Older consumers’ orientations toward age-based marketing stimuli

The increasing size of the aged population is becoming important to marketers interested in developing marketing programs, policymakers interested in the effects of marketing activities on the well-being of older adults, and researchers who wish to understand this segment as consumers. This research presents theoretical foundations useful in understanding older adults as consumers and, based on these foundations, a model is developed and tested to help learn about antecedents and processes that affect the way older adults respond to marketing offerings targeted at them. where he is also a member of the Gerontology program faculty. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. An internationally recognized authority on marketing to older adults, Dr. Moschis is the author of several books and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and papers. He has been a consultant to leading agencies throughout the country and abroad, a frequent speaker at business forums, and a contributor to various consumer and trade publications. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Georgia State University. His current research interests are in the areas of consumer behavior and research methodology. He has published several papers in various proceedings and the Journal of Direct Marketing. She received her Ph.D. in Business Administration from Georgia State University. Her major research interests are in the areas of consumer behavior of the elderly and consumer socialization. She has published several articles and papers in various journals and proceedings.     

Life course perspectives on consumer behavior

Although marketing researchers have recognized the importance of early life experiences in shaping patterns of consumer behavior in later life, they have inadequate theoretical and methodological bases for investigating consumption-related issues over the life course. As a result, relatively little is known about the changes consumers experience over time, how they respond to these changes, and how early life experiences affect their consumer behavior. The life course approach, developed as an interdisciplinary program for studying various aspects of behavior, offers a framework for filling gaps in previous efforts to study consumer behavior over time. The purpose of this article is to advocate the life course approach for studying various types of market behavior. First, the author presents a general conceptual life course framework that serves as a blueprint for discussing theoretical perspectives and organizing, integrating, and reporting consumer research relevant to the life course paradigm. Second, methods of data analysis compatible with life course research are discussed. Finally, select areas of interest to marketing researchers (materialism and compulsive consumption) illustrate how the life course approach might contribute to previous efforts to study these consumer behaviors in an innovative way.     

The role of aesthetic taste in consumer behavior

In light of the increasing interest in hedonic aspects of consumer behavior, it is clear that consumer taste plays a critical role in judgment and decision making, particularly for hedonic products and services. At the present time, however, our understanding of consumer aesthetic taste and its specific role for consumer behavior is limited. In this article, we review the literature from a variety of fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and consumer behavior in order to develop a conceptual definition of consumer aesthetic taste. We then explore various issues related to taste and develop a conceptual framework for the relevance of expertise vs. taste in consumer decision-making. Finally, we present an agenda for future research on this important topic.     

A conceptualization of the consumer behavior discipline

Consumer behavior, as a social science discipline, is analyzed from a developmental perspective. Seven developmental levels or stages are identified reflecting the growing role of consumer behavior study in applied social settings. A classification schema is also presented in an attempt to categorize consumer behavior research     

Stratification in consumer behavior research: A re-examination

The role of the stratification concept in consumer behavior research is examined and compared to its sociological foundations. Misapplications of the concept in consumer research along with weaknesses in methodology, hypothesis formulation and criterion variable selection are identified and remedies suggested. Strengths and weaknesses of different stratification scales for consumer research are assessed and the key issues involved in stratification research are illustrated by reviewing the stream of stratification and consumer research in the area of banking behavior.     

A study of the relationships between cognitive appraisals and consumption emotions

While emotions have been shown to be significant determinants of various consumer behaviors, the antecedents of these emotions have not received much attention in the marketing literature. The current research examines a cognitive model of emotion and uses an experiment to show that the appraisals of goal relevance, goal congruence, and coping potential are determinants of consumption emotions such as anger, sadness, and joy/satisfaction. These emotions are also shown to be determinants of postconsumption behaviors such as word-of-mouth intentions. His research interests include consumption emotions, complaining behavior, cognitive models of emotion, and covariance structure modeling.     

The dynamics of long-term business-to-business exchange relationships

A framework for business-to-business interaction is proposed that integrates approaches to bargaining from social psychology and economics to provide a conceptual paradigm emphasizing long-term exchange relationships rather than individual transactions. The authors propose a classification of negotiation behavior along two continuous dimensions and examine the mechanics of the dyadic negotiation process that translate negotiation behavior into long-term relationships. They suggest that exchange relationships are formed by achieving mutually beneficial outcomes from a series of exchange transactions and that there is a bi-directional link between negotiation behavior and exchange relationships mediated by negotiation outcomes. The framework also explores the determinants of negotiation behavior in dyadic negotiations between businesses in terms of organizational, individual, and “other party” influences. Propositions are developed, using both role theory and economic bargaining theory, to support the overall framework. Finally, the classification of negotiation behavior is revisited to examine the evolution of exchange relationships over time. She received her Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Her research interests include attitude and choice models, services marketing, customer satisfaction, and business-to-business relationships. She has published articles in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Complaining Behavior, and theJournal of Health Care Management, as well as various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include organizational buying behavior, negotiation strategies, small group dynamics, and cross-cultural differences in buyer-seller interactions. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of International Business Studies, andIndustrial Marketing Management, as well as numerous conference proceedings. She also holds an M.B.A. from the Uni- versity of Tennessee. Her research interests include consumer value determination, consumer satisfaction, and business-to-business relationships.     

