Children's Understanding of TV Advertising: Effects of Age, Gender, and Parental Influence

Parents, consumer organizations, and policy makers are generally concerned about effects of TV advertising directed towards children. These effects might be mediated by children's understanding of TV advertising, that is their ability to distinguish between TV programmes and commercials and their comprehension of advertising intent. In this paper, we investigate children's understanding of TV advertising, using verbal and non-verbal measurements. The sample consists of 153 Dutch children, ranging from 5 to 8 years old, and their parents. The results based on non-verbal measures suggest that most children are able to distinguish commercials from programmes and that they have some insight into advertising intent. The results based on verbal measures are not as conclusive; the percentage of children who show understanding of TV advertising is then substantially lower. Effects of age, gender, and parental influence are assessed using MURALS, a regression analysis technique for categorical and continuous variables, and CHAID, a technique for identifying homogeneous segments on the basis of the relationship between categorical dependent and explanatory variables. The age of a child turns out to have a positive effect. The effects of gender and parent- child interaction are rather small, both for verbal and for non-verbal measures of understanding of TV advertising. A high level of parental control of TV viewing may result in lower understanding of TV advertising. Implications for consumer policy and directions for future research are discussed.     

An Indirect Test of Children's Influence on Efficiencies in Parental Consumer Behavior

A statistical test is applied to explore the possibility that children can affect the efficiency with which parents consume. Parents may receive some economic benefits from children in the form of reverse integenerational transfers that occur because of a positive influence children have on family behavior. Results show that not only do children have an influence on parental consumption, but also that the influence is beneficial. In fact, not accounting for such a benefit could cause an underestimate in such measures as the rate of return to education or the benefits from such governmental programs as Head Start.     

E-mail Advertising in Syria: Assessing Beliefs,Attitudes, and Behaviors

The present study aimed at assessing Syrian consumers' beliefs regarding, attitude, and behavioral responses toward e-mail advertising and investigating the relationships among those variables. A cross-sectional survey was conducted and it yielded 273 valid responses. The proposed model was analyzed and tested using a structural equation modelling approach. Our findings showed that both informativeness and entertainment beliefs positively predicted Syrian consumers' attitudes toward e-mail advertising. Additionally, attitude was found to fully mediate the relationship between beliefs regarding and behavioral responses toward e-mail advertising.     

Fish Consumers: Environmental Attitudes and Purchasing Behavior

The objective of this study was to expand on the limited awareness of the U.S. fish consumer. Measures were tested through a Web-based national survey. The final survey consisted of 40 questions, including environmental awareness, food neophobia, fish consumption, reasons for consuming fish, and demographic variables. Correlations and t tests were used to analyze relationships between eating fish in restaurants and other variables. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to segment respondents into two groups based on their environmental awareness and neophylic/neophobic attitudes. EcoFish consumers were more likely to be male, eat fish for health and the environment, and eat fish at restaurants significantly more than the Indifferent Fish consumers. Restaurants can use these results to market to eco-friendly, health-conscious fish consumers.     

Words versus Actions about Organ Donation: A Four-Year Tracking Study of Attitudes and Self-Reported Behavior

Historically, the proportion of the American public that expresses positive views about organ donation exceeds the proportion that actually signs an organ donor card (ODC). The public seems to say one thing but does another. In July 1994, The Advertising Council, Inc., in conjunction with the Coalition on Donation, launched a major promotional campaign to educate the U.S. public about organ and tissue donation. This article reports on a four-year study tracking attitude toward organ donation and transplantation and its relationship with direct experience (knowing an organ recipient) and intermediate behaviors. The intermediate behaviors investigated are donating blood and signing an ODC. No significant changes were noted in attitude toward donation, but the proportion of individuals who had signed an ODC increased significantly.     

Consumer Choice: A Study of Insurance Buying Intention,Attitudes and Beliefs

This article continues the theme, introduced in a previous article, of testing the validity and relevance of Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action to the purchase of life assurance. In this, the second stage, empirical analysis of the data is conducted and its meaning and relevance considered. Conclusions are then drawn as to the dimensions which seem to be important to the purchasing of life assurance.     

Understanding and Measuring Entrepreneurial Leadership Style

Although entrepreneurial leadership is embraced in the popular press and in classrooms, academic knowledge remains underdeveloped. We develop the construct of entrepreneurial leadership and argue that it involves influencing and directing the performance of group members toward achieving those organizational goals that involve recognizing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities. We discuss environmental, organizational, and follower‐specific contingencies that may influence the success of entrepreneurial leadership, and we test the reliability and validity of an empirical measure for this construct (the ENTRELEAD scale). Using this novel measurement tool, we find that entrepreneurial leadership is more prevalent among founder‐leaders than nonfounder leaders, which indicates construct validity.     

