Effect of Message Interactivity on Product Attitudes and Purchase Intentions

ABSTRACT

Social media increasingly allows consumers to interact with businesses, although the effects of this novel technology in the context of public relations are under-examined. Consistent with the ideas proposed by the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the present study conducted a 2 × 3 online experiment with a sample of 131 participants to examine the effect of message interactivity and source authority on consumers' ad attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions. Message interactivity had a positive effect on ad effectiveness via the indirect pathway of perceived informativeness. These findings relate to the ELM in that they suggest that users processed information more centrally than peripherally, or that interactivity had a larger effect on consumer attitudes than authority. Theoretical and practical implications of study results are discussed.     

Uppercase Premium Effect: The Role of Brand Letter Case in Brand Premiumness

Researchers have recently begun investigating how visual elements affect brand positioning. However, little is known about the effect of brand typeface features on brand premiumness. This paper proposes and verifies that letter case affects consumers’ perceived brand premiumness. Eight experiments, including one eye-tracking experiment, reveal that consumers perceive brands that use all uppercase letters (“uppercase brands”) as more premium than those that use all lowercase letters (“lowercase brands”). We refer to this effect as the “uppercase premium effect.” This effect is induced by the perceived conspicuousness of uppercase brands, a process which in turn is moderated by the product's social visibility. The effect is reversed for consumers who prefer subtle signals (“inconspicuous consumers”) because these consumers are likely to perceive a conspicuous uppercase brand as gaudy. Whereas status-motivated consumers are more likely to choose uppercase brands due to the increased premiumness perceptions, the increment in such perceptions does not further influence the purchase decisions of consumers indifferent to expressing status. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and offer suggestions for further research.     

Private labels versus national brands: The effects of branding on sensory perceptions and purchase intentions

Consumers increasingly consider private labels to be as good as national brands. This research raises the question of whether national brands and private labels equally affect consumers’ sensory perceptions and purchase intentions. The results of two studies show that consumers reverse their evaluation of private labels (vs. national brands) when tasting the product in an informed (vs. blind) condition. When consumers are not aware of brand names, they indicate better taste and higher purchase intentions for private labels. However, the opposite is true when they try products in an informed condition. We discuss the implications for private labels and national brands.     

Fluency in Commercial Breaks: The Impact of Repetition and Conceptual Priming on Brand Memory,Evaluation, and Behavioral Intentions

Although sold by television channels for high fees, the effectiveness of tandem-spots and brand exclusivity has not been investigated so far. A 2?×?2 between-subjects experiment (N?=?325) was conducted to investigate the effects of repetition (tandem-spot) and conceptual priming (competing spot) on brand memory, evaluation, and behavioral intentions toward the brand, while applying the processing fluency construct as theoretical foundation. Tandem-spots improved brand recall, but no significant effects were found concerning brand evaluation or behavioral intentions. Competing spots meanwhile acted as conceptual primes, enhancing brand memory, evaluation, and behavioral intentions. These findings partially contradict offerings and recommendations made by television channels.     

Cause-Relating Marketing: The Effects of Purchase Quantity and Firm Donation Amount on Consumer Inferences and Participation Intentions

A conceptual model for a cause-related marketing (CRM) campaign, which examines the effects of purchase quantity and firm donation amount on consumer perceptions of the firm (i.e., firm motive and corporate social responsibility) and participation intentions, is developed and tested in three separate studies. In Study 1, we find the positive effect of firm donation amount on participation intentions was fully mediated by consumer inferences about the firm and the negative effect of purchase quantity on participation intentions was only partially mediated by these inferences. In Study 2, and consistent with the persuasion knowledge model, we demonstrate that the effects of purchase quantity on firm inferences and subsequent participation intentions are moderated by consumer participation effort where higher participation requirements (e.g., mail-in proof-of-purchase) yield more negative purchase quantity effects. We extend the model in Study 3 to incorporate multiple exchange mechanisms and find that although purchase quantity does affect participation intentions by social exchange, the effects of purchase quantity are primarily the result of the economic exchange. Recommendations for the design of cause-related marketing campaigns and for future research are discussed.     

Brand Personality and Emotional Attitudes: The Case of Mobile Telephone Operators

ABSTRACT

As part of a brand image, brand personality has aroused for years the interest of scholars and marketers. This article examines this concept in the case of two mobile telephone operators in Tunisia (North Africa). An empirical investigation, based on a sample of 272 students, has shown that brand personality influences and above all is influenced by emotional attitudes within consumers. At a managerial level, this study sheds light on the main brand personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, sophistication, and youth) that make successful product differentiation and communication strategies. An emotion-oriented approach is also indicated as a salient branding management key of success.     

