Ruth Mugge, Hendrik N.J. Schifferstein and Jan P.L. Schoormans
Past research on consumers' post‐purchase behavior has focused on understanding satisfaction. However, the consumer‐product relationship is much broader. This paper aims to deal…
Abstract
Purpose
Past research on consumers' post‐purchase behavior has focused on understanding satisfaction. However, the consumer‐product relationship is much broader. This paper aims to deal with another aspect of post‐purchase behavior: the emotional bond consumers experience with their durables during ownership. The paper contributes to the literature on this topic by testing a conceptual model of product attachment and its relationships with satisfaction, and the determinants: utility, appearance, and memories.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments are presented in which the product categories photo cameras and mobile phones were used as stimuli to test the conceptual model.
Findings
Results show that the product's utility and its appearance positively affect both product attachment and satisfaction. For both product attachment and satisfaction, the pleasure elicited mediates the effects of utility and appearance. Only for product attachment, the presence of memories serves as an additional determinant that also moderates the effects of utility and appearance. Importantly, satisfaction has no direct effect on product attachment.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the lack of knowledge concerning consumers' post‐purchase behavior by exploring the relationships between product attachment and satisfaction.
François d'Hauteville, Marianela Fornerino and Jean Philippe Perrouty
Disconfirmation of expectations is the mismatch between the expected and blind evaluation of a product. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relation between expected and…
Abstract
Purpose
Disconfirmation of expectations is the mismatch between the expected and blind evaluation of a product. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relation between expected and perceived value (quality), focusing on wines from the French regions with varying levels of notoriety and image content.
Design/methodology/approach
From the consumer's point of view, the hedonic evaluation of a product under full information (intrinsic and extrinsic) is considered as a measure of perceived quality. Generally, the perception of the quality of a product differs according to tasting conditions (blind, or full information). Based on previous literature on food marketing it is assumed that the change of preference between blind and full conditions reflects the influence of extrinsic information (here, the region of origin). Two types of results can be expected from disconfirmation: “assimilation” occurs when the final evaluation of the product changes in the direction of the expectation provided by the extrinsic cue, whereas “contrast” occurs when this change is contrary to the expectation. Five wines selected among regions with different reputation levels, and two groups of consumers, characterized by their level of expertise (trained/untrained students) are used in the experiment.
Findings
The experiments suggest that disconfirmation may be used to measure and interpret region of origin equity on a behavioural basis rather than just attitudinal.
Originality/value
Provides information resulting from research on disconfirmation of expectations.
Details
Keywords
Jyrki Isojärvi and Jaakko Aspara
While most marketing research on organic products refers to the premium price levels of organic products, little research exists on consumers’ behavioural responses to price…
Abstract
Purpose
While most marketing research on organic products refers to the premium price levels of organic products, little research exists on consumers’ behavioural responses to price promotions or discounts of organic products. The present study aims to fill this research gap.
Design/methodology/approach
To develop alternative hypotheses about consumers’ behavioural responses to price promotions of organic fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) products, the authors used the researcher-introspection method in a pre-study. To test the hypotheses developed based on the pre-study, the authors conducted a field experiment on online advertising of an FMCG sold in drugstores. In the field experiment, the authors exposed consumers to an online ad featuring either a price promotion (−20%) or the regular price of the product. The ads also varied in terms of whether they contained explicit organic claims or not, and whether they included implicit organic cues or not.
Findings
The price promotion increased the clickthrough rate of the ad both when combined with an explicit organic claim and when combined with the implicit cue of green product pack. The results suggest that consumers do not have significant suspicions about price promotions of organic products, but rather presume that the price promotion of an organic FMCG product is a periodical promotional action, similar to the price promotions for conventional, non-organic products. Also, consumers seem to assume that the regular prices of organic FMCG products are so high that the retailer/manufacturer can well afford periodic price discounts.
Research limitations/implications
The present research shifts the focus of organic marketing research from the premium price levels to the effectiveness of price promotions and discounts. Further, the present results contrast with certain earlier studies that have questioned the effectiveness of price promotions for organic products.
Practical implications
The results have different implications for marketing managers of brands not yