The changing consumer in Portugal

The 1980's for Portugal was a period of remarkable changes and a number of events influenced the decade significantly. Changes in environmental variables had great impact on the behaviour of Portuguese consumers and the marketing management of firms. This article reviews the changes along a number of variables which are relevant for decision-making in marketing in Portugal. Economic environment, demographic developments, cultural and attitude changes, variables related to Portuguese consumers and changes in macro marketing-mix will be assessed. The future trends of these variables will be reviewed and their implication for marketing management in the remaining years of this century will be considered.     

The changing consumer in Germany

Changes in economic, demographic, and cultural factors in West Germany during the past decades are briefly described, as well as changes in consumption patterns and the way the major marketing variables have been used and implemented. Special attention is paid to the upheavals caused by the German reunification. Implications for marketing management are drawn by proposing eight bipolar constructs.     

Moving towards consumer involvement in maternity services in the north‐east of Ireland

This article uses a case‐study approach to focus on developments in maternity services in the north‐east of Ireland where there is occurring a planned move towards active consumer involvement. In a country with a poor record of consumer involvement, this is a very welcome and innovative development. The Health Service in Ireland is in crisis, characterized by a very prolonged and difficult restructuring, extreme difficulties in recruiting and retraining staff, lack of resources, long waiting times in accident and emergency units with the media reporting daily counts of those left lying on trolleys for extended periods. The north‐east of the country has been affected by the closure of two maternity units in Monaghan and Dundalk. The region has been rocked in recent years by a major health scandal with a long‐serving obstetrician being struck off the medical register for carrying out an excessive number of caesarean hysterectomies. Out of this, there is emerging an innovative woman‐centred maternity service in the north‐east of the country. This article evaluates these developments with a particular focus on consumer involvement.     

The changing consumer in Belgium

Centrally located at the cross-roads of the main European Cultures that constitute its roots, Belgium can in many respects be regarded as a miniature Europe. Indeed, most general economic and consumption tendencies that have a grip over Europe, also reign the Belgian society.Yet, Belgium's macro marketing mix exhibits a number of particular characteristics. The remarkably developed retail apparatus and extensive product assortments are typical of a small but rich consumption society. At the same time, promotional expenditures remain modest, and price competition in major sectors is fierce.In view of the future, the foregoing aspects characterize Belgium as a potentially attractive test market for internationally oriented firms. Conversely, it appears to be an interesting commercial arena only for marketers with high cost efficiency, or with superior targeting skills allowing them to cater to the needs of small market segments with considerable purchasing power.     

The changing consumer in the UK

For the UK, the 1980's was Margaret Thatcher's decade; the 1990's may be the decade of Europe. Thatcher's policies and her philosophy still have an impact on social and economic life. An examination is made of demographic changes, economic development, changes in consumption, changes in social attitude and changes in marketing channels that are taking place.Wealth has become more evenly spread throughout society although the bottom is worse off. The UK consumer is becoming more cosmopolitan with increased preference being shown for food and drink from mainland Europe. Another shift is towards increased amounts of both time and money being spent on leisure and in the rapid adoption of new classes of consumer good. There is evidence of the “greening” of the economy but individuals only seem willing to take individual action to “green” their lifestyle for a financial incentive.     

The scientific management of the consumer interest

Beginning in the late 1980s, the widely held assumption that scientific management (Taylorism) was an authoritarian and mechanical body of thought and practice began to be subjected to sustained challenge. Underpinning this contest was a growing understanding that, in his last years, Frederick Winslow Taylor became acutely aware that the ability of business interests to dominate enterprise governance was a major barrier to the development of forms of management in which scientific knowledge, rather than vested interests, dictate decision making. Building on this new understanding, scholars have subsequently uncovered a number of the ways by which Taylor and his colleagues and heirs sought to broaden access to management knowledge and assist the creation of a democratic social and intellectual space within which a science of management could flourish. One aspect of this history not previously brought to light is the fact that Taylor and a number of his disciples utilized their technical and political skills to assist consumers to gain access to the knowledge they required if they were to adequately defend themselves against the interests of business and the state. In this article, we seek to correct this omission by detailing the three major ways in which Taylor and his colleagues sought to increase the ability of the consumer to make informed decisions. In so doing, we also explain why their efforts attracted a level of business hostility that in the 1930s became vitriolic and subsequently drew the attention of the House of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee.     

