Beyond brand attitude: Individual drivers of purchase for symbolic cobranded products

Cobranding, or the use of two brand names on a single product, generally coincides with higher purchase intentions. Prior research focuses on ingredient co-branding and suggests that attitude toward both the primary and the secondary brands and congruence between the brands are important drivers of cobranded products' success. This research shows that self-congruity with the secondary brand and need for uniqueness have significant positive impacts on symbolic co-branding purchase, in addition to perceived congruence and attitude toward the primary brand. In contrast, attitude toward the secondary brand does not relate to purchase of symbolic cobranded products. Therefore, managers should rely on self-congruity, instead of attitude toward the secondary brand, when choosing a partner for symbolic cobranded products. Moreover, product category involvement enhances the impact of self-congruity on purchase intent.     

The effects of product scarcity and consumers' need for uniqueness on purchase intention

Scarcity strategies are employed by marketers to influence consumer decision making. Many famous brands have been designed and produced for the purpose of as being marketed as limited‐edition products to intensify consumer desire and intention to purchase them. However, very few studies have simultaneously integrated relevant constructs to explain the phenomenon of scarcity purchasing. To fill this void, this study develops a comprehensive research model in order to fully understand how scarcity affects consumer value perception and purchase intention. Simultaneously, two competing models are developed to compare the explanation power of Lynn's Scarcity–Expensiveness–Desirability (S‐E‐D) model and Synde and Fromkin's desire for uniqueness model. The results suggest that the effects of scarcity on purchase intention through perceived uniqueness, perceived sacrifice and perceived value are stronger than the scarcity effects through assumed expensiveness, perceived quality, perceived sacrifice and perceived value.     

Linkages of retailer awareness,retailer association,retailer perceived quality and retailer loyalty with purchase intention: A study of Indian food retail brands

The present study was an effort to explore the direct and indirect impacts (mediated through retailer loyalty) of retailer awareness, retailer association and retailer perceived quality on purchase intention. Seven hypotheses were developed with relevant literature support. The hypotheses were tested with primary data (n=355) collected through structured questionnaire using systematic sampling from food retail shoppers of age 18 years and above in Kolkata, a metropolitan city of India. Structural equation modeling statistical technique was used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that retailer awareness, retailer association, retailer perceived quality and retailer loyalty have positive impacts on purchase intention. Results also found that the indirect impacts (mediated though retailer loyalty) of retailer awareness, retailer association and retailer perceived quality on purchase intention are stronger than the direct ones. Academic and managerial implications are further discussed.     

Inclusive advertising featuring disability on instagram: Effect on consumer well-being,brand engagement,and purchase intention

Should advertisers continue to promote their brands through brand endorsers without considering their diverse characteristics, or should they embrace diversity in advertising? Gender, age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation are some of the aspects of diversity that have been investigated in advertising research, primarily in the context of Western and developed countries. However, it remains underexplored how physical disabilities in influencer advertising on Instagram affect consumer well-being and consumers’ responses toward brands in a non-Western market. Through an experimental design (including both inclusive and non-inclusive samples), this study examined the effects of inclusive advertising (including disabled persons) on consumer well-being (both hedonic and eudaimonic), brand engagement, and purchase intention. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. In Study 1 (shampoo brand case), a data analysis of 260 young Pakistani consumers revealed that inclusive (vs non-inclusive) advertisements enhance both hedonic well-being (HWB) and eudaimonic well-being (EWB), with a stronger effect for EWB. The spillover effects of EWB and HWB indicated a significant influence on brand engagement and purchase intention, whereas the effect of HWB is significant only on brand engagement. The effects of HWB on brand engagement and of EWB on purchase intention showed a greater influence in the case of inclusive advertisements than in traditional non-inclusive advertisements. In Study 2 (clothing brand case), an analysis of 235 respondents revealed that inclusive advertising drives both HWB and EWB, which have a greater influence on brand engagement and purchase intention when individuals are exposed to an inclusive advertisement featuring disabled persons than a non-inclusive one. These studies confirm that inclusive advertisements attract a more diverse customer base in addition to existing customers. These findings offer theoretical and practical insights for advertising and consumer research.     

