The influence of store environment on quality inferences and store image

The study reported here examines how combinations of specific elements in the retail store environment influence consumers’ inferences about merchandise and service quality and discusses the extent to which these inferences mediate the influence of the store environment on store image. Results show that ambient and social elements in the store environment provide cues that consumers use for their quality inferences. In addition, store environment, merchandise quality, and service quality were posited to be antecedents of store image—with the latter two serving as mediators—rather than components of store image (as they are typically treated in the store image literature). Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed, and future research directions are proposed. She received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her areas of interest include store environment, consumer behavior, and product/service quality. She has published articles in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing and theJournal of Retailing. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His areas of interest include pricing, consumer behavior, product/service quality, and customer satisfaction. He has published articles in a number of journals, including theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, andJournal of Retailing. He received his D.B.A. from Indiana University in 1975. His research interests focus on the measurement and improvement of service quality and on services marketing strategy. He is the recipient of several teaching and research awards. In 1988, he was selected as one of the ten most influential figures in quality by the editorial board ofThe Quality Review. His articles have appeared in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Services Marketing, andBusiness Horizons, among other publications. He is the author ofMarketing Research, a college textbook, as well as coauthor ofMarketing Services: Competing through Quality andDelivering Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations. He is also an active consultant to a number of major corporations.     

The influence of type of advertisement,price, and source credibility on perceived quality

There are numerous multiple-cue studies of the impact of price and/or other cues on perceived quality. However, there is virtually no reported empirical evidence that identifies the impact of comparative advertising on perceived quality. This paper reports the results of an experiment that examined the impact of type of advertisement (i.e., direct-comparative and non-comparative), price, and source credibility on perceived quality of a new brand. Results suggest that a direct-comparative advertisement has a more positive effect on perceived quality of a new brand than a noncomparative advertisement. In addition, an interaction effect of price and source credibility on perceived quality was found.     

Price and brand name as indicators of quality dimensions for consumer durables

Delivering quality products requires an understanding of the critical dimensions and cues that consumers use to judge quality. To that end, this article addresses two fundamental research issues. Using a qualitative study, the authors first develop a generalizable typology of quality dimensions for durable goods that includes ease of use, versatility, durability, serviceability, performance, and prestige. Second, the authors conduct a process-tracing laboratory experiment to examine how key marketing variables—price, brand name, and product attributes—affect consumers’ judgment processes and inferences about how products perform on the six quality dimensions. Results of the experiment indicate that consumers use price and brand name differently to judge the quality dimensions, searching for price and brand name much more frequently when evaluating prestige than when evaluating any other quality dimension. Results suggest that managers must determine the relevant quality dimensions for a product category and the cues that are salient for judging those dimensions. Merrie Brucks is a professor of marketing at the University of Arizona, where she also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. She received her Ph. D. in marketing from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research first received scholarly recognition in 1984, when she won the Robert Ferber Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the field of consumer behavior. Since that time, she has published extensively in consumer psychology, focusing on memory, information search, judgment, and decision-making processes. In other research she has examined a variety of public policy issues related to advertising. Valarie A. Zeithaml is a professor and area chair at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is also a Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar at that institution. She obtained an MBA and doctorate from the University of Maryland and has devoted the past 20 years to researching and teaching the topics of service quality and services management. She is the author ofDelivery Quality Service: Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations and ofServices Marketing, a textbook now in its second edition. She has won numerous teaching and research awards, including the Ferber Award from theJournal of Consumer Research, the Maynard Award from theJournal of Marketing, the Jagdish Sheth Award from theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the O’Dell Award from theJournal of Marketing Research. Gillian Naylor is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She obtained a doctorate from the University of Arizona in 1996. Her research interests are within the consumer judgment and decision-making domain, with specific interest in postpurchase processes and services marketing.     

互联网中域名与商标冲突及对策

文中对域名与商标的冲突进行了简要分析,并提出三条对策,即加快立法步伐,尽早建立和完善适应于互联网时代的知识产权法律制度;采取司法解释的方法扩大现行法律的适用范围及行政与司法解决并用.     

The influence of involvement and product class quality on consumer choice sets

The study findings suggest that the level of response involvement (high versus low) and the variability of product class quality (high versus moderate versus low) influence the size of the consumer’s choice set. By manipulating product class quality the authors show that as the variability in product class quality increases, consumers reduce the number of brands they will consider purchasing (evoked set) and increase the number of brands they won’t consider (inept set). They also use the response involvement variable a priori to categorize the (sample) population. The results indicate that, as the variability in product class quality increases, the high response involvement groups form smaller evoked sets and larger inept sets than the low response involvement groups.     

