Struggles in optimal labelling: how different consumers react to various labels for genetically modified foods

The labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods is an important policy issue, as consumers' attitudes towards these foods appear to be quite sensitive to information about their potential benefits and risks. Because it is difficult for labels to differ across consumers, differences in reactions to label information could lead to conflicts across consumer groups or to different market outcomes. Using factor and cluster analysis, we uncover three consumer segments with different attitudes to the risks and benefits of GM foods. Our segmentation‐based analysis on consumer reactions to information points out important differences across consumers. Not only did we find differences across segments in how they view the credibility of GM‐related information, we also find differences in how information influences segments' perceptions of the product, and in their likelihood to buy.     

Subsidiary Capacity Building in Emerging Markets: How Japanese MNEs Sequence Market Entry and Development Strategies in India

This paper asks the pragmatic question of how and to what extent firms build subsidiary competitiveness over time. By merging international business and international marketing theory, we integrate the unconnected discourses on market entry, development, product sequencing, and diffusion. The context of our research questions is marketing and entry strategies of four Japanese firms in India. All have had to learn the sequencing of both entry and product diversification. While strategies vary between the firms, the cases exhibit that entry and product diversification decisions are interlinked. Market entry configurations are central for developing market‐led solutions in large emerging markets. This study offers insights into how Japanese MNEs build subsidiary competitiveness when faced with the early stages of the Indian consumer market take‐off. Second, through the integration of international business and international marketing theory, we find that new product performance and international diversification interact in specific ways, and this contributes to future theoretical developments. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Efficiency Sorting Among Foreign Affiliates: Evidence From China

This paper uses a large micro‐level data set to investigate the efficiency sorting pattern of foreign affiliates serving different markets. We find systematic differences among the attributes of foreign affiliates serving the local and overseas markets. Affiliates serving only the host country market are the most productive, the most capitalintensive and the most skill‐intensive. Affiliates serving only the international market are the most unskilled and labour‐intensive, the least efficient, pay the lowest wages and invest least in innovation and advertising. Affiliates serving both markets offer high wages and invest most in innovation and advertising. The results also suggest that the most productive affiliates choose to serve the host country market, whereas the least efficient affiliates target the international market.     

Competent consumers? Consumer competence profiles in Norway

Consumer competence is increasingly important in today’s commercialized society. This paper refers to some main findings from a national representative survey on consumer competences and practices in Norway. To be a competent consumer, it is decisive to be informed about products and to be familiar with how markets function. In this paper, consumers’ self‐reported efforts to keep themselves informed about specific markets is treated as an indicator of consumer competence. First, the results indicate that Norwegian consumers’ competence, according to their own judgement, is rather mediocre. Second, different groups of consumers seem to have different consumer competence profiles. Accordingly, we find that some consumers are price‐conscious in their daily purchases, others are price‐conscious when they make their yearly dispositions in the financial markets, while a third group is community‐oriented and active in the environmentally friendly and ethical product markets. Third, the analysis indicates that consumer competence is an important indicator of how market‐rational and reflective consumers’ choices and practices are.     

Understanding consumer decision making in grocery markets: does attitude-behaviour consistency vary with involvement?

The paper reports on an empirical study of purchase decision making in grocery markets. Against the central research question, 'Does decision making become more extensive with more involved product purchases?', measurements of attitude- behaviour consistency were made in three product fields which are known to engender significantly different levels of consumer involvement. The extended Fishbein model was used as the metaphor for purchase decision making and models were estimated for each product field using LISREL VII to determine the fit between product and normative beliefs, behavioural intention and actual purchasing behaviours. The results of our analysis are consistent with prior theory and support the hypothesis that the efficacy of the model in grocery markets increases as the purchase involvement increases. The implications for marketing communications within each market are discussed and the limitations of our research design are highlighted.     

From quantity to quality: understanding slow fashion consumers for sustainability and consumer education

There is a growing interest in slow fashion, a production method which emphasizes quality as a way of achieving sustainability in the fashion industry. In order to develop a sophisticated and targeted marketing strategy, this study aimed to identify potential slow fashion consumer segments and understand their characteristics. The final 221 completed responses from a sample of nationwide U.S. consumers were analyzed by cluster analysis. Based on consumer orientation to slow fashion, four consumer groups were identified: Highly‐involved in slow fashion group, Conventional group, Exclusivity oriented group and Low‐involved in slow fashion group. The characteristics of each group were profiled according to personal values, apparel consumption behaviours and demographics. With distinctive profiles of each group, different marketing strategies were suggested to address the needs of each group effectively. This study extends academic understanding of slow fashion in consumer perspectives, and provides important perspectives for consumer education on apparel consumption.     

