Satisfaction in the context of customer co‐production: A behavioral involvement perspective

Consumers increasingly subscribe to community‐supported agriculture (CSA) programs as an alternative retail channel for fresh produce. Compared with supermarket retailers, CSAs are built around an ethos of community rather than efficiency and economies of scale; and CSA programs demand far greater customer co‐production than supermarket retailers. For instance, CSA members (customers) assume responsibilities for physical distribution, market timing, and financial risk taking—activities that, for customers of traditional supermarkets, are assumed by the retailer or other market intermediaries. Service‐dominant logic suggests that such co‐production activities provide value for consumers. And the expanding demand for CSA programs anecdotally supports the notion that consumers find value in co‐producing fresh produce. However, whether or not co‐production leads to greater satisfaction with a product category remains largely untested. We draw on community theory to test if engagement in co‐production activities leads to satisfaction with a product category. By examining product satisfaction, we test an outcome of co‐production that is consumer‐centric. Results from an exploratory field study suggest that two types of value co‐creation—commitment to co‐production and behavioral involvement in product‐related activities—are positively correlated with product satisfaction. Our results support the notion that value co‐creation provides value for consumers. Interestingly, these findings are antithetical to studies that suggest service convenience constitutes non‐monetary value for consumers. Our study suggests that the community theory is a viable theoretical frame for consumer research on co‐production. Further, our findings suggest that consumer research into the co‐creation of value should incorporate measures of product satisfaction and draw on behavioral as opposed to exclusively attitudinal assessments of co‐production activities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moral tribalism and its discontents: How intuitive theories of ethics shape consumers' deference to experts

We study the psychology at the intersection of two social trends. First, as markets become increasingly specialized, consumers must increasingly defer to outside experts to decide among complex products. Second, people divide themselves increasingly into moral tribes, defining themselves in terms of shared values with their group and often seeing these values as being objectively right or wrong. We tested how and why these tribalistic tendencies affect consumers' willingness to defer to experts. We find that consumers are indeed tribalistic in which experts they find convincing, preferring products advocated by experts who share their moral values (Study 1), with this effect generalizing across product categories (books and electronics) and measures (purchase intentions, information‐seeking, willingness‐to‐pay, product attitudes, and consequential choices). We also establish the mechanisms underlying these effects: because many consumers believe moral matters to be objective facts, experts who disagree with those values are seen as less competent and therefore less believable (Studies 2 and 3), with this effect strongest among consumers who are high in their belief in objective moral truth (Study 4). Overall, these studies seek not only to establish dynamics of tribalistic deference to experts but also to identify which consumers are more or less likely to fall prey to these tribalistic tendencies.     

Impact of consumers' corporate social responsibility‐related activities in social media on brand attitude,electronic word‐of‐mouth intention,and purchase intention: A study of Chinese consumer behavior

This study examines how consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐related activities in social media affect their responses to brands. We defined consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media as the extent to which consumers use social media to engage in CSR communication by companies. An online survey was conducted to examine social media users in China, the largest consumer market in today's global economies. This study developed a theoretical model and empirically tested the relationships between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media, identification with the brand, and three consumer behavior outcomes: electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) intention, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The results suggested that consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media significantly impacted eWOM intention and purchase intention through enhancing identification with the brand and positive brand attitude. This study provides important insights on consumer behavior and CSR by investigating social media, an important and emerging marketing platform. Moreover, this study fills in the research gap about the association between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media and their responses to brands. Theoretical and managerial implications for CSR strategies in social media are discussed.     

Consumers’ Response to an Advertisement Using Brand Popularity in a Foreign Market

Abstract : This research examined how domestic consumers respond to an advertisement using brand popularity in a foreign market. By using structural equation modeling, it shows that the consumers’ response can change as a function of three characteristics of brand popularity in a foreign market: (a) expertise of foreign consumers, (b) similarity between domestic consumers and foreign consumers, and (c) animosity to a foreign country. Meanwhile, the similarity effect is found to be stronger for high‐preference heterogeneity than low‐preference heterogeneity. This research documents the importance of understanding the underlying mechanism to determine the effects of brand popularity in a foreign market on brand attitude and purchase intention.     

