Effects of metaphoric advertising among mainland Chinese consumers

An experiment was conducted among mainland Chinese consumers in order to determine the effects of metaphors in illustrations and headlines on advertisement and brand attitudes and behavioural intentions for symbolic and utilitarian products. The results showed that metaphors had differing effects depending on product type and whether they were used in illustrations or the headlines. The use of metaphors in headlines for symbolic products generally resulted in less favourable attitudes and behavioural intentions than non-metaphoric headlines. However, the use of a non-metaphoric headline with a metaphoric illustration resulted in the most favourable attitudes and behavioural intentions, while the use of metaphors in both advertisement elements was the least effective. In contrast, metaphoric headlines for utilitarian products enhanced attitudes and behavioural intentions more than non-metaphoric headlines. No superiority of metaphoric illustrations was observed.     

A temporal analysis of behavioural brand loyalty among urban Chinese consumers

Abstract

Chinese marketing is evolving, and this is having a dramatic influence on the incomes and spending patterns of consumers. Set against these longer-run trends, the contribution of this paper is to examine the year-on-year persistence of brand purchasing and behavioural brand loyalty in packaged goods markets in China. Revealed preference data for two product categories (toothpaste and soy sauce) in two contrasting cities (Shanghai and Xi'an) are analysed, with particular attention being paid to whether brand purchasing and behavioural brand loyalty are invariant over a five-year period. Conceptually, the NBD-Dirichlet model of brand choice and purchase incidence is employed. Analysis shows that patterns found in the Chinese data are quite similar to those reported previously for Western markets, with invariant results over time – notwithstanding supply-side and demand-side changes over the study period. In particular, the double jeopardy effect and multi-brand loyalty are consistently observed in the toothpaste and soy-sauce markets in both cities over the full five-year period. Results distinct to the Chinese market are also identified: exclusive brand loyalty appears to be declining in favour of multi-brand loyalty, and there are between-city differences in the magnitude of this decline.     

Perspectives of service consumers: their multiple roles and challenges

The unique characteristics of services — i.e. intangibility, perishability, inseparability and heterogeneity — add risk, challenge and complexity to the tasks involved in being a service consumer. In response, service consumers assume six important roles, labelled: Targets, Partners, Quasi-Employees, Service Itself, Reporters and Quality Inspectors. The successful implementation of these roles relies heavily upon consumer skills that vary from consumer to consumer. Implications of being a service consumer are discussed and specific recommendations are offered to service consumers.     

Online shopping among Chinese consumers: an exploratory investigation of demographics and value orientation

The current study examined the relationship between Chinese consumers' personal value orientations and their Internet usage and online shopping behaviour. The study was based on responses from a sample of 1620 respondents in five cities in China. Based on Schwartz's value structure, four value orientations were identified and named as ‘openness to change orientation’, ‘self‐enhancement orientation’, ‘conservation orientation’ and ‘self‐transcendence orientation.’ Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between respondents' demographics, socio‐economic characteristics, value orientations and their Internet usage and online shopping behaviour. Also, a structural equation modelling analysis was employed. ‘Openness to change orientation’ and ‘self‐enhancement orientation’ were found to have direct or indirect positive effect on respondents' online shopping behaviour; whereas ‘conservation orientation’ and ‘self‐transcendence orientation’ were not significant in the equation estimation.     

Entrepreneurial orientation and international scope: The differential roles of innovativeness,proactiveness, and risk-taking

This research integrates the international business and entrepreneurship literatures by examining the independent influences of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on the ability of a firm to broaden its scope across international markets. For each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation, a cost–benefit framework is applied to highlight the trade-offs associated with different levels in the internationalization context. Based on a unique dataset of 500 SMEs spanning 10 industries, the results reflect the consequences of being “stuck in the middle” with respect to their strategic posture on innovativeness and proactiveness, but reveal a nuanced role for risk-taking behavior. The non-uniform and non-linear relationships from the findings contribute to a better understanding of when the individual dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation help or hinder entrepreneurial firms in the internationalization process.     

