More Than Aesthetic: Visual Boundaries and Perceived Variety

Many online retailers use seemingly innocuous visual boundaries when presenting choice sets to consumers. In contrast to previously studied aspects of information presentation, visual boundaries do not alter underlying information structure. The authors argue that, beyond their aesthetic role, visual boundaries can systematically increase or decrease perceived choice variety but the impact of visual boundaries on variety perceptions depends on consumer cognitive load. Study 1 finds that, by-attribute (vs. alternative) boundaries increase (decrease) perceived variety under high but not low cognitive load. Study 2 further demonstrates that retailer intent moderates the interaction between visual boundaries and cognitive load such that, when cognitive load is high, effects of visual boundaries on perceived variety are strengthened when consumers believe that retailers use boundaries to aid consumer navigation but reversed when they believe retailers use boundaries to persuade consumers to make purchases. Finally, Study 3 rules out attribute order and number of attribute levels as alternative accounts for the effect and enhances generalizability through a different manipulation of cognitive load. This work advances understanding of how simple environmental cues affect consumer behavior, with implications for retail strategy.     

The relative importance of time and dollar values in new product introduction decisions

This study investigates managerial sensitivity to timing differences in new product introduction decisions. Using a case scenario as the research setting, the study finds that in managerial decisions involving a choice between two-attribute alternatives (dollar value and time), respondents shifted their emphasis between attributes when they were personally affected by the decision outcome. Specifically, it was found that an additive constant manipulation (adding a constant to the dollar amount of each alternative) caused respondents to place more emphasis on the time attribute, and a multiplicative constant manipulation (multiplying the dollar amount of each alternative by a constant) caused them to place more emphasis on the dollar-value attribute.The study asks 108 subjects to assume the role of product manager in a case scenario and choose from among three two-attribute alternatives proposed by the case. The personal relevance of the decision was manipulated by telling respondents that the CEO in the decision scenario had stated publicly that the career of the decision maker would be (would not be) affected. The results show that the additive constant and multiplicative constant effects were only found when the decision outcomes would affect the respondents' career.     

The existence and perception of redundancy in consumer information environments

Two studies are reported which examine the existence of attribute redundancy as well as consumers' ability to perceive attribute redundancy in consumer information environments. The results of the first study suggest that attribute redundancy varies widely from product category to product category. The results of the second study suggest that consumers' ability to perceive attribute relationships improves with product knowledge. Unexpected was an observed U-shaped relationship between consumers' perceptions of attribute redundancy and attribute knowledge. Together the results suggest a number of policy implications regarding the value of consumer information programs.     

Brand alliance and customer‐based brand‐equity effects

This research examines brand alliances, a specific marketing strategy designed to transfer the positive brand equity of two or more partner brands to the newly created joint brand. The study explores how customer‐based brand equity (that is, brand equity as seen from the customer's perspective) of partner brands affects consumer evaluations of an alliance brand; how the brand equity of one partner brand affects the other; how customer‐based brand equity of the partner brands affects consumers' evaluations of the search, experience, and credence attribute performance of the alliance brand; and how product trial influences such evaluations. Results suggest that merely the act of pairing with another brand elevates consumers' evaluations of the partner brands' customer‐based brand equity, and high‐equity partners enhance pretrial evaluation of experience and credence attributes that are relevant to the high‐equity partner. As hypothesized, product trial moderates the equity value of the alliance partner for experience attributes, and brand equity of the partner brands influences consumer perceptions of the alliance brand's equity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How e-WOM recommendations influence product consideration and quality of choice: A motivation to process information perspective

A laboratory experiment examines the effects of electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) on consumer consideration and choice of an experience product. Specifically, we manipulated the number of consumer recommendations and the optimality of the recommended product in a realistic online shopping environment. The results indicate that e-WOM is likely to result in more time considering the recommended product. For consumers more motivated to process information, e-WOM recommendations lead to more time spent on the choice task overall. Further, consumers with less motivation to process information make suboptimal decisions based on e-WOM recommendations. Consumers with a high motivation to process information are willing to accept recommendations and switch from declared attribute preferences, but choose only optimal products.     

