The role of working memory in analogical mapping

The impact of a working-memory load on analogical mapping was examined in two experiments, using a dual-task paradigm. In Experiment 1, we used a phonological working-memory load; in Experiment 2, we used a phonological working-memory load and an executive working-memory load. The subjects were required to identify correspondences between visual scenes, either for single objects or for three objects simultaneously. The results indicated that the imposition of either a phonological or an executive working-memory load decreased the frequency with which the subjects identified correspondences between scenes based on relations and increased the frequency with which they identified correspondences based on object attributes. The frequency with which subjects made relational mappings was increased by the instruction to find correspondences for multiple objects in a scene simultaneously, rather than for just one. These results indicate that mapping on the basis of relations places greater demands on both modality-specific buffers and executive components of working memory than does mapping on the basis of object attributes.     

The role of idiosyncratic attribute evaluation in mass customization

The growing use of mass customization necessitates an understanding of consumers' evaluations of mass customization platforms. We hypothesize that consumers' objective and subjective knowledge of the customized product moderate the influence of idiosyncratically evaluated (i.e., personalizable) attributes on satisfaction with a customization platform. Consistent with our theoretical framework, results from three experiments show that offering greater variety in idiosyncratically evaluated attribute options increases consumers' satisfaction to a greater extent for: (1) novices than experts (2) consumers with more subjective knowledge, and (3) miscalibrated consumers whose subjective knowledge does not match their objective knowledge, than calibrated consumers whose subjective and objective knowledge match.     

Regulatory fit: A meta‐analytic synthesis

Regulatory fit, or the match between an individual's regulatory orientation and the strategy used to sustain it, offers a pervasive predictor of customer behavior. Merely reaching a decision in a certain way influences the value of a decision or an outcome. In this research, we conduct a meta-analysis to more fully articulate the role of important conceptual moderators and demonstrate their differential effects on evaluation, behavioral intention, and behavior. In particular, we look at the source of regulatory focus (self-prime, situation-prime, chronic), the orientation (prevention, promotion), how fit is created (sustaining, matching), how fit is constructed (action, observation), and the scope of fit (incidental, integral). We also shed light on the role of several contextual factors.     

Product quality expectations: Towards an understanding of their antecedents and consequences

This paper examines the role of product quality expectations. Past research on information cues, scarcity, self-congruity, product quality and satisfaction are synthesized to develop a conceptual model. This model examines how consumer expectations of product quality are formed. A number of antecedent factors and their relationship to consumers' product quality expectations are discussed. How consumer expectations of quality affects their product evaluation both during the pre-purchase stage and during the post-purchase stage are discussed. A number of theoretical propositions are presented. Finally, the implications of the conceptual model are discussed.This report was funded by a research grant from the University of Miami Institute for the Study of Quality and a McLamore Research Award. The author acknowledges the helpful comments of M. Joseph Sirgy, Jerry Gotlieb, Howard Marmorstein, Dan Sarel, Howard Gitlow, Arun Sharma, Diana Grewal and theJournal of Business and Psychology reviewers.     

Conservation skills among preschool children in Umtata, South Africa

To 41 boys and 29 girls (M age = 5.2 yr.) in a South African preschool a test of conservation of liquid was given. Analysis showed conservation skills had not been acquired as only 5 children showed such skills and only one knew why.     

Early‐Entrant Advantage,Word‐of‐Mouth Communication,Brand Similarity,and the Consumer Decision‐Making Process

To better understand the competitive dynamics between an early and a later entrant, in this study we examined the extent to which word of mouth (WOM) regarding the later entrant and the later entrant's similarity to the early entrant influences the consumer decision process. We hypothesized that the influence of WOM and similarity depends on the nature of the decision‐making task, which is theorized as either a stimuli‐based or memory‐based task. A 3‐stage, sequential‐logit model with 2 focal brands (the early and later entrants) was developed to test the influence of independent measures on the likelihood of (a) retrieval; (b) consideration, given retrieval; and (c) choice, given consideration for both the early entrant and the focal follower. Data from 2 experiments provides support for the multistage conceptualization of the consumer decision process and demonstrates that the effects of WOM communication and similarity depend on the nature of the decision‐making task.     

The Moderating Effect of the Service Context on the Relationship Between Price and Post-Consumption Perceptions of Service Quality

A stream of marketing research indicates that price often affects consumers' pre-purchase perceptions of quality. Interestingly, however, most studies that have assessed the effect of price on quality have utilized physical products rather than services. Moreover, the effect of price on assessments of quality has typically measured before respondents have an opportunity to consume the target product. This paper reports the results of a study that found that the effect of price on post-purchase perceptions of service quality is contingent on consumers' perceptions of contextual cues. Specifically, only when consumers evaluate contextual cues to be worse than their expectations does a higher price increase their perceptions of service quality. Implications of these findings and avenues for future research in services are discussed.     

Slow violence in post-1984 Punjab: Remembering,forgetting and refusals

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we examine the afterlives of insurgent and counterinsurgent violence in Punjab and the US. We explore how the period of the 1980s and 1990s came to have effects that linger into the present, and how violence is remembered by ordinary people, especially non-elite women. We argue that memories unfold in relation to the slow and structural violence that has manifested through years of Punjabis living with the after-effects of insurgency and counterinsurgency. Our research on remembering and forgetting shows that the period of violence of the 1980s and 1990s remains alive and formative in contemporary forms of community, gender, and identity across Punjab and its diasporas.