The influence of product involvement on consumers’ interactive processes in interactive television

Based on the classical elaboration likelihood model, we develop an interactive communication behavior model and apply it to the interactive television environment. The model suggests a hypothesis about interactive information searches and how they are impacted by product involvement and hypotheses about how the category of an advertised product impacts the type of information sought. Testing these hypotheses empirically, we verify that product involvement influences the extent of interactive communication behavior, while the type of information being sought is a function of the advertised product category. Implications regarding advertising practice and research are suggested.     

The memory-search frame effect: impacts on consumers’ retrieval and evaluation of consumption experiences

Marketing Letters - When consumers recall past consumption experiences (e.g., vacations), they often need to search their memory for relevant events within certain time frames (e.g., the past...     

How anticipated regret influences the effect of economic animosity on consumers’ reactions towards a foreign product

We use regret theory to explain the negative effect of economic animosity on consumers’ reactions towards a foreign product (i.e., product judgment and reluctant to buy). We conduct our study in Taiwan by collecting data via an online survey. Our results show that consumers’ economic animosity increases their anticipated regret towards purchasing a foreign product originating from a target market of animosity. Specifically, anticipated regret is found to mediate the link between economic animosity and foreign product judgment, which in turns affects consumers’ reluctance to buy. Our study is the first to consider the role of anticipated regret in explaining the negative effect of economic animosity on consumers’ reactions towards a foreign product. We also contribute to research by introducing two antecedents of economic animosity: perceived economic competition and consumer ethnocentrism.     

The effect of win-back investment on lost consumers’ intention of reinitiating relationship

This research studies the effect of win-back strategy on reinitiating brand-consumer relationship (BCR) by examining three commonly adopted strategies, namely apology, tangible reward, and privilege. Empirical findings demonstrate that these strategies have different effects on consumers’ intention of reinitiating relationship (CIRR). More specifically, whereas consumers will show positive CIRR if a transgression brand employs the strategies of apology, tangible reward and privilege, consumers’ perception of apology has the most significant effect. In addition, this study also tests the moderating role of brand relationship quality on CIRR. Results show that if the brand-relationship quality prior to brand transgression is high, win-back strategies will have more positive effects on CIRR, and vice versa.     

Joint or separate? The effect of visual presentation on imagery and product evaluation

In this research, we examine the effect of joint versus separate visual presentation on consumers’ product evaluation. Counter to prior research on hedonic editing and unpacking, which suggests that separate presentation or unpacking produces greater utility, we propose and demonstrate in this paper that joint visual presentation can increase product evaluation. This pattern of effects occurs because presenting products together facilitates mental imagery of the product consumption, which leads to greater perceived psychological ownership and higher product evaluation. As such, the effect of joint presentation on product evaluation is attenuated when mental imagery is disrupted under joint presentation, encouraged under separate presentation, or when products lack complementarity to elicit mental imagery of one cohesive consumption episode. Evidence from seven studies provides converging support for these hypothesized effects and their underlying process. Our findings contribute to the literature on visual presentation, unpacking, and imagery, offering relevant implications to marketers and retailers.     

The effect of control deprivation on consumers’ adoption of no-pain,no-gain principle

Consumers often base their judgments on a no-pain, no-gain principle—that is, one must pay a cost in order to achieve a beneficial outcome. For example, they infer the quality of a product from its price and judge a bad-tasting medicine to be more effective than a tasty one. Although the use of this principle to infer the value of a product or service has been observed in several domains, the processes that underlie its use have not been fully explored. We find that when people feel out of control, they tend to use the principle because it exemplifies a causal relationship between actions and outcomes and endorsing it reaffirms their belief that they have control over the outcomes of their behavior. Our findings have implications for how marketers might position products and services to attract consumers who perceive themselves as having different levels of control.     