Point-of-purchase displays, product organization, and brand purchase likelihoods

Can point-of-purchase (POP) displays cause a decrease in sales of the featured brand? In an actual test-market promotion, the use of special POP displays led to a decrease in sales of featured wines from a specific U.S. region. Moreover, sales of regularly shelved wines from competitive regions actually increased. The results of a laboratory experiment supported the explanation that the POP displays essentially reorganized the wines into region categories within the stores, making it easier for consumers to compare alternatives by region. As a result, sales of wines from preferred regions increased and sales of wines from disliked regions decreased relative to when the wines were displayed by variety categories on regular shelf space. Further evidence indicated that reorganizing products by levels of a given attribute influences purchase likelihoods mainly when the attribute is otherwise low rather than high in salience and when brands have normally high rather than low purchase likelihoods.     

Effects of loyalty programs on value perception,program loyalty,and brand loyalty

The authors investigate how reward schemes of a loyalty program influence perceived value of the program and how value perception of the loyalty program affects customer loyalty. The results show that involvement moderates the effects of loyalty programs on customer loyalty. In high-involvement situations, direct rewards are preferable to indirect rewards. In low-involvement situations, immediate rewards are more effective in building a program's value than delayed rewards. Under high-involvement conditions, value perception of the loyalty program influences brand loyalty both directly and indirectly through program loyalty. Under low-involvement conditions, there is no direct effect of value perception on brand loyalty. Youjae Yi (uoujae@snu.ac.kr) (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1987) is a professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Seoul National University. He was at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor, Sanford Robertson Assistant Professor, and tenured associate professor. His work has appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research, theJournal of Applied Psychology, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Consumer Psychology, theJournal of Advertising, and theJournal of Econometrics. He is currently an editor of theKorean Journal of Consumer Studies and was an editor of theSeoul Journal of Business. Hoseong Jeon (jeonho1@snu.ac.kr) is a doctoral candidate in the College of Business Administration at Seoul National University. He received his M.A. in advertising from Michigan Sate University. His current research interests include customer relationship management, advertising effects on consumer attitudes, and determinants of customer loyalty.     

实施名牌战略整合社会资源加快企业发展 --在"美晨"等6家获"中国名牌产品" 称号的企业调研时的讲话

2 0 0 2年 9月 1 6～ 2 0日 ,广州市经委主任平欣光同志先后在荣获中国名牌产品的广州双桥企业集团公司、立白企业集团公司、华凌集团有限公司、珠江啤酒集团公司、美晨集团有限公司、虎头电池集团有限公司等进行调研 ,并就工业企业如何实施名牌战略 ,以名牌拓展市场 ,以市场带动生产 ,整合社会资源 ,加快企业发展等问题发表了意见。他的这篇讲话视野开阔 ,观念创新 ,针对性、前瞻性强 ,不但对以上几家企业 ,对其它企业如何开拓创新 ,实施名牌战略以开拓市场等 ,都有重要的指导意义。     

The persuasive impact of two-sided selling appeals for an unknown brand name

The persuasive effectiveness of message sidedness (one versus two-sided messages) and message structure was assessed in the context of a personal selling appeal for a new home computer to an unfamiliar target audience. Contrary to some prior research, two-sided appeals were found to be less, not more, effective in promoting seller credibility and message acceptance than onesided appeals. To some extent, however, this effect was attenuated by placing unfavorable product arguments at the end rather than the beginning of the selling appeal. To account for these findings, a disarming effect is proposed. People who have little or no, knowledge regarding a seller’s particular offering tend to be disarmed by two-sided appeals. As a result, they discount the seller’s product-related knowledge. This effect is thought to be more pronounced when the unfavorable information is presented at the beginning of the message.     

Information seeking on competitors and perception of competition by food store managers

The dynamics of competition from the store manager's point of view has been neglected. This study was designed to investigate the perception of competition and competitive information seeking by food store managers. Competition was analyzed in relation to a set of independent variables suggested by concepts of retail competition and organization theory. The data was based on a questionnaire administered to 55 food store managers. It was predicted and found that the perceived competitive interdependency between two stores was related to the degree of perceived similarity between the stores. The results support the concept of competition for differential advantage. The frequency of information seeking on competitors was related to organizational variables, particularly the store managers concept of his job, but not the degree of perceived similarity between competing stores.     

