Consumers' identification and beyond: Attraction,reverence, and escapism in the evaluation of films

Secondary real‐world data on evaluations by the general public of the 440 movies ever nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award are used to explore the role of female/male consumers' identification with the leading actress/actor in determining judgments of motion picture excellence. Beyond identification, age‐ and gender‐based similarities with other movie components—namely, the leading opposite‐gender star, the director, and the setting—underlie other potential psychological mechanisms relevant to explaining the evaluations of films. Contrary to expectations, the findings indicate that identification with the same‐gender, same‐age leading star plays no signifi‐cant role. Conversely, younger opposite‐gender leading stars, older directors, and unfamiliar temporal settings contribute to favorable evaluations—thereby supporting the hypotheses of romantic attraction as a source of star power; reverence toward more mature directors; and an eagerness to escape from ordinary life, respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Interactive influence of genre familiarity,star power,and critics' reviews in the cultural goods industry: The case of motion pictures

Academic research pertaining to the marketing of cultural products such as Broadway shows, books, music, and movies has identified a product's genre (or type), star power, and critics' reviews as important factors influencing the market performance of an individual product. Prior research, however, has not investigated the joint influences of these factors. The current study extends previous research by empirically investigating the managerially relevant interactive influences of these factors within the context of the motion‐picture industry. For example, should producers of more familiar genre movies, such as dramas and comedies, feature popular, but expensive, stars? Real‐world data from two distinct time periods are used to test the hypotheses. The findings are consistent across the two time periods and reveal that for more familiar genre movies, star power and the valence of critics' reviews have less impact on the movie's performance in the market. In contrast, for the less familiar genre movies, stronger (vs. weaker) star power and more (vs. less) positive reviews have positive influence on the market performance. Further, for movies with less star power, the valence of critics' reviews has no impact on the performance. In contrast, for movies with greater star power, more (less) positive reviews have positive (negative) influence on movie performance. Managerial and theoretical implications, along with limitations of the findings and directions for future research, are offered. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reviewing the reviewers: The impact of individual film critics on box office performance

Critics and their opinions or critical reviews play a major role in many markets. Marketing research on how critics impact product performance has so far examined an aggregate critic effect. An obstacle in studies examining the relationship of aggregate critical opinion and product sales is the close association between the intrinsic quality of a product and the aggregate opinion regarding the product. Our analysis parses out these two effects, allowing us to distinguish individual critics who are simply good at identifying products with popular appeal from those who act as opinion leaders and engender early product sales. The role of critics is especially prominent in the film business, in which one finds multiple expert opinions about each movie and where critics’ endorsements are used in advertising. In the context of the motion picture industry, our research investigates the impact of individual film critics on the market performance of movies, where specific key critics and reviewers may serve as market gatekeepers, and where various critics may have different types of impacts on product performance.

To trust or not to trust? The interplay between labor-related CSR claim type and prior CSR reputation of apparel retailers

Prevalent human rights violations in supply chains have tarnished apparel retailers' reputations, heightening skepticism toward CSR communication. We examine the effect of labor-related CSR claim type (associative vs. substantive) on message credibility, skepticism, and retailer trust. Moreover, to determine whether CSR reputation plays a role in vulnerability to criticism, we investigate how a retailer's prior CSR reputation moderates the effect of CSR claim type on consumer evaluations. Applying the framework of decoupling and cognitive dissonance theory, we propose hypotheses and test them with an online experiment. We reveal that associative CSR claims, which communicate image-oriented rather than concrete information, significantly diminish message credibility and retailer trust, while triggering skepticism. A significant interaction effect further demonstrates that when a retailer's prior CSR reputation is negative, associative claims exacerbate message credibility. Our findings also indicate that positive CSR reputations do not always create a buffering halo effect. We discuss implications to develop optimal CSR communication strategies for apparel retailers.     

