Thade Dudzik and Andrea Gröppel-Klein
Three experiments conducted in Germany examined the impact of different sports sponsorship messages on the perception of print advertisements. The use of sponsorship in…
Abstract
Three experiments conducted in Germany examined the impact of different sports sponsorship messages on the perception of print advertisements. The use of sponsorship in advertising proves to be risky. The use of pictures needs particularly careful consideration. The effectiveness of sports celebrities in ads depends on their common popularity, whereas the use of sports motifs bears the risk that consumers cannot identify with the situation. Attitudes towards sponsorship seem to play an important role in the perception of sports ads in general. Here further research is needed.
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Emmanuel Chéron, Christian Weins and Florian Kohlbacher
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of patronizing by salespeople when interacting with older consumers in a retail situation of shopping for a mobile phone. In…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of patronizing by salespeople when interacting with older consumers in a retail situation of shopping for a mobile phone. In addition to patronizing behavior, the impact of the age of the salesperson and gender of the consumer are explored.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on statistical analyzes of a between-participants controlled experiment collected via an online survey of 338 members of the German Senior Citizens League.
Findings
The study contributes to the field of services marketing by confirming that older consumers reject patronizing sales interactions and by showing that men are more tolerant of condescendence than women, especially when younger salespeople are involved.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study is the use of fictional situations with a selected number of manipulated variables in a simulated sales interaction.
Practical implications
Rejection of a patronizing sales interaction was found to be similar by both genders with an older salesperson. Furthermore, retail shops of technical appliances could prevent potential problems by being cautious of having younger male salespeople interacting with older women customers.
Originality/value
Research on the impact of condescending sales interaction as perceived by older consumers is scarce and has not previously considered the role of customer gender and salesperson age. Beyond investigating the perception of participants to patronizing, the role of the salesperson age and customer gender were investigated.