Conceptualization and Measurement of Optimal Consumer Decision-Making

The theory of optimal choice is founded on the classic principles of maximization and rationality which are developed in economics and other social sciences. The principle of maximization is applicable to the analysis of consumers' choices in contexts ranging from individual consumer decisions to efficient operation of consumer markets in aggregate. Newer and revised formulations of maximization have evolved in the related concepts of satisficing behavior, efficiency of choice, decision quality and choice accuracy. This paper reviews the evolution of these concepts, with special attention to the context of optimal consumer choice at the individual level. Empirical measures of optimal consumer decision-making are also reviewed. Finally, optimal consumer decision-making is conceptualized both in terms of 1) optimal outcomes (choices) and 2) optimality of the actual decision-making process prior to choice.     

Consumer knowledge of the world wide web: Conceptualization and measurement

User‐directed technologies such as the Web are becoming more prevalent. To understand the usage of these technologies the characteristics of users need to be studied. The focus here is on one user characteristic: consumer knowledge content. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses, four scales are developed to measure common declarative, common procedural, specialized declarative, and specialized procedural knowledge content of the Web. In addition, an illustration is provided to show how these scales might be used for segmenting consumers. The procedures used may be of value in a wide range of studies where the focus is on investigating users of user‐directed electronic technologies. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

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.     

Price–Quality and Market Share of Consumer Goods in Spain: Retail Brands and Manufacturer Brands1

The development of retail brands has been favoured by the creation of large chains and by the high level of business concentration in the retail sector. It has been supported by an increasing number of consumers who are aware of value and consider that retail brand is the best alternative, with quality levels similar to those of leading manufacturer brands but with lower prices. In this survey, we analyse the price differentials between manufacturer brands and retail brands in several categories of widely consumed products. We study the relationship between the price differential and the mean category price with the market share of retail brands, for foodstuff, perfumes and cleaning materials categories. Finally, we determine the possible connection between the price of a consumer good brand and its real quality.     

Branded App Usability: Conceptualization,Measurement, and Prediction of Consumer Loyalty

Despite the importance of usability assessment, few studies have taken a consumer-centric approach to conceptualize and measure the underlying dimensions of branded app usability. Addressing this gap in the literature, we developed and validated a holistic measure of branded app usability based on consumer evaluations rather than the various technical issues previously addressed in mobile marketing studies. The results indicate that branded app usability, as a multidimensional construct, consists of 13 items in five factors: user-friendliness, personalization, speed, fun, and omnipresence. Theoretical and practical implications for measuring branded app usability are discussed.     

经济转型视角下广东省流动人口的时空格局响应

2000-2010年间广东省流动人口增速高居全国之首,在此十年间,广东省也正处在经济结构转型和发展方式转变的关键时期.那么广东省经济转型对人口时空变化有着怎样的影响？研究结果表明:2000-2010广东省各县城单元机械增长是总人口变动的重要因素,流动人口分布的空间差距渐趋缩小.广东省产业结构与布局的转变对人口分布的变化有显著影响,随着广东省经济转型,三产产值的增长对流动人口也会呈现出一定拉力.需求结构转变对广东省流动人口分布的变化有显著影响:对于珠三角地区而言,外需是吸引流动人口的主要因素;而对于非珠三角地区而言,固定资本投入是近十年来对流动人口的主要拉动因素.     