Price‐Matching Guarantees and Consumer Evaluations of Price Information

In 3 experiments, we show that price‐matching guarantees affect the process through which consumers translate price information into subjective judgments. In Experiment 1, we find that price‐matching guarantees appear to change the standard used in price evaluation by raising consumers’ estimates of the lowest and average prices in the market. This leads consumers to perceive products and stores that offer price‐matching guarantees as less expensive. In Experiment 2, we show that evaluations of product price information are affected by the presence of a price‐matching guarantee only when consumers do not know the range of market prices. In Experiment 3, we extend these findings to show that consumer evaluations of the cost of products in a store, inferred on the basis of store characteristics, are also influenced by the presence of a price‐matching guarantee.     

Market mavenism and consumer self‐confidence

• The purpose of this study was to test hypothesized associations between market mavenism and consumer self‐confidence (CSC). A survey of 190 US consumers provided the data. The results showed significant relationships between mavenism and several dimensions of CSC, and regression analysis emphasized the relationships with two of these: information acquisition (confidence in the ability to obtain and use marketplace information) and social outcomes decision making (confidence in obtaining positive reactions from others). These findings both enrich our knowledge of the psychology of market mavenism by suggesting some motivations for these behaviors and suggest marketing strategies can be fine‐tuned to appeal more effectively to this important segment of consumers.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Who is more ethical? Cross‐cultural comparison of consumer ethics between religious and non‐religious consumers

Religion is a significant part of daily life that affects consumers' decisions and behaviors. Religious consumers are predicted to be more ethical than non‐religious consumers. Nonetheless, past research suggests mixed results. Hence, the present study has two main objectives: (1) to examine differences in moral ideologies and ethical beliefs among religious and non‐religious consumers in Indonesia and Australia and (2) to investigate the impact of moral ideologies and religiosity on consumer ethical beliefs. This is one of the first cross‐cultural studies to compare consumer moral ideology (specifically, idealism and relativism) and consumer ethical beliefs between religious and non‐religious consumers. The results show that religious consumers tend more toward idealism than relativism and have stronger ethical beliefs regarding negative consumer ethical behaviors compared with non‐religious consumers. However, for ethical beliefs regarding specific consumer behaviors, namely, recycling and software piracy/buying counterfeit, the effect of religion was overshadowed by cultural differences between the two countries. This study contributes to the debate on the impact of moral ideologies and religiosity on consumer ethical beliefs. The findings may assist managers and public policymakers in their efforts to mitigate unethical consumer activities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer recycling: An ethical decision‐making process

Although recycling is often experienced as a moral dilemma, studies that systematically approach this issue from an ethical perspective are scarce. Moreover, previous studies have explored recycling by mainly using single ethical constructs, such as moral norms, values or obligations, rarely approaching it as an ethical decision‐making process. Our study takes a more holistic approach and integrates the recycling literature with business ethics theory in order to develop a conceptual model of ethical decision making involved in recycling. The model is based on Jones' issue‐contingent model and its key concept, that is, moral intensity, which we extend by adding altruism as an important personality trait that influences pro‐social behaviour. The data were collected from a sample of 367 adult consumers, representative of the Slovenian population by gender and age. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The results of our study confirmed the relationships between three key facets of ethical decision making: moral recognition, moral judgment and moral intention. Higher levels of moral recognition were found to lead to more positive moral judgments, which in turn positively influenced the formation of intentions to recycle. Moreover, moral intensity was found to be a significant predictor of moral recognition and moral judgment, while altruism was found to be a significant predictor of moral recognition. These findings hold important implications for public policy makers and social marketers who have to consider not only the consumer characteristics but also the issue characteristics in seeking to understand and influence consumer recycling. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