多元农产品购买渠道下城市居民的选择和感知效用因素分析

文章基于1251位城市居民在早市摊贩、农贸市场、超市和社区便利店这四种生鲜农产品购买渠道的选择行为基础上,以主观感知效用为理论框架,使用Multinomial Logistic模型,分析了影响选择的产品效用、购买效用和其它效用,结果发现：四种渠道的选择相互独立;在产品效用中,安全卫生和新鲜程度对超市和社区便利店的选择具有显著的影响,而新鲜程度显著影响了居民选择农贸市场和早市摊贩,价格因素与四种渠道都是显著相关的;在购买效用中,购买环境和农贸市场具有正相关关系,距离便利与农贸市场和社区便利店显著正相关,距离便利店和早市摊贩显著负相关;居民个人的性别、年龄、学历、家庭人口数和所在行业等因素也影响了渠道选择     

Emerging cyborg products: An ethical market approach for market segmentation

Cyborg products are already available on today's market. They are a potentially large market offering extraordinary opportunities and challenges for businesses. Becoming a cyborg involves many ethical aspects that can be explored from a consumer behavior perspective. However, while these ethical variables have been used in several market analyses, none has examined their potential use for market segmentation in disruptive markets such as the one for cyborg products. We use the Composite Multidimensional Ethics Scale (Composite MES) to explore ethical judgments regarding cyborg products in a sample of 1563 university students in seven countries. Our findings show that all ethical judgment dimensions contribute in the same way and with similar intensity to cyborg market segmentation. We identify three potential market segments. These segments exhibit different characteristics with regard not only to their willingness to become a cyborg but also to their technology acceptance analysis dimensions. We make recommendations for the ethical exploration of this emerging market.     

International versus domestic entrepreneurship: New venture strategic behavior and industry structure

International entrepreneurship is defined in this study as the development of international new ventures or start-ups that, from their inception, engage in international business, thus viewing their operating domain as international from the initial stages of the firm's operation.One hundred and eighty-eight new venture firms in the computer and communications equipment manufacturing industries are classified according to the percentage of their sales in the international market. Ventures with no sales derived from international activities are considered “domestic” new ventures, and ventures with sales from international activities comprising greater than 5% of total sales are considered “international” new ventures.The strategy and industry structure profiles of international new ventures are significantly different from domestic new ventures. The internationals pursue much broader market-based strategies, seeking a strategy of broad market coverage through developing and controlling numerous distribution channels, serving numerous customers in diverse market segments, and developing high market or product visibility. The internationals also emphasize a more aggressive entry strategy, building on outside financial and production resources to enter numerous geographical markets on a large scale. Securing patent technology is also an important component of their strategy. This suggests that the internationals compete by entering the industry on a large scale, seeking to penetrate multiple markets, with the recognition that external resources are necessary to support such an entry.Whereas both the domestics and the internationals characterize domestic competition as being relatively intense, the international new ventures compete in industries with higher levels of international competition. It is not clear from this research whether the new venture selects an industry with a high degree of international competition and therefore responds with an international orientation or, because the new venture has an international orientation, it perceives or recognizes a higher degree of international competition. Another industry structure difference is the internationals' perceived higher degree of restrictiveness due to government regulation. It is unclear whether this restrictiveness motivates new ventures to seek less-regulated international environments or if it indicates that when competing internationally, the new venture is confronted with increased regulatory requirements.Domestic new ventures are distinguished by their emphasis on a production expansion strategy and customer specialization strategy. The production specialization strategy consists of focusing on limited geographical markets, maintaining excess capacity, and pursuing forward integration. The customer specialization strategy incorporates the production of a specialty product that is purchased infrequently. Thus, for both of the domestic strategies, a consistent “closeness” between the producer and consumer is implied. This may be an important basis underlining the new venture's decision to compete in an exclusive domestic context.This study offers initial support for the notion of international entrepreneurship by its findings that there are significant differences between new venture firms competing domestically and new ventures choosing to also enter international markets.     

Does country matter in urban organic food products consumption?