Improving the Effect of Guarantees: The Role of a Retailer's Reputation

This research examines the interaction of two cues, retailer reputation and guarantees on evaluations. Extending Mandler's (1982) incongruity framework, we illustrate across three studies how moderately incongruent signals can be combined to enhance evaluations. Unique to our application of moderate incongruity, however, is the fact that guarantee cues can be incongruent with the retailer's reputation, in terms of domain (e.g., price matching guarantee (PMG) offered by provider whose reputation is based on service, not pricing) or valence (e.g., PMG offered by retailer known for carrying expensive merchandize). This dual perspective on the source of incongruity (domain or valence) is important and highlights when guarantees enhance evaluations.     

Who are these people? Personality traits and judgments about trade secret misappropriation in post‐employment activities

Trade secret theft is a problem that almost all organizations face. The greatest threat is employee mobility and potential unethical post‐employment behavior. This study investigates the role of individual personality traits in judgments about trade secret misappropriation. Our hypotheses were tested in three studies addressing three different situational contexts: current employees, employees about to be laid off, and students who had quit their job. Relationships were estimated with robust regression. The results show that some personality traits predict judgment about another person's trade secret misappropriation, and that the situational context in which individuals formulate their ethical judgment moderates the impact of personality traits on ethical judgment.     

The role of preconsumption affect in postpurchase evaluation of services

The primary objective of this article is to examine the impact of preconsumption affect on consumers' postpurchase evaluations. More specifically, we wanted to investigate how the two basic dimensions of affect—pleasure and arousal—contribute to customer evaluations of different types of services. To test our hypotheses, four service settings reflecting the quadrants in Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect were chosen. Data were collected at two points of time: at the preprocess stage and immediately after the core service delivery. The results of this study suggest that pleasure and arousal, the two dimensions of emotional responses to the preprocess service environment, may interact in determining postpurchase evaluations. The interaction effect was observed for global satisfaction judgments and for repeat purchase behavior, thus suggesting that the combined effects of arousal and pleasure need to be considered in the design of preconsumption service settings. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Effectiveness of brand placement: New insights about viewers

Since traditional media have become saturated, the technique of product placement has been attracting growing interest. This research explores new insights concerning viewers' reactions during a second viewing of a movie. A sample of 3532 French viewers of DVDs has been used to link the way the movie was chosen, viewed and appreciated (or not) with a spontaneous brand placement recall, the day after the film was watched at home. Results make a contribution to strengthening professionals' interest in the technique, and to adding to academic knowledge of the topic. A first viewing of the movie at the cinema improves brand placement recall, as does watching the movie at home on a large home cinema screen. Such an improvement also occurs when a DVD movie is chosen either because of the movie director or when the viewer likes the movie.     

The Differential Effects of Online Word-of-Mouth and Critics' Reviews on Pre-release Movie Evaluation

In this paper, we examine the persuasive influences of online user comments (or word-of-mouth) and of the reviews by movie critics on moviegoers' evaluation of to-be-released movies. Two distinctive features of this study are: (1) moviegoers are considered to be heterogeneous in their movie going frequency and (2) word-of-mouth and critical reviews are concurrently available, and the views expressed in the two messages are in conflict. Using three experiments with natural stimuli, we find that the persuasive effect of online word-of-mouth is stronger on infrequent than on frequent moviegoers, especially when it is negative (Study 1). The effect of negative word-of-mouth on infrequent moviegoers is enduring even in the presence of positive reviews by movie critics (Study 2). The relative influence of word-of-mouth and critical reviews are asymmetric with infrequent moviegoers more influenced by word-of-mouth, while frequent moviegoers more influenced by the reviews (Study 3). We validate this source–segment alignment through secondary data analysis.     

To Defend or Not to Defend? How Responses to Negative Customer Review Affect Prospective customers' Distrust and Purchase Intention

Negative online reviews are a ubiquitous problem that affects every online seller at some point. It can lead to prospective consumers' distrust and decrease future purchase intention. Therefore, formulating a proper response is essential for minimizing these negative effects. Based on the ability–motivation paradigm and stability attribution, we find that apology works better when the alleged cause is relatively unstable (e.g., competence-based negative review) and when the seller has a high ability to change. However, when the alleged cause is relatively stable (e.g., integrity-based negative review) or when the seller has a low ability to change, we show that it is better for the seller to defend its reputation. In addition, we demonstrate that a remedial action plan in the seller's response can reinforce the motivation to change communicated through apology. Thus, coupled with a remedial action plan, apology works better than defending one's reputation, regardless of the negative online review type.     