The effects of price on brand extension evaluations: The moderating role of extension similarity

This research explores the effects of price information on brand extension evaluations across different levels of similarity. Brand extension similarity is proposed as a moderator of the effects of price on brand extension perceived quality, perceived value, and purchase intentions. Specifically, price is hypothesized to have a larger positive impact on perceived quality evaluations of dissimilar extensions, but a larger negative impact on perceived value and purchase intentions for similar extensions. Results indicate that a high-price introductory strategy used to suggest a high-quality product will likely be more effective for dissimilar extensions than similar extensions. The results of this research suggest a number of implications for new product pricing. Directions for subsequent research are offered as well. Valerie A. Taylor is an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She received her Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include product branding strategies, and consumer perception and use of quality cues and signals, and health communication issues. Her research has been published inAdvances in Consumer Research andAmerican Marketing Association Educator's Proceedings. Her teaching interests include marketing communications, marketing strategy, consumer behavior, and marketing research. She has also held positions in the telecommunications industry. William O. Bearden is the Bank of America Chaired Professor of Marketing in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He is on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Consumer Research (JCR), theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Retailing, and theMarketing Education Review and is currently serving as an associate editor forJCR. He has published frequently in theJournal of Marketing Research andJCR, and has a number of publications in other marketing and consumer research journals. His teaching and research interests include consumer behavior, marketing research, and the evaluation of marketing promotions.     

The accuracy of brand and attribute judgments: The role of information relevancy, product experience, and attribute-relationship schemata

A multidimensional approach for accuracy of ratings is introduced that examines consumers’ abilities to assess various brands across a set of attributes and attribute performances across a set of brands. A model is presented that addresses the roles of the relevancy of information, attribute-relationship schemata, and consumers’ product category experience on the accuracy of their brand attribute ratings. Study participants were provided either with relevant or irrelevant attribute information for various automobile brands and later asked to rate the attribute performances of brands. The results indicate that the provision of relevant information in the judgment environment increases brand and attribute rating accuracy but does not favorably affect consumers’ brand attribute-relationship schemata. Rather, consumers’ product experience was directly related to their attribute-relationship schemata, which in turn were related to improved accuracy of brand and attribute ratings. Kevin Mason is an associate professor of marketing at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include consumer information processing and choice strategies. He has published in theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, Journal for the Association of Marketing Educators, andInternational Advances in Economics Research. Thomas Jensen is professor and Wal-Mart lecturer in retailing in the Department of Marketing and Transportation at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include consumer information processing, advertising and price perceptions, and retail image and patronage. His work has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Psychology and Marketing, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, and other journals. Scot Burton is professor and Wal-Mart chairholder in marketing, Department of Marketing and Transportation, University of Arkansas. His research interests include public policy and consumer welfare concerns, survey research measurement issues, and consumer price and promotion perceptions. His work has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Retailing, and other journals. Dave Roach is a professor of management at Arkansas Tech University. His research interests include information processing, judgmental accuracy, and organization change. He has published inHuman Relations, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Journal of Information Technology Management, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Central Business Review, andJournal for the Association of Marketing Educators.     

Firm-hosted online brand communities and new product success

Many firms use online brand communities to support the launch of their new products. This study proposes a typology of firm-hosted online brand communities and examines whether such a classification system can improve predictions of new product success. A cross-industry analysis of 81 firm-hosted online brand communities shows that these communities reflect three archetypes. A subsequent survey of 170 community-hosting firms in the consumer durable goods industry reveals that the three types of communities are not equally important for new product success. Moreover, one archetype generally underperforms the other two as a new product support mechanism. Overall, the results demonstrate that firm-hosted online brand communities can be a predictor of new product success.     