True Context‐dependent Preferences? The Causes of Market‐dependent Valuations

A central assumption of neoclassical economics is that reservation prices for familiar products express people's true preferences for these products; that is, they represent the total benefit that a good confers to the consumers and are, thus, independent of actual prices in the market. Nevertheless, a vast amount of research has shown that valuations can be sensitive to other salient prices, particularly when individuals are explicitly anchored on them. In this paper, the authors extend previous research on single‐price anchoring and study the sensitivity of valuations to the distribution of prices found for a product in the market. In addition, they examine its possible causes. They find that market‐dependent valuations cannot be fully explained by rational inferences consumers draw about a product's value and are unlikely to be fully explained by true market‐dependent preferences. Rather, the market dependence of valuations likely reflects consumers' focus on something other than the total benefit that the product confers to them. Furthermore, this paper shows that market‐dependent valuations persist when – as in many real‐life settings – individuals make repeated purchase decisions over time and infer the distribution of the product's prices from their market experience. Finally, the authors consider the implications of their findings for marketers and consumers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of consumer ethical beliefs in product‐harm crises

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumer reaction during a product‐harm crisis by examining the interdependencies that exist among their ethical beliefs as consumers, their attributions of blame, their feelings of anger and finally their purchase intentions towards the affected company. To test the five research hypotheses, a questionnaire containing a hypothetical crisis scenario of a fictitious company was distributed to 277 consumers. Respondents were asked to read the scenario and answer questions regarding their attribution of responsibility to the company, their feelings of anger and their purchase intentions. In order to investigate consumers' ethical beliefs, a Consumer Ethics Scale was also included in the questionnaire. Structural equation modelling revealed a significant, positive correlation between attributions of blame, anger and ethical beliefs. Moreover, anger negatively affects purchase intentions, whereas the attribution of blame was not found to be significantly connected to purchase intentions. In spite of the rational connection between ethics and crisis, there is lack of research correlating these two concepts. Based on this gap in the literature, the current research attempts to connect ethical beliefs with consumer reactions and emotions during product‐harm crises. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low‐status aversion: the effect of self‐threat on willingness to buy and sell

Consumption decisions are inherently rooted in both what to consume and what to forgo. Although prior research has focused on consumption, we instead examine what compels consumers to steer clear of particular goods. In two studies, we demonstrated that individuals experiencing self‐threat avoid low‐status goods to prevent further damage to their self‐worth. Individuals facing self‐threat showed a decreased willingness to buy (Study 1), and a correspondingly greater willingness to sell (Study 2) low‐status goods, as compared with nonthreatened individuals. Notably, these effects emerged even when such behaviors were associated with economic costs (Study 2). Together, these results highlight how the motive to preserve the self can affect market exchanges, thereby painting a more complete portrait of the relationship between consumption, status, and the self.     

Failing to Suspect Collusion in Price‐Matching Guarantees: Consumer Limitations in Game‐Theoretic Reasoning

Marketers often commit to matching competitors’ prices by offering price‐matching guarantees (PMGs). Theory, however, shows that PMGs can either foster price competition and lower market prices or facilitate price collusion and raise market prices. In 3 experiments, we tested if consumers suspect collusion in such tactics and if this suspicion in turn affects their preferences for PMGs. Experiment 1 showed that consumers prefer markets where sellers offer PMGs over those that do not, suggesting little or no suspicion of collusion. Experiment 2 replicated these findings and extended them by showing that although most consumers prefer PMG markets, consumers higher in need for cognition (NFC) do, consistent with the greater suspicion hypothesized, prefer PMG markets more weakly. However, this weakened preference emerged from concerns over lower product quality in PMG markets more so than expectations of unduly high prices. Experiment 3 then tested the collusive potential of PMGs by placing participants in the role of a government regulator charged with finding collusion in various markets. Regardless of explicit primes and NFC, participants perceived PMGs as competitive devices that reduce prices rather than collusive devices that raise them. In contrast to the assumptions underlying game‐theoretic models, consumers often lack the strategic sophistication necessary to detect the collusive potential of PMGs, a limitation that implicates legislation to moderate the use of such devices.     

