An ethnographic study of consumer financial sophistication

Existing research profiling consumer financial sophistication has examined specific decision errors that consumers may make in financial matters. While these errors have been replicated in multiple studies over the years, most have emerged from highly controlled experimental settings or through consumer surveys that measure only specific categories of financial behavior. This paper extends existing research on financial sophistication by utilizing an ethnographic study conducted over a 5‐year time period. Results indicate that while some of the traditional categories of decision errors defined in earlier research affect consumers, decision errors not thoroughly examined in previous academic studies can have a notable and growing effect on consumers' financial decisions. Emerging categories of financial decision errors are identified, and shifts in consumers' financial behavior resulting from the financial crisis are profiled. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How trust in financial supplier information impacts young adults' financial information involvement: The moderating roles of product savings risk and social norm

Although consumers' risk‐taking, supplier trust, social norms and information involvement are central to much of thought in the financial market and consumer economic literature, it is not known how the interplay between consumers' trust in supplier information, risk‐taking behaviour and social norm may influence information involvement. This research contributes to the consumer economic literature by investigating how product savings risk and social norm affect the relationship between young adults' trust in supplier information and their information involvement. On the basis of two samples with young adults who recently have purchased a low‐risk savings product (n = 641) and a high‐risk savings product (n = 219), respectively, several results are obtained. It is found that both product savings risk and social norm positively moderate the relationship between young adults' trust in supplier information and their information involvement. In addition, the results indicate that the three‐way interaction between trust in supplier information, products savings risk and social norm has a positive effect on information involvement. As direct implications, financial authorities and financial service managers should especially consider investing additional resources in developing information trust for high‐risk savings products and should also take social norms into account when considering young adults' high‐risk‐taking behaviour. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of trust in financial customer–seller relationships before and after the financial crisis

This study examines the role of trust in customer–seller relationships before and after the 2008 financial crisis. On the basis of two surveys comprising 1155 and 757 bank customers, respectively, it is shown that trust is less likely to mediate the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty after the financial crisis compared with before the financial crisis. The results suggest that consumers rely more on satisfaction and less on trust after the financial crisis compared with before the financial crisis when determining whether they should remain loyal to a particular financial service provider. Hence, as a direct managerial implication, financial service managers should consider investing additional resources in satisfying their customers in the after crisis era. In addition, it is suggested that managers should seek to rebuild the positive relationship between trust and loyalty in order to receive the full benefit of their trust‐building efforts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of consumer perceptions of brand experience on the web: brand familiarity,satisfaction and brand trust

Creating a customer experience that is synonymous with a particular (website) brand is becoming increasingly recognised as a vital driver of e‐performance. E‐tailors are just as likely to try to influence consumers' shopping behaviour, through atmospherics and service, as brick‐and‐mortar stores. This study investigates several questions that have been left unanswered in recent studies of consumer behaviour in the context of internet‐based marketing. Its focus lies in addressing the issue of whether there is a direct relationship between brand experience and brand trust or whether there is an indirect relationship via satisfaction or brand familiarity. The results of an empirical study of e‐consumer behaviour show that brand trust is achieved through the following dimensions operating and interrelating as antecedent constructs: first, various brand experiences and the search for information, secondly, a high level of brand familiarity, and thirdly, customer satisfaction based on cognitive and emotional factors. These findings should assist marketers and academics in their understanding of the development of brand trust in an internet‐based environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer complaints and recovery through guaranteeing self‐service technology

Self‐service technologies are shaping the future of consumer behaviour, yet consumers often experience service failure in this context. This conceptual paper focuses on self‐service technology failure and recovery. A consumer perspective is taken. Recovering from self‐service technology failure is fraught with difficulty, mainly because of the absence of service personnel. The aim of this paper is to present a theoretical framework and associated research propositions in respect to the positive role that service guarantees can play in the context of self‐service technology failure and recovery. It contributes to the consumer behaviour domain by unifying the theory pertaining to consumer complaint behaviour, service recovery, specifically consumers' perceptions of justice, and service guarantees, which are set in a distinctive self‐service technology context. It is advanced that service guarantees, specifically multiple attribute‐specific guarantees, are associated with consumer voice complaints following self‐service technology failure, which is contingent on the attribution of blame in the light of consumers' production role. Service guarantees are argued to be associated with consumers' perceptions of just recovery in the self‐service technology context when they promise to fix the problem, compensate only when the problem cannot be remedied, offer a choice of compensation that is contingent on failure severity, afford ease of invocation and collection, and provide a personalised response to failures. Previous classifications of SSTs are used to highlight the applicability of guarantees for different types of SSTs. Managerial implications based on the theoretical framework are presented, along with future research directions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hooked on a feeling: The effect of music tempo on attitudes and the mediating role of consumers' affective responses