The role of attributions in consumer perceptions of retail advertisements promoting price discounts

This study examines whether information in an advertisement promoting a price discount is capable of affecting attributions made about the price reduction and whether these attributions, in turn, affect consumer perceptions and evaluations of the sale. Findings show that price image of the retail advertiser had a strong effect on attributions pertaining to the merchant and a marginal effect on product attributions. The attribution variables, in turn, explained significant amounts of variance in criterion variables measuring consumer perceptions of value, attitude toward the ad, and shopping intentions, beyond the variance explained by the store and discount claim variables manipulated in the study. These results suggest the importance of the role of attributions made by consumers when exposed to ads promoting discounts.     

Consumer perceptions of carbon labeling in print advertising: Hype or effective communication strategy?

Eco-labels are being used more frequently in the marketplace. Recently, carbon-neutral labels have emerged on product packaging and advertisements as a popular form of eco-label. How consumers view these specific labels is of both conceptual and practical interest. Therefore, in a mixed-experimental design building on congruity theory and Deighton's two-step model of advertising effectiveness, the authors examine how consumers view the credibility and environmental concern of companies who use these labels, as well as their resulting purchase intentions. A 2(product) × 2(label) × 3(information) mixed design was used to examine consumer perceptions and behavior intentions. Product category (environmentally neutral vs. environmentally harmful) was a within-subjects factor; the presence/absence of the carbon-neutral label and information (positive/negative/control) was both manipulated between-subjects factors. Results show that the presence of a carbon-neutral label in an advertisement, regardless of the type of product, leads to more favorable perceptions of company environmental concern. However, there is a more pronounced increase in consumer perceptions of company environmental concern for an environmentally harmful product than for an environmentally neutral product.     

Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? The effect of changes in product features over time

This article examines how feature additions and removals affect consumers' preferences and the attributions they make regarding why these changes occurred. In two experiments, using a range of hypothetical and real products, we find that consumers' preferences for current product formulations are influenced by prior formulations and that changes in consumer preference are more extreme for feature removals than for feature additions. We further find that consumers attribute feature additions to causes that are more external to the firm and more stable over time than those for feature removals. Consumers' product evaluations are more negative when the cause of a feature removal is attributed more internally to the firm. However, consumers' product evaluations are not significantly affected by their attributions for feature additions. Finally, the degree to which the changing feature is linked to a brands' equity moderates these findings.     

The Case for Compatibility: Product Attitudes and Purchase Intentions for Upper versus Lowercase Brand Names

Although retailers know that brand names are important conveyors of product benefits, little is known about how subtle characteristics of brand names affect consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. This research proposes and shows that the letter case of brand names affects product attitudes and purchase intentions but that these effects depend on congruity between brand case and the gender of consumption benefits. Studies 1 and 2 show that lowercase brand names are associated with feminine characteristics while uppercase brand names are associated with masculine characteristics, as measured through judgments of name gender, gendered brand personality traits, and overall brand gender perceptions. Three additional studies demonstrate that greater congruity between brand case and the gender of consumption benefits increases product evaluations and purchase intentions. Study 3 demonstrates that greater congruity between brand case and the gender of a female consumer’s consumption goal leads her to have more favorable product attitudes. Study 4 replicates these effects by manipulating the gender of product benefits, shows that effects on purchase intentions are moderated by the consumer’s biological sex, and identifies processing fluency as the underlying mechanism. Study 5 demonstrates that brand case, rather than letter shape, drives these results. This work advances understanding of how seemingly subtle brand name characteristics affect gender perceptions and consumer behavior, with implications for brand design and positioning in the retailing industry.     

