A Green Picture is Worth A Thousand Words?: Effects of Visual and Textual Environmental Appeals in Advertising and the Moderating Role of Product Involvement

This study examined the main effects and interaction effects of textual environmental claims and green visuals on attitude-toward-the-ad (A_ad), attitude-toward-the-brand (A_b), purchase intention (PI), and green brand associations. In general, the use of textual environmental claims and green visuals lead to more positive advertising responses and more favorable perception of the brand's environmental effort. Textual environmental claims had stronger impact, but if no textual information was available, the use of green visuals could also generate positive perception of the brand's environmental effort. In addition, when textual claims or green visuals are present, participants perceived high involvement products as more environmentally friendly than low involvement products.     

An Investigation of Egyptian Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Ethical Issues in Advertising

This article investigates Egyptian consumers’ attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising held by a sample of 306 participants. The subjects completed a 20-item instrument originally designed to measure respondents’ attitudes toward controversial issues in advertising. The study validates the scale in an Arab non-Western context. The results revealed that Egyptian consumers have negative attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising. There are significant differences between males’ and females’ perceptions of ethics in advertising. Finally, the study detects a significant difference between Muslims and non-Muslims in Egypt regarding their attitudes toward ethical issues in advertising. These results lend strong support to the adaptation hypothesis and suggest that ads produced in one country cannot be standardized or directly translated for use in another, particularly if they are different culturally.     

Is the Red Dragon Green? An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Environmental Proactivity in China

China is the world’s second largest economy and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, yet we know little about environmental proactivity in the most populated country in the world. We address this gap through a survey of 161 Chinese companies with two respondents per firm (N = 322), where we seek to identify the antecedents and consequences of environmental proactivity. We identify two categorizations of environmental proactivity: Environmental operational improvements and environmental reporting. We find that ecological motivations and regulatory stakeholder pressure are positively related to both types of environmental proactivity, and external stakeholder pressure is negatively related to environmental reporting. Furthermore, we find that (1) if a firm is environmentally proactive (as it relates to either measure) and they are ecologically motivated, there is a positive and significant cost advantage, and (2) if a firm makes use of environmental operational improvement and they are competitively motivated, there is a positive and significant reputation advantage. Implications for researchers, managers, and policy-makers in China are discussed.     

Smoke Gets in Their Eyes? Third-Person Effects of Electronic Cigarette Advertising

This study examined the relationship between smoker status and attitudes toward e-cigarette usage, third-person perceptions of e-cigarette advertising, and support for regulation of e-cigarette advertising within the context of a media-saturated environment. Survey results (n = 615) indicated that participants perceived e-cigarette advertisements as having a more powerful effect on others than on themselves and that nonsmokers perceived this more strongly than did smokers. Nonsmokers were found to have more negative attitudes toward e-cigarette use than smokers. Mediation analysis indicated support for a serial indirect effect of smoker status on support for regulation through attitudes toward e-cigarettes and third-person perceptions.     

Self-Efficacy and Stereotyping in Advertising: Should Consumers Want a Change?

Sex-role stereotyping in advertising has been a controversial issue in the past decade. While studies have shown a disproportionate use of males in authority roles, little research has been done to examine the effects on consumers' self-efficacies. Results from this research indicate that, contrary to expectations, females had higher confidence in their purchase decisions after viewing stereotypical television advertisements. Social implications for advertisers and marketers are discussed.     

Does Religion Affect the Materialism of Consumers? An Empirical Investigation of Buddhist Ethics and the Resistance of the Self

This paper investigates the effects of Buddhist ethics on consumers’ materialism, that is, the propensity to attach a fundamental role to possessions. The literature shows that religion and religiosity influence various attitudes and behaviors of consumers, including their ethical beliefs and ethical decisions. However, most studies focus on general religiosity rather than on the specific doctrinal ethical tenets of religions. The current research focuses on Buddhism and argues that it can tame materialism directly, similar to other religions, and through the specific Buddhist ethical doctrines of the Four Immeasurables: compassion, loving kindness, empathetic joy, and equanimity. The empirical results show the following: (1) Buddhism reduces materialism directly and through some of the Four Immeasurables, and (2) despite the doctrine of non-existence of the self, positive emotions toward the self are still present, and the self absorbs the effects of Buddhist ethics on materialism. The latter finding suggests a “resistance of the self” that is coherent with the idea of a consumer who leverages the self to go beyond it.     

