Consumers' perceptions of promotional framing of price

This article focuses on consumer perceptions of transaction value when presented with deals that are equivalent on a unit‐cost basis but worded differently. Through an experimental design setting, it examines the effect of three such frames: one, stated in terms of a straight price promotion (“50% off”), the second, as an extra‐product or volume promotion (“buy one, get one free”), and a third as a “mixed” promotion (“buy two, get 50% off”). Four typical supermarket categories are considered which permit the investigation of the effect of two category‐based moderating factors: stock‐up characteristic and price level. Results show that the nature of framing appears to differentially affect consumer perceptions of value from “equivalent” deals. Also, perceptions of deal value from price versus extra‐product promotions are moderated by the stock‐up characteristic of the category. However, consumers' internal reference prices remain unaffected across one‐time price and extra‐product promotions. These findings provide some understanding of the role of deal framing on consumers' responses, and offer implications for industry practitioners interested in communicating the maximum value in their deals. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Beyond buying: Motivations behind consumers' online shopping cart use

The authors investigate consumers' motivations for placing items in an online shopping cart with or without buying, termed virtual cart use. While retailers offer virtual carts as a functional holding space for intended online purchases, this study, based on a national online sample, reveals other powerful utilitarian and hedonic motivations that explain the frequency of consumers' online cart use. Beyond current purchase intentions, the investigated reasons for why consumers place items in their carts include: securing online price promotions, obtaining more information on certain products, organizing shopping items, and entertainment. Based on empirical findings, the authors offer managerial suggestions for enhancing online shopping-to-buying conversion rates.     

Consumer perceptions of refund depth and competitive scope in price-matching guarantees: effects on store patronage

The study investigates the effect of two characteristics of price-matching guarantees—the depth of refund offer and the scope of competitors eligible for price matching—on consumer perceptions of price-matching guarantee believability and value and consumer intentions to patronize the retailer. The results show that large refund offers built consumer patronage intentions by enhancing perceptions of the value of the price-matching guarantee, while simultaneously exerting a negative impact on patronage by reducing believability of the price-matching promise. The competitive scope also affected the patronage intentions by influencing the perceived value of the price-matching policy.     

Would you believe it? A detailed investigation of believability in comparative price advertising

Abstract

The construct of believability has been shown to be a key variable in consumers' evaluations of comparative price offers. This paper provides a detailed investigation of believability in the context of such offers. In particular, it investigates the impact of the presence of, level of, and type of advertised reference prices (ARPs) on believability across a range of product contexts. An experimental methodology is adopted for the study. Findings show that the presence of an ARP does not enhance believability but that the presence of a time limit does. Believability is also shown to vary inversely with the level of ARP but is not related to semantic cues, such as list prices, contained within the offer. The study provides evidence that the product context of the offer impacts on believability. Two interaction effects are also identified. The paper contributes to the extant literature by providing new insights into how consumers' believability is influenced by how a comparative price offer is presented. Such insights will be of interest to academics interested in pricing, practitioners seeking to ensure that their promotions have maximum impact, and policymakers hoping to ensure that consumers are not misled by dishonest comparative price advertising.     

The effectiveness of number of deals purchased in influencing consumers' response to daily deal promotions: A cue utilization approach

This research proposes and empirically tests a theoretical model of consumers' response to online daily deal promotions. A unique feature of such promotions is their social influence, as they provide information about how many others have already purchased the offer. Integrating cue utilization and social influence theories, the model outlines how the social cue about the number of deals purchased by others influences consumers' deal evaluations and purchase intentions across a variety of conditions. The research findings indicate that the number of deals as an extrinsic cue affects consumers' deal evaluations and intentions only when intrinsic product and deal cues (good vs. service, discount size) and consumer personal characteristics (familiarity with the provider) are not present or are insufficient to infer deal attractiveness. The research offers managerial implications with respect to effectively designing and promoting online daily deals.     