酒店试睡员的点评模式及其商业价值

酒店试睡员的诞生拓宽了酒店预定第三方平台的营销思路,也从客观上促进酒店产品与服务质量的提升。酒店试睡员利用网络社交媒体对酒店进行点评,形成相对稳定的点评模式:通过图文结合或者视频、音频的方式,评价酒店的产品、设施、服务质量、环境等,从而与网络平台上的众多消费者进行分享、互动。解析试睡员的点评模式,发现其背后存在一定商业价值:表现在试睡员点评影响在线预定市场和消费者的消费决策,丰富消费者的消费体验,提升酒店的服务质量水平,提高酒店知名度。     

The Impact of “Encouragement” in the Development of Professionals for the Non-Profit Service Sector

Abstract

This study examines the role of perceived intent in the context of penalty evaluation. Based on prior attribution research, the study proposes that customers' responses to penalties are different depending on their perceptions of the organization's intent of using penalties. Using the data collected across the service industry, the study shows that when customers perceive the organization's intent as defensive rather than offensive, their evaluations of the penalty and the organization (e.g., perceived justice, satisfaction, behavioral intentions) are more positive than when they do not. Managerial implications are offered.     

Antecedents and consequences of consumers' attribution style: Measuring the impact of negative celebrity information

This study investigates the antecedents and consequences of consumers' attribution styles in the evaluation of negative celebrity information. In its evaluation of negative celebrity information, this study examines the effects of consumers' different attribution styles, level of identification with a celebrity endorser, and level of brand commitment. To test its hypotheses, the study employs a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject factorial design. The three factors are attribution style, level of identification with a celebrity endorser, and level of brand commitment. Conducted through the Internet, the experiment recruited a total of 229 students from a southwestern university in the USA. The study found that people making dispositional attributions judged the endorsed brand more negatively than those making situational attributions. Confronted with negative celebrity information, consumers who identified highly with the celebrity were likely to maintain a positive attitude toward a brand and continue purchasing it. In the same conditions, people with high brand commitment showed more positive brand evaluation as well as higher purchase intention than people with low brand commitment. The research findings contribute to a better understanding of the effects of negative celebrity information on consumer attitudes and beliefs.     

Neutralizing the shamefulness judgements of materialistic buyer behavior: The role of price promotions and the smart‐shopper attribution

As a value and lifestyle of acquiring more things to attain happiness, materialism has been long condemned by religious leaders, philosophers, and psychologists, among others. This criticism comes also from American citizens who readily affix moral‐shamefulness judgments to their country's standing as a leading materialistic culture, while they continue, nonetheless, purchasing discretionary, and self‐presentational goods at breath‐taking levels. We integrate dispersed literature on materialism, moral psychology, American history, and retailing to propose that observers judge higher materialistic buyer behavior as being more morally shameful; however, we also propose that observers will reduce the harshness of their judgments when the buyer secures a favorable price promotion that has been shown in prior research to evoke the smart‐shopper attribution. Three studies provide supportive evidence, including the moderating role of different levels or types of price promotions on shamefulness judgments and the mediating role of the smart‐shopper attribution. Together these new insights reveal the substantive and theoretical knowledge value of considering materialism more intently from a moral psychology perspective and considering how retail promotions can influence materialism judgments and buying behavior. Discussion focuses on extensions of our findings in future research and for consumer education.     

Asset or constraint: Corporate reputation and MNCs’ involvement in the least developed countries

This study investigates the relationship between corporate reputation and a firm's involvement in the least developed countries (LDCs), where the most impoverished base of the pyramid markets are located. We draw upon extant literature in corporate reputation and international business to develop competing hypotheses regarding the foreign investment of the highly reputable firms in the LDCs. Corporate reputation can be a double-edged sword: while it can be a valuable asset to be leveraged in the LDCs, it demands monitoring and protection which might be challenged by a firm's LDC presence, thereby constraining the involvement in LDCs. Our results show that corporate reputation has a negative effect on a firm's foreign direct investment involvement in LDCs, supporting the view that reputation could constrain firm action in uncertain environments. We contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between reputation and international action than that of existing literature.     

