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The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of interpersonal trust which would affect the buyer-salesperson relationship in a direct selling situation. It also investigates consumers’ perceived risk and advantages of direct selling.

A questionnaire survey of consumers (and also non-consumers) of direct selling companies in Hong Kong was performed by means of mall-intercept interview. The major measurements were perceived risk, perceived advantages, trust dimensions, and repurchase intention.

The results show that there are six dimensions of interpersonal trust in the buyer-seller relationship in direct selling, but only one dimension (i.e. honesty) has a significant relationship with repurchase intention. The ability to shop at home is found to have the highest advantage rating of direct selling. In addition, direct selling is perceived to have a lower level of risk than unsolicited telephone call such as telemarketing.

This is the first study to investigate the effects of different dimensions of interpersonal trust on consumer buying behavior under a direct selling situation in Asia. The study also serves as a foundation for studying the applicability and usefulness of all trust measures in other western or non-western cultures/nations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate trust in salespersons of direct selling companies. The major purpose of the study is to examine three alternative measures of trust and to assess the effects of consumer trust in the direct selling salesperson on intended purchase behavior in a non‐Western culture, Hong Kong.

The research was designed as a personal interview survey of purchasers and non‐purchasers of product from direct selling companies in Hong Kong. A street‐intercept method of personal interview was used in three major shopping areas. The major measurement was of three different measures of trust in buying behavior from direct selling companies.

Survey results show that the measures of trust are not equally significant in being related to intention to repurchase. Only one measure, “Affect Trust”, is statistically correlated to repurchase intention. This measure is based on emotions which are affective in nature.

Gaining trust is crucial to all salespeople, industrial and consumer alike, as trust facilitates an exchange relationship while mistrust hinders it. Consequently, having valid measures of trust is essential to ensuring that exchange relations are positive. The research to date has been in the context of Western cultures and is dated (ten or more years ago). The paper examines trust in a non‐Western culture. In addition, the sales relationships studied in the past have been non‐direct selling. The paper expands this domain as it looks at direct selling to consumers in a non‐fixed business location.

There is limited published work addressing factors that influence responses to internet surveys. This is due in part to lack of an agreed upon set of relevant theories. Albaum, Evangelista and Medina (AEM) and Evangelista et al. made a step toward filling this gap when they studied the relevance of four theories of survey response behaviour. The AEM study included a survey from a population of survey researchers. Based on their survey, they concluded that all four theories contribute to explaining survey response behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory extension of AEM by using an extended set of theories in an exploratory content analysis of qualitative feedback to a large internet‐based experiment.

An internet‐based survey using an experimental design was sent to essentially the entire population of student e‐mail addresses at a New Zealand university. The 12,000 questionnaires distributed included open‐end questions that asked about factors related to conducting surveys over the internet, especially potential barriers to response. A total of 841 comments are collected. An extended version of the four theories identified by AEM are used to organise and summarise the feedback provided.

Cost is the most highly mentioned factor and commitment the least‐mentioned factor. Overall, cost, reward, and trust are the most significant factors in survey response, leading to the conclusion that social exchange appears to the most prominent theory for internet‐based surveys and commitment is the least prominent theory.

This is the first study to use qualitative research to assess the applicability of the major theories of survey response behaviour. In addition; the study is the first to apply these theories to internet‐based surveys.

The objective of this paper is to compare the management style of marketing managers in Australia with the counterparts in the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Based on the differences in cultural dimensions and context, five hypotheses related to management decision‐making styles were developed and tested by questionnaire survey. Sixty seven valid Australia samples and 104 valid Chinese samples were obtained through mail survey and personal interviews, respectively.

Results show that PRC managers have significantly higher scores in the five management style dimensions (namely: information utilization, complexity, group decision‐making, risk acceptance and technology orientation) than their Australian counterparts.

The research is limited by the small sample size. The findings may be limited by measurement equivalence issues and further investigation of management style differences across more countries is clearly needed.

The findings of this study provide useful insights into the differences in the management style of marketing managers in the two countries. It is possible to predict management style differences based on a comparison of cultural differences in a systematic way.

This paper contributes to the literature in international marketing and management. It is imperative for managers to understand how cultures affect the management style of the managers they interact with as well as their own. The study serves as a guideline for studying other cultures, which is especially relevant for companies that are seeking to expand their strategic alliance operations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of topic sensitivity and the research design techniques of forced answering (FA) (i.e. cannot proceed if leave an answer blank) and response options (use of “prefer not to answer” (PNA) option) on respondent motives for participating in an internet-based survey.

Data were collected in a field experiment in Hong Kong using a 2×2×2 factorial design. Variables manipulated were topic sensitivity, use of FA, and response options. The dependent variables were eight specific motives which were obtained from responses to the survey participation inventory (SPI).

Topic sensitivity has a significant influence on seven of the eight motives. The use of FA does not appear to affect motives. In contrast, the use of the response option “PNA” has a significant effect on all motives except “obligation”. The SPI appears to be a viable measure to the use with Hong Kong online panellists, and perhaps with other Asian and non-Western cultures/countries as well.

The present study tested only two specific topics, each with a specific level of sensitivity. Further research should apply the SPI to topics of varying levels of sensitivity. The present study used a sample of panel members. Future research could examine motivation for survey participation for use with off-line samples.