Further insights into perceived value and consumer loyalty: A “Green” perspective

“Green consumption” is an increasingly important topic in today's society. The effect of the ecological value provided by traditionally non‐green products, such as automobiles, on their consumer's post‐purchase behavior, such as brand or model loyalty, requires further clarification. The present study provides qualitative and quantitative insights from car users on how the ecological aspect of consumption integrates into the link between perceived value and consumer loyalty intentions (value–loyalty link). In general, car usage is accompanied by perceived functional, economic, emotional, and social value. Perceived ecological value is shown to have a significant impact on these four value dimensions. The relevance of “green to have quality,” “green to save money,” “green to feel good,” and “green to be seen” in relation to loyalty intention is discussed. Results of a structural equation model and multigroup analysis provide the opportunity to derive both theoretical and applied implications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Deal‐prone consumers' response to promotion: The effects of relative and absolute promotion value

Increased use of promotions that target different market segments makes the study of consumer characteristics associated with the response to promotions more noteworthy. This article assesses the effect of a common segmentation criterion, consumer deal proneness, on consumers' responses to promotions of more and less relative and absolute value. The results of a pair of experiments indicate that deal‐prone consumers are sensitive to the value of a promotion relative to other available promotions only in a condition of high absolute dollar savings. The findings help integrate conflicting views of deal proneness into a framework in which deal proneness serves as a heuristic to limit or heighten processing of promotion‐related information depending on the promotion environment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Marketplace attributions and consumer evaluations of discount claims

Two studies were conducted in which respondents were exposed to test advertisements in which the amount of savings implied by a reference price discount claim was manipulated. Respondents' attributions concerning the advertiser's motives for making the reference price discount claim were measured, along with dependent variables that assessed the respondents' evaluations of the price offer. Results across both studies indicated that the attributions about the advertiser's motives for the price discount offer had a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of the offer. Furthermore, across both studies, a person-stimulus-circumstance taxonomy appeared consistent with the structure of the attributions that respondents made when presented with reference price claims.     

The influence of sharing versus self-use on the preference for different types of promotional offers

Sharing, which refers to giving something you have to someone else, is one of the most ubiquitous forms of human behavior in the world. Everyone experiences it in various situations, including buying food. Nonetheless, although buying something to share with others is quite common in our daily lives, most consumer research on buying focuses on the condition of “self-use” rather than “sharing.” The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of promotional offers on consumers' purchase decisions when buying food for self-use/sharing with others. The authors conducted four experiments to answer the main research questions. The results indicated that consumers prefer “price discounts” over “bonus packs” when the shopping task relates to self-use due to their concern about “loss reduction.” In contrast, they prefer bonus packs over price discounts when the shopping task relates to sharing with others because of their focus on “extra gains.” In addition, consumers’ perceived responsibility is a moderator. When perceived responsibility is low and the purchase is for self-use (sharing with others), price discounts (bonus pack) are favored over bonus packs (price discounts). However, when perceived responsibility is high, consumer preference to promotional offers are not significant different either in self-use or sharing with others condition. It seems that role of responsibility is influential when the shopping task relates to self-use. This study not only contributes to a deeper understanding of consumer psychology but will also be beneficial to practitioners in designing effective promotional strategies that consider motives for food shopping.     

How Consumer Ethnocentrism (CET), Ethnocentric Marketing,and Consumer Individualism Affect Ethnocentric Behavior in China

This study investigates how the value of consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and ethnocentric marketing affect consumers' purchase intentions for domestic and foreign brands in China. In predicting ethnocentric consumer behavior, past research has tended to focus on consumers' ethnocentric values rather than ethnocentric marketing stimuli. In addition, this study examines how the consumer value of individualism and collectivism (IC) affects ethnocentric choice behavior. An experimental study was conducted on 220 Chinese millennials, using fictitious advertisements. The study found that the CET value has moderate effects on consumer purchase intentions for foreign brands, while it strongly influences consumer purchases of domestic brands. In addition, the findings suggest that ethnocentric advertising may not encourage purchases of domestic brands, but can discourage foreign brand purchases. More significantly, individualistic consumers were found to show a greater preference for foreign brands and also their brand choices were less affected by the CET value and ethnocentric advertising.     

