Impact of Food Brand Controversy on Consumers’ Attitude Toward Brand and Company

It is critical to understand the impact of controversy on the consumer. There is a scarcity of research measuring post-controversy consumer attitude on both product and corporate brand during a controversy. The study is based on a recent brand controversy linked with instant noodle brand “Maggi” in India. The study examines impact on brand perceived quality, credibility, trust and loyalty, and attitude about brand and company. Data have been collected during July–October 2015 when the brand Maggi was banned in India due to quality-related controversy. Results indicate that respondents, with higher post-controversy brand loyalty, hold positive attitudes about brand. The interaction effect reveals that the relationship is significant and positive. During controversy, consumers’ attitude about brand and company is not identical. For a strong brand, consumers may have positive attitude but they become quite negative about company.     

Are Low Price and Price Matching Guarantees Equivalent? The Effects of Different Price Guarantees on Consumers’ Evaluations

Some retailers offer price match guarantees, whereas others offer guarantees making the same promise but labeling these low-price guarantees. Do consumers respond differently to these different price guarantee labels? To address this research question, this paper leverages insights from pricing, signaling, and regulatory focus theories to demonstrate – across multiple studies – that consumers perceive price match versus low price guarantees differently. In turn, contingent on consumers’ regulatory focus, this difference in perceptions feeds forward and influences consumers’ purchase intentions and post purchase (e.g., repurchase) intentions. This paper contributes to theory, not only by showing differences across price match versus low price guarantees, but also by being the first to jointly examine purchase and post purchase intentions relating to price guarantees. This paper also speaks to practice, noting contingencies that determine whether the price match or the low-price guarantee label should be used.     

Third-Party Certification,Sponsorship, and Consumers’ Ecolabel Use

While prior ecolabel research suggests that consumers’ trust of ecolabel sponsors is associated with their purchase of ecolabeled products, we know little about how third-party certification might relate to consumer purchases when trust varies. Drawing on cognitive theory and a stratified random sample of more than 1200 consumers, we assess how third-party certification relates to consumers’ use of ecolabels across different program sponsors. We find that consumers’ trust of government and environmental NGOs to provide credible environmental information encourages consumers’ use of ecolabels sponsored by these entities, and consumers do not differentiate between certified versus uncertified ecolabels in the presence of trust. By contrast, consumers’ distrust of private business to provide credible environmental information discourages their use of business association-sponsored ecolabels. However, these ecolabels may be able to overcome consumer distrust if their sponsors certify the ecolabels using third-party auditors. These findings are important to sponsors who wish develop ecolabels that are more credible to consumers, and thus encourage more widespread ecolabel use.     

The Consequences of Consumers’ Use of Pre-Existing Social Relationships to Make Purchases

In this article, we extend and refine previous research on marketing relationships by specifically examining consumers’ use of pre-existing social relationships (i.e., friendships) with firm representatives to make purchases. This study identifies the various consequences of using pre-existing social relationships and integrates these new outcomes with existing research to develop a cohesive theoretical framework. Doing so highlights the unique advantages of developing stronger relationships between firms and customers, while also extending marketing scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of relationship marketing. Finally, this study links the outcomes of using these relationships to important marketing constructs, such as satisfaction and loyalty.     

The Performative Nature of Consumer Research: Consumers’ Environmental Awareness as an Example

This article considers the way “green consumers” are constructed – or performed – in studies on consumer environmentalism aiming to inform policy makers. The focus is on concrete data gathering operations, which are exemplified by four brief examples from the author’s own research experience. The conclusion is that consumer research is a creative process, in which consumers are made to interact with different contexts, thus eliciting different outcomes. These conclusions give rise to two suggestions. More attention should be paid to context in research, which is already occurring. More fundamentally, researchers should recognize their active, performative role when interacting with consumers as research subjects, on the one hand, and with policy-makers and other social actors as research utilizers, on the other.     

Brand Loyalty Versus Store Loyalty: Consumers’ Role in Determining Dependence Structure of Supplier–Retailer Dyads

Purpose: This article aims to integrate consumers into a channel dependence framework and explores the influence of consumers’ brand loyalty and store loyalty on the dependence structure within the supplier–retailer relationship. It also examines effects of the dependence structure on perceived conflict.

Methodology/approach: The authors test the proposed triadic relationship model among department store, supplier, and consumer by collecting matched data from both retailers and consumers in a Chinese retailing channel of sports and leisure apparel. Polynomial regression in conjunction with a response surface analysis (RSA) approach is used to test the hypotheses.