The effect of attribute originality on consumers’ adoption intention of customization: The role of construal level

As consumers' preferences become increasingly diversified, many companies strive to satisfy individual needs by offering customization options for products or services. To enhance the effectiveness of customization strategies, managers need to decide what type of attributes to provide for consumers to customize and also take consumers' individual differences into consideration. The current research investigates the joint impacts of the originality of the attributes involved in a customization option and consumers' construal level on their intention to adopt customization. Findings from two experiments consistently demonstrate that, in comparison to customization options that include common customizable attributes, offering customization options that includes original customizable attributes undermine consumers’ adoption intention. However, such negative effects will be mitigated when consumers have a high construal level.     

Influence of augmented reality product display on consumers’ product attitudes: A product uncertainty reduction perspective

In the online retail market, consumers' uncertainty about products caused by the physical separation between consumers and products has long been an obstacle. In recent years, online retailers have begun to display their products by using augmented reality technology. However, whether and how the features of augmented reality influence consumers’ product uncertainty remains unclear. In this study, we explore the effects of augmented reality features on product uncertainty reduction and product attitude. The results show that augmented reality can reduce product quality and fit uncertainty by increasing perceived informativeness, sense of presence, and mental imagery. The relationship between augmented reality features and product uncertainty reduction are moderated by product involvement, need for sensory richness and self-brand connection. Ultimately, the reduction of product uncertainty leads to positive product attitude.     

Hurry up! The effect of pop-up stores’ ephemerality on consumers’ intention to visit

Retail has responded to the continuing shift in consumer preferences toward ephemerality and immediacy with pop-up stores: temporary, experiential store formats. Considering pop-ups’ widespread application, it is important to identify which store characteristics attract visitors. Research has pinpointed the pop-up experience as affecting consumer behavior. However, experience does not exclusively define pop-ups but applies to all experiential stores. Our work suggests that pop-ups’ distinguishing feature – ephemerality – leads consumers to anticipate limited product assortments, thus driving intention to visit. Considering pop-ups’ target group – consumers with a high need for uniqueness (NFU) – an exclusive, limited product assortment has a stronger effect on intention to visit for consumers with a high NFU.     

The mediation effects of consumers’ need recognition and pre-purchase evaluation in consumers’ decision-making on purchasing safe street food: The case in Nakhon Si Thammarat,Thailand

Nakhon Si Thammarat province is one of the largest cities in Thailand and offers various types of street foods in the city. However, the number of street vendors that pass food safety certification is very low. Nevertheless, there are many consumers who still purchase street food because of their lifestyle who are exposed to food safety risks. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate how consumers make their decisions about the safety of the street food. This study investigates the importance of the need recognition and pre-purchase evaluation stages in consumers’ decision-making in relation to their purchasing of safe street food. The results from the structural equation modeling analysis found that, at 95%, the confidential need recognition would act as a partial mediator between consumers’ motivation → pre-purchase evaluation on purchasing safe food and consumers’ food safety knowledge → pre-purchase evaluation. In turn, pre-purchase evaluation would act as a full mediator between consumers’ motivation and safe street food purchasing. The findings signify that the stages of need recognition and pre-purchase evaluation in the decision-making process are important in order to reduce consumers' food risk while purchasing street food. Therefore, encouraging consumers to recognize the importance of purchasing safe food and convincing them to be concerned when selecting food is necessary to prevent consumers from unsafe food consumption.     

The effect of COVID-19 on consumers’ channel shopping behaviors: A segmentation study

COVID-19, combined with firms' multichannel adjustments, has accelerated changes in consumer shopping behaviors. This paper explores these issues through a segmentation study to examine consumers’ pre- and during-COVID-19 channel shopping behavior. Using survey data from 485 U.S. participants, Latent Profile Analysis identified six segments that vary in three dimensions: in-store vs. online behavior pre-COVID-19, in-store vs. online behavior during-COVID-19, and the change in channel shopping behavior from pre- to during-COVID-19. Motivation (utilitarian and hedonic), opportunity (time and physical), and ability play significant roles in explaining the findings, while psychographic and demographic variables play lesser roles. Further analysis revealed that these segments have different channel switching intentions when the focal retailer closed its physical store. These findings add greater understanding and support to the assumption that consumers more frequently shopped online than in-store during- than pre-COVID-19. In sum, this research addresses how changes in the shopping environment may affect consumer segments and their behavior.     