The effects of mall personality and fashion orientation on shopping value and mall patronage intension

It is imperative for mall operators in China to gain insights into consumer shopping behaviours that will allow them to further develop their mall personalities, in order to better differentiate themselves from the competition. The overarching objective of the present study was two-fold: to increase our understanding about contemporary Chinese shoppers; and to examine the relationships among mall personality, fashion orientation, shopping value and mall patronage intention. This study presents the results of a research survey conducted in Wuhan, China. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM) was used to analyze the survey responses from 324 shopping mall patrons. The findings indicate that consumers' fashion orientation has a significant influence based on their perception of the shopping mall personality. The path model analysis revealed that consumers' perception of shopping value had the strongest effect on their shopping intentions at the mall.     

The effect and moderation of gender identity congruity: Utilizing “real women” advertising images

The present article examines the predictive ability of gender identity congruity in explaining women's responses to advertising appeals. The contributions of the article are twofold: (1) to demonstrate whether advertisements that are congruent with female consumers' gender identities elicit strong positive responses and (2) to identify the factors that moderate/mediate the impact of gender identity congruity on consumer responses to advertisements. The research findings provide evidence of the ability of gender identity congruity to elicit positive responses to advertising appeals. The relationship between gender identity congruity and responses to the advertisement is mediated by advertising involvement. The moderating roles of national culture, physical concern, and physical view are also supported. Overall, the congruity theory provides a powerful framework to examine consumer responses to gender portrayals in advertising. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Multiple unit price promotions and their effects on quantity purchase intentions

Consumers often encounter multiple unit price promotions whereby a price reduction is presented as a reduced total price for multiple units of the same item (e.g., an item regularly priced at $1.25 each is promoted as “5 for $5”). In a series of experiments, we find that the positive effect of these promotions on quantity purchase intentions is contingent on the magnitude of the quantity specified in the offer and the rate of product consumption. However, offer effectiveness is not influenced by highlighting single unit prices, the unrestricted nature of these promotions, or aggregate savings. As predicted by the selective accessibility explanation, the effect of multiple unit price promotions on quantity purchase intentions is shown to be mediated by accessing anchor-consistent knowledge. An agenda for further research and the implications of our findings for retail practice are discussed.     

A meta-analysis of the impact of price presentation on perceived savings

Pricing is one of the most crucial determinants of sales. Besides the actual price, how the price offering is presented to consumers also affects consumer evaluation of the product offering. Many studies focus on “price framing,” i.e., how the offer is communicated to the consumer —is the offered price given along with a reference price, is the reference price plausible, is a price deal communicated in dollar or percentage terms. Other studies focus on “situational effects,” e.g., is the evaluation for a national brand or a private brand, is it within a discount store or a specialty store. In this article, a meta-analysis of 20 published articles in marketing examines the effects of price frames and situations on perceived savings. The results reveal many features that significantly influence perceived savings. For instance, while both the percent of deal and the amount of deal positively influence perceived deal savings, deal percent has more impact. Further, the presence of a regular price as an external reference price enhances the offer value of large plausible deal and implausible deals, but not of small plausible deals. Thus, high value deals should announce the regular price, but not low value deals. Overall, the results have several useful insights for designing promotions.     

Consumers' reaction to fair trade motivated price increases

Consumer perception of price increases and their reactions are a topic of great relevance for marketing research and practice. We investigate consumers' acceptance of price increases justified by higher costs due to company's corporate socially responsible activities by conducting two experimental studies. In the first study we examine perceived fairness and intentions following a price increase justified by a fair trade commitment. To assess the green attitude–behavior gap in consumer behavior our second study incorporates a real world experiment to explore actual consumer behavior against stated intentions. Our investigation adds nuance to our understanding of the effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer response to price increases. Our results reveal that a price increase due to a fair trade commitment is perceived as fair and does not have a negative impact on purchase behavior. We contrast our findings with a price increase due to higher taxes and due to profit increase. Our results demonstrate that fair trade justified price increases can skim twice the amount compared to tax justified increases. Furthermore, consumers' actual buying behavior reveals no difference to their stated intentions. Hence, prior research proclaiming an attitude–behavior gap in the context of consumers' socially responsible buying behavior has to be called into question.     