When does an ethical attribute matter for product evaluation? The role of warm-glow feelings for low-rated products

Research on the effects of ethical attributes has recently gained traction. However, limited research has addressed consumer response to ethical attributes in the current context where product ratings have become of primary importance to make decisions. Specifically, this study examines the relative effect of ethical attributes on product evaluations across different product ratings. Building on cue consistency theory and the negativity bias, we suggest that ethical attributes gain weight when consumers evaluate a low-rated product. This process leads consumers to anticipate more warm-glow feelings, generating better evaluations for such low-rated products featuring an ethical attribute (vs. another type of attribute). Two experiments provide consistent empirical support for this prediction, and demonstrate that, compared to other attributes or no attribute, an ethical attribute increases product evaluations to a larger extent when the product received low (vs. higher) ratings. We show that this effect occurs because of warm-glow feelings: when product ratings are low, consumers anticipate more warm-glow feelings from purchasing a product with an ethical attribute (vs. another type of attribute), leading to better product evaluations. These findings have direct managerial and ethical implications for practitioners.     

Ethical Decision-Making by Consumers: The Roles of Product Harm and Consumer Vulnerability

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of perceptions of product harm and consumer vulnerability on ethical evaluations of target marketing strategies. We first established whether subjects are able to accurately judge the harmfulness of a product through labeling alone, and whether they could differentiate consumers who were more or less vulnerable. The results suggest that without the presence of a prime, subjects who depended on implicit memory or guess were able to detect differences in “sin” and “non-sin” products and consumer vulnerability, but were far less likely to be able to distinguish among high and low levels of product harm and consumer vulnerability. The inability to accurately identify high and low levels of product harm and consumer vulnerability impacted their perceptions of the ethicality of target marketing strategies, such that only four out of 18 target marketing strategies were judged as unethical. Thus, our findings contradict previous research that found subjects judged many more of the integrated strategies as unethical [Smith and Cooper-Martin, J Market 61(1997) 1]. Our results suggest that assessing ethical evaluations of strategies varying in product harm, and consumer vulnerability may only be relevant if consumers can accurately identify product harm.     

Advertising time expansion, compression, and cognitive processing influences on consumer acceptance of message and brand

This article examines the nature of consumer process involvement and cognitive processing of advertising content as mediating variables between commercial message executions (e.g., broadcast time compression and expansion and using broadcast versus print media) on attitude and behavioral intentions. The article proposes a framework that builds on the prior work of Krugman, Wright, and MacInnis and colleagues; the framework includes hypotheses of an advertising execution and processing involvement interaction effect on cognitive processing of commercial messages and a substantial direct effect of cognitive processing on attitude and behavioral intention. The article includes details of an experiment testing hypotheses in the framework. The findings provide strong support of the hypotheses. Implications for advertising strategy include adopting a conservative view on the use of time compression in advertising commercials and nurturing low consumer processing involvement of commercial messages.     

Action control,proxy control,and consumers' evaluations of the service exchange

This article adopts a consumer's point of view, and extends current literature that models the relationships between consumers' control perceptions, service providers' fair behaviors, and consumers' satisfaction with the exchange. Perceived control is disassembled into action and proxy control and their differential actions in the service exchange discussed. This article models, for the first time, the joint effects of perceived control and service provider behaviors on consumer satisfaction by explicitly connecting service‐provider fair behaviors to consumers' perceptions of control. The results from two repeated‐measures experiments provide support for the hypotheses. Specifically, a multivariate analysis of the data demonstrated main effects for the experimental manipulations on perceived control, perceived fairness, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. An interaction effect between perceived control and perceived fairness was also evident in one experiment. Future research and managerial implications are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Morning deals make me feel smart: Consumer evaluations of online sales promotions differ by time of day

Technological advances have allowed companies to reach consumers 24 h a day, but a challenge in making use of consumers’ time of day exists. The present research investigates the effect of time of day on consumer evaluations of bonus pack and free gift promotions. Results from four studies reveal that consumers perceive bonus packs as more favorable than free gifts in the morning but not in the afternoon. Consumers’ self-perception as smart shoppers is identified as the psychological process explaining this discrepancy. A new perspective in understanding consumers’ dynamic time-bound evaluations of sales promotion and managerial implications for designing, targeting, and communicating nonmonetary promotions are discussed.     

