Importers' benevolence toward their foreign export suppliers

In this article, the authors report the development and testing of a model of importers' benevolence toward their foreign export suppliers. The model posits that an importer's satisfaction with and commitment to its relationship with a foreign export supplier will have a positive impact on the importer's benevolence toward that supplier, that an importer's benevolence positively influences relationship performance, and that the benevolence-performance link is moderated by relationship duration. The authors tested the model with a sample of U.S. importers who buy from foreign exporters. The results indicate that the importers' commitment to the relationship significantly influenced its benevolence; however, importers' satisfaction with the relationship did not significantly affect their benevolence. Importers' altruistic benevolence had a positive impact on performance in mature relationships but not in new relationships. Importers' mutualistic benevolence had a significant influence on performance regardless of relationship duration. Dong-Jin Lee (djlee@base.yonsei.ac.kr) (Ph.D, Virginia Tech) is an associate professor of marketing at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theInternational Journal of Marketing Research, and theJournal of Advertising, among others. His research interests include relationship marketing and quality-of-life studies. M. Joseph (Joe) Sirgy (sirgy@vt.edu) (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts) is a consumer psychologist, professor of marketing, and Virginia Real Estate Research Fellow at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has published extensively in the area of consumer behavior and quality-of-life research. He is the author/editor of several consumer behavior and quality-of-life research books. He presently serves as an editor of the Quality-of-Life/Marketing section of theJournal of Macromarketing. He founded the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies in 1995 and is currently serving as its executive director. He coorganized at least seven conferences related to quality of life. He has served the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) in many positions dating back to the early 1980s (e.g., board of governors, VP-programs, president-elect, cochair of several AMS conferences, conference track chairs). James R. Brown (jamesb@vt.edu) (D.B.A., Indiana University) is a professor of marketing in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of Marketing Research, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and theJournal of Retailing, among others. He serves on the editorial review boards of several leading academic journals in marketing. His research interests focus on the structure, behavior, and performance of marketing channels and channel institutions. Monroe Murphy Bird (mobird@vt.edu) (Ph.D., University of Arkansas) is a professor of marketing and the National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM) Carolinas-Virginia Professor of Purchasing in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, theJournal of Retailing, Industrial Marketing Management, and theAcademy of Management Journal, among others. He has served on the editorial boards of several of the business-to-business marketing journals for many years. His major research interests have been in profit and productivity advances within the business-to-business area, with a special emphasis in the industrial sector of that field. As of late, he has turned his interests to ethical issues in business-to-business buying and selling.     

Self-congruity versus functional congruity: Predictors of consumer behavior

Four studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that (1) consumer behavior is more strongly predicted by functional congruity than by self-congruity, and (2) functional congruity is influenced by self-congruity. The pattern of the results provides support for hypotheses.     

Consumer Sovereignty in Healthcare: Fact or Fiction?

We pose the question: Is consumer sovereignty in the healthcare market fact or fiction? Consumer sovereignty in healthcare implies that society benefits at large when healthcare organizations compete to develop high quality healthcare products while reducing the cost of doing business (reflected in low prices), and when consumers choose wisely among healthcare products by purchasing those high quality products at low prices. We develop a theoretical model that encourages systematic empirical research to investigate whether consumer sovereignty in healthcare is fact or fiction. In doing so, we develop a series of theoretical propositions that may demonstrate that consumer sovereignty is more fiction than fact. Specifically, healthcare consumers lack the ability, motivation, and opportunity to choose healthcare products that are high in quality and low in price. Similarly, healthcare firms lack the ability, motivation, and opportunity to compete in ways to develop and market higher quality products at lower prices.     

A conceptualization of the consumer behavior discipline

Consumer behavior, as a social science discipline, is analyzed from a developmental perspective. Seven developmental levels or stages are identified reflecting the growing role of consumer behavior study in applied social settings. A classification schema is also presented in an attempt to categorize consumer behavior research     

How can shopping mall management best capture mall image?

One way to generate more traffic in a mall is to build a strong mall image perceived by shoppers as delivering a unique bundle of benefits. Such effort has to be guided by a performance metric, namely a comprehensive measure of mall image. We hypothesize that mall image can best be conceptualized in terms of five major dimensions a la Ailawadi and Keller [Ailawadi K.L., Keller K.L. Understanding Retail Branding: Conceptual Insights and Research Priorities. J Retail 2004; 80 (Winter):331-342.] retail branding dimensions: access, store atmosphere, price and promotion, cross-category assortment, and within-category assortment. The predictive (nomological) validity of the mall image measure was tested in relation to mall attitude, mall patronage, and word-of-mouth communications. We validated the mall image measure using data generated with mall-intercept surveys in two different malls in a large city in Canada (N = 861). The data provided support for the predictive validity of the mall image measure. Managerial implications of the mall image measure are also discussed.     

A social cognition model of consumer problem recognition

A social cognition model describing the cognitive determinants of problem recognition is introduced and tested. Problem recognition is hypothesized to be a function of the directional discrepancy between the valence level of the perceived performance of one’s current product and the valence level of a referent (standard of comparison). More specifically, problem recognition is hypothesized to be greatest under negative incongruity, followed by negative congruity, positive congruity, and positive incongruity, respectively. The model was tested in two studies, and the results were consistent with the hypothesis. Advertising implications of the model are discussed in terms of primary demand advertising.