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of finding international consumer segments in the organic food product (OFP) market. For that purpose, the power of country of residence in discriminating between urban frequent, occasional and non‐consumers of OFP was evaluated; and the most appropriate international segmentation bases for that market were studied. In order to achieve this goal, a survey of organic food consumers from Lisbon (Portuguese) and Berlin (German) was implemented through a structured questionnaire. Upon this, factorial and discriminant analysis was applied to the data. The results highlight the significance of the “Country” variable when distinguishing between groups of urban OFP consumers and non‐consumers as well as between frequent and occasional urban OFP consumers. The different levels of OFP consumption are mostly explained by the level of declared “OFP knowledge”. Therefore, we can conclude that in order to increase the consumption of OFP and dilute the effect of the country variable and to be able to work with international segments, marketers should aim to increase awareness and knowledge on these products. It is important to mention that this study was based on a non‐probabilistic sample and, consequently, generalizations of its conclusions must be made with care.     

Gendered consumer competences in households with one vs. two adults1

Consumption is gendered. Some markets can be described as female‐dominated, while others can be described as male‐dominated consumer areas. The departure of this article is observed gender differences in consumer competences, measured by men and women's self‐reported efforts to stay informed on different markets. Three central gender research hypotheses are applied to investigate the observed gender differences in consumer competences. Nowadays, modern consumer markets are characterized by abundance, complexity and rapid changes, making it hardly possible for any consumer to master all markets he or she operates in. Because very much of the consumption takes place within the households, it should be convenient to live in a household with two adult persons who can share responsibilities and stay informed on the different segments of the markets. However, many households consist of only one adult person. Our main concern has been to investigate whether the observed gender differences in consumer competences could be explained by the specializing hypothesis, i.e. that the gendered pattern relies on a gendered division of consumer competences within couple households; in other words, that gender differences in consumer competences among single‐person households should be absent, or significantly lower, than among couple households. In case we would not find support for the specializing hypothesis, two other probable explanations are also put forward: the traditional gender difference hypothesis and the selection hypothesis. These three hypotheses are tested in a data material based on 2000 telephone interviews from the SIFO survey, collected in 2007.     

The Influence of Negative Information on Purchase Behaviour

This was a longitudinal study that examined consumer reactions to hazardous product incidents. The purpose of this study was to examine consumer responses to product safety hazard incidents over time, and to identify demographic groups that are either most resistant or most affected by hazard incidents. The results suggest that in the first year after an incident, the crisis managers had only limited control over adverse effects to negative information. In the longer term, consumer reactions were still rather uniform and severe in most of the cases. The effects are examined in the context of key market segments for each product, and with regard to company responses to the incidents. Managers should expect strong negative reactions from some demographic subgroups over time and are advised to closely monitor the impact of hazardous incidents on their target markets.     

Using emotional benefits as a differentiation strategy in saturated markets

The high level of product substitution in most consumer markets often makes it difficult to match supply with demand, especially in sectors with mature, saturated markets with intense competition and a high degree of product differentiation. The difficulty of using technical characteristics such as quality and/or price to differentiate products suggests that marketers could profit from gaining more insight into the way in which consumers' purchase decisions are influenced by their perceived emotions. This paper investigates this issue in the wine market, a highly saturated market with homogeneous supply, obtaining results that appear to support the notion that emotions do indeed play a part in consumer choice structures, which show a higher degree of abstraction in those segments that report a greater number of perceived emotions. This considerably complicates the task of creating a differentiated marketing strategy, in the sense that suppliers need to give much greater consideration to consumers' self‐awareness. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Applying the marketing concept to design new products

This article is an empirical application of the marketing concept in the design of new product offerings in the area of religious instructional materials. The general approach and methodology of this research should be appropriate for many types of consumer products and organizations. The marketing concept was applied to the design of religious instructional materials in this study through an empirical investigation of the values, attitudes, and perceived needs of key market populations. The study consisted of determination of perceived needs for alternative topics, identification of educational themes around which specific topics could be integrated into instructional packages, and assessment of the importance of these themes across alternative market segments. A total of 1161 respondents (464 pastors and 697 lay members) completed a mail questionnaire which solicited their perceptions of themselves and the domain of the church in their lives. Respondents also indicated the level of importance they placed on alternative instructional topics. The data were analyzed through the use of multivariate techniques to provide understanding and interpretation of the perceived needs of alternative market segments. Results of the analyses were very useful in determining which instructional packages to develop and the target markets for each package.     