“Add-on” purchasing: Consumer behavior in the trial of new products

The research reported here examines consumer behavior in the trial of new consumer packaged goods. Panel data tracking purchase patterns over the first two years of introduction for seven low-priced consumer goods was utilized to study both the timing and quantity of individual household new product trials. A behavior termed “add-on” purchasing (buying trial brands in addition to regularly purchased brands) was exhibited across all seven new products. Implications of this “add on” behavior are discussed.     

An examination of consumer sentiment toward offshored services

This research identifies and analyzes the underlying elements and consequences of consumer sentiment toward offshored services. This is accomplished by initially conceptualizing consumer sentiment toward offshored services, then developing and validating a multi-dimensional scale (OFFSERVSENT) to measure the construct. This research determines that consumer sentiment toward offshored services is instrumental in explaining consumers’ commitment to and global attitudes toward firms that offshore services as well as consumers’ word-of-mouth behavior. The strength of these relationships varies depending upon the type of service being offshored. The results of this research contribute to the study of services offshoring, an emerging and fertile area of research for the services and marketing disciplines, and provide practitioners with increased knowledge regarding offshoring decisions.     

Why don’t some people complain? A cognitive-emotive process model of consumer complaint behavior

This article reports the development of a theoretical model of consumer complaint behavior by using cognitive appraisal theory as its foundation. Because of its importance to management and lack of attention in the marketing literature, specific emphasis is placed on the phenomenon of noncomplaining and the role of consumer emotion in dissatisfying marketplace experiences. The model presents cognitive appraisal as the key element in the evaluation of consumer threat and harm, which subsequently may result in psychological stress. Stressful appraisal outcomes are suggested to elicit emotive reactions that, in conjunction with cognitive appraisal, influence the type of coping strategy used by the consumer. Three coping strategies (problem focused, emotion focused, and avoidance) are identified and discussed. Key propositions are illustrated by using in-depth interview data from a sample of older female consumers. Nancy Stephens is an associate professor of marketing at Arizona State University. She has published a variety of studies on consumer behavior, services marketing, and marketing communications issues in such publications as theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of Advertising Research, theJournal of Advertising, and theJournal of Services Marketing, as well as many conference proceedings. Kevin P. Gwinner is an assistant professor of marketing in the School of Business at East Carolina University, North Carolina. His research interests include performance issues of customer-contact service employees, consumer complaint behaviors, and corporate sponsorship issues. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theInternational Journal of Service Industry Management, International Marketing Review, and theJournal of Marketing Education.     

On the significance of statistically insignificant results in consumer behavior experiments

Experimentation is the sine qua non of consumer behavior research, and much of what is thought to be known about the behavior of consumers is based on findings from experiments. However, many articles that report consumer behavior experiments contain one or more results that are significantly insignificant. That is, one or more experimental results are so unusually weak or minuscule that they are unlikely to have come about by chance. As such, significantly insignificant results can be due to the “failure” of the theory underlying an experiment and/or the flawed design or implementation of an experiment. Consequently, significantly insignificant results have implications for the theories and methodologies employed in consumer behavior experiments, the quality of conclusions drawn from the experiments, and the credibility of the consumer behavior research discipline as a whole.     

Social character and the structure of behavioral intention

Measures of attitude and behavioral intention have played a significant role in the study of consumer behavior. Since behavioral intention may function as a precursor to a behavioral act, its component elements suggest approaches to marketing mix development. In marketing, the most widely used measure of behavioral intention is the Fishbein model, and it is this model's requirement for data aggregation which is the focus of this research. Findings suggest that differences in individual consumers may seriously impair the usefulness of data derived from this model.     

Anticipatory consumer socialization

While most consumer socialization research has focused upon the development of consumer orientations that young people can enact, little research exists on how children and adolescents develop consumer orientations that have relevance for adult consumer behavior. This article addresses the concept of anticipatory consumer socialization by focusing on a variety of consumer cognitions and how they are acquired.     

Models of consumer behavior: The state of the art

Models of consumer behavior have gained much acceptance since the early sixties. The purpose of this article is to examine the state of the art by reviewing the often cited models: Nicosia, Howard-Sheth, and Engel-Blackwell-Kollat. Specifically, a major objective is to consider these models from their practical utility standpoint, i.e., whether the models can be tested and used by marketers. To accomplish this, a set of criteria is developed for evaluation of models in general, and consumer/buyer behavior models in particular. The criteria used for evaluating the state of the art in consumer behavior models are largely derived from model building sources in various fields. The results indicate that although the models are quite impressive in scope, they are inherently weak to be of much help to the marketing practitioner. Indeed, none of the models have been tested as a whole in their original form because they lack specificity and thus are difficult, if not impossible, to operationalize. This article is partially based on a paper which received an award in an Academy of Marketing Science student paper competioion. The Academy encourages scholarly work by various groups through annual competitions and awards.     