Integrating Multiple Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior Toward Organic Foods: The Role of Healthism,Hedonism, and Trust in Consumer Purchase Intentions of Organic Foods

Consumer awareness about organic foods has been growing. However, this trend is not always translated to consumer organic food purchases. It is argued that when it comes to assessing organics, one should expect consumers to use multiattribute evaluations due to credence attributes and organic standards that organic foods need to adhere to. A thorough review of the existing literature on consumer buying behavior of organic foods identifies healthism, hedonism, and trust among some factors that enhance consumer experiences with organic foods and therefore can affect their purchase intentions. This article is one the few studies that integrated multiple factors in one research framework to empirically evaluate their role in explaining consumer purchase intentions of organic foods. Results from a demographically representative sample completed by an online survey in Australia (N = 1011) provides support for the research hypotheses by revealing positive and statistically significant effects of healthism, hedonism, and trust on consumer purchase intentions. The study concludes with implications and suggestions for future research.     

Price Consciousness and Purchase Intentions for New Food Products: The Moderating Effect of Product Category Knowledge when Price Is Unknown

This study examines the degree to which consumers' price consciousness affects their purchase intentions for a newly introduced product when the price of the product is unknown. Based on data from 186 consumers exposed to a new product offering, the results show that price consciousness indeed has a negative effect on purchase intentions, but only for consumers with a high level of product category knowledge. Although perceived risk and perceived value are significantly related to purchase intentions in general, price consciousness seems to affect only those consumers who make inferences about price based on their knowledge of the product category. Both theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are offered.     

Regular Price $299; Pre-order Price $199: Price Promotion for a Pre-ordered Product and the Moderating Role of Temporal Orientation

Retailers typically use the strategy of providing a discount to induce the sale of a new product at a pre-order stage. Despite the prevalence of this strategy, providing discounts might not be effective for all consumers. The present research shows that the positive effect of a discount depends on consumer temporal orientation. Results from four experimental studies reveal that a large discount positively affects present-oriented, but not future-oriented, consumers. The findings suggest that perceived financial risk and perceived product quality sequentially mediate the effect of discount size on value toward the deal and purchase intention. A third-party product quality rating boosts quality perceptions, which in turn reduces perceived financial risk and positively enhances value toward the deal along with purchase intention. Our findings demonstrate that when the brand itself acts as a reliable signal of quality, a discount has its intended effect for both present- and future-oriented consumers. Overall, the findings of this research suggest that a retailer can use quality cues along with a discount, especially for a new brand, to appeal to the broadest group, as it will attract both future- and present-oriented consumers.     

Experiential product attributes and preferences for new products: The role of processing fluency

This study shows how experiential product attributes that are part of the design of new products can create compelling consumer experiences. Following processing-fluency theory, when consumers attend to experiential attributes (sensory or affective), they should process them fluently (i.e., spontaneously and with little effort); however, consumers should process functional attributes always deliberately, irrespective of whether or not they attend to them. An experiment testing the fluency hypothesis confirms that the processing of experiential attributes, but not functional attributes, depends on attention focus. When consumers focus their attention on specific experiential features, products with experiential attributes are evaluated more positively. In contrast, the processing of functional attributes does not depend on attention focus. Further confirming the fluency hypothesis, the experiment also shows that presentation duration does not affect the processing of experiential attributes but does affect the processing of functional attributes. The authors discuss how marketers can use experiential product design in market segmentation and innovation.     

A COOL Effect: The Direct and Indirect Impact of Country-of-Origin Disclosures on Purchase Intentions for Retail Food Products

Retailers recently became required to provide specific country-of-origin information for muscle cuts of beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and goat. Drawing from the consumer inference and activation theory literatures, hypotheses are offered regarding how consumers use country-of-origin labeling (COOL) to draw inferences related to specific product attributes and how these inferences, in turn, lead to differences in mediation effects for purchase intentions. Results from a pilot study and two experiments reveal that consumers are more likely to purchase meat when it is identified as a U.S. product. Furthermore, the relative strength of the mediating effects of perceived food safety, taste, and freshness differs as expected. The authors show how the direct and indirect effects of the country-of-origin disclosure are attenuated by the presentation of objective information about the meat processing systems of competing countries. Given the recently mandated COOL disclosures, results have important implications for food retailers, members of the supply chain, and consumers.     

跟单信用证统一惯例无法统一——非单据化条款在判例法中的实际效力研究

跟单信用证统一惯例未能确定判断非单据化条款的标准，各国法院判例决定了非单据化条款的不同法律效力。通过比较统一惯例和各国法院判例的不同观点，分析非单据化条款的法律成因，认为非单据化条款的法律效力仍然是一个悬而未决的问题，银行审单和外贸实践中应该对此采取谨慎的态度。