Consumer Brand Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization,Scale Development and Validation

In the last three decades, an influential research stream has emerged which highlights the dynamics of focal consumer/brand relationships. Specifically, more recently the ‘consumer brand engagement’ (CBE) concept has been postulated to more comprehensively reflect the nature of consumers' particular interactive brand relationships, relative to traditional concepts, including ‘involvement.’ However, despite the growing scholarly interest regarding the undertaking of marketing research addressing ‘engagement,’ studies have been predominantly exploratory in nature, thus generating a lack of empirical research in this area to date. By developing and validating a CBE scale in specific social media settings, we address this identified literature gap. Specifically, we conceptualize CBE as a consumer's positively valenced brand-related cognitive, emotional and behavioral activity during or related to focal consumer/brand interactions. We derive three CBE dimensions, including cognitive processing, affection, and activation. Within three different social media contexts, we employ exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to develop a reliable, 10-item CBE scale, which we proceed to validate within a nomological net of conceptual relationships and a rival model. The findings suggest that while consumer brand ‘involvement’ acts as a CBE antecedent, consumer ‘self-brand connection’ and ‘brand usage intent’ represent key CBE consequences, thus providing a platform for further research in this emerging area. We conclude with an overview of key managerial and scholarly implications arising from this research.     

Consumer Household Materials and Logistics Management: Inventory Ownership Cycle

This paper examines the various stages and activities of consumers' management of owned possessions including acquisition, ownership, and disposition. Using a materials management perspective, more frequently found in industrial marketing, the authors develop a consumer model of management of household goods. Stages of the model are illustrated using consumer anecdotes collected as exploratory research. Implications for researchers, practitioners, educators, and policy makers are discussed in terms of how the materials management perspective can be used to help deliver better value in products and services to consumers by understanding the activities in each stage of ownership.     

Professional Tax Service Marketing from a Consumer Buyer Behavior Perspective

Professional services marketing such as accounting and legal services are often received as less smhisticated than product marketing. The prime message promulgated from existing research has often focused on the need for professional service firms to establish formal marketing technique; This paper investigates professional services marketing of tax services from a consumer behavior perspective and the implications of developing a marketing plan. Clearly, professional service providers are operating in a different consumer environment and the marketing implications are significantly different from product marketing.     

品类差异下的消费者购物价值与零售业转型升级路径——兼议“新零售”的实践形式

新零售是中国零售行业转型升级的新探索。以消费者购物价值实现为核心依据,文章讨论了推动零售业转型升级的基本目标,归纳了渠道协同、体验叠加、数据洞察、技术赋能四类实现零售业转型升级的一般路径,并通过建立基于消费者渠道行为的Logit离散选择模型,讨论了八类不同品类零售行业转型升级的实现路径及其对应的新零售实践形式。结论发现,品类差异下的零售业转型升级路径和新零售实践形式均存在较大差别。     

从"非典"流行看消费者教育

一、引言面对“非典”肆虐的严峻现实,一个问题引起了人们的思考:什么原因使得SARS在全国范围内快速蔓延并影响整个社会的政治经济生活?原因肯定是多方面的,但缺乏成为“自觉的消费者”应具备的素质,包括大众公共卫生意识和良好的卫生习惯以及环保意识等,无疑起到了推波助澜的作用,甚至我们为之自豪的饮食文明也到了需要反省的时候。“非典”唤醒了一些人久已淡漠的公共卫生和环保意识,为了预防“非典”,越来越多的人开始反省并改正自己的不良卫生习惯,经常洗手、开窗通风、定期消毒、晾晒被褥已经成为公民的自觉行为。随地吐痰、乱扔垃圾…     

The Brave New World of Organ Transplantation: Issues and Challenges from a Consumer Affairs Perspective

Policy makers are trying to narrow the widening gap between the demand and the supply of transplantable organs. They are doing so largely without contributions from consumer affairs specialists. This article establishes the need for involvement of consumer affairs scholars and suggests directions for further empirical and critical inquiry. Substantive research must be grounded more firmly in established theoretical constructs and behavioral theories.     