Sacred Attributions: Implications for Marketplace Behavior

Prior research in marketing has extensively examined attribution theory and how this influences product evaluations; however, such research has only examined secular attributions to a company, employees, other consumers, or one's self. Thus, through a series of three studies, the research herein examines a new category of attributions—sacred attributions—to determine when consumers make secular versus sacred attributions and how this influences product evaluations. Study 1 shows that religiosity is positively correlated with sacred attributions. Additionally, Study 1 finds that sacred attributions to God are more likely in positive consumption situations, while sacred attributions to Satan are more likely in negative consumption situations. Study 2 finds that God (Satan) attributions lead to positive (negative) product evaluations, and these effects are pervasive, regardless of religious priming. Study 3 increases external validity by using real businesses to show that sacred attributions are greatest for businesses with a sacred value system, although these effects differ based on situational affect. Findings build upon the literature on attribution theory and priming.     

Blissful Insularity: When Brands are Judged in Isolation from Competitors

The need to evaluate a single brand in isolation, without explicit comparisons to competitors, is ubiquitous in consumer judgment because competitors are often not readily apparent. Although consumers routinely make such judgments, in this paper we show that when a brand is judged in isolation, the judgment is often overly favorable. Moreover, we explore when and why this tendency occurs. Data from 259 participants across 3 experiments that considered very different product categories, and that were conducted with student and adult consumer samples, converge to show that; (1) isolated brand evaluations on average are characterized by a favorableness bias, (2) this bias results from consumers' selective processing of information about the focal brand, (3) favorableness bias is attenuated if context leads consumers to consider alternatives to a salient focal brand, and (4) the isolated brand judgments of experts are much better calibrated than are those of novices.     

An empirical investigation of director selection in movie preproduction: A two-sided matching approach

This paper examines how movie producers recruit directors in the preproduction phase as mutual choices in a two-sided matching model. It conceptualizes that movie attributes and filmmaker characteristics determine the matching outcomes (“who directed which movie”) and in turn indirectly affect movie box office. We exploit a dataset of 4,807 feature films from 1990 to 2010 to examine empirically the complementarities between the movie/producer side and the director side in terms of movie budget, filmmaker track records and social relations. A series of simulations suggest that social relations facilitate positive assortative matching. Further simulation analyses are conducted to quantify the financial implications of movie–director mismatches, as well as the indirect effects of production budget and producer characteristics. The simulation results show that: a) the financial implications of having a mismatched director can be substantial; and b) the indirect effect of production budget and producer characteristics affect movie box office in an interactive manner. These findings can help filmmakers to better understand the financial impacts of movie–director choices and make more informed decisions at the early phase of preproduction.     

The role of affect in consumers' temporal judgments

The role of time and mood as consumer behavior constructs has seen increasing independent attention over the past several years. Two studies on the impact of transient affective states on consumers' temporal judgments are reported. In accordance with the research hypotheses, both studies demonstrated strong mood effects on subject's time perception and orientation. The findings were validated across two different mood-inducing manipulations and supported the general theoretical foundation of the mediating roles of affective states on consumers' temporal judgments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

An examination of consumers' use of heuristic cues in making satisfaction judgments

This study was undertaken to investigate the propensity of consumers to rely on heuristic cues when making satisfaction judgments in a repeat-purchase context. The objective of this investigation was twofold: first, to investigate the impact of mood states at the information-encoding stage for both on-line and memory-based judgments, and second, to examine whether information-processing efficiency can provide new insight into the initial-judgment effect in a consumer-behavior context. The results of this experiment indicate that inefficient information processors may be subject to biased satisfaction evaluations caused by their mood states at the information-encoding stage. Efficient information processors, on the other hand, tend to partial out the impact of mood in their postpurchase evaluations. Despite this fact, high-capacity information processors are not free from bias; they seem to be heavily guided by prior judgments in subsequent evaluations of the same consumption object. In sum, motivation rather than ability to process information may be the key factor in a consumer's propensity to use heuristics during the postpurchase evaluation process. The marketing implications of these findings are briefly discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.