Psychological antecedents and risk on attitudes toward e-customization

Consumers can experience relatively low prices with the dramatic diffusion of online shopping even with customized products, which are commonly more expensive than regular products, due to unique functions of customized product order processes in online environments. This paper investigates how two psychological antecedents, (1) need for uniqueness and (2) status aspiration, can influence consumers' attitude with regard to forming procedures toward e-customized products and how perceived risk, another psychological factor, on purchasing e-customized products plays a role of moderating factor. A self-administered online survey of 321 Japanese consumers is conducted to examine a proposed conceptual model with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The analysis using results indicates that the need for uniqueness directly impacts on attitude toward e-customized products while it mediates the effect of status aspiration. A multi-group analysis to test a moderating effect of the perceived risk on purchasing e-customized products highlights the significant effects of psychological factors. The result also provides potential guidelines to e-tailors on possibility of segmenting markets as well as promoting their customized products using these psychological criteria of their target consumers.     

Thinking outside the bottle: Effects of alternative wine packaging

Packaging communicates intrinsic product attributes to consumers, which can influence consumer response and decision-making; however, little is known about the impact of non-traditional packaging formats. The current research aims to bridge this gap. Across five studies, we demonstrate that non-traditional packaging negatively influenced purchase intention of a complex product, wine, through product appeal and taste perceptions (Study 1A)/expectations (Studies 1B–4). We also demonstrate that the consumer response to non-traditional packaging is a function of individual differences (desire for unique products) and label attributes (eco-friendly labels).     

Linkages of retailer personality,perceived quality and purchase intention with retailer loyalty: A study of Indian non-food retailing

The present study was an effort to explore the direct and indirect (through retailer perceived quality and purchase intention) impacts of retailer personality on store loyalty. Questionnaire was used to collect data using systematic sampling from non-food retail store shoppers of age 18 years and above in Kolkata, a metropolitan city of India. Multivariate data analysis techniques like structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. Results supported both the direct and indirect impacts of retailer personality on retailer equity. Interestingly, the extent of indirect impact of retailer personality on retailer loyalty is greater than direct impact. Arguably, this paper is the first to explore the linkages among retailer personality, perceived quality, purchase intention and store loyalty. Academic and managerial implications are further discussed.     

The effects of ad heuristic and systematic cues on consumer brand awareness and purchase intention: Investigating the bias effect of heuristic information processing

With growing numbers of digital users, social media advertising becomes a vital marketing channel for attracting and sustaining consumers. Drawing on the heuristic-systematic model, this research investigates the effects of advertisement systematic cues including ad informativeness and ad persuasiveness, and ad heuristic cue which is ad poster category on the consumer brand awareness, and the sequential effect on consumer purchase intention. An experimental design featuring two categories of ad poster, namely, firm and influencer, is created for empirical evidence collection. Results show that ad informativeness and ad persuasiveness contribute to greater consumer brand awareness and purchase intention. The poster category can positively bias the influence of ad informativeness, and firm poster outperforms the influencer poster when controlling the advertisement content the same. The findings demonstrate the co-occurrence of heuristic and systematic information processing in the social media advertising context. This research deepens current understanding of social media advertising and provides practical implications for marketers to capitalize on different ad posters according to advertisement informativeness and persuasiveness feature.     

Factors influencing clothing interest and purchase intention: a study of Generation Y consumers in Malaysia*

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing clothing interest among Generation Y consumers in Malaysia. Brand image, word of mouth (WOM), self-concept, perceived quality, and need for uniqueness were hypothesized to be related with clothing interest, which in turn, was deemed to be related with purchase intention. The interaction effect of price consciousness on the relationship between clothing interest and purchase intention was also examined in this study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from a total of 300 respondents from Malaysia to test the hypothesized relationships. Results showed that need for uniqueness, self-concept, brand image, WOM, and perceived quality are significant predictors of clothing interest among the Generation Y consumers in Malaysia and price consciousness moderated the relationship between their clothing interests and purchase intention. The practical implications of the research findings were discussed.