Adolescent girls from a modern conservative culture: The impact of their social identity on their perception of brand symbolism

This paper examines the relationship between adolescent girls' self‐esteem, self‐monitoring, and social groups (i.e., susceptibility to peer influence and group identification/differentiation) on one hand, and their perception of brand symbolism on the other. There is particular interest accorded to adolescent girls living in a transitional society. A single model is proposed to test the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling. The research findings reveal the existence of two categories of adolescents in a transitional society: modern and conservative. The former's perception of brand symbolism is found to be significantly influenced by their self‐esteem. The latter's, however, is affected by their self‐monitoring. Additionally, self‐monitoring has an indirect impact on both conservative and modern teenage girls' perception of brand symbolism via their susceptibility to peer influence and group identification. This latter was the only social group factor to have a direct effect on both groups' perception of brand symbolism. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Rethinking Worldly Possessions: The Relationship between Materialism and Body Appearance for Female Consumers in an Emerging Economy

This article investigates how women in an emerging economy relate the importance of material possessions to the importance they assign to the appearance of their body. The results of two studies demonstrate a very strong and positive relationship between materialism and several measures of body appearance. Study 1 shows strong correlations between materialism and body appearance in a sample of relatively young (m = 18.7 years) and affluent female students from a private university. Using structural equation modeling, Study 2 finds that in a sample of women averaging 40 years, more materialistic women did focus substantially more on body appearance than less materialistic women. Further, antecedents (self‐esteem, hedonic attitudes toward advertising, and skepticism toward advertising) and consequences (satisfaction with life) of materialism and body appearance were included in the model. In interpreting the results, it is assumed that individuals prone to materialism apply similar appearance‐centered mental schemata to their body as they do to material possessions.     

Shaping safe drinking cultures: evoking positive emotion to promote moderate‐drinking behaviour

Social marketing by Western governments that use fear tactics and threatening information to promote anti‐drinking messages has polarized ‘binge drinking’ and ‘moderate drinking’ through a continuum that implies benefits and harms for both individuals and society. With the goal of extending insights into social marketing approaches that promote safer drinking cultures in Australia, we discuss findings from a study that examines alcohol consumers' moderate‐drinking intentions. By applying the theory of planned behaviour and emotions theory, we discuss survey results from a sample of alcohol consumers, which demonstrate that positively framed value propositions that evoke happiness and love are more influential in the processing of an alcohol moderation message for alcohol consumers. The key limitations of this study are the cross‐sectional nature of the data and the focal‐dependent variable being behavioural intentions rather than behaviours. Research insight into the stronger influence of positive emotions on processing an alcohol moderation message establishes an important avenue for future social marketing communications that moves beyond negative, avoidance appeals to promote behaviour change in drinkers. These research findings will benefit professionals involved in developing social change campaigns that promote and reinforce consumers' positive intentions, with messages about the benefits of controlled, moderate drinking.     

Do We Follow the Leader or the Masses? Antecedents of the Willingness to Pay Extra for Eco‐Products

This paper reports on an experiment that tests for the existence of peer effects in consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable products. More specifically, we investigate whether the premium for an eco‐labeled laundry detergent is sensitive to receiving information about the premium paid by other members of one's social group. The information manipulations in the experiment test for two distinct types of social influence, i.e., conformist and payoff‐biased transmission. We find strong empirical evidence for a conformist transmission. Participants informed about the positive premium paid by the majority of their peers reported a higher premium than individuals not receiving any information. This result shows that previous studies on the WTP for sustainable products, which explain premiums by attitudinal measures and sociodemographic traits, unwarrantedly provide an under‐socialized account. The inclusion of social influence variables significantly increases the explanatory power of the model.     

The art of letting go: creating dispossession paths toward an unextended self

This paper describes a collaborative art/research project that afforded individuals who have difficulty letting go of objects the opportunity to give up meaningful possessions so that objects could take on new meanings, immortalized in the art form, such as photographic exhibitions, sculptures, and collages. Written stories accompanying the donation of these objects revealed these objects' strong attachments to self. Findings reveal that the psychological and emotional dispossession of objects was aided by two interrelated sub-processes: (1) reconciling alienable/inalienable properties of possessions through disposition practices and (2) negotiating self-identity incongruities in relation to material possession attachments. Art became a catalyst for a positive dispossession experience, which in turn promoted consumer's goals toward an unextended self. Instead of becoming de-constituted, alienable rubbish, or re-commoditized objects in material markets, these possessions were reconstituted by undergoing a meaning transformation that elevated their cultural status in the material system.     

Creating the right customer experience online: The influence of culture

The effective role of experiential marketing in the differentiation of brands has been documented in both traditional and online services. The digital context of e-retailing makes it both a suitable platform for experiential consumption and an easily accessible shopping method across cultures. In spite of this, investigation of the impacts of cultural differences on the desire for experiential benefits has been very limited in the e-retailing literature. Using Hofstede's (2001) cultural dimensions, this article studies how two student samples of North American and Chinese customers react differently to the experiential values offered on the websites of e-retailing services. The findings support our hypotheses and suggest that offering experiential values on a company's website is more influential for North American than for Chinese customers. More specifically, the influences of experiential values on site involvement and customers' patronage intentions are stronger for North Americans than for Chinese visitors. On the other hand, the impacts of site involvement on site attitudes and the influence of site attitudes on patronage intentions are stronger for Chinese compared with North American customers.     

Consumers' choice among peer‐to‐peer sharing platforms: The other side of the coin

Many peer‐to‐peer sharing platforms are transforming their business model from sharing for free to renting with or without in‐person interactions. How will these changes affect consumers’ participation in peer‐to‐peer sharing of personal items? The work studies consumers’ choice among three business models that vary on two dimensions: “free versus renting” and “with or without in‐person interactions.” The novelty is to consider that consumers’ choice can be driven by their perceptions of relationships among peers, which are shaped by the business models of sharing platforms. Perceptions of communal sharing (CS) relationships among peers are found to differ across business models and to predict consumers’ choice among the platforms above and beyond the economic and social benefits that consumers seek. Interestingly, perceptions of CS are not only found to explain the choice of a sharing for the free business model over the two others, but also the choice of renting with in‐person interactions over renting without in‐person interactions. For managers of peer‐to‐peer sharing platforms, this means that renting does not make sharing completely similar to traditional market exchanges as long as in‐person interactions are involved. For scholars, this calls for more work on the factors that bring about perceptions of CS.     

The Effects of Locus of Control on Word‐of‐mouth Communication

Word‐of‐mouth can be a powerful tool for and against marketing a brand. The effect of personality can have a significant effect on an individual's word‐of‐mouth behaviour. One of the most popular personality constructs is the locus of control. This research studied the influence of the locus of control on consumer word‐of‐mouth communications. The results showed that individuals who scored high on their internal locus of control were more likely to engage in word‐of‐mouth communication with their out‐groups. In addition, individuals who scored high on their external locus of control were more likely to engage in word‐of‐mouth communication with their in‐group. Out‐groups are defined as people with a weaker ties relationship, while in‐groups are defined as people with a stronger ties relationship (i.e. close friends and family). These findings would help marketers in directing their promotional programmes more effectively.     

Returning the favor: positive employee responses to supervisor and peer support for training transfer

Drawing on social exchange theory and associated notions of reciprocity, we argue that interpersonal support for training transfer in the workplace is associated with increased employee task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and reduced turnover intention. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 786 Chinese retail employees. The findings show that when employees perceive high levels of supervisor/peer support for training transfer, they are more likely to deliver higher levels of task performance and OCB in response, which in turn, lead to reduced turnover intention. We also found that the strength of the relationship between supervisor/peer support for training transfer on individuals’ OCB varied across regions within China. The results confirm the moderating role of regional context (coastal and inland regions) on the relationship between supervisor/peer support for training transfer on individuals’ OCB, with a stronger effect found in less economically developed inland regions. The moderating effect of region indicates that cross‐cultural researchers need to be aware of possible within‐country variations in employee attitudes and values.     

The relationship between cultural values and learning preference: the impact of acculturation experiences upon East Asians

Globalization and technology advancement are creating more biculturalism at workplaces and learning settings. However, little is known about acculturation experience and its influence on a person's cultural values and learning preference. The research reported in this study investigates the impact of acculturation experiences upon the relationship between cultural values and learning preference of 292 Far East Asians (from Confucian‐influenced societies) and Asian Americans. Different preferences for learning methods and different levels of traditional cultural values were found between these two groups of adult learners. Acculturation experience was identified as the influential factor for the differences. However, they all still retain their traditional cultural values in various degrees regardless of the length of time the individual had been exposed to the acculturation experience. The impact of cultural values on an adult's learning preference is an area of concern in cross‐cultural training and development.     

Children's Responses to Advertising in Social Games

This study explored children's (ages 9 through 12) level of persuasion knowledge and peer influence susceptibility concerning advertising in social games and investigated how these variables affect children's desire for the brands advertised in these games. Results showed that (1) children have a fairly good knowledge of the advertising in social games yet hold uncritical attitudes toward it and claim to be not very susceptible to peer influence; (2) the most important predictors of children's desire for the advertised brands are a low critical attitude and high peer influence susceptibility; and (3) recognition and understanding of advertising in social games is effective in reducing advertised brand desire only for children who are familiar with social games.     

Peer presence promotes popular choices: A “Spicy” field study on social influence and brand choice

Retail research has highlighted how the presence of others can affect consumers' brand evaluations, purchase intentions, and choice behavior. This field study investigated whether the presence (vs. absence) of peers and other consumers, respectively, could influence consumers' propensity to purchase popular brands (i.e., a market leader) within a given product category. Consumers at a supermarket were observed when standing in front of a spice shelf and their choices were analyzed as a function of whether they shopped alone or in the presence of peers versus other consumers. The results revealed that peer presence, but not the mere presence of other consumers, increased consumers' inclination to make popular brand choices, and that this effect was mediated by their stated familiarity with the chosen brand. As such, peer presence seems to increase consumers’ reliance on heuristics and the accessibility of concepts linked to popularity, leading to congruent popular brand choices. Moreover, consumers shopping in the presence of others generally took a longer time before choosing a brand and touched slightly more products in the presence of other consumers. Taken together, these results contribute to theory refinement in social influence from ecologically valid conditions and offer a set of implications for companies, store managers, and people working in the food industry.     

Does Interindustry and Intraindustry Information Help Predict Financial Distress?

This study investigates whether and how the accounting ratios of peer firms within the same industry (the industry peers) or firms within the industry of their customers (the downstream peers) help improve the predictability of sample firm financial distress. We document that the Z‐score factors of the companies with high correlation in stock returns help predict financial distress. The results show that accounting‐based ratios of the industry peers and the downstream peers enhance the accuracy of early warnings of financial distress, especially when prior returns of peer firms are highly correlated with the sample firm.     

Adolescent perceptions of parent and peer influences on teen purchase: An application of social power theory

This study evaluates parental and peer influences on teen purchase decisions by applying social power theory, which has not been examined in the teen context. The conceptual model examines how family socialization practices might impact teens' perceptions of social power influences from parents and peers. For example, family communication environment may promote teens' reliance on particular bases of social power influence. This study also examines the relationship between the bases of perceived social power and the purchase of different types of products (e.g., luxury/necessity, public/private). Results are generally consistent with predictions, demonstrating that teens from high socio-oriented communication environments are subject to greater perceived peer reward/coercive and referent power, whereas teens from high concept-oriented communication environments perceive greater parental expert and legitimate power. Finally, perceived bases of social power influence differ depending on the type of product purchased. Interpretation of findings and implications are discussed.     

Policy Uncertainty and Saving Attitude: Evidence from a Survey on Consumers

Uncertainty over the social security and tax system is often pointed out as a source of stagnant household consumption at the aggregate level. This study presents empirical evidence on this issue by using original survey data of Japanese individuals. The results indicate that individuals are highly uncertain over the future course of social security and tax policies. The policy uncertainty is associated with an orientation toward saving, and the relationship is stronger for low‐income individuals. These results suggest that improving long‐term predictability in the social security and tax system may contribute to weakening households' saving orientation.     