Projecting Lower Competence to Maintain Moral Warmth in the Avoidance of Prosocial Requests

When faced with prosocial requests, consumers face a difficult decision between taking on the request's burden or appearing unwarm (unkind, uncaring). We propose that the desire to refuse such requests while protecting a morally warm image leads consumers to under‐represent their competence. Although consumers care strongly about being viewed as competent, five studies showed that they downplayed their competence to sidestep a prosocial request. This effect occurred across both self‐reported and behavioral displays of competence. Further, the downplaying competence effect only occurred when facing an undesirable prosocial request, not a similarly undesirable proself request. The final studies showed that people specifically downplayed competence and not warmth. We further distinguished between social warmth (e.g., humor) and moral warmth (e.g., kindness), showing that when competence, social warmth, and moral warmth were all requisite skills for a prosocial task, people downplayed competence and social warmth more than moral warmth. These findings underscore that although people care strongly about being viewed as competent, they willingly trade off competence evaluations if evaluations of warmth—particularly moral warmth—are at risk.     

An exploratory study of consumer style: country differences and international segments

• An important consideration for marketers is determining the best approach to take when marketing their product or service across national borders. It has become clear that the answer to this is not as simple as complete standardization or adaptation, and the appropriate approach may be contingent on a complex set of variables. One key aspect of the puzzle relates to an understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of consumers. The current study examines consumer style (variables related to the way people engage in their consumption activities) as an important area of consideration related to international marketing efforts. Consumer style was investigated in three European countries and the US, using data from the DDB Brand Capital Study (a multi‐country survey). Although results showed that country differences are evident on consumption style, a cluster analysis suggests that there were four segments of consumers that transcend country boundaries. The findings add to our knowledge about consumers in these countries and the characteristics of the segments with respect to differing styles of consumption.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Introducing the super consumer

The purpose of this study is to propose a new perspective on classifying or segmenting consumers by describing a minority of them who are uniquely motivated by high levels of status seeking, brand identification, and materialism. We term this segment of individuals “super consumers.” The data came from an online survey of 351 adult US consumers. A cluster analysis using these three variables as criteria produced a two‐cluster solution. Comparing mean scores between these two groups of consumers on measures of market mavenism, shopping frequency, amount of spending, age, and gender showed that the super consumers were significantly more likely to be market mavens, to shop more frequently, and to spend more than the other consumers were. The super consumers were younger in age as well, but there were no gender differences between the two groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tomorrow's consumer — the shifting balance of power

What are the prospects for consumerism? Often despised as self‐indulgent, consumers are frequently motivated by altruism and their needs to express their identity, to build relationships, to obtain fulfilment and even to find a substitute for religion. Mass‐customisation is producing fundamental change, revolutionising attitudes to choice, with a key role for agents (human and online) in helping people choose. Consumer power will grow and brands will be under pressure from rising consumer expectations. While retailers fight back with targeted marketing and special offers, brands will need to serve consumer needs as much as suppliers. Online shopping could transform consumer behaviour, driven by cost saving and convenience and spurred on by competition. Will retailers protect their traditional channels or go online because they are afraid not to? ‘Etailing’ will need to create consumer trust, so regulation will be critical, possibly leading to legal responsibilities for quality on Internet service providers (ISPs) and portals and with systems to help new entrants build a track record of reliability, thereby increasing competition, choice and consumer power. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Do consumers ever learn? Analysis of segment behavior in experimental markets

