How personal nostalgia influences giving to charity

Personal nostalgia provides an emotionally engaging means for bonding a donor to a nonprofit organization. Yet, little is known about the relationship between personal nostalgia and charitable giving; this research seeks to fill this gap. A review of the extant literature is integrated with the findings from thirteen focus groups (Study 1) to develop a conceptual model. This model is tested in Studies 2 (using 457 older public television donors) and 3 (with a broader sample of 502 donors) using structural equations modeling. The findings indicate that discontinuity, recovery from grief, and loneliness, along with previous life experiences influence the level of personal nostalgia felt by a donor and associated with a charitable organization. This personal nostalgia provides emotional and familial utility to the donor. The research establishes that the effect of personal nostalgia on the donor's commitment is mediated by the emotional and familial utility that the nostalgia generates.     

The role of emotions in utilitarian service settings: The effects of emotional satisfaction on product perception and behavioral intentions

The role of emotions in hedonic service settings is well established, but their role in utilitarian service settings has received scant attention. This research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the effects of customers’ perceptions of service quality and servicescape on their emotional reactions, and their perceptions of product quality and subsequent behavioral intentions. Data are collected from 189 clients/patients who visited an optometry clinic. The study reports that perceived service quality (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) and service environment (atmosphere and layout) both increase positive emotional satisfaction. In turn, positive emotional satisfaction leads to a high perception of product quality, high recommendation, patronage intention, and likelihood of purchase. Additionally, product quality perceptions have a significant positive impact on behavioral intentions.     

Perceived quality, emotions, and behavioral intentions: Application of an extended Mehrabian-Russell model to restaurants

In order to address a lack of comprehensive evaluation of restaurant quality, this study extends Mehrabian and Russell's stimulus-organism-response framework by incorporating restaurant-specific stimuli and including restaurant-specific measures of emotion. Using structural equation modeling, this study shows that atmospherics and service function as stimuli that enhance positive emotions while product attributes, such as food quality, act to relieve negative emotional responses. Results also suggest that positive emotions mediate the relationship between atmospherics/services and future behavioral outcomes. The results are theoretically and practically meaningful because they address the relationships among three types of perceived quality (product, atmospherics, and service), customer emotions (positive/negative), and behavioral intentions in the restaurant consumption experience. Managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are also suggested.     

The influence of culture,emotions, intangibility,and atmospheric cues on online behavior

This paper examines how emotions and website atmospheric cues influence service tangibility and consumer attitudes. The proposed model was compared across three cultures: North America (Canada and U.S.), China, and the Middle East. The findings support the overall model and demonstrate several non-invariant paths across the groups. Particularly, the results suggest how the influences of two emotional dimensions (pleasure and dominance) on consumer perceptions of site atmospherics vary across cultures. Moreover, the effects of service tangibility dimensions (physical tangibility, specificity, and mental tangibility) on consumers' attitudes toward the website and service vary significantly across the three cultures. Mental tangibility has the greatest influence on North American customers' attitudes, while physical tangibility and specificity have the greatest impact on Chinese and Middle Eastern customers' attitudes, respectively.     

Impacts of technology readiness on emotions and cognition in Brazil

This study proposes and tests an extended model for consumer adoption of high technology products in a Latin American country (Brazil) by integrating concepts present in the consumer behavior literature: the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model (Kulviwat et al., 2007) and the technology readiness construct (Parasuraman, 2000). The proposed model considers the relationships between cognitive and affective constructs with technology readiness. By means of structural equation modeling conducted on a sample of 435 young consumers, the results indicate significant relationships between the constructs assessed, showing that consumers' cognitive and affective evaluations of new technologies are significantly influenced by their technology readiness. The effects of technology readiness over affective assessments were greater than those relative to cognitive evaluations regarding high-tech innovations. Nonetheless, the results may reflect specific characteristics of Brazilian (and other Latin American) consumers, who are usually more emotive than those of more rational cultures.     

Now or later: Delay's effects on post-consumption emotions and consumer loyalty

This study identifies differences in immediate and delayed post-consumption emotional assessments, triggering a dynamic shift in word-of-mouth evaluation and repurchase intention. Experiment 1 compares participants' responses to cellphone purchases in immediate and half-hour delay conditions. Experiment 2 generalizes the research scope by examining biscuit consumption and imposing an additional 24-hour delay. Results indicate that (1) products with higher hedonic value elicit excitement and cheerfulness, which intensify over time and increase consumer loyalty; (2) products with higher utilitarian value induce feelings of confidence and security, which gradually fade in intensity and diminish consumer loyalty over time; (3) products with lower hedonic value lead to dissatisfaction, which dissipates over time, and low-level consumer loyalty rises; and (4) products with lower utilitarian value generate feelings of anger, which grow over time and erode consumer loyalty.     