The Role of Spiritual Well-Being and Materialism in Determining Consumers’ Ethical Beliefs: An Empirical Study with Australian Consumers

A survey was conducted to investigate the relationship of Australian consumers’ lived (experienced) spiritual well-being and materialism with the various dimensions of consumer ethics. Spiritual well-being is composed of four domains—personal, communal, transcendental and environmental well-being. All four domains were examined in relation to the various dimensions of consumers’ ethical beliefs (active/illegal dimension, passive dimension, active/legal dimension, ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and ‘doing good’/recycling dimension). The results indicated that lived communal well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/illegal dimension and the passive dimension and was positively related to perceptions of the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and the ‘doing good’/recycling dimension. Lived personal well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/illegal dimension and was positively related to perceptions of the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension and the ‘doing good’/recycling dimension. Lived transcendental well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the passive dimension, the active/legal dimension and the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension. Lived environmental well-being was negatively related to perceptions of the active/legal dimension and the ‘no harm, no foul’ dimension. The findings also indicated that materialism was positively associated with perceptions of actively benefiting from illegal actions, passively benefiting at the expense of the seller, actively benefiting from questionable but legal actions and benefiting from ‘no harm, no foul’ actions. Public policy implications of the findings and opportunities for future research are discussed.     

Green Leather for Ethical Consumers in China and Korea: Facilitating Ethical Consumption with Value–Belief–Attitude Logic

Using an innovative fabrication technique, eco-friendly faux leather (EFFL) has been newly developed as a green leather alternative for the Chinese and Korean markets. Value–belief–attitude logic drawn from the heuristic-systemic model (Zuckmand and Chaiken in Psychol Mark 15(7):621–642, 1998) and value–belief–norm theory (Stern et al. in Environ Behav 27(6):723–743, 1995) is proposed to explicate the consumer acceptance attitudes toward the EFFL product. The findings from the multi-group structural equation modeling analysis of online data (n = 600) support the relevancy of VBA logic in which utilitarian and hedonic value motivate pro-environmental belief, and the EFFL product attributes significantly mediate belief and positive attitude toward the EFFL product. The discrepancies across two countries and two age cohorts are noteworthy when pro-environmental belief and product-related information lead to different consumer VBA processes in specific market segments. This study presents insights which provide novel opportunities for managerial implementations and theoretical advancements in eco-friendly related subjects and issues.     

To Withdraw Or Not To Withdraw? Evaluation of the Mandatory Right of Withdrawal in Consumer Distance Selling Contracts Taking Into Account Its Behavioural Effects on Consumers

The right of withdrawal was introduced to European consumer law as an exception to the general contractual principle of pacta sunt servanda. It has recently been upheld in the Consumer Rights Directive as a mandatory right for consumers concluding distance selling contracts. Among various assessments of this measure a comprehensive evaluation thereof from the point of view of consumers’ interests is lacking. Such an assessment is conducted in this paper with consideration of the effect that the right of withdrawal is likely to have on consumers. The yardstick for the evaluation of the current rules, as well as for suggesting a new approach is the increased consumer welfare, which takes into account consumers’ happiness and their lack of regret for entering into transactions.     

Regulating Information Disclosure in Mutual Fund Advertising in the United States: Will Consumers Utilize Cost Information?

Consumer decision making with regard to mutual funds is less than rational. Consumers tend to focus on past performance and virtually ignore a variable which has a more definite (and negative) impact on wealth—cost. FINRA, the mutual fund industry’s self-regulatory body in the USA, has recently changed its regulations for fund advertising to require that cost information be reported when performance information is present. We conducted an exploratory conjoint study to examine whether consumers might, in fact, use the additional information, and found that despite the highly salient presence of expense information, consumers overwhelmingly continue to use past performance when forming mutual fund preference.     

The Effects of Comparative Advertising on Young Consumers’ Perceptions: Cross-Cultural Comparison Between the United States and Taiwan

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of comparative advertising of a high involvement product in two countries, the United States and Taiwan. The results show that different types of comparative advertising moderate the relationship in the proposed model and exert different levels of influences on consumers. The United States and Taiwanese consumers are significantly different in attitudes toward the ad, attitudes toward the sponsored brand, and purchase intention. The results show that direct comparative advertising might be suitable for promoting a new brand in countries with individualistic cultures. However, global marketers should be cautious when employing comparative advertising formats in collectivist cultures.     