With today's high degree of advertising clutter, marketers might greatly focus on evoking emotion or creating hedonic (e.g., feeling) experiences for consumers in order to improve practice. These strategies minimize the effort needed to process a message and can influence consumers' decisions. In 4 studies, we examine the effects of music tempo on consumers' attitudes toward the brand while further considering the mediating role of evoked feelings. Study 1 and 2 supports that music tempo in commercials influences consumers' affective response to the music in advertising. Study 3 replicated this effect using a controlled experiment and extended the research by demonstrating that tempo also affects general mood states, in addition to feelings evoked by the music. Last, Study 4 demonstrates that need for emotion moderates the role of affect as information. This research contributes to theory in sensory marketing and consumer behavior and offers practical implications to improve marketing practice.     

调节定向视角下在线评论感知有用性的眼动研究

本研究采用2评论类型(属性型VS体验型)×2调节定向(促进VS预防)的眼动实验,深入探讨消费者对在线评论的加工过程和感知有用性的认知机理。研究发现：(1)与属性型评论相比,个体对体验型评论的认知过程更短,感知有用性却更高。(2)相对于预防定向个体而言,促进定向个体对在线评论的认知加工过程更短,感知有用性更高。(3)评论类型和调节定向的交互效用,在属性型评论情境中显著,但在体验型评论情境中不显著。研究结果揭示了评论类型和调节定向影响消费者对在线评论认知评估的作用机理。     

Consumer Personality and Coping: Testing Rival Theories of Process

This research examines the effect of consumer dispositions on the relationships between stress‐related appraisals, consumption emotions, and the coping process. We comparatively tested rival models of these relationships. Our data show that the consumer personality traits of consumer assertiveness and marketing maven and the general personality trait of extraversion interact with cognitive appraisals to influence consumers’ choice of coping strategies. The research contributes to existing knowledge of how these consumer personality traits motivate consumer behavior, and it enriches existing models of the relationship between personality influences and coping.     

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.     

Is interpersonal and institutional e‐trustworthiness equally important in consumer e‐trust development? Implications for consumers' e‐trust building behaviours

Trust is a widely studied phenomenon across numerous disciplines. E‐trust researchers have conducted a vast number of studies, but despite extensive interest in the issue, there are only few studies that concentrate on how consumers build e‐trust. Furthermore, consumer e‐trust is seen to be a function of both interpersonal and institutional e‐trustworthiness, but only limited number of attempts have been conducted to study the relative importance of interpersonal and institutional e‐trustworthiness in consumer e‐trust development process. The present article seeks to improve this situation by studying how consumers' perceived interpersonal and institutional e‐trustworthiness influence their intention to build e‐trust. The results of the study suggest that consumers build e‐trust actively, and the development of e‐trust is not only based on trustees' behaviour. Moreover, the results indicate that interpersonal e‐trustworthiness is more important than institutional e‐trustworthiness in consumers' e‐trust building. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐confidence,anxiety, and post‐purchase dissonance: a panel study

This study proposes an integrated conceptual model of the antecedents of post‐purchase dissonance. Data were gathered via a two‐stage panel study among consumers who made purchase of technology items. Study results demonstrate that consumer chronic characteristics (i.e., trait anxiety and generalized self‐confidence) not only directly influence post‐purchase dissonance positively and negatively but also are mediated by consumers' temporary feelings (i.e., state anxiety and specific self‐confidence) toward a purchase situation, and then indirectly influence post‐purchase dissonance positively and negatively. Trait anxiety positively influences state anxiety and that generalized self‐confidence and specific self‐confidence negatively influence state anxiety. Furthermore, trait anxiety appears to negatively influence specific self‐confidence, and generalized self‐confidence appears to negatively influence trait anxiety and positively influence specific self‐confidence.     