顾客体验视角下百货商店核心竞争力的构建

在当前市场竞争空前激烈的环境下,中国百货商店要适应顾客需求,重塑自身的核心竞争力,应从企业核心竞争力的差异性、服务性、知识性等特征着手,体现"以顾客为中心"。     

"生活方式"研究综述:一个消费者行为学的视角

“生活方式”自19世纪60年代被引入消费者行为学研究领域以来,已取代人口统计学方法,成为最重要的市场细分工具之一。本文首先回顾了生活方式市场细分研究的历史,然后针对中国市场的特殊情况,着重介绍了AIO方法的理论和应用,并指出对消费者生活方式的深入研究,是现阶段中国营销人在市场竞争中取胜的关键。     

从国际消费维权角度分析中国消费维权

中国消费者维权是国际消费者维权的一部分,中国消费者维权应该借鉴国际消费者维权的经验。在消费者处于弱势地位的时候,消费维权应该在完善消费者权益保护制度入手来进行,从而使得我国消费者权益保护和国际接轨。     

基于市场层级思维拓展农村消费品市场的思考

农村消费品市场不是城市消费品市场的延伸,而是一个相对独立的市场。农村市场有其自身特点,不能参照城市市场标准来指导农村消费品市场的开拓。拓展农村消费品市场,既要在营销层面进行微观思考,更要在战略层面进行研究分析。政府应厘清并把握农村消费市场的特点,着眼于满足农村消费者的需求;要以县城市场作为农村消费品市场的起点,发挥县城市场对农村市场的示范引领作用;强化集镇辐射力,辐射周边行政村,形成销售网络,构建农村消费中心,从而将开拓农村市场落到实处。     

国外品牌在中国的转化研究:基于制度理论

以往品牌研究大都注重经济导向层面,忽略了规范、规制和文化等非经济因素对品牌成败的影响,继而无法系统解释品牌成败的原因.本文从全新的制度理论视角出发,通过案例分析和深度访谈,全面剖析了国际品牌在中国成功转化所需的品牌战略和合理性,采用调研数据的结构方程模型来验证国外品牌的中国转化模型,即可通过提高品牌合理性来提升品牌资产.这一结论将有助于国外品牌在中国的成功转化,更重要的是对中国民族品牌国际化提供了新的视角和重要的借鉴作用.     

Integrating Consumer Rights into Copyright Law: From a European Perspective

Until recently consumers and consumer-interests have been virtually absent not only from the rules of copyright but also from copyright’s discourse. This has been so even though the combination of an expansion of copyright and a devaluation of the internal balancing mechanisms raise concern from a consumer perspective. There would, therefore, seem to be a need to incorporate a consumer perspective into copyright analysis. To integrate consumer interests in copyright law, this study recommends action aimed at two levels. On the general level it is suggested to rebalance copyright in order to recognize the interests of users on the same level as right holders. On the concrete level it is suggested to change the limitations found in copyright to ease access to reuse elements of previous works. It is also proposed to reinforce the rule on private copying and to consider measures to secure access to basic information.

Seller-Financing of Homes: A Consumer Economic Perspective

In recent years, the proportion of home purchases financed by lending institutions has declined and the use of alternative financing methods has increased. This paper examines the costs, risks and benefits associated with seller-financing, a popular alternative financing method. The topic is discussed from the perspectives of the buyer and the seller. An empirical analysis is also conducted of condominium sales in Hawaii to gauge the impact of seller-financing upon the housing market as well as its economic effects upon buyers and sellers. Overall, it is concluded that buyers are the primary beneficiaries of seller-financing.     

Transformation and Rebirth of Chinese Brands: A Case From the Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

Chinese domestic brands have developed rapidly in recent years, and yet few of them have entered global competition as product or service brands brands with exceptions such as Huawei. In addition, the evolution of Chinese brands has hardly been understood or introduced properly by international business educators. In this article, we identify the development patterns of Chinese domestic brands by using a local hotel brand as an example. Particularly, we examine and discuss how a Chinese brand can be established with specific positioning, brand image, and product offering, as well as how the brand can grow by vertical and horizontal extensions based on balancing market opportunities and the brand’s own capabilities. Moreover, we expect this research to facilitate the understanding of Chinese brands among international business education.