The relationships among family and social interaction,loneliness, mall shopping motivation,and mall spending of older consumers

The study implemented 419 mall‐intercept interviews with people who are 55 or older in large malls in three metropolitan cities in the United States. The five subdimensions of mall‐shopping motivation of older consumers were identified under two dimensions: Consumption‐oriented mall‐shopping motivation (service consumption, value consumption, and eating) and experiential mall‐shopping motivation (diversion and aesthetic appreciation). The structural model revealed significant effects of social interaction, loneliness, and mall‐shopping motivations on mall spending. Outcomes suggest that a mall can be a place to reduce older consumers' loneliness and that retailers in the mall can attract and make older consumers spend more by emphasizing value consumption and service consumption. Results also provide the implication for mall developers that providing more experiential features and events in malls may attract more older consumers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The differential roles of brand credibility and brand prestige in consumer brand choice

This study explores how brand credibility and brand prestige affect brand purchase intention and empirically investigates how the combinatory mechanism of brand credibility and brand prestige materialize across multiple product categories. The proposed model of six latent constructs is tested with structural equation modeling analysis: brand credibility, brand prestige, perceived quality, information costs saved, perceived risk, and brand purchase intention. The results suggest that both brand credibility and brand prestige positively influence brand purchase intention through perceived quality, information costs saved, and perceived risk under different product categories representing the high and low self‐expressive nature. Several implications for advertising messages and brand positioning strategies are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Co-operation among groups in developing and delivering programmes to consumers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of co-operation among consumer education providers, in developing and delivering education programmes for consumers. Four groups of consumer education providers were identified for this study: business representatives, consumer advocates, government agencies and secondary school educators. Members of each group were presented with a series of 42 objectives which had been grouped into eight categories. They were asked to identify the importance of each objective and providers were compared according to their responses. Similarities and differences among consumer education providers were identified and statistical tests applied. Three objectives identified as most important by participants were: (i) developing guidelines for wise use of credit; (ii) identifying the rights and responsibilities of the consumer in our society; and (iii) establishing the essential factors in the developing of a budget. The median test identified significant differences (P < 0.05) between consumer education suppliers in the importance they assigned to consumer education objectives in three categories. Spearman rank-difference correlation test identified objectives within seven categories of objectives for which consumer educators expressed similar importance. These findings indicate sufficient agreement among consumer educators' importance ranking of objectives to indicate support for co-operative educational programmes.     

浅析认知语言学与语用学、大学英语教学间的联系

认知语言学主要从语言的角度研究人脑中的概念或根据语言分析推测思维中概念的内容.语用学则是语言学各分支中一个以语言意义为研究对象的新兴学科领域,是专门研究语言的理解和使用的学问,它研究在特定情景中的特定话语,研究如何通过语境来理解和使用语言.阅读理解是一个复杂的心理过程.在此过程中,大脑贮存的语言知识图式和背景知识图式相互作用,不断地对新输入的信息进行验证、分析和推断,直至完成对文本的解码.对阅读理解过程的认知解析,在于揭示阅读的心理机制和思维规律,以促进大学英语阅读理解教学.     

Effects of personalized e-mail messages on privacy risk: Moderating roles of control and intimacy

New communication platforms have enabled firms to collect personal data on their consumers and provide more personalized services. Personalized service facilitates interpersonal communication and interactions based on consumers’ personal and preference information, and therefore constitutes a way to improve firm–customer relationships. However, such personalized services may be vulnerable to privacy issues. This study investigates the effects of personalized e-mail messages (an archetypal example of personalized service) on consumers’ risk perceptions and two moderating variables: consumers’ control and message intimacy. In three experiments, we show that an increase in the level of personalization in e-mail messages increases consumers’ privacy risk perceptions. However, giving consumers more control over their personal information and adding intimate cues to e-mail messages moderate the negative effects of personalized e-mail messages on their privacy risk perceptions. The study provides important implications for both academics and managers in developing and employing personalized service in new media communication.     