Nonmonetary and nonreciprocal freecycling: Motivations for participating in online alternative giving communities

This research examines consumers' participation in a nonmonetary, nonreciprocal form of online consumer exchange wherein consumers may decide to give only, receive only, or both give and receive. Given the lack of financial incentives or relational norms that would traditionally drive participation in this societally beneficial consumption activity for which we advance the term alternative giving, this research examines consumers' participation motivations. Are consumers, as prior research suggests, motivated to participate in alternative giving activities on the basis of prosocial motives or for other reasons? Through a content analysis of the online Freecycle Network, we found that participation is driven primarily by fundamental consumer needs and wants, though other prosocial, less materialistic factors are also drivers. Our findings also identify an inconsistency in product categories between what givers offer and what receivers seek, suggesting that supply–demand imbalances can emerge within alternative giving communities.     

Emerging perspectives on customer relationships,interactions and loyalty in Irish retail financial services

• This paper presents the key findings in relation to current consumer perspectives on the role of relationships, the nature of loyalty and types of customer interaction from an in‐depth qualitative consumer study of Irish retail banking.
• Although the literature proposes that the RM approach is particularly applicable to the financial services sector, the research findings identify key supply and demand‐related changes within Irish financial services and raise questions as to the appropriateness of general RM theory to the current nature of interaction between consumers and their financial suppliers.
• Key customer factors such as low involvement, apathy and dissatisfaction have resulted in much apparent customer loyalty actually being spurious. More important for customers in this study was how convenient the bank was for their lifestyle.
• In an age in which increased depersonalisation and automation impact upon the nature of consumer‐supplier interaction and service delivery, it would appear that the concepts of relationship and loyalty need to be fundamentally re‐examined and their role and relevance within current retail financial services re‐appraised.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and Trust Fosters Service Quality

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which cognitive and affective trust mediate the service provider personality?Cservice quality relationship, controlling for customer personality.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Hypotheses were tested using a matched sample of 249 customer-service provider dyads.

Results

Service provider service orientation incrementally predicted customer cognitive trust in the service provider above and beyond customer agreeableness, which related significantly to affective and cognitive trust. Analyses further revealed that cognitive trust mediated the service provider service orientation?Cservice quality relationship.

Implications

Hiring service-oriented front-line employees may facilitate customer cognitive trust which in turn relates to service quality. In addition, training front-line employees to identify agreeable customers may facilitate the quick development of trusting relationships.

Originality/Value

This is the first study to simultaneously examine the impact of both the customer and the service provider personalities on customer trust and service quality in long-term relationships. Results demonstrated the role of cognitive trust as a mediator of the relationship between service orientation and service quality.     

An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception,judgment and behavior

I define “sensory marketing” as “marketing that engages the consumers' senses and affects their perception, judgment and behavior.” From a managerial perspective, sensory marketing can be used to create subconscious triggers that characterize consumer perceptions of abstract notions of the product (e.g., its sophistication or quality). Given the gamut of explicit marketing appeals made to consumers every day, subconscious triggers which appeal to the basic senses may be a more efficient way to engage consumers. Also, these sensory triggers may result in consumers' self-generation of (desirable) brand attributes, rather than those verbally provided by the advertiser. The understanding of these sensory triggers implies an understanding of sensation and perception as it applies to consumer behavior—this is the research perspective of sensory marketing. This review article presents an overview of research on sensory perception. The review also points out areas where little research has been done, so that each additional paper has a greater chance of making a bigger difference and sparking further research. It is quite apparent from the review that there still remains tremendous need for research within the domain of sensory marketing—research that can be very impactful.     