The effect of result publicity on self-serving attributional bias —— a social comparison perspective

Self-serving bias suggests that people tend to attribute success to internal factors and attribute failure to external factors (Bradley, J Pers Soc Psychol 36:56–71,1978; Miller and Ross, Psychol Bull 82:213–225,1975). However, the results of the attribution of failure are not always consistent. Some studies have found that people attribute failure to external factors (Snyder, Stephan, & Rosenfileld, 1976) and others suggest that people attribute failure to internal factors (Ross et al., J Pers Soc Psychol 29:609–618,1974). I tested self-serving bias in two different contexts in mainland China: in one, test results were public (students had access to each other’s test results) and in the other, test results were private (students only had access to his/her own results). When a context triggers individuals to compare themselves to others, individuals may alter their attribution of failure in order to preserve their self-image and self-esteem. Data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA, and the results show that in a public context people tend to attribute failure more to external factors than to themselves. Also, results suggest that people attribute failure less to themselves in a public context than in a private context.     

The effect of technology management capability on new product development in China’s service-oriented manufacturing firms: a social capital perspective

Abstract

Technology management capability (TMC) and new product development (NPD) are important for China’s service-oriented manufacturers to achieve competitive advantage. In this study, TMC is conceptualized as comprising of four sub-level capabilities: searching, selecting, implementation and learning capabilities. Drawing from the theory of social capital, we hypothesize that social capital plays a role in the relationship between TMC and NPD performance. Our findings indicate that NPD performance and social capital are influenced by all the four sub-capabilities of TMC but the effect of each capability of TMC varies. Selecting capability is more significantly and positively related with NPD performance, while learning capability exerts the most significant positive effect on social capital. Moreover, our empirical findings indicate the partial mediating role of social capital in the process of TMC influencing NPD performance. This study makes a particular contribution to the literature by providing a more complete understanding of how social capital plays a role in the relationship between TMC and NPD performance. In terms of managerial implications, our results indicate that improving TMC is essential in enhancing a service-oriented manufacturing firm’s NPD performance. Managers should also pay particular attention to nurturing social capital as a pathway to realize the true value of TMC.     

The effect of sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment on consumers’ intention to consume risky foods in restaurants

Sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment have been studied extensively, but limited research has been conducted on “risky foods.” This study explored how sensation seeking, emotional brand attachment, and risky food consumption varies demographically, and the relationships among those variables. Approximately 300 responses were collected from a restaurant serving “risky” and “nonrisky” foods. Significant differences included that consumption of raw/undercooked fish/eggs was higher in younger groups. Females showed more affection toward emotionally attached restaurants. The hypotheses testing showed the positive relationship from sensation seeking and emotional attachment to risky food consumption. Results offer information about marketing to different demographic groups.     

The effect of credit card versus mobile payment on convenience and consumers’ willingness to pay

Extant literature on payment methods has focused on comparing cash and credit cards and emphasized the lower pain of paying (i.e., fewer negative consequences) for the latter. This finding, in turn, explains why consumers express higher willingness to pay (WTP) when paying with credit cards. The current study introduces mobile technology as a new payment method to this literature. Specifically, it highlights convenience as a positive driver of increased WTP for mobile payment. However, for consumers to perceive mobile payment as convenient, a personal adoption (enabled through an existing system in the respective country market) is necessary. A set of three studies across several country markets tests these assumptions empirically. Convenience emerges as a new mediator between mobile payment and increased WTP, contingent on personal adoption. These findings thus extend extant literature on the mechanisms consumers use with different payment methods, and they offer differentiated recommendations regarding payment channels for country managers.     

The effect of trust in management on salespeople’s selling orientation

Marketing Letters - In the following study, a sales rep hard-selling orientation is much more influenced by the hard-selling orientation they perceive senior management want them to adopt when (1)...     