The facilitating influence of consumer knowledge on the effectiveness of daily value reference information

As a means of enhancing consumer understanding of nutritional information, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 requires the provision of percentage daily values (%DVs) on food labels. Findings from existing research, however, vary in their support for the assumption that including %DVs will assist consumers in their efforts to comprehend nutritional information. To shed further light on this issue, the present study examines the moderating role of consumer knowledge about how to use %DVs in evaluating a product’s healthiness. The results indicate that the usefulness of providing %DVs on a nutritional label depends strongly on this form of knowledge. Implications for public policy and directions for future research efforts are presented. Fuan Li (Ph.D., Florida International University) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Walker School of Business at Mercyhurst College (Erie, Pennsylvania). He has been a faculty member at East China Normal University (Shanghai, China) and St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota). His current research interests include consumer choice, consumer responses to trust advertising appeals, and relationship marketing. His work has been published both in English and in Chinese. Paul W. Miniard (Ph.D., University of Florida) is the BMI professor of marketing and the Ph.D. program director in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (Miami, Florida). His research focuses on consumer behavior and advertising and has been published in a number of business and psychology journals. He is also a coauthor of a consumer behavior textbook. Michael J. Barone (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) is an associate professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa). His research, which primarily involves consumer responses to advertising and consumer choice, has been published in theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Marketing Letters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, andJournal of Public Policy & Marketing, as well as in various conference proceedings.     

A proposed model of external consumer information search

An enduring interest in consumer behavior is the investigation of external prepurchase information search. Past research has identified a large number of factors that have been found to influence the extent of information search. The purposes of this article are to summarize the external information search literature and then develop a more parsimonious model of information search. Specifically, we propose that the effects of these antecedents of information search are mediated by four variables: ability, motivation, costs, and benefits. This model integrates the psychological search literature by incorporating ability and motivation to search for information and the economic paradigm that centers on the perceived costs and benefits of information search. Propositions are developed based on this comprehensive model for future testing. Jeffrey B. Schmidt recently became an assistant professor of marketing at Kansas State University after completing his Ph.D. at Michigan State University. His research interests include new product development and international product strategy. His work has appeared in theJournal of Product Innovation Management andJournal of Business and Industrial Marketing as well as in various conference proceedings. He received his Ph.D. from Indiana University. His research interests include consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction and issues involving consumer knowledge. His work has appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, andJournal of Product Innovation as well as in various conference proceedings.     

The behavioral perspective model of purchase and consumption: From consumer theory to marketing practice

The Behavioral Perspective Model of purchase and consumption (BPM) portrays the rate at which consumer behaviors take place as a function of the relative openness of the setting in which they occur and the informational and hedonic reinforcement available in or promised by the setting. Each of eight combinations of contingencies based on these explanatory variables is uniquely related to a specific mode of observed consumer behavior. By providing an environmental perspective on consumer behavior, the model makes a critical contribution to the development of contemporary consumer research that frequently decontextualizes its subject matter. It also presents an innovative conceptualization of the nature of marketing strategies.     

Anticipation of injurious consumption outcomes and its impact on consumer attributions of blame

The role of expectations in consumer evaluation of outcomes is widely applied in the study of consumers’ postpurchase evaluations. However, the evaluative consequence of relatively unexpected outcomes has received little attention. This study discusses the importance of infrequently occurring negative outcomes in consumer evaluations and then tests the role of their foreseeability in an attributional model. Results suggest that the extent to which a consumer anticipates negative product use outcomes plays an important role in mediating attributions for that outcome to the marketer. Specifically, the model results address determinants of consumer attributions of blame for negative consumption outcomes. Factors such as promoting safety, using warning labels, and providing service as well as consumer risk aversion, product experience, and perceived product danger influence blame both directly and indirectly through the extent to which an unlikely negative outcome is anticipated. His expertise is in the area of product safety and consumer reactions to negative information. His research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Advances in Consumer Research, and numerous other national and regional publications. His expertise is in the area of consumers’ affective reactions and research methodology. His work has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Advances in Consumer Research, and numerous other professional outlets. Her academic interests are focused on consumer behavior and retailing, and she has been recognized with both college and university teaching awards in these areas. Her research has appeared in theJournal of Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, Advances in Consumer Research, The Cutting Edge, and numerous other national and regional publications.     

宁波市青少年体育消费需要类型的比较研究

本文以体育社会学、消费行为学、消费心理学等理论为基础,采用了文献资料、社会调查、数理统计等研究方法,就我市不同性别青少年体育消费需要的基本类型、内容和特点等进行了深入研究,以更好地把握青少年体育消费需要与行为的内在规律,正确引导青少年体育消费心理预期,为政府有关部门和企业制定有效的调控政策和营销策略提供理论依据。结果表明在现实需要中我市青少年依然注重体育消费品的经济性、耐用性和实用性.