Findings: The results indicate that consumers’ brand loyalty positively affects retailer’s dependence on supplier, while consumers’ store loyalty positively affects supplier’s dependence on retailer. In addition, the retailer’s dependence is higher when consumers’ brand loyalty is higher than store loyalty; the supplier’s dependence is higher when consumers’ store loyalty is higher than brand loyalty; and the retailer’s dependence increases with the increase of both consumers’ brand and store loyalty when consumers’ brand and store loyalty are equal. Moreover, supplier’s dependence has a negative linear effect on retailer’s perceived conflict, whereas retailer’s dependence has an inverted U-shape effect on perceived conflict. A retailer would perceive more conflict when the retailer is relatively more dependent on the supplier; but the symmetrical interdependence has no significant effect on retailer perceived conflict.

Research implications: Researchers are encouraged to explore channel behaviors from a network perspective. Consumers, in particular, should be included in research frameworks related to channel dependence and behaviors. Suggestions for further research on the effects of dependence on the conflict are also proposed.

Originality/value/contribution: This study goes beyond the dyadic paradigm by integrating consumers into the framework of the channel dependence structure. It develops and tests a mechanism of consumers’ brand and store loyalty influencing dependence structure within a supplier–retailer dyad. It also enriches the literature of channel conflict by exploring the effects of retailer and supplier unilateral dependence on retailer perceived conflict with RSA methods.

Practical implications: The article provides several insightful implications for managers in understanding and managing interdependence structure in business-to-business marketing, especially in supplier–retailer relationships.     

Consumers’ Opinions and Use of Food Labels,Nutrition, and Health Claims: Results from Turkey

This study was conducted to reveal Turkish consumers’ (18–65 years residing 10 cities, n = 1200) opinions and use of food labels, nutrition, and health claims. The majority of both females and males (64.7%, 68.2%) seldom read food labels. Risk for not paying attention to food labels was increased 1.287-fold when the gender was male. The percentage of reading food labels increases as education and income levels of individuals increase (p < 0.05). Expiry dates of foods were the most frequent read item on labels (58.0%). Males mostly read information on label to learn the price of the food (71.0%) while females read it to learn the energy value of food (79.0%). Females had more knowledge on nutrition claims compared to males (p < 0.05). The nutrition claims, which were most frequently read by females and males, were trans fat free (23.5%, 21.0%) and low fat/fat free (23.3%, 20.5%). The claim organic was paid most attention on fruit and vegetables (52.0%). The claim “low cholesterol contributes to maintenance of cardiovascular-health” was the most common health claim read. In summary, Turkish consumer’s behaviour of reading labels and nutrition-health claims could change according to some sociodemographic factors and food products.     

Consumers’ Perception and Misperception of Market Leadership and Market Pioneership

Abstract

Ever since Veblen and Simmel, luxury has been synonymous with conspicuous consumption. In this conceptual paper we demonstrate the rise of inconspicuous consumption via a wide-ranging synthesis of the literature. We attribute this rise to the signalling ability of traditional luxury goods being diluted, a preference for not standing out as ostentatious during times of economic hardship, and an increased desire for sophistication and subtlety in design in order to further distinguish oneself for a narrow group of peers. We decouple the constructs of luxury and conspicuousness, which allows us to reconceptualise the signalling quality of brands and the construct of luxury. This also has implications for understanding consumer behaviour practices such as counterfeiting and suggests that consumption trends in emerging markets may take a different path from the past.     

Ground Roasted Coffee Consumers’ Ability to Determine Actual Quality: The Use of Attributes and the Role of Education Level in Mexico

This study contributes to the understanding of the consumer’s ability to distinguish levels of quality of a product comparing it to an objective evaluation. Also, it was hypothesized that a higher level of education would lead to a better ability to discriminate quality. Perceived and objective quality are compared using a semi-experimental design with subjects evaluating coffee attributes. Objective values are provided by certified expert coffee cuppers, whereas perceived values are obtained from regular coffee drinkers. Results suggest that the importance placed on each attribute (aroma, flavour, body, and residual flavour) by the consumer is different from that placed on each attribute by the experts. Furthermore, the most relevant attribute for the consumer (flavour) is distinct from the one most relevant for experts (residual flavour). Additionally, the consumer is unable to distinguish quality levels as an expert can do, regardless of his education level.     

The Indirect Impact of Price Deals on Households’ Purchase Decisions Through the Formation of Expected Future Prices

We examine the indirect impact of price deals, which occurs through the formation of expected future prices, on households’ purchase decisions. Two competing learning processes of households’ formation of expected future deals that lead to opposite predictions are proposed. Under a deal-probability learning process, a current deal on a brand raises households’ expectations of a deal on the same brand in the immediate future, while under a deal-timing learning process, a current deal on a brand lowers households’ expectations of a deal on the same brand. We embed each learning specification within a comprehensive econometric framework that simultaneously examines three purchase decisions – incidence, brand choice and quantity – at the household level, while explicitly correcting for two sources of selectivity bias in discrete quantity outcomes. We estimate the proposed model using scanner panel data on paper towels, and find that (1) the deal-probability learning process better describes how households incorporate the deal information into the formation of future price expectations compared to the deal-timing learning process; (2) the indirect impact of price deals is greater for brand-loyals than for brand-switchers; (3) the indirect impact of price deals is greater for larger families, heavy users, less educated and less employed households, and infrequent shoppers. We also show that ignoring the indirect impact of price deals severely overstates the sales effects.     