There are differences in motivation for survey participation among panellists. The authors relate panellists' motivation to topic sensitivity and confirm that panellists who answered questions about a sensitive topic were less motivated to participate in every motivational aspect, except for incentives. The authors find that the survey design feature of FA is largely unrelated to panellists' motivation.

This is one of the few studies that show the impact of topic sensitivity, FA, and response options on motives for responding. It is the first use of the SPI in a non-Western culture/nation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes and purchase intentions toward three major retail types within China‐department stores, independent specialty stores, and franchising/chain specialty stores. Of particular interest is perceived risk of purchase, the relative importance of frontline sales staff, trust, and the relationships among satisfaction, trust, and customers' commitment to the salesperson.

Data were obtained by a street intercept personal interview survey from 554 Chinese consumers to test hypotheses about consumer behavior and attitudinal reactions to the three types of retail store formats. Personal interviews were conducted in four urban cities, each in a different region of China. Two measures of trust were studied – affective trust and cognitive trust.

There was a difference in perceived risk in purchasing from the different types of stores, but the importance of the frontline salesperson's influence on consumers did not differ. Increased satisfaction by consumers with the salesperson leads to a higher level of both cognitive and affective trust. Intention to maintain a relationship with the salesperson is positively related to both types of trust.

This study is the first to examine three major types of retail institutions in China and how trust in retailer salespersons is linked to customer satisfaction.

Cites the existence of information framing effects as an interesting phenomenon in the area of human judgements and decision‐making. Uses three distinct types of framing effect and the hypothesis identified by Leven et al (1998). Studies the reliability of these effects across samples of subjects in the USA and Australia. Shows that, for two of the three types, attribute framing and risky choice framing, the effects were strong and almost identical in the two samples. Highlights a significant effect for the US sample, but not the Australian sample, for the third type, goal framing. Discusses results in terms of the reliability of the effects and their potential for revealing cross‐cultural differences in values.

Introduction and Methodology Current statistics indicate a considerable untapped potential in overseas markets, particularly for the smaller U.S. companies. The role of federal and individual state governments — in spite of current contrary evidence — is potentially particularly relevant and this paper therefore reviews the level of awareness and usage of government assistance amongst a sample — from Oregon, Washington and Idaho — of smaller manufacturers. The sample of 129 respondents (86 existing exporters and 43 non exporters), all with under 500 employees, was supported by a small number of contracts at federal and state government level. Results and Discussions Almost 80% of exporters began exporting as a result of company sales effort or an unsolicited enquiry/order. Only 1 respondent started with a federal government generated lead, whilst none came from state governments. Major problems encountered overseas included documentation, lack of customer leads, foreign competition, locating distributors and markets and financing sales. Surprisingly, lack of government assistance was very infrequently raised which may indicate a low awareness level of governmental services or that little is to be gained by working with governments. The non exporters were neutral about assistance offered because little government activity had been directed towards them and they were unfamiliar with the existing availability and usage of government programmes. Conclusions Contrary to governmental views, their programmes are generally unfavourably viewed and there is therefore a need to reappraise the effectiveness of export assistance programmes as well as the methods used to generate user awareness amongst businesses. Accepting the small sample base, there is evidence of a lack of understanding between government and small business as to the role and value of existing export assistance programmes. Future programmes should consider the real needs of the small exporter and acknowledge their different stages of development, varying periods of overseas involvement and levels of export expertise.

The paper's aim is to illustrate the use of a technique that can help researchers choose which techniques, and at what level, to employ in an internet‐based survey.

A screening experiment, designed as a Plackett‐Burman design, is used to study main effects of 11 techniques for increasing survey response. Three measures of effect used are click rate, completion rate, and response rate. A convenience sample of students at a large university in New Zealand is used.

Follow‐up had significant impact on click rate; incentive and pre‐notification had a significant impact on completion rate; no technique had significant effect on response rate.

Main effects are examined. Also, a limited number of approaches for each technique are studied.

This paper illustrates the use of a methodology that researchers, practitioner, and academics alike, can use to select techniques to employ in an internet survey. This is the first known application of the technique for selecting data collection techniques in marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to study the attitudes of Asian and Western migrants and native‐borns in Australia toward foreign‐made products and the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on attitude formation.

The research was designed as a personal interview survey using shopping mall intercepts. A total of 206 consumers were asked to indicate their preferences for foreign‐made versus Australian‐made products for five diverse products. Respondents also responded to a short version of the CETSCALE, a scale measuring consumer ethnocentrism. Respondents were classified as Australian‐born, Asian‐born migrants, or Western‐born migrants.

Consumer ethnocentrism is negatively related to attitudes toward foreign‐made products for both overseas‐born (Asian and Western) migrants and local‐born Australians. Asian‐born migrants reported a significantly lower level of consumer ethnocentrism than both of the other respondent groups. Within the Western migrant group, males had a significantly higher level of ethnocentrism than females; there was no significant difference between genders in the other two respondent groups. For migrants, the number of years living in Australia is positively related to ethnocentrism. Age is related to ethnocentrism for all sample groups.

The study contributes to knowledge about ethnic marketing to migrant groups and consumer ethnocentrism, especially for Australia, in which migrants represent a large share of its population. Thus, it could very well serve as a model of “things to come” in other countries that experience large immigration inflows. This is the first study to look at ethnocentrism and attitudes toward country‐of‐origin of products of migrants and locally‐born people.