The impact of advertising on consumer price sensitivity in experience goods markets

In this paper we use Nielsen scanner panel data on four categories of consumer goods to examine how TV advertising and other marketing activities affect the demand curve facing a brand. Advertising can affect consumer demand in many different ways. Becker and Murphy (Quarterly Journal of Economics 108:941–964, 1993) have argued that the “presumptive case” should be that advertising works by raising marginal consumers’ willingness to pay for a brand. This has the effect of flattening the demand curve, thus increasing the equilibrium price elasticity of demand and the lowering the equilibrium price. Thus, “advertising is profitable not because it lowers the elasticity of demand for the advertised good, but because it raises the level of demand.” Our empirical results support this conjecture on how advertising shifts the demand curve for 17 of the 18 brands we examine. There have been many prior studies of how advertising affects two equilibrium quantities: the price elasticity of demand and/or the price level. Our work is differentiated from previous work primarily by our focus on how advertising shifts demand curves as a whole. As Becker and Murphy pointed out, a focus on equilibrium prices or elasticities alone can be quite misleading. Indeed, in many instances, the observation that advertising causes prices to fall and/or demand elasticities to increase, has misled authors into concluding that consumer “price sensitivity” must have increased, meaning the number of consumers’ willing to pay any particular price for a brand was reduced—perhaps because advertising makes consumers more aware of substitutes. But, in fact, a decrease in the equilibrium price is perfectly consistent with a scenario where advertising actually raises each individual consumer’s willingness to pay for a brand. Thus, we argue that to understand how advertising affects consumer price sensitivity one needs to estimate how it shifts the whole distribution of willingness to pay in the population. This means estimating how it shifts the shape of the demand curve as a whole, which in turn means estimating a complete demand system for all brands in a category—as we do here. We estimate demand systems for toothpaste, toothbrushes, detergent and ketchup. Across these categories, we find one important exception to conjecture that advertising should primarily increase the willingness to pay of marginal consumers. The exception is the case of Heinz ketchup. Heinz advertising has a greater positive effect on the WTP of infra-marginal consumers. This is not surprising, because Heinz advertising focuses on differentiating the brand on the “thickness” dimension. This is a horizontal dimension that may be highly valued by some consumers and not others. The consumers who most value this dimension have the highest WTP for Heinz, and, by focusing on this dimension; Heinz advertising raises the WTP of these infra-marginal consumers further. In such a case, advertising is profitable because it reduces the market share loss that the brand would suffer from any given price increase. In contrast, in the other categories we examine, advertising tends to focus more on vertical attributes.

The structure of consumer confidence and real value added growth in retailing in the Netherlands

Consumer confidence is a determinant of the willingness to buy and thus of sales in retailing. The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether the structure of consumer confidence in the period 1987-2000 differs from the 1972-87 period. The main finding is that, in the 1972-87 period saving had a precaution motive and in the 1987-2000 period saving had a transaction motive. In the 1972-87 period, the utility and ability of saving were determined by the development of household wealth; and in the 1987-2000 period, the utility and ability of saving are determined by the level of household wealth. The perceived inflation is related more strongly to the perceived development of the general economic situation in the 1972-87 than in the 1987-2000 period. Empirical evidence is found that consumer confidence also influences real sales of retailers.     

消费者后悔理论研究综述

感觉是为了行为(feeling is for doing),大量的实证研究证实了后悔这一情绪对消费者的众多决策行为有重要的影响作用。本文通过文献回顾总结后悔的内涵、实验与测量方式、影响因素和在消费者决策领域中的应用等内容,最后指出后悔这一情绪在消费者决策研究领域中的重要意义。     

Triple acculturation: The role of African Americans in the consumer acculturation of Kenyan immigrants

The role of a subcultural group in the consumer acculturation of Kenyan immigrants is examined. Our findings demonstrate that particular immigrant consumer behaviors are influenced by triple acculturation forces: dominant; subcultural and original culture. We find that immigrants do not arrive in the United States aware of their need to acculturate to a subcultural group. Critical incidents alert the immigrants of the need to acculturate to the African American subculture in order to fulfill some basic consumer goals such as accessing hair care, nightclub entertainment and church services. Progressively, immigrants begin to incorporate triple acculturation forces in their consumer decision making. The immigrants learn to be innovative as well as to engage in satisficing as they navigate the new consumption environment. This research contributes to acculturation studies by extending the models of Berry (Berry JW. Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In: Padilla AM, editor. Acculturation: theory, model and some new findings, Boulder, CO: Westview Press; 1980. pp. 9-25) as well as Penaloza (Penaloza L. Altravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings: a critical ethnographic exploration of the consumer acculturation of Mexican immigrants. J Consum Res 1994;2:32-54[June]) by incorporating the role of a subcultural group in this process.     

Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior: implications for international retailing

Converging technology and disappearing income differences across countries will not lead to homogenization of consumer behavior. Rather, consumer behavior will become more heterogeneous because of cultural differences. As consumer incomes converge across countries, the manifestation of value differences will become stronger. This phenomenon makes it increasingly important to understand values of national cultures and their impact on consumer behavior. Retailing strategies for one country cannot be extended to other countries without adaptation. Hofstede’s model of national culture is applied to understand differences in consumer behavior across countries. Examples are provided of consumption differences, their relationships with culture discussed, and selected implications for international retailing management detailed.     