Segmentation of impulse buyers in an emerging market – An exploratory study

Impulse buying promises to be a dominant buying behaviour in the highly conducive environment of emerging markets like India. However, existing research in these markets is largely within the context of product or market driven factors with inadequate focus on psychological exploration. The present study emphasizes on the role of an individual with underlying personality trait of impulse buying tendency being the focal point of the planned investigation. It uses the knowledge of impulse buying tendency and its contextual indicators as an effective taxonomical tool to profile the retail consumers’ psychologically and capture their demographic diversity. The analysis identifies and profiles three distinct impulse buying consumer segments: proactive impulsive, hesitant-hedonist and pragmatic-rationalist; thus providing manufacturers and retailers an effective marketing tool to address different consumer groups.     

Local Versus Visitor Perceptions of Farmers’ Markets

There has been an increasing focus on the local food movement and farmers’ markets that supply this food. Most studies have focused on profiling the consumer or motivations for purchasing local food; however, few have focused on the differences in those who frequent such tourism offerings. The purpose of this research study, therefore, was to examine differences between visitors and residents regarding motivations and preferences for buying local and organic food at farmers’ markets. There has been an increasing focus on the local food market due to food security awareness, consumer responsibility, and food trends such as the 100-mile diet and preference of local and organic. Using 322 completed surveys, responses were analyzed to examine significant differences. The results show a difference in motivations of visitors and locals in regard to their frequenting of farmers markets, as well as the frequency of their use. Increasingly within tourism there has been a focus on the local or authentic tourism experience; therefore, understanding the differences in visitor preferences may help both destinations and the markets themselves to cater to different preferences among their clientele.     

Vaping Viewpoints: A Multi‐Segment Understanding of E‐Cigarette Risk Perceptions

Electronic cigarettes (e‐cigarettes) are battery‐operated devices used to deliver nicotine by vapor and are positioned as a safer alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. As a recent entrant to the market, little is known about how consumers perceive the health risks of these devices, raising the question of whether consumers are making informed product adoption and use choices. Study 1 evaluates different consumer usage segments (vapers, smokers, dual users, and nonusers) in terms of their level of perceived risk. Study 2 examines how different groups of consumers' risk perceptions are influenced by on‐ad warning labels. Results show that vapers operate as a distinct consumer segment with lower perceptions of harm than other segments, although illustrate greater likelihood to respond to health messaging and on‐ad warning information.     

Antecedents of consumer attitudes toward mobile marketing: A comparative study of youth markets in the United States and China

The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing consumers' attitudes toward mobile marketing across two major markets—the United States and China. Drawing upon the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of reasoned action (TRA), and the perceived characteristics of innovations theory (PCI), we develop and test a conceptual model examining the joint influences of TAM constructs (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) and individual characteristics (personal attachment, innovativeness, risk avoidance, and privacy concern) and on consumer attitudes toward mobile marketing practices. Focusing on youth consumers, we empirically test the model using data collected in an established (United States) and an emerging market (China). Findings across these two markets reflect cross‐market similarities and differences related to consumers' attitudes toward mobile marketing. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Consumer responses to different degrees of advertising adaptation: the moderating role of national openness to foreign markets

We investigate the moderating role of national openness to foreign markets on consumer responses (attitude to ad, brand and purchase intention) to different degrees of advertising adaptation in Belgium, Iran and India. We operationalize three levels of advertising adaptation (standardization, glocalization and adaptation) by manipulating the model (international versus local celebrity) and advertising copy (international versus local advertising copy). The results show that societies with a low openness to foreign markets respond more positively to fully adapted ads than to glocalized and standardized ads. The differences in responses decrease with national openness.     

Country and consumer segmentation: multi-level latent class analysis of financial product ownership

The financial services sector has internationalized over the last few decades. Important differences and similarities in financial behavior can be anticipated between both consumers within a particular country and those living in different countries. For companies in this market, the appropriate choice between strategic options and the resulting international performance may critically depend on the cross-national market structure of the various financial products. Insight into country segments and international consumer segments based on domain-specific behavioral variables will therefore be of key strategic importance. We present a multi-level latent class framework for obtaining simultaneously such country and consumer segments. In an empirical study, we apply this methodology and several alternative modeling approaches to data on ownership of eight financial products. Information is available for 15 European countries, with a sample size of about 1000 consumers per country. We find that both country segments and consumer segments are highly interpretable. Also, consumer segmentation is related to demographic variables such as age and income. Our conclusions feature implications, both academic and managerial, and directions for future research.