Supermarket suggested shopping lists (SSSL), promotions and grocery purchases

This study examines the effect of providing or not providing millennial consumers with a supermarket suggested shopping list (SSSL). At the same time, it tests the effect of providing consumers with a large number of in-store promotions versus no promotions. The study also assesses the moderating effect of price concerns on both expenditure and the satisfaction attained after a shopping trip. The results of an experimental design with 240 subjects in a simulated supermarket setting show that SSSL users spend less, and that heavy supermarket promotions increase purchases. However, if an SSSL is provided while products are highly promoted, this decreases consumer satisfaction. Offering consumer promotions to millennials without providing an SSSL results in the highest level of store sales. Findings of this study will be of interest to retailers willing to offer a shopping list service to supermarket customers with the purpose of increasing loyalty.     

Attribution Effects of Time Pressure in Retail Supply Chain Relationships: Moving From “What” to “Why”

Retail supply chains must be responsive to consumer demand and flexible in adapting to changing consumer preferences. As a result, suppliers are often expected to deal with time pressure demands from retailers. While previous research demonstrates that time pressure can have longer term relational costs that reduce collaborative behaviors and overall relationship quality, this mixed‐methods study goes further by accounting for attribution effects to explain why the time pressure occurs. Specifically, supplier perceptions for the reason of time pressure being within or beyond a retailer's control, rather than time pressure itself, appear to have a stronger effect on relational outcomes. By investigating time pressure through the lens of attribution theory, this research opens a new inquiry of research that moves away from examination of outcomes themselves (the “what”), to examining “why” the outcome occurred.     

Untangling the relationships between consumer characteristics,shopping values,and behavioral intention in online group buying

This study examines the link among consumer characteristics (price-sensitive behavior, variety-seeking behavior, and compulsive buying behavior), shopping values (utilitarian and hedonic shopping values), and behavioral intention in online group buying (OGB). This study tests usable responses collected by means of mall-intercept systematic sampling from consumers who previously participated in OGB. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data and test the hypothesized relationships. Findings suggest that price-sensitive and variety-seeking behaviors are significantly related to utilitarian shopping value, whereas price-sensitive, variety-seeking, and compulsive buying behaviors are significantly related to hedonic shopping value. Both utilitarian and hedonic shopping values significantly influence consumers’ OGB intentions. For a successful OGB strategy, Internet marketers and site operators should emphasize the utilitarian shopping value of price saving and selection and introduce the hedonic shopping values of promotions and sensory experiences. This study provides a link between two streams of prior research – that is, consumer characteristics and shopping values. Furthermore, it validates an empirical model whose results can help business practitioners make better-informed marketing management decisions for OGB and help academics and consumers better understand OGB behavior.     

Shopping value in online auctions: Their antecedents and outcomes

Online auctions present unique characteristics in the consumer decision-making process that raise new issues related to consumer shopping behaviors in auction-based purchases. The present research examined the relationship between consumer characteristics (i.e., compulsive buying behavior, variety-seeking tendency, and price sensitivity) and shopping value (i.e., utilitarian and hedonic) in online auctions and found that both compulsive buying behavior and variety-seeking tendency are critical factors of shopping value in the online auction environment. There were no positive relationships between price sensitivity and shopping value. The results of this study also revealed that consumers’ shopping value positively influenced their preference, which, in turn, formed behavioral intentions in online auctions. While utilitarian value was found to be a significant predictor of behavioral intentions, hedonic value was not. However, hedonic value influenced intentions indirectly through preference.