Affective responses to consumer situations

The behavioural perspective model of consumer choice (bpm) proposes three structural components of consumer situations from which consumers' verbal responses to consumption environments can be predicted. These are utilitarian reinforcement, informational reinforcement and behaviour setting scope. It is argued that pleasure, arousal and dominance, presented by Mehrabian and Russell as environmentally determined affective reactions, are respectively feasible verbal responses to these structural components. Consumers (N = 561) completed Mehrabian and Russell's measures of these affective reactions and of approach-avoidance for one of four ranges of verbally expressed consumption situations derived from the model. The results indicate that, for these theoretically grounded ranges of consumer situations, approach-avoidance is satisfactorily explained by pleasure, arousal and dominance. Further, mean differences in these affective variables between situations which, the bpm argues, show distinct patterns of reinforcement and behaviour setting scope are successfully predicted.     

Associations between demographics and perceptions of unethical consumer behaviour

Retailers may lose profits as a result of shoplifting and other unethical consumer behaviour. Research focusing on consumer ethical decision making is needed. Information provided by 1117 undergraduate students from universities within the US revealed that women are less accepting of unethical consumer behaviour than men. Subjects who reported that they very consistently follow the teachings of their primary faith are less accepting of unethical consumer behaviour than subjects who reported that they do not very consistently follow the teachings of their primary faith. Relationships between consumer ethical response scores and other demographic characteristics are discussed.     

Convergence in global markets and consumer behaviour

Consumer behavioural scientists such as economists and marketing researchers are interested in the degree to which global convergence is occurring with respect to various consumer behaviour dimensions, particularly the extent that consumption patterns in products appear to evolve and become more similar across different parts of the world. With increasing internationalization and cultural cross‐fertilization, the traditional societies of the world are converging in many ways. The strategic marketing of flavoured alcoholic beverages is a particularly interesting example of this evolutionary process to convergence. Consumers in countries of different cultural originations are developing preferences for the same products and show increasing sign of converging around global product identity. This article presents the results of a study analysing the evolutionary process.     

北京老字号品牌消费心理与消费行为研究

面对经济的快速发展,曾经在中华大地上风光无限的一些＂中华老字号＂品牌逐步走向衰弱。老字号品牌日渐式微究竟是出自内因还是出自外因呢？本项目组为了了解老字号品牌的生存现状,替老字号把脉并探寻重振之路,以老字号集中度较高的北京＂中华老字号＂作为研究对象,针对消费者进行了问卷调查。从认知、消费、偏好、品牌传播等方面出发,试图发掘出针对新时代消费者的老字号品牌重振方略。     

How product usage influences consumer satisfaction

This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the effect of product usage on consumer satisfaction in the context of consumer durables. It conceptualizes three dimensions of usage-usage frequency, usage function and usage situation-and examines the impact of these usage dimensions on satisfaction. Results of a field survey using five consumer durables suggest that the usage dimensions influence satisfaction through corresponding dimensions of usage disconfirmation, independent of the effect of performance disconfirmation on satisfaction. The specific dimensions of usage disconfirmation which influence satisfaction vary by product.     

Product information and consumer choice confidence in multi-item sales promotions

This research augments efforts to produce a richer understanding of the drivers of consumer choice confidence. It examines the interplay between two marketing interventions that consumers encounter in retail marketplaces, diagnostic product information and multi-item sales promotions. Results indicate that the influence of product information varies as a function of sales promotion format. The information effect is weaker when consumers are allowed to select the products that will be included in the promotion. Perception of information adequacy is revealed as a mediator of the information diagnosticity effect. The implications for marketing theory and promotional strategy are discussed.     

Persuasion knowledge and consumer reactions to pricing tactics

The current research investigates consumer knowledge of the pricing tactics that marketers frequently employ and the effects of that knowledge on responses to various price offers. In the research, a series of studies were conducted to develop and validate a knowledge measure designed to assess pricing tactic persuasion knowledge (PTPK). Consistent with the persuasion knowledge model, individuals with higher levels of PTPK were shown to have more knowledge-related thoughts regarding pricing tactic information than those with low levels of PTPK. Additionally, pricing tactic persuasion knowledge was shown to be more predictive of consumer choices regarding quantity surcharge offers and purchase interest evaluations following exposure to tensile claim offers (e.g., “Save up to 50 percent Off”) than several competing constructs.     

Ideological maps of consumer education

The case is made for the merit of discovering and owning the ideological and paradigmatic underpinnings of consumer‐related education initiatives. After briefly profiling two camps of dominant and contending/emergent world views (ideologies and attendant paradigms), two ideological maps of consumer education are developed and applied, providing a scaffold for future deliberations about the import of world views in consumer education.