Affective and cognitive religiosity: Influences on consumer reactance and self‐control

Self‐control is regularly studied in the marketing literature in relation to spending and food consumption; however, little research has assessed trait characteristics that influence consumers' self‐control. Although prior research in other fields has shown a generally positive relationship between religiosity and self‐control, such research has often used poor measures of religiosity and has inadequately examined marketplace outcomes or factors underlying consumers' self‐controlled responses. Thus, the studies herein build on self‐regulation theory to address and extend from these limitations by examining the influence of religiosity, as a multidimensional construct (particularly affective and cognitive religiosity), on self‐control and resulting influences on marketplace behaviors. Findings reveal that priming affectively (cognitively) religious consumers leads to greater (lower) consumer self‐control with a religious message prime (Study 1) and religious writing task (Study 2). Additionally, findings show that psychological reactance is at the root of these responses (Study 3). Implications build on self‐regulation theory and the strength model of self‐control to show the importance of religiosity (particularly affective and cognitive religiosity), interactions with religious primes, and psychological reactance in understanding consumers' self‐control.     

Retail brand extension—perceived fit,risks and trust

• This study examines consumer fit perception, risks and trust in retail brand extension in financial services. Respondents (324) living in Sheffield were involved in the consumer survey, conducted on three major British supermarkets. Mean scores were compared between four groups of respondents. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the factor(s) distinguishing the retailers. Retailers A and B were perceived as trusted brands with respect to financial services. Retailer A was perceived as a trusted brand regardless of the product category. Retailer B was seen as a trusted brand when product performance and financial risks were low while Retailer C was perceived unfit and risky by non‐users and the non‐intend‐to‐buy groups. Age, gender and income influenced fit, risks and trust perception. When consumers knew the store or were store loyal, they tended to trust the store brand extension whereas when consumers did not know or were new to the store, fit and risks were perceived. Implications for corporate branding, brand extension decision‐making and implementations are sought.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Yes,we have no bananas: Consumer responses to restoration of freedom

When stockouts restrict consumers' freedoms, two independent responses can occur: product desirability, or a reactance-based increase in the desire for the unavailable option, and source negativity, or general frustration with the source of the restriction. In four studies, we provide a novel investigation of consumer responses to stockout-restoration and examine how these two forces combine to affect consumer responses after freedoms are restored. To do so, we investigate two moderators that influence the activation and strength of product desirability and source negativity, respectively: trait reactance and attributions. While all consumers experience source negativity in response to stockouts, only consumers high in reactance experience product desirability, leading to differential responses to stockout-restoration. Compared to an in-stock condition, high reactance consumers respond positively to stockout-restoration, while low reactance consumers respond negatively to stockout-restoration, in terms of store and product evaluations and store choice. However, when high reactants attribute a stockout to the store, thereby increasing source negativity relative to product desirability, they respond negatively to stockout-restoration.     

Effects of service robots' anthropomorphism on consumers' attribution toward and forgiveness of service failure

We investigated the effects of service robots' anthropomorphism on consumers' attribution and forgiveness of service failure. By manipulating the levels of anthropomorphism in service robots in three experiments, we evaluated the relationship norms and involvement levels of consumers. Three contributions of our study are as follows. First, most human–robot interaction studies have focused on consumers' dissatisfaction with service robots' service failures. Unfortunately, few studies have investigated the influence of service robots' anthropomorphism levels on consumers' internal attribution and forgiveness of service failure. In the present study, we found a positive correlation between the former and the latter. The findings of this study indicate marketing managers should design their service robots to be less anthropomorphic to reduce the likelihood of consumers making an internal attribution when a service failure occurs and increase their forgiveness of service failure. In addition, to reduce the likelihood of consumers' internal attribution upon service failure, managers may ensure that their service robots explain to the consumers the cause of service failure (e.g., inability to understand consumers' requirements and robots' design-related limitations). Second, consumers' relationship norms moderate the effect of anthropomorphism level on internal attribution. Third, robot anthropomorphism is reportedly effective only when anthropomorphization occurs subconsciously.     

Materialism, status consumption, and consumer independence

Materialism influences many people. We focus on two aspects of this influence: reactions to prestige products and to the influence of others. A study of 187 U.S. student consumers shows that materialism is positively related to buying products that confer status. In contrast, materialism is negatively related to consumer independence, an enduring tendency to pay minimal attention to the prescribed norms of other consumers and to make product and brand decisions according to personal preferences. Consuming products for status is also negatively related to consumer independence. Moreover, the association between materialism and consumer independence is completely mediated by consuming for status. Materialism urges consumers to be status conscious so that they follow social norms in purchasing, but seeking status through goods is avoided by less materialistic, independent consumers. A second study (n = 258) also using student consumers confirmed these results.