Japanese cuisine in Poland: attitudes and behaviour among Polish consumers

In Poland, in recent years, the number of Japanese cuisine restaurants is still increasing. The aim of this article was to estimate the popularity of Japanese cuisine in Poland and to examine attitudes of Polish consumers towards it. The reasons why this cuisine is chosen by consumers are also studied. The scope of this work includes two anonymous questionnaires. The first study was conducted in Warsaw among 527 random respondents to estimate the level of familiarity with Japanese dishes. The second one was conducted among 115 consumers of a particular Japanese restaurant in Warsaw. Research of the target group was aimed at the characteristics of Japanese dishes consumers. On the basis of the results, it was found that random respondents have relatively little knowledge of Japanese dishes. However, a large percentage of them declared interest in Japanese culture and traditions and was inclined to taste the dishes of this region. Japanese restaurants are mainly popular among young people who follow current culinary trends and fashions and also care about their diet. High prices limit the customer group to well‐off people. Polish consumers visiting Japanese restaurants are usually persons between 31 and 40 years old, with higher education, live in the big cities, as well as with very good or good financial situation. Regular restaurant goers eat out quite often: once a week (38%) or at least once a month (27%). The restaurant studied is mainly visited by people familiar with Japanese cuisine. Sushi is the most popular of the dishes offered.     

Dimensions and characteristics of time perceptions and perspectives among older consumers

The study of the impact of time as a variable in consumer behavior goes back to at least the early seventies. It has been studied from both objective and subjective perspectives. The purpose of this article is to further explain the impact of subjective time perceptions on consumer behavior, with a focus on the elderly as a subgroup. Several frameworks for understanding time perceptions are discussed and coupled with various theories of aging to present, explain, and hypothesize age-related differences in time perceptions and the behavioral consequences of these differences. The article concludes with an integration of these time frameworks into the five-stage consumer decision-making process, and some suggested impacts on the marketing mix. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effectiveness of information interventions to improve domestic food safety among rural consumers

Consumer education on food handling behavior is regarded as an effective method to improve domestic food safety and prevent foodborne illness, but is usually overlooked in rural areas. Using a presurvey and two rounds of postsurveys targeted at rural consumers from China included in a randomized controlled trial, this study investigated the effectiveness of two information interventions—a leaflet with tips for best practices and the leaflet plus consumer education sessions conveyed by phone—and compared them with a control group. Cloth use behavior was the target in the trial and five specific aspects were evaluated: (1) whether the cloth was made of old clothes, (2) whether the one used to clean kitchen tables was also used to wash dishes, (3) whether it was hung to dry, (4) how it was disinfected, and (5) how long the cloth was used before being discarded. Firstly, consumers' behavior was scored by summing the above-mentioned five behaviors. The results estimated using the difference-in-difference model showed that respondents in the leaflet-only group improved to a greater extent than those in the control group, but their difference in progress was not statistically significant until the second round of the postsurvey. Respondents in the leaflet-plus-phone group were quicker to adopt suggested practices and made discernible improvements compared with those in the leaflet-only group in the first round of the postsurvey, but the gap between these groups narrowed to statistically insignificant in the second round of the postsurvey. It was concluded that one consumer education session was effective and made a difference in the long term, whereas more education sessions produced normative behavior at faster rates, showing a significant improvement in the short term. Then, the study estimated the effectiveness of interventions on the five specific behaviors separately. The results were estimated using a probit difference-in-difference model and showed that the suggested behaviors with lower costs or a greater difference from past behaviors were more likely to be adopted by consumers. Consumer education facilitates proper food handling practices among rural households, which should be considered by policy makers.     

Appearance-related consumption among dating,cohabiting and married consumers: a comparison between men and women

This paper explores press releases, a neglected area of retail and marketing research, from leading British supermarket retailers over a two-year period to December 2002. Major themes for press releases are found to be products and services, corporate social responsibility, and corporate affairs and performance, although individual retailers show different emphases. A stakeholder engagement approach demonstrates how the releases seek to build networks of common interest, which is particularly demonstrable in relation to support for British farming and charitable activities. However it is noted that both these could be considered “easy targets”, grateful for any support they can obtain.     