The effect of the ‘evoking freedom’ technique on sales in a computer-mediated field setting

The ‘evoking freedom’ technique is a verbal compliance procedure which solicits someone to comply with a request by simply telling a person that he/she is free to accept or to refuse the request. However, the effect of this technique has never been tested in a selling context. Previous customers (N = 900) of an extreme sports store were solicited by email to participate in a campaign where they were offered a gift voucher if they persuaded someone to become a new customer of the store. According to the case, the email contained a sentence that stated that they were free to participate or not in the operation. It was found that the ‘evoking freedom’ condition was associated with a higher number of new customers (+8.4%) than the control condition (+4.7%).     

The impact of retailers’ sustainability and price on consumers’ responses in different cultural contexts

Consumers want sustainability, but at what price? With growing demands for environmental and social sustainability, retailers aim to understand how consumers might react to adaptations in retail practices. This research examines consumers’ perceptions towards retailers’ environmental and social sustainability practices and the moderating effect of price in different cultural contexts. Quantitative research methodology using scenario-based experiments was employed. Two experiments were conducted using research participants from the US (a more individualist country) and Turkey (a more collectivist country) and measured one dimension of culture, individualism versus collectivism. The results reveal that high prices negatively moderate consumers’ response to retailers’ sustainability efforts. Even though there is no significant interaction between either type of sustainability and price on purchase intention, high sustainability along with a low-price strategy leads to an increase in consumers’ commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that high prices have a more negative effect on consumers’ responses in a collectivist country. This study highlights the importance of price in both individualist and collectivist cultures and provides a better understanding of a neglected dimension of sustainability, social sustainability. Managers need to be aware of the increasing demand from consumers for environmentally and socially sustainable practices but need to recognize that consumers may not be willing to pay more for these products. Companies need to formulate business strategies based on low priced-sustainable products and the cultural context of the country in which they operate.     

The effect of distribution channel diversification of foreign luxury fashion brands on consumers’ brand value and loyalty in the Korean market

The purpose of this research is to examine South Korean consumers’ brand value and brand loyalty toward foreign luxury fashion brands and current distribution channels for those brands (i.e., Department stores/Specialty stores, Factory outlet, Internet retailing, TV home shopping). Furthermore, this research examines the impact of channel diversification on consumers’ brand value and brand loyalty toward foreign luxury fashion brands. This study employed a quantitative research method. Factor analysis, ANOVA, Duncan test, and multiple regression analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. When testing brand values for each channel diversification case, participants evaluated brand value differently depending on the type of distribution channel. Participants did not show significantly different brand loyalty depending on distribution diversification cases. When the influence of brand value on brand loyalty was tested, different brand values affected brand loyalty depending on the type of distribution channel. Also, this research could suggest possible distribution channel options for foreign luxury brands to be successful in the Korean market and values they need to put an importance depending on the retail types. In addition, foreign luxury brands could apply the results of this study to their own markets.     

The impact of supply disruption risk on a retailer’s pricing and procurement strategies in the presence of a substitute product

Retailers often experience stockouts when a supplier fails to deliver an order. In this paper, we identify the optimal procurement policy of a multi-product retailer in the presence of possible supply disruptions. Our analysis reveals that, in anticipation of potential supply disruptions, a retailer would typically benefit from ordering more units from a reliable supplier and fewer units from an unreliable one. Furthermore, the total number of units ordered may increase when there is supply disruption risk. As a result, the retailer may overstock some items. However, there are situations in which a retailer would optimally respond to supply uncertainty by consolidating its selling strategy around the unreliable supplier’s product. Under such a strategy, we find the surprising result that the retailer reduces the amount it orders from a reliable supplier as an unreliable seller becomes even less reliable. We also explore how supply disruptions can affect a retailer’s optimal pricing strategy. We find that under certain conditions, it is beneficial for a retailer to lower its price of a substitute product when one supplier fails to deliver its product. Finally, we find that, on net, consumers may benefit from supply uncertainty even though supply disruptions eliminate access to a desirable product.