Is Corporate Advertising Effective in a Crisis? The Effects of Crisis Type and Evaluative Tone of News Coverage

The present study examines how consumers respond to corporate advertising during a corporate crisis. In particular, it examines what impact two factors—crisis type and the evaluative tone of a news story—have on consumer responses to corporate advertising. Results of the experimental study suggest that the crisis type—an accident or a transgression crisis—is a critical factor affecting ad credibility and changes, between pre- and post-tests, in perceptions of and attitudes toward the corporation. In addition, the results reveal that while the effect of the evaluative tone of the news story is not statistically significant for each of the dependent variables, the marginally significant effect on the set of dependent variables calls for more careful attention to this issue in future research.     

Antecedents to Online Purchasing–An Exploratory Comparison of Anglo versus Hispanic Consumers in the United States

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research investigates whether or not Anglo versus Hispanic consumers in the United States (US) differ with respect to purchase behavior on the Internet. As a new, ground-breaking innovation, the Internet represents an entirely new medium of exchange. In this study, we address whether or not the Internet has been adopted to the same extent and in the same way(s) among Anglo and Hispanic US consumers. Anglos and Hispanics represent the two largest segments of the US population and, curiously, little if any marketing research has compared and contrasted these two groups with respect to using the Internet to make commercial purchases. Extant theory and research in electronic commerce provide a basis to suggest that there may, in fact, be differences across these two US sub-cultures. Our findings reveal that the two groups do actually differ in this regard; the data also offer insights into these differences.     

Does Collectivism Affect Environmental Ethics? A Multi-level Study of Top Management Teams from Chemical Firms in China

This study tests the effects of top management team (TMT) member collectivistic values and TMT dissatisfaction with the financial situation on the environmental ethics of TMT members. We also examine the moderating effect of collectivistic values on the relationship between financial dissatisfaction and environmental ethics. Analyses of multi-level and source data show that financial dissatisfaction of the TMT negatively affects TMT members’ environmental ethics. However, TMT members’ individual collectivism can increase TMT members’ environmental ethics. Analyses also show that TMT members’ collectivism moderates the relationship between financial dissatisfaction and environmental ethics across individual and team levels.     

Do Web Users Care About Banner Ads Anymore? The Effects of Frequency and Clutter in Web Advertising

This study investigates the effects of frequency of exposure to banner ads and ad clutter in web pages upon online users’ psychological responses. In a 7 (frequency 1 through 7) × 2 (clutter vs. non-clutter) between-participants factorial experiment, participants (N = 250) were randomly assigned to one of fourteen news websites, each with 20 separate pages of news stories and animated banner ads downloaded from various websites. Results indicated that frequency of exposure is a powerful psychological cue affecting users’ memory, attitudes, and behavior. However, contrary to expectation, banner clutter does not lead to negative effects on recall, attitudes, and behavior. Negative impact of banner clutter was significant only on ad recognition.     

Can Divine Intervention Aid in Domestic Violence Prevention? An Analysis of Bystanders' Advertising Attitudes and Reporting Intentions in India

The research explores how religious symbols can be used in advertising to encourage bystander intervention in the context of domestic violence. Using symbolic interactionism as the theoretical framework, a 4 (Ad type: Control vs. Visual vs. Verbal vs. Visual/Verbal) × 2 (Religiosity: Low vs. High) between-subjects experimental design was conducted to assess impact on attitudes toward the ad and intention to help. A national sample (N = 402) of Hindu adults from India was recruited. The findings suggest level of religiosity is critical to the process with highly religious individuals displaying higher levels of involvement, concern for others and willingness to report abuse. No significant differences were found across visual and verbal religious symbol conditions. Implications for advertisers and government agencies are presented.     

Are You a Chocolate Lover? An Investigation of the Repurchase Behavior of Chocolate Consumers

This study aimed to understand the factors affecting repurchase behavior of chocolate brands and, consequently, customer retention and acquisition. The study adopted a qualitative, inductive approach using in-depth interviews with 31 Australian consumers. The factors identified in the extant literature as antecedents of customers’ repurchase intention in the chocolate industry, including brand recognition, sales promotion, product price value, variety, taste, texture, size, packaging, and customer satisfaction, were confirmed. The results also indicated that functional value, product selection value, self-gratification value, socialization value, and transactional value were also considered during the consumer decision-making process. Implications for practitioners are provided.