Toward Understanding Persuasion Expressions: The Activation of Attitudes

In response to sales representatives’ closing expressions, consumers’ stored attitudes are activated spontaneously from memory and influence product evaluations. Studies 1a and 1b examined the levels of favorability associated with several persuasive expressions. Study 2 then examined whether a sales representative's use of a more (Authority) or a less (Scarcity) favorable persuasive expression would affect consumers’ subsequent product and advertisement evaluations. The expressions were found to work differently depending upon two moderator variables: Need for Cognition and argument quality. The effect of Scarcity heightened subsequent product evaluation as Need for Cognition decreased, whereas the effect of Authority heightened subsequent product evaluation as Need for Cognition increased. The Scarcity statement did not affect product evaluations given strong or weak message claims in the advertisement, whereas the Authority statement produced more favorable product evaluations given strong versus weak messages claims. Cognitive response analyses and mediation patterns also indicated that the two persuasive expressions were distinct based upon individuals’ Need for Cognition. Implications for both sales representatives and consumers are drawn from these findings.     

Children's Television Advertising: The Attitudes and Opinions of Elementary School Guidance Counselors

Abstract

Advertising researchers often assume that the audience reacts to ads homogeneously, but evidence suggests that individuals process ads subjectively on the basis of their membership in groups defined by ethnicity or gender, or their life themes or experiences. The authors examine how one group, heterosexuals, reacts to the portrayals of an out-group, homosexuals, in ads. They find that heterosexuals' emotional and attitudinal responses to a homosexual ad depend on their general attitude toward homosexuality. The effect on attitude toward the brand sponsor is more muted. Practical implications are noted for advertisers facing consumer groups that have diverse opinions on social issues such as homosexuality.     

Green Consumption Behavior Antecedents: Environmental Concern,Knowledge, and Beliefs

The present study adds to the evolving literature on green consumer behavior by examining through statistically robust methods the effect and interrelationships of the key constructs of environmental concern, consumer environmental knowledge, beliefs about biofuels, and behavioral intention (i.e., willingness to use and pay) in the context of biofuels. Data were collected through a survey of 1695 respondents. Hypotheses are based on a literature review and a pilot study, and the conceptual structural model developed is tested through structural equation modeling. Results show that concern for the environment has a positive and direct impact on environmental knowledge, beliefs, and behavioral intention. Also, demographics determine levels of concern for the environment and environmental knowledge. All constructs associate positively with one another delineating that the interdependencies between them are important when accounting for environmental behavior. Future research should validate present results with the use of cross‐cultural samples and investigate whether environmental concern increases due to social desirability response bias.     

Understanding Market-Driving Behavior: The Role of Entrepreneurship

In recent years, the marketing literature has placed significant emphasis on market-driving and proactive market-driven behavior within firms in attempts to reconceptualize the meaning of "market orientation." For their part, market-driving firms such as Starbucks, Amazon.com, Dell, and Southwest Airlines are demonstrating how business model innovation results in sustainable advantage and superior long-term performance in a wide range of industries. In this paper, we contend that market-driving behavior is distinct from a firm's market orientation, and instead is the essence of entrepreneurial action in the Schumpeterian "creative destruction" sense. It is further argued that the firm's entrepreneurial orientation interacts with other strategic orientations, in the process determining how they are manifested and, in some cases, whether they are manifested. Furthermore, entrepreneurial orientation plays a critical role in determining transitions among various strategic orientations over time. An integrative model illustrates the dynamics of the interface between marketing and entrepreneurship from both a content and process perspective. Two case studies illustrate how trajectories can be identified in the dominant strategic orientations within companies as they evolve.     

Studying Abroad: Understanding the Relationships Among Beliefs,Perceived Value,and Behavioral Intentions

Increased globalization highlights the importance of encouraging university students to participate in an international experience. In this study, the authors investigate how behavioral belief, subjective belief, and control belief influence students’ perceived value and intention to study abroad. The authors further examine the moderation effects of generation on the proposed relationships. The results show that behavioral belief, not subjective belief and control belief, is significantly related to perceived value. Second, the relationship between perceived value and intention to study abroad is stronger for the first-generation sample. Third, the subjective belief measure could be divided into the financial support versus nonfinancial support scales. The article concludes with implications of its findings for educators as well as for academic researchers.     

