Measuring Purchase-decision involvement

Purchase-decision involvement is distinguished from product-class involvement. Literature on consumer involvement is shown to be lacking a measure of purchase involvement. Therefore, a scale of purchase-decision involvement is developed. Two empirical studies are described and are shown to furnish tests of convergent and discriminant validities. The individual items of the proposed scale are explicitly embedded in the purchase-decision context, and the scale is simple and parsimonious, making it especially useful to practitioners.     

The influence of topic involvement on mail‐survey response behavior

In this study the influence of topic involvement on mail‐survey response rate and speed was experimentally investigated. The results show that response rates for topics that are generally considered as high involvement were higher than for topics that are generally considered as low involvement. However, the speed of response did not differ between the two levels of topic involvement. Moreover, in terms of response rates an interesting interaction effect was observed: For the high‐involvement topic, the response rate showed a further positive and significant correlation with the within‐topic level of involvement, but this was not the case for the low‐involvement topic. The implications of these findings to nonresponse bias in mail survey research are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Autotelic need for touch,haptics, and persuasion: The role of involvement

Previous research has shown that a touch or haptic element attached to a persuasive appeal can increase persuasion, particularly for individuals who have a clear preference for touch to enjoy its sensory feedback (high autotelics). This research extends previous work by including involvement in the context of an appeal by a nonprofit. We find, in an experiment where we manipulate involvement, that when a haptic element is present, high autotelics are more persuaded regardless of their involvement with the message. However, for low autotelics, a haptic element increases persuasion under conditions of low versus high involvement with the message. A second experiment measures involvement and finds that again, under low involvement conditions, both high and low autotelics are persuaded by a touch element. Finally, a field study with a local symphony orchestra is conducted in which involvement with the message is low but involvement with the company is high. In this case, a touch element is only persuasive for high autotelics. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Corporate Community Involvement and Local Institutions: Two Case Studies From the Mining Industry in Tanzania

Corporate community involvement contributes capital or resources in various forms to a community. However, such involvement may also influence local institutions that determine how well these resources are used, that is, the extent to which they are used to promote the public good rather than being subject to private capture. For community involvement to have a beneficial effect on local development, corporations need to consider their impact on local institutions. Presented in this article are two case studies from Tanzania that illustrate how community involvement activities of two mining firms have resulted in misappropriation of and conflict over corporate community involvement funds. It is argued that corporations need an analytical approach that integrates a differentiated stakeholder approach with institutional theory to contribute to local development in poor communities.     

The Effect of Stakeholder Preferences, Organizational Structure and Industry Type on Corporate Community Involvement

This paper analyses the relationships between corporate community involvement activities, the organizational structures within which they are managed, the firm's industry and evolving stakeholder attitudes and preferences in a sample of 148 U.K. based firms who have demonstrated a clear desire to be socially responsible. The research highlights significant associations between the allocation of responsibility for community involvement within the firm, its industry and the extent of its community involvement activities. Consistent with the view that managerial structures may play a significant role in the implementation of community initiatives, the results identify significant variations in community involvement policies across alternative organizational forms. However, important similarities in corporate community policies across alternative structures are also shown to exist suggesting that corporate community involvement activities may be influenced by the preferences of societal stakeholders.     

The Roles of Modality Richness and Involvement in Shopping Behavior in 3D Virtual Stores

The rapid growth of e-commerce and consumers' increasing use of 3D virtual worlds to make purchases have rendered it important to understand how consumers develop their buying intentions in this novel context. Drawing from literature on modality richness, this study examined the effects of pre-experimental product involvement and the modality of marketing information presentation on consumers' product evaluations, buying intentions, and enjoyment of online shopping. The results of a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment indicate significant interaction effects between modality richness and prior involvement. Consumers with low involvement are influenced by modality richness, whereas those with high involvement are not, thus confirming the moderating role of prior involvement for shopping behaviors inside 3D virtual environments. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

Impact of Job Involvement on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in China

This study examined the relationship between job involvement and the five dimensions of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs, altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, conscientiousness, and civil virtue), using a sample of 1,110 from the People Republic of China. Results showed that job involvement related positively to all dimensions of OCBs. In addition, gender moderated the relationship between job involvement and three dimensions of OCBs (altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship), with males having a stronger, positive relationship between these constructs than females. The results further showed that party affiliation moderated the relationship between job involvement and three dimensions of OCBs (altruism, courtesy, and civil virtue), with party members having a strong, positive relationship between these constructs than non-party members. The results are interpreted in light of the literature both on job involvement and OCBs, and limitations of this study are discussed.     

Citizen and consumer involvement in UK public services

This paper is concerned with the involvement and participation of citizens and consumers in UK public services. It reflects on levels of involvement over a 30‐year period and maps this accordingly. Using models of participation, the paper reviews the citizen and consumer concepts. Conclusions are drawn about involvement and participation in practice and how this will develop in the future.     

Managing supplier involvement in new product development: a portfolio approach

Supplier involvement in new product development projects has become an increasingly popular method for improving project effectiveness (product costs and quality) and project efficiency (development costs and time). One of the key issues in managing this involvement is determining which type of involvement a manufacturer should have with the various suppliers that may be engaged simultaneously in a development project. In this article, a Supplier Involvement Portfolio is introduced to distinguish four types of supplier involvement in development projects. Subsequently, suitable supplier–manufacturer interfaces for the four types of involvement are defined in terms of the direction of information flow, the communication media used, the amount of communication, the topics discussed and the functions involved.     

Bridging the intention–behavior gap among organic grocery customers: The crucial role of point‐of‐sale information

Although the interest in organic groceries has increased, actual buying behavior falls short for reasons that are mostly unknown to researchers and practitioners. This paper addresses this so‐called intention–behavior gap by investigating the impact of point‐of‐sale (POS) information on the perception of purchase barriers and behavior. While behavior and interest differ for various product categories, the organic groceries most frequently bought worldwide are differentiated on the basis of product category involvement in a pilot study. A laboratory experiment and a field experiment containing actual purchase behavior and market data revealed the possibility of enhancing organic purchases within low‐ and high‐involvement categories, while exposed to POS information. In low‐involvement product categories, POS information should reveal new product category‐specific organic features. In high‐involvement product categories, the perceived addition of value for money is crucial for purchasing organic groceries. While the effect of POS information on perceived trust and knowledge is higher for health conscious or green consumers in low‐involvement product categories, it is the converse in high‐involvement product categories.     

Does Family and Lone Founder Involvement Lead to Similar Indebtedness?

This study evaluates whether the presence of a lone founder and family involvement impact private firms’ leverage differently from a methodological view. Using a sample of 4,102 private firms in Spain and taking under consideration a panel data structure from 2006 to 2013, we find that lone founder and family involvement matter in capital structure decisions and size shapes the forementioned influence. Our findings show that lone founder involvement always implies higher debt than the rest of firms and suggest that firms with genuine family involvement are significantly low debt companies.     

The effect of enduring,situational, and response involvement on preference stability in the context of voting behavior

A conceptual model of the relationships between enduring, situational, and response involvement is proposed and tested in the context of decision-making associated with a political election. Specifically, the model concerns relationships between involvement, knowledge, confidence, and the stability of preference for a specific candidate over time. Empirical support for the proposed model is found, and implications for involvement researchers and political marketers are offered.     

The Role of Involvement in Promoting Canadian Universities

Implications for the promotion of universities are drawn from a study of 380 undergraduates from a mid-sized Cana- dian university. The paper demonstrates that involvement is a useful basis for segmentation, even in an ostensibly "high involvement" situation, by providing guidance as to the type of mformation used by students in sdecting a university, and by differentiating among those who are active mformation seekers and those who are not. Support is provided for a two-dimensional (affective/cognitive) view of involvement. Support is also provided for the contention that different promotional approaches will be necessary for each of four involvement-based segments.     

Collaborating online: the roles of interactivity and personalization

Collaborating with customers is considered a new source of competitive advantage so customer participation and involvement are emerging as key strategic factors. This research studies how interactivity and personalization influence both customers' participation during the online purchase of information services and their intentions to continue participating. It also analyzes whether personalization and interactivity improve customer involvement with the service purchased in online environments. Results verify the importance of interactivity and personalization to foster customer participation, involvement and intentions to continue participating. Moreover, it is found that interactivity moderates the effect of personalization, increasing its influence on service involvement and intentions to participate. This paper demonstrates the convenience of analyzing involvement and participation together in order to understand customer collaboration, as well as the importance of the purchase context from a participation and socialization perspective in the services arena.     

心理契约、公平感、发言权与工作卷入——基于劳务派遣工的实证研究

基于社会交换理论、社会比较理论,围绕员工的公平和发言权实现程度,本文探讨了劳务派遣工的心理契约履行与工作卷入的关系、以及分配公平和程序公平感知的中介作用及工会会员角色的调节作用。研究采用问卷调查法,基于7家劳务派遣单位的171个劳务派遣工样本进行分析,结果表明：劳务派遣工感知到的心理契约履行与工作卷入程度显著正相关,分配公平和程序公平感知在两者间起完全中介作用。层次回归方程分析的结果显示,“是否加入工会”对程序公平与工作卷入的关系具有显著的调节作用,即相对于未加入工会的劳务派遣工,加入工会的派遣工的程序公平感知与工作卷入的正相关关系较强。最后,论文针对假设检验的启示和意义进行探讨。     

Incorporating consumers' motivations into the theory of reasoned action

Consumers are motivated to engage in activities for many varied reasons. The present study broadens the theory of reasoned action model to include three variables reflecting motivations: hedonic involvement, self‐expressive involvement, and self‐concept congruity. It is suggested that eagerness to engage in a behavior encapsulates emotional commitment, and including this affective variable would further broaden the cognitive approach taken to model a consumer's intention to engage in a behavior. A model that links hedonic involvement, self‐expressive involvement, self‐concept congruity, subjective norm, and attitude toward the behavior to both intentions and eagerness is proposed. In addition, eagerness is posited as a mediator linking these three new variables to intentions. The models are tested with the use of data from 717 adults. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Affect and persuasion: The influence of pleasantness and arousal on attitude formation and message elaboration

In contrast to past research that viewed affect as unidimensional, this study examines the effects of affect's two primary dimensions, pleasantness and arousal, on ad-based persuasion outcomes (attitude favorability) and processes (degree of elaboration, thought positivity). After assessing their naturally-occurring levels of pleasantness and arousal, subjects were exposed to a persuasive communication and assigned to an involvement (low/high) by message strength (low/high) design. GLM analyses revealed that higher pleasantness accentuated the typical involvement X message interaction on attitude favorability, and that higher involvement enhanced message elaboration only when accompanied by higher pleasantness. Path analyses further suggested that (1) higher pleasantness enhanced message elaboration under higher involvement but decreased it under lower involvement, (2) under higher involvement, both pleasantness and arousal positively impacted thought positivity, and, (3) higher arousal decreased message elaboration only for the weaker message. The importance and implications of a broader than unidimensional view of affect in persuasion are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Public involvement in health genomics: the reality behind the policies

Public involvement is increasingly becoming the norm as stakeholders recognize the need to inform, consult and engage the public. However, there is limited understanding about the meaning and implications of public involvement, in particular elements like the levels of public involvement, the goals of the involvement, the type of public to be involved, the methods of involving the public and the need to assess effectiveness. We conducted a systematic review of policy documents/guidelines published between 1998 and 2009, by governments, health professionals and the public regarding public involvement in the area of human genomics. Documents were identified using the HUMGEN database and organizational web sites. A total of 70 documents were retrieved addressing public involvement and human genomics. The review revealed that 22 documents mentioned the active process of partnership and collaboration, whereas 27 mentioned consultation and 29 mentioned education. The most common goals were building trust and respect, followed by education, governance and lastly, understanding risks and benefits. We found that less than a third of the documents defined who the public is, and when mechanisms for public involvement were mentioned, they were rarely placed into a context. Few documents drew attention to evaluation. It is reassuring to see that there has been an emphasis placed on public involvement in the area of health and genomics. The findings underscore the gaps existing in the actual policy documents/guidelines and the need to clarify the goals, the methods, who is the public, what mechanism are appropriate and the need for evaluation when addressing public involvement in health genomics.     

Message repetition,experience and motivation

A recently proposed model describing four levels of involvement is used to predict the likely effects of repetition on subjects with high or low levels of prior experience and motivation. The predicted hypotheses are tested in an experiment, and the results are discussed in terms of their implication to communication strategy and to the recently proposed levels of involvement model.     

Consumer involvement and marketing in Africa: some directions for future research

Despite an ongoing debate, authors agree that factors that determine consumers' involvement in any goal object are the characteristics of the object, the characteristics of the customer involved and the situational context of the decision. With this as the theoretical background, this paper advocates the need to study African‐specific contextual factors to gain a thorough understanding of consumer involvement and successful marketing practice in this society. An extensive review of the extant literature was done to provide a relevant framework for exploring consumer involvement and African‐related issues. The paper concludes that existing postulations on the subject matter could not robustly capture consumer involvement in Africa due to pertinent influences of cultural values and mores that do not apply elsewhere in the world. Hence, empirical studies to gauge the context‐specific application of the subject in relation to Africa are suggested as imperative. This paper advocates a society‐oriented consciousness for marketing activities in relation to consumer involvement with specific reference to Africa. Therefore, it cautions against undue generalization about the existing postulations on the subject, and provides directions for future research towards updating the literature.