Dual consumer–organisation identification in international alliances and partnerships: consumers’ supportive intentions towards local and foreign firms

This study investigates whether firms that are evaluating potential partners might benefit from considering how consumers view these organisations, specifically the extent to which consumer identification with local and foreign partners influences consumer satisfaction with a co-branded product and consumers’ post purchase/consumption supportive intentions towards each partner. Data came from institutions of higher education in Hong Kong and Sri Lanka that operate in collaboration with a foreign partner. A conceptual model was developed and then tested using structural equation modelling. Dual consumer–organisation identification was found to be a significant predictor of consumer satisfaction with the co-branded product and consumers’ supportive intentions towards each partner. Furthermore, the perceived identity attractiveness of each partner was significantly related to the consumers’ identification with each partner. The results suggest that organisations which indulge in collaborative arrangements with foreign firms should recognise that each partner plays a significant and distinct role in generating consumer satisfaction and positive post-purchase/consumption behaviours.     

The Role of Identity Salience in the Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Behavior

Based on the assumption that consumers will reward firms for their support of social programs, many organizations have adopted corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Drawing on social identity theory, a model of influence of CSR on loyalty is developed and tested using a sample of real consumers. Results demonstrate that CSR initiatives are linked to stronger loyalty both because the consumer develops a more positive company evaluation, and because one identifies more strongly with the company. Moreover, identity salience is shown to play a crucial role in the influence of CSR initiatives on consumer loyalty when this influence occurs through consumer-company identification. A strong identifier is not necessarily in a constant state of salience, but activating identity salience of a particular consumer social identity (a company) will affect consumer reactions to product stimuli, increasing consumer loyalty.     

人文与现代营销

经济的全球化必然带来企业营销的全球化 ,企业如何在现代国际竞争中实现企业发展目标 ,必须紧抓营销的核心 :人文因素。人文对消费有着普遍的影响 ,消费者常常通过购买某种产品 ,从中得到某种文化涵义 ,并利用它来创造和实现一种自我价值。所以 ,消费者需求反映消费者的人文内涵 ;产品文化里折射目标群体的人文特征 ;人文特征的把握是广告传播效果达成的基础和关键 ;人文因素也制约促销策略和分销策略     

The Importance of Fashion: The Chinese and U.S. Gen Y Perspective

ABSTRACT

A cross-cultural study is conducted to examine the perceptions, needs, preferences, influences and fashion buying habits of Generation Y consumers in both China and the United States. Chinese consumers appear to be more fashion-conscious in that the majority of their luxury purchases are fashion products. In this increasingly globalized world, it is important for a fashion marketer to determine if one strategy can be used to reach all Generation Y consumers or if separate strategies are necessary. Specifically, this study examines fashion leadership, need for uniqueness, and attention to social comparison information to determine if there are differences between these two cohorts and how best to reach them.     

‘Consumers’ Evaluation of Unethical Marketing Behaviors: The Role of Customer Commitment’

While there is a significant amount of research investigating managerial ethical judgments, a limited amount examines consumer judgments of unethical corporate behavior and its impact on the marketplace. This study examines how consumers’ commitment to a company impacts not only their ethical judgment of corporate behavior but also the outcomes of that judgment. The authors test hypotheses with data from 334 consumers and find that consumers’ level of commitment attenuates the level of perceived fairness. More specifically, highly committed consumers may forgive companies for behaviors when perceived harm is low, but become progressively dissatisfied as the level of perceived harm increases. Results of the study point to the importance of considering ethical behavior from a consumer perspective. If corporate actions are perceived as unethical, the company stands to lose favor with their most committed customers. Considering that more time, effort and investment is required to gain a new customer as to retain an old, this study shows that engaging in behavior perceived as unethical by consumers risks alienating the most committed customers.     

市场营销中之“定位”理论探索

市场营销理论经历了劳夫·瑞夫斯的“USP”理论、大卫·奥格威的“品牌形象”、菲利浦·科特勒的营销管理及消费者“让渡”理论与迈克尔·波特的竞争价值链理论,目前则发展到了艾·里斯与杰克·特劳特的“定位”理论。市场营销理论是随着市场的发展与完善而不断发展的。每个阶段的市场营销理论都是有其前提条件的,企业在运用“定位”理论时要充分了解这些条件,才能更好地运用“定位”理论服务于企业。     

Consuming postcolonial shopping malls

Abstract

Through a naturalistic inquiry, we interpret shopping malls in India as post-colonial sites in which young consumers deploy the West in an attempt to transform their Third World identities. Shopping malls in former colonies represent a post-colonial hybridity that offers consumers the illusion of being Western, modern, and developed. Moreover, consumption of post-colonial retail arenas is characterised as a masquerade through which young consumers attempt to disguise or temporarily transcend their Third World realities. This interpretation helps us to offer insights into transitioning retail servicescapes of the Third World, which in turn helps to improve extant understanding of consumer identity and global consumer culture.     