Why Organizations Struggle to Implement a Market Orientation: Insights Into Beliefs of Top Management

The role of management as an antecedent and barrier to market orientation is well documented. However, the often deeply held beliefs of top management that influence the degree to which their firms are market oriented has been largely overlooked. This study sought to understand these beliefs using a qualitative research method. Case study research employing in-depth semistructured interviews of four Australian vertically integrated horticultural enterprises was undertaken. A total of 28 beliefs of senior management team members were identified. These beliefs, which appeared to have become part of organizational culture, influenced the way market intelligence was gathered and shared and the degree to which the organizations planned, coordinated, and timed their responses to market opportunities and threats. The results suggest that changing management beliefs about marketing and market orientation may be an important component of enhancing the degree to which firms are market oriented.     

The Relationship of Downward Mobbing with Leadership Style and Organizational Attitudes

The present study investigates (1) the relationship of different leadership styles (transactional, transformational, authoritarian, paternalistic) with mobbing behaviors of superiors (i.e., downward mobbing) and (2) organizational attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention) of mobbing victims. Data were collected from 251 white-collar employees. Path analysis findings showed that transformational and transactional leadership decreased the likelihood of mobbing, whereas authoritarian leadership increased it. Paternalistic leadership was mildly and negatively associated with mobbing. Regarding the consequences of mobbing for employees’ organizational attitudes, the same analyses suggested that higher perceptions of downward mobbing was significantly associated with lower job satisfaction, lower affective commitment, higher continuous commitment, and higher turnover intention.     

Drivers and Outcomes of Green Tourist Attitudes and Behavior: Sociodemographic Moderating Effects

This article reports the findings of a study, conducted among 234 foreign tourists who visited Cyprus, that aimed to identify the drivers and outcomes of eco‐friendly attitudes and behavior. Using structural equation modeling, the authors confirmed that deontological status, law obedience, and political action of tourists positively influence the adoption of an environmentally friendly attitude. In turn, these effects are conducive to eco‐friendly behavior, which ultimately enhances tourist satisfaction. Certain sociodemographic characteristics of tourists—namely, gender, age, education, and income—had a moderating effect on the link between deontological status, law obedience, and political action on the one hand and eco‐friendly attitudes on the other hand. Tourist nationality also had a control effect on tourist eco‐friendly attitudes.     

Understanding Attitudes Towards Genetically Modified Food: The Role of Values and Attitude Strength

Summary This study was aimed at gaining a better understanding of the nature of negative attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) food. A sample of 250 students at the University of Tromsø responded to a questionnaire measuring attitudes towards GM food, attitude strength, intention to buy such food, and their personal values. Values and attitude strength proved to be important constructs when explaining the attitudes. A structural model was estimated, confirming that the negative attitudes towards GM food were embedded in universalism and hedonism values, and also predicted behavioural intention to buy such food. Attitude centrality was found to moderate the value-attitude relationship. Central attitudes mediated the relation between values and behavioural intention, while for the less central attitudes there was no relation between values and attitudes. Rather, both were independent predictors of intention. The study showed that some individuals hold weak attitudes and therefore may be more likely to change their attitude than those whose attitude is embedded in values.     

偏见与现实:当代大学生性观念与性行为现状透视

青年大学生是现代社会生活实体的重要组成部分.通过对福州市本科院校大学生性观念与性行为的调查,从某个侧面反映了当代大学生性观念与性行为的真实状况.     

消费观念与消费行为实证研究

通过构建消费观念的品牌性消费观念、超前性消费观念、实用性消费观念,并在"新消费文化观念构建"的调研数据的基础上,本文对消费行为和消费意向展开实证分析,研究结果表明品牌性消费观念和超前性消费观念对消费意向和消费行为均有正的影响,实用性消费观念对消费意向有负的影响,对消费行为有正的影响。     

Consumer Attitudes Important in Choosing Lawyers and Accountants According to Decision-Making Style

ABSTRACT

An empirical study, which examines the relationship between consumers' decision-making style and their attitudes toward areas considered important when selecting lawyers and accountants, is described. A scheme, which separates consumer decision-making into categories on the basis of systematic-spontaneous information-gathering and internal-external information-analysis dimensions, is proposed. The information-analysis dimension (internal-external) appears to be the decision-making dimension by which consumers choose legal and accounting services.