The role of cultural values in green purchasing intention: Empirical evidence from Chinese consumers

Environmental problems, especially in the case of water and air pollution, are the harmful result of the overconsumption of fossil fuels as well as various forms of industrial sewage water discharge. Recently, growing environmentally friendly purchasing behaviour of consumers has become regarded as an effective method for alleviating such environmental problems. Due to concerns regarding the natural environment, consumers have increasingly begun to exhibit favourable attitudes towards environmentally friendly products, and as a result, are more likely to purchase “green” products. However, green purchasing behaviour of consumers varies across different nations and cultures. This study aims to reveal how Chinese cultural values (specifically, the Doctrine of the Mean) influence green purchasing intention of Chinese consumers. As the lifestyles of consumers will be deeply affected by their cultural values, this study examines the mediating effects of the four dimensions of Chinese lifestyle have on consumers. At the same time, environmental knowledge is considered as a moderating variable in order to investigate the relationship between the Doctrine of the Mean and green purchasing intention. The study’s data were collected from Chinese consumers. Empirical results reveal that such Chinese cultural values are positively associated with green purchasing intention, and that three dimensions of consumer lifestyle (namely leadership, cost consciousness and development consciousness), are all found to play mediating roles in the relationship between the Doctrine of the Mean and green purchasing intention in Chinese consumers. The moderating effects of environmental knowledge are exhibited in the influence of leadership as well as development consciousness on green purchasing intention. The study’s findings have theoretical implications for understanding green purchasing intention as well as behaviour of Chinese consumers further. The study’s findings also present practical implications for how to promote green purchasing intention in Chinese consumers better.     

浅析认知语言学与语用学、大学英语教学间的联系

认知语言学主要从语言的角度研究人脑中的概念或根据语言分析推测思维中概念的内容.语用学则是语言学各分支中一个以语言意义为研究对象的新兴学科领域,是专门研究语言的理解和使用的学问,它研究在特定情景中的特定话语,研究如何通过语境来理解和使用语言.阅读理解是一个复杂的心理过程.在此过程中,大脑贮存的语言知识图式和背景知识图式相互作用,不断地对新输入的信息进行验证、分析和推断,直至完成对文本的解码.对阅读理解过程的认知解析.在于揭示阅读的心理机制和思维规律,以促进大学英语阅读理解教学.     

Chocolate fortunes: The battle for the hearts,minds, and wallets of China's consumers

The emerging China market was a level playing field for all of the Big Five chocolate companies when they arrived in the 1980s. Chinese consumers viewed chocolate as an exotic foreign product, so each of the chocolate manufacturers enjoyed the same level of prestige and credibility that China's inexperienced consumers associated with foreign goods. Retail prices were relatively high and manufacturing costs relatively low, so none found pricing and cost to be barriers to entry. Importantly, each was flying blind when it came to consumer and market information, and by the seat of their pants when dealing with China's mercurial economic and regulatory environment. How the executives of the Big Five applied the experience, management skills, and leadership capabilities they brought to China would be decisive in how each approached the emerging consumer market and whether they ultimately succeeded. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Animosity and willingness to buy foreign products: Moderating factors in decision-making of Chinese consumers

This study examines empirically how Chinese consumers evaluate and respond to foreign products made in Japan. Specifically, it examines the moderating effects of materialism and susceptibility to normative influence on the effects of country-specific animosity on willingness to buy foreign products. The results confirm that the effect of consumers' animosity is subject to both consumers' personal values (for example, materialism) and social influences (susceptibility to normative influence). In terms of willingness to buy foreign products, the negative effect of economic animosity is alleviated by consumers' materialism, whereas that of war animosity is strengthened by consumers' susceptibility to normative influence. In turn, evidence from this study suggests implications for marketing strategies in developing countries.