基于现代女性视角的消费行为研究

众所周知,当今世界女性消费者已经成为市场上的消费主力军,在购买活动中起着举足轻重的作用。女性的社会消费在当前的消费大潮中正在从温饱型消费向发展型、享受型消费发生着根本性变化。女性作为社会消费的一个特殊群体,有着不同于社会其他消费群体的消费心理和消费行为,其随着社会的发展而发生了重大变化,表现出更趋于个性化和高级化等多方面特点。在目前大部分市场处于饱和、竞争空前激烈的情况下,认真研究并探索现代女性独特消费心理特点以及消费行为的变化,能够为企业制定有效地营销策略,提供有益的建议,成为市场上最具潜力的竞争企业。     

Conceptualization of Brand Experience in an Event Marketing Context

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing importance of brand experience and event marketing, research addressing what constitutes brand experience in an event marketing context is scarce. The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptualization of brand experience that is specifically applicable to an event marketing context. Drawing on qualitative data collected from an international motor show, which is an important form of event marketing in the automotive industry, this article develops a conceptualization of brand experience as consumers' multifaceted interaction with brands enabled through four interrelated processes of multisensory stimulation, bodily performance, social interaction, and discovery/learning. In turn, these four interaction processes trigger perceptual, embodied, social, and epistemic brand experience. Drawing on data and the relevant literature, the article elaborates on these dimensions of brand experience and discusses their theoretical and managerial implications.     

基于消费者心理模型的营销策略分析

心理模型对消费者的购买决策影响巨大。基于心理模型下的模糊营销,应依据消费者所处场合,匹配性宣传产品,适当性投放产品以建立和顺应模糊心理模型;隐喻心理模型则是依据消费者的心理去塑造商品形象,明确企业的核心竞争力和核心创意,并实践企业的核心创意;潜意识心理模型是依据消费者潜意识的趋同效应、环境效应和促销等购买动因来制定营销策略,从而有利于企业根据不同的心理模型制定相应的营销策略,在激烈的市场竞争中顺应消费者心理,促进消费者做出积极的购买决策。     

从众理论及其在营销领域研究发展述评

近年来,学术界越来越重视研究从众对顾客心理和消费行为的影响。根据从众研究的现状,并在大量从众文献研究的基础上,对从众理论及与营销有关的行为研究进行了述评,并对从众理论研究的意义以及对营销研究的启示予以说明。     

Ethnography for marketers: A guide to consumer immersion

Fuat F?rat has for a long time maintained a radical, outside and critical voice within marketing and consumption theory. He was one of the editors of the landmark book Radical and Philosophical Theory in Marketing, published in 1987, which sought to develop alternative modes of theorizing and conceptualizing both marketing practice and the consuming subject. The continuation of that wider project eventually lead to the foundation of Consumption Markets &; Culture, the journal for which Fuat served as Editor-in-Chief for its initial 10 years of existence. Fuat also co-authored the book Consuming People (1998) in collaboration with Nikhilesh Dholakia. By that stage, in particular following his seminal article on the re-enchantment of consumption, written with Alladi Venkatesh, Fuat had helped to pioneer the study of postmodernism within consumer culture. In this interview, Fuat F?rat discusses his research projects including consumption patterns, postmodernity, theatre, new literacy and also presents more general observations.     

Finnish young people's narrative construction of consumer identity

This article examines how young Finns represent their consumer identity through narratives. Young consumers are easily seen as careless spenders and selfish hedonists in the contemporary consumer society. However, an empirical approach is required in order to find out whether this generation of young Finnish consumers is one of ‘raving hedonists’ or ‘ultimate materialists’, as their peers are often presented in public discussion in many western societies. The empirical data was collected in five upper secondary schools between the end of November 2001 and the beginning of January 2002. These schools are located in five different districts in Finland, varying from metropolitan to rural areas. The study focused on students aged 16–19 years and used essay writing as the method for collecting qualitative data. The data thus consists of 159 life stories as a consumer written by young Finnish people. Qualitative research methods, such as narrative analysis, were used in this study. It is argued that Finnish young people are representing their identities as consumers through a combination of various levels of consumer discourses besides hedonism and squandering: rationality and economizing are an essential part of their consumer identities. Some youngsters also present themselves as responsible consumers including ecological and ethical choices as part of their narrative. The way these youngsters combine discourses gives evidence of the various features of the present‐day young consumer. It is also suggested that their consumer identity develops and changes with age. Young people describe their identity changing through a hedonist/squanderer discourse to a rational and economical one or vice versa. They also combine hedonist, rational, economical and responsible discourses simultaneously.     

Preface

No abstract available for this article.     

Consumer Self-Confidence in Wine Consumers: The Role of Knowledge-Based Factors

This study uses the Wine Self-Confidence Scale (WSCS) with a sample of 297 customers of ABC Fine Wine and Spirits, a Florida-based retailer, to examine aspects of self-confidence in wine purchasing. The results indicate that two knowledge-based self-confidence factors (information knowledge and persuasion knowledge) were predominant for these consumers. The study showed strong support for the WSCS, which was developed as a measure of self-confidence in wine buying by Olsen, Thompson, and Clarke (2003) and how these relate to reliance on personal experience.