打造中国饭店企业的品牌利润链

本文通过对品牌利润链模型的分析，阐述了创建饭店企业品牌应当关注的主要因素及其相关关系，并提出了构建我国饭店企业品牌利润链的三个突破口。     

农产品区域品牌视角下的家庭农场发展模式研究

基于农产品区域品牌化发展的视角,通过研究了农产品区域品牌化发展对推动家庭农场在农业发展、农业企业发展和农民增收方面的促进作用,从而构建了基于发展农产品区域品牌的家庭农产发展新型模式。并提出加大农产品区域品牌的扶持力度,制定重点产业产品支持和扶持培养龙头家庭农场的政策建议。     

Brand related information as context: the impact of brand name characteristics on memory and choice

Consumer exposure to new brand names can occur in contexts with or without brand information being present. Whereas previous research has examined the effects of brand name characteristics (association set size and word frequency) on memory in the presence of brand information, this paper also assesses brand name effects in contexts without brand related information and extends it to brand consideration and choice. Two different processes are found to be operating as consumers retrieve brands and make a choice. Recall seems to benefit from a distinctiveness based route, which also guides consideration and choice. In contrast, implicit memory is influenced by familiarity, with corresponding consideration and choice effects. The implications are that firms’ choice of brand names and media needs to consider the combination of brand name characteristics that will lead to desired outcomes vis-à-vis distinctiveness or familiarity based processes.     

The effect of various price markdowns on consumers' ratings of a new product

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the magnitude of a price markdown affects consumers' purchase intentions and/or price perception. Four groups of subjects were all shown a brochure for a new TV video game selling for $49.95. Three different list prices were used: $200, $100, and $75. A fourth group, the control, was shown only the selling price. The results of the experiment indicated that the group shown the $200 list price (i.e., a 75% markdown) had greater intent-to-purchase the product than did the control group. There were no differences among the groups with respect to price perception.     

品牌社交媒体广告内容对消费者社交媒体参与度的影响

基于参与度理论与社交媒体特点定义消费者社交媒体参与度与它的四个维度：意识、产生情感、产生理性思考、认同。建立社交媒体广告内容分类标准,收集二手数据后使用方差模型分析品牌社交媒体广告内容对消费者社交媒体参与度的影响。结果显示社交媒体广告内容类型显著影响消费者社交媒体参与度,新产品内容效果最好,其次是促销、游戏/抽奖、社会责任内容。此研究结果不仅可丰富消费者行为视角的品牌社交媒体广告相关理论研究,也可为品牌设计社交媒体广告内容营销提供管理建议。     

Branding strategies,marketing communication,and perceived brand meaning: The transfer of purposive,goal-oriented brand meaning to brand extensions

This article develops and tests a conceptual model of the transfer process whereby perceived similarity organized around shared goals facilitates the transfer of knowledge and affect from a parent brand to an extension of that brand. Empirical results, based on two well-known brands and two hypothetical product extensions for each brand, demonstrate that the availability of well-formed, goal-derived categories associated with a parent brand establishes an organizing framework for consumers' assessments of similarity thatfacilitates the transfer of consumer knowledge and attitude from the parent brand to a brand extension in another product category. This facilitating effect of similarity does not occur in the absence of goal-derived categories. The results also reveal how marketing communication can be used to facilitate the transfer process by framing similarity in terms of common goals. Implications are discussed for the organization of consumer knowledge and affect across product categories and for understanding prior research findings on brand extension. Ingrid M. Martin (imartin@csulb.edu) is an associate professor of marketing at California State University at Long Beach. Her research has examined issues in the area of consumer goals as they guide structuring and processing marketing information, product choice and usage. Her research has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Public Policy & Research, and five book chapters. David W. Stewart (david.stewart@marshall.usc.edu) is the Robert E. Brooker Professor of Marketing in the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He is the immediate past editor of theJournal of Marketing. Dr. Stewart has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications and seven books. Shashi Matta (matta@marshall.usc.edu) is a doctoral candidate in marketing at the Marshal School of Business, University of Southern California. His research interests include branding, and services marketing. Shashi’s research has been published in theJournal of Consumer Research.     

The effect of employee behavior on brand personality impressions and brand attitudes

This research examines how consumers update their brand personality impressions and brand attitudes after interacting with one of the brand's employees. Drawing on stereotyping theory, the author develops a framework that proposes that the impact of an employee's behavior depends on how the employee is categorized. When the employee is considered primarily as an exemplar of the brand's workforce, his or her behavior is generalized more strongly to the brand. When, however, the employee is judged as a relatively unique individual (i.e., when the employee is subtyped), the behavior is not transferred to the brand to the full extent. The results of three studies provide converging evidence and show that the degree to which consumers subtype an employee is determined by the amount of information they possess about the employee, the extent to which they depend on the employee, and their motivation to form an accurate impression. The findings have direct implications for marketers interested in understanding how employees affect the brands they represent.