What I Know,What I Think I Know,and Whom I Know

Drawing on social cognitive theory and social network literature, this study examines how objective financial knowledge (OFK) and financial knowledge network intensity (FKNI) influence retirement investment decisions through the mediation of subjective financial knowledge (SFK). Using survey data, we find that OFK and FKNI enhance 401(k) account holders' risk‐taking and investment quality. We also find a unique role of SFK in retirement investment decisions: SFK mediates the effect of OFK on risk‐taking, not on investment decision quality. While the interaction between OFK and FKNI does not influence investment decision quality through SFK, it does positively influence risk‐taking through the mediation of SFK, which implies that OFK and FKNI serve as complements to each other in risk‐taking through the mediation of SFK. We suggest that individuals may reap benefits from financial literacy and financial network‐building programs for improving retirement investment decision‐making.     

Green apparel buying behaviour: A study on Indian youth

Changes in demographics and availability of global clothing brands have brought several changes in Indian apparel industry. Green or organic clothing brands are becoming popular among Indians and likely to contribute to the revenues of apparel sector. Global and national apparel manufacturers have introduced organic clothing lines to cater to ecological conscious consumers. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII), past green behaviour, green peer influence and green apparel knowledge on Indian youth's green apparel buying behaviour. A mix of convenience and random sampling was used for data collection. The sample (n = 981) comprised of youth of age group 18–24 years. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that past green behaviour influenced green apparel buying behaviour. Green peer influence and green apparel knowledge had no impact on green apparel buying behaviour. Moreover, CSII had no influence on green apparel buying behaviour. The findings differ from earlier studies that suggest influence of social norms and peer group had an effect on green buying behaviour. Practical implications of the present study are discussed.     

Adolescents’ brand sensitivity in apparel: influence of three socialization agents

Wearing clothes with prestigious brand names seems to be very important for adolescents. This phenomenon was studied in the context of consumer socialization by examining the influence of three socialization agents, namely parents, peers and TV, on the development of French Canadian adolescents’ brand sensitivity and their relative importance. Controlling for socio‐economic variables, multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for boys and for girls. For both genders, brand sensitivity is related to peer influence. Girls’ brand sensitivity is related to the importance fathers give to clothing brands. TV exposure is not related to adolescents’ brand sensitivity. For boys and girls, peers represent the most important predictor of this consumer socialization. The results are discussed in the light of social and economic pressures and family relationships.     

Unique but integrated: The role of individuation and assimilation processes in teen opinion leadership

Opinion leaders propel the diffusion of innovation and exert a significant influence on the marketplace. This influence is especially pronounced during adolescence, a period marked by increasing reliance on peers and the emergence of a tension between two countervailing needs: assimilation and individuation. A survey of 1142 adolescents reveals that these developmental needs affect adolescent opinion leadership in the critical clothing market. Adolescent opinion leadership relies on a balance between desires for assimilation (i.e., centrality within the peer network) and individuation (i.e., need for uniqueness); adolescents' susceptibility to peers' normative influence and gender moderate these relationships. Adolescents who occupy central positions within their peer network tend to be opinion leaders, though only if they are not susceptible to normative influence. Position within the peer network is a key for girls, whereas need for uniqueness is a key for boys. These differences implicate different approaches for managers targeting adolescent males and females.     

Adolescent brand consciousness and product placements: awareness,liking and perceived effects on self and others

Product placements in entertainment media are increasing, particularly in content targeted to adolescents. This marketing communication tactic is examined in the context of media socialization and individual differences in brand consciousness. The relative influence of commercial media (TV, radio, movies, online) and perceived peer and parent brand consciousness on US adolescent brand consciousness is assessed, as well as differences in how low and high brand‐conscious adolescents view product placements. Awareness, liking and perceived effects of product placements on self and others (third‐person perception) were measured. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that movies and perceived parent and peer brand consciousness were positively related to adolescent brand consciousness. Those adolescents considered to be highly brand‐conscious were also those who were most aware of and favourable towards product placements. All adolescents demonstrated third‐person perception of media effects in that they considered others to be more influenced by product placements than themselves, with peers influenced more than friends. Highly brand‐conscious teens perceived the greatest effects of product placements on their own and others’ buying behaviours, yet low brand‐conscious teens revealed the largest gap in perceptions of impact on self vs. peers. The results are discussed in view of media effects; ramifications for marketers and public policy makers are also appraised.