When Do Consumers Believe Puffery Claims? The Moderating Role of Brand Familiarity and Repetition

In the United States, exaggerated advertising claims for products and services, known as “puffery,” make up a considerable proportion of all claims in the marketplace. Legally, advertisers do not need to substantiate the puffery claims because it is believed that consumers would not be deceived by such exaggerated claims. This research reports two experiments that examined the moderating role of brand familiarity and repetition on puffery claims. Results indicated that while puffery generally led to weak main effects, it had significant interaction effects with brand familiarity (Study 1) and claim repetition (Study 2) on the dependent variables.     

Design and Communication of Ecological Content on Sustainable Packaging in Young Consumers’ Opinions

Many companies today have noticed the growing sensitivity of consumers to social problems, reflected by their interest in environmental concerns (e.g., the use of sustainable packaging materials that are eco-friendly and safe for consumers and the environment). Producers seek, often based on intuition rather than knowledge, eco-arguments for their packaging to affect the perceptions of buyers and to influence their behavior. Creating an effective design and content for environmental messaging on sustainable packaging may be a significant element in building a competitive advantage for both product and brand. Therefore, the main objective of this article will be to answer the following questions: What content do consumers expect for ecological messages on packaging? Which attributes of sustainable packaging have a positive impact on consumer behavior? In what ways are consumers’ purchasing intentions based on sustainable packaging? To answer these questions, the results of research conducted among Polish and French students will be presented.     

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.     

The Power of Creative Advertising and Consumers’ Perceived Risk

Despite the growing importance of creative advertising as an effective marketing tool, little is known about the process through which it influences preexisting attitudes for familiar brands and factors that moderate its effectiveness. To fill this gap, A 2 advertising type (creative vs. normal) by 2 product category (high risk vs. low risk) experiment was conducted. Four creative ads and four normal ads were developed for some familiar brands and were exhibited for participants. Results indicate that creative ads significantly lead to more favorable ad credibility, ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention than normal ads. Perceived product risk was found to moderate the effectiveness of creative ads.     

The Euro Illusion in Consumers’ Price Estimation: An Italian–Irish Comparison in the Third Year of the Euro

The euro illusion is a transient phenomenon that consists of currency-related asymmetries in the intuitive judgment of product prices made by consumers. The results of a cross-country study in the third year after the introduction of the euro show a strong price estimation asymmetry in a country with an extreme exchange rate (Italy) and a weaker effect in a country in which the nominal values of the new and the old currency are much closer (Ireland). These results rule out proposed explanations of the euro illusion in price estimation that assume the sole influence of plausible anchors (reference prices stored in memory within the plausible price range), supporting instead accounts also endorsing the role of implausible anchors (reference prices outside the plausible price range). Beyond contributing to our theoretical understanding of the euro illusion, this research starts to unveil the interplay between structural factors (i.e., the currency exchange rate) and psychological mechanisms that produce long-lasting difficulties for consumers after a monetary changeover.

The Influence of Organizations’ Tax Avoidance Practices on Consumers’ Behavior: The Role of Moral Reasoning Strategies,Political Ideology,and Brand Identification

Journal of Business Ethics - This study adopts moral reasoning strategies (moral rationalization and decoupling) to investigate why consumers support companies involved in ethical transgressions....     

Trend of Price and Economic Development in 2005

The situation of the four major kinds of price in 2004-residents‘ consumption price, price of production means, interest rate, foreign exchange rate-became main concern from the domestic and international personages. By reviewing the market price in 2004, and analyzing the current price variables, we will easily find the prospects of Chinese economy and people‘s life in 2005.     

Capturing Retailers’ Brand and Customer Focus

This article uses information from two data sources, Compustat and Nexis Uni, and textual analysis to measure and validate the brand focus and customer focus of 109 U.S. listed retailers. The results from an analysis of their 853 earnings calls in 2010 and 2018 outline that on average, both foci increased over time. Although both foci vary substantially, brand focus varies more widely across retailers than their customer focus. Both foci are independent of each other. Specialty retailers have the highest brand focus, and internet & direct marketing retailers have the highest customer focus. A positive correlation exists between a retailer’s customer focus and its profitability, but not between a retailer’s brand focus and its profitability. The authors use the results to generate a research agenda that can direct future research in further systematically exploring firms’ brand and customer focus.