Economists argue that, despite cognitive limitations, economic agents arrive at optimal choice rules by learning. The assumption is that consumers, for example, are adaptively rational. Adaptive rationality raises a host of issues. We address three of these in the context of experimental markets: do consumers differ on the basis of learning; how do these differences, when aggregated, affect market efficiency; and how do consumers learn? Analysis of our experimental data reveals the following. First, multiple segments of consumers exist on the basis of learning. Second, the largest segment consists of subjects who do not learn despite timely feedback and motivation. Third, although some consumers do learn to make optimal choices, the effect of this segment on market efficiency is cancelled by an equal number of subjects who ‘learn' false relations. Finally, although subjects do not learn strict rationality even with experience, they are in the aggregate not so irrational as to allow highly suboptimal brands to survive. Further analysis of how consumers learn, specifically on the cues (signals) and the rules consumers employ in making choices over time leads to the following two conclusions. First, some signals make learning more easy than others: for example, providing market share information improves learning but not as much as providing quality information does. Second, people employ different rules depending upon the type of information they have. For example, consumers making decisions based only on price information are more likely to use a heuristic like ‘buy a medium‐priced product provided it has not failed in the past'. Consumers making decisions based on price and quality information may employ a heuristic such as ‘buy top quality products regardless of price'. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The moral circle as a common motivational cause of cross‐situational pro‐environmentalism

Public engagement in pro‐environmental behavior and support for pro‐environmental policy are essential for achieving sustainable living. We propose that the “moral circle” is a common motivational source for engagement in environmentally beneficial activities across situations and may be thus drawn upon to efficiently promote these activities. Study 1 established an association between chronic moral circle size and nine pro‐environmental activities from different domains. Via experimental manipulation of the moral circle size, Studies 2a–d demonstrated its causal effect on intentions to engage in pro‐environmental activities. Together, these studies offer an important initial demonstration of the beneficial consequences of more expansive moral circle in the domain of pro‐environmentalism. Routes for expanding the moral circle and thus promoting pro‐environmental activities are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumption of disposed goods for moral identities: a nexus of organization,place, things and consumers

• A complex intersection of a charity organization, a retail space, vintage fashion and the customers were investigated to better understand the effect of the re‐commodification of goods. The convivial retail space attracted customers through the promise of something special and different. Immersed in the space, customers' moral values aligned with a type of consumption that began with disposal. However, these consumers did not belong to a politically motivated collectivity but instead addressed personal moral identity projects. The organization achieved a moral layer to its identity through its interaction with the disposed of garments, but this moral intention was different from the customers. The charity retailer transformed discarded, donated goods through processes of selection and re‐presentation. It was a highly professionalized commercial outlet whose intention was to raise funds and to model ethical business practices. The retail setting was pivotal and extensive observation, visual and interview data were taken at the site. The analysis revealed that the customers espoused a view of anti‐consumption, which encompassed anti‐corporatism. At the centre of this nexus of practices were the garments which were disposed of through donation, re‐commodified by the charity organization for their specialized, immersive retail outlet and then purchased by consumers to address their individualized moral identity projects. It is concluded that all facets contributed to this nexus of disposal practices, although the garments had a significant linking and facilitating role to play, and that further investigation is required.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants influencing conservation behaviour: Perceptions of Vietnamese consumers

Environmental degradation is one of the most serious issues impacting our lives and those of future generations. In this respect, several studies on pro‐environmental behaviour have investigated the attitude–behaviour relationship of consumers. This study builds on previous models and examines the influence of four relevant determinants, i.e. consumers' perceptions associated with environmental concern, ecological effect, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) and moral obligation on their pro‐environmental behaviour. The data were collected from consumers in Vietnam, where there are serious environmental issues. The findings suggest that all the four determinants influenced consumers' conservation behaviour, albeit each in varying strengths. The most influential determinant was PCE, followed by ecological effect, environmental concern and finally moral obligation. The findings of this study have important academic and practical implications. Government and private environmental and sustainability campaigners, especially in Vietnam, would be well advised to use these findings in developing and designing new policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing consumers' pro‐environmental behaviour. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.