The results also indicate significant differences in key consumer behavior variables, consumer confidence, subjective knowledge and concern for image across self‐monitoring. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Consumers’ Sensorical Product Evaluation and Perception

The aim of the research was to determine consumer perceptions of meat products regarding their origin and the potential impact of their origin on the sensory evaluation of other meat properties. Data were collected during the experiment. By testing the correlation model with multiple analyses of variance for repeated measures, it was determined that there was a statistically significant correlation between the factors. The important contribution of the research is the surveyed issue and the approach to researching the impact of product origin on scientific field of marketing and field of consumer behavior. The research represents a deeper investigation of impact of country-of-origin (COO) on consumer perceptions. An integrated approach to the research of the impact of meat origin was chosen to form interlinks between meat origin and its other sensorical properties.     

Effects of cognitive age,dispositional time perceptions,and time view manipulations on product attribute evaluations

Researchers manipulate time perceptions in experiments, but the efficacy of such manipulations demands further scrutiny. Two studies test the effects of dispositional time views and time view manipulations on product attribute evaluations, as well as the interaction between cognitive age and manipulated time perceptions and that between dispositional and manipulated time perceptions. The results suggest that time manipulation drives and predicts consumer product evaluations. In addition, cognitive age interacts with time manipulation as a meaningful moderator/predictor, and dispositional time view interacts with time manipulation to influence consumer evaluations. An incongruency effect (i.e., a time manipulation condition that differs from consumers' time perceptions) occurs for hedonic attribute evaluations but not for utilitarian attribute evaluations. The research offers several managerial implications of these findings.