An examination of the presence,magnitude and impact of halo on consumer satisfaction measures

This paper replicates and extends a pioneer study on halo effects in consumer satisfaction by Wirtz and Bateson (1995, International Journal of Service Industry Management 6(3), 84–102). An experiment was conducted using a travel agency service. Two attribute performances were manipulated in a 2×2 factorial design, and the performances of five other attributes were held constant, employing a video to standardise performances across all experimental conditions. The results replicated the findings of Wirtz and Bateson’s study. First, it was shown that the two manipulated attributes both caused halo on non-manipulated attributes. Second, it was demonstrated that observed attribute satisfaction could not be interpreted reliably, neither across attributes within a brand nor by attributes across brands. There were two findings extending the replicated study. First, it was found that the manipulation of the more important attribute caused significantly higher halo than the manipulation of the less important attribute. Second, the notion that the magnitude of halo is an additive function of the number of halo causing attributes had to be rejected. Consumers may be susceptible to halo only to a certain level, beyond which they may attempt to contain its effect.     

Ambiguity and Exaggeration in Price Promotion: Perceptions of the Elder and Nonelder Consumer

This paper examines the effects of plausible as well as implausible or exaggerated tensile discounts on consumer discounting behavior, price perceptions, and behavioral intentions. The effects are compared across two consumer segments, elder and nonelder, for a product and a service. Findings indicate that age of the consumer had a significant interaction with discount level for consumer discounting behavior regarding the product offer. While consumers were skeptical of implausible discounts, the effects of implausible and high-plausible discounts on price perceptions were higher than that of low-plausible discounts. In addition, there were no significant differences between the implausible and high-plausible discount levels for price perceptions or behavioral intentions. The results provide implications for public policy makers.     

Consumer cynicism and perceived deception in vanity sizing: The moderating role of retailer (dis)honesty

While prior scholarship has acknowledged the overall positive influence of vanity sizing on consumer outcomes, no work to date has addressed the psychological process that occurs when consumers suspect retailers of dishonest sizing information. This is an important process to understand because perceptions of deceptive retailer motives lead consumers to react negatively to the product and the retailer, regardless of the retailer's actual motives. Thus, this research utilizes attribution theory to examine perceived deception as a mediator between consumer cynicism (a dispositional trait) and consumer outcomes. The results reveal that at higher levels of consumer cynicism, prior knowledge of deceptive sizing practices has an amplifying effect on the influence of consumer cynicism on perceived deception, while retailer honesty with sizing issues helps to block this influence. Further, perceived deception leads to reduced consumer outcomes, confirming prior findings in the literature.     

Gravitation Toward Prior Performance in Mutual Fund Advertisings: Do Consumer Investors' Processing Abilities Account for Biased Information Processing?

This study examines the cognitive processes involved in consumer investors' information processing of mutual fund characteristics. We tested whether consumer investors' limited processing abilities account for biased return perceptions, as reported in the literature. Consumer investors' processing abilities were manipulated by varying the duration of information exposure time to a mutual fund advertisement. Experimental results suggest that a longer time spent by consumer investors learning about mutual fund characteristics resulted in reduced reliance on prior fund performance as a heuristic cue, which in turn resulted in an unbiased processing of mutual fund characteristics. In contrast, when consumer investors spent less time learning about mutual fund characteristics, prior fund performance significantly affected subsequent return expectations and argument persuasiveness of the mutual fund advertisement. These findings suggest that disclaimers warning that past performance does not guarantee future results are ineffective when consumer investors have limited attention and lower processing abilities .     

Consumer reactions to round numbers in brand names

This research shows that round numbers (e.g., 10, 50, 100) are strongly associated with completeness perceptions and consumers view them as thresholds for reaching certain completeness levels. In nine empirical studies, we demonstrate that round numbers in brand names, i.e., Round Alphanumeric Brand names (RABs) are overrepresented due to their strong association with product completeness. We find that RABs lead to favorable product evaluations and increased preferences. We examine alternative explanations based on other number properties including magnitude, divisibility, popularity, and familiarity and show that the effects of RABs on consumer responses are only mediated by the perception of product completeness.