The moderating effects of in-store marketing on the relationships between shopping motivations and loyalty intentions

This study attempts to understand the moderating roles of in-store marketing by incorporating the effects of shopping motivations on repatronage and word-of-mouth intentions in the context of fashion apparel by applying theories related to self-determination and social impact. Structural equation modeling using data collected from young adult fashion apparel shoppers in Thailand reveals positive effects of shopping motivations. The utilitarian shopping motivation shows a greater effect in predicting loyalty intentions than hedonistic shopping motivation. In-store marketing is shown to have a moderating effect on loyalty intentions, although the influence of each moderator on the investigated direct effects varies. The findings can prove helpful to fashion apparel retailers in developing effective advertising and promotional strategies that correspond to the specific needs of the shoppers to promote store loyalty intentions.     

Antecedents of repatriates' job satisfaction and its influence on turnover intentions: Evidence from Spanish repatriated managers

Executives in today's business world are increasingly conscious that the competitive advantage of international companies rests upon unique global knowledge and experience. Consequently, the retention of executives with these skills is one of the main concerns of international organizations. Dissatisfaction with the job assigned after expatriation is an important determinant of the repatriation failure rates. This study explores this relation as well as the antecedents of job satisfaction among a sample of 81 Spanish repatriated managers. Findings: job satisfaction relates to turnover and the position assigned to the repatriates on their return, as well as the accuracy of their expectations, influences their job satisfaction. The article discusses implications for practitioners and scholars.     

The influence of redundant comparison prices and other price presentation formats on consumers’ evaluations and purchase intentions

Two studies explore the conditions under which redundant reference price information (ARP) is likely to influence consumers’ perceptions of an advertised sale price. Study 1 suggests that an ARP enhances offer-value, but only for consumers who are not involved with the product. Study 2 incorporates a wider array of price presentation tactics (SP Only, SP+ARP, SP+%Saving and SP+ARP+%Saving) and investigates a range of responses (transaction value, acquisition value and subsequent purchase intentions). Again, results suggest that ARP only influences perceived transaction value, and saving information only impacts purchase intentions. Most importantly, these effects are seen only when involvement is low.     

The influence of eco-label knowledge and trust on pro-environmental consumer behaviour in an emerging market

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the negative environmental implications of purchasing goods, which in turn shape their behaviour. Yet, there are indications that consumers do not always act on these concerns, causing an attitude–behaviour gap. For consumers to make ecologically responsible purchases, they need relevant product environmental information. Therefore, marketers and firms are increasingly integrating more detailed environmental information in their offerings, including eco-labels with externally validated information. This study integrates consumers’ knowledge and trust in eco-labels with their environmental knowledge to determine how these affect pro-environmental consumer behaviour (PECB). The findings suggest environmental and eco-label knowledge is positively associated with attitudes towards the environment, and that positive environmental attitudes and trust in eco-labels affect PECB. This implies that firms, policy-makers and accreditation organisations (i.e. labelling) can educate consumers about eco-labels and the environment to increase PECB. Such strategies will also build consumer knowledge and trust in eco-labels, necessary for facilitating PECB.     

Product bundling strategies in Swedish markets: links to business orientation and perceived effects on consumer influence

Product bundling is an increasingly important marketing strategy within many industries, and consumer influence on companies' ranges of product bundles is, thus, becoming an important issue. The aim of this study was to investigate product bundling strategies consumers are exposed to by some selected companies in the Swedish automobile, travel and banking industries. Bundling strategies were considered in relation to business orientation as well as the consumer's potential to influence the product bundles offered by these companies. Fourteen qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with senior representatives from the three sectors. Interview respondents were selected in cooperation with their respective companies. Results underwent interpretative analysis, and the findings indicated that business orientation is linked to product bundling techniques and to the type of customer influence on product bundling. Consumers were exposed to mixed and complementary bundling strategies, and customers of companies that apply a market orientation were found to have greater opportunities to influence product bundles directly, whereas companies that apply a production‐oriented approach were less able to respond to their customers' wishes. Consumer influence on the product bundles of production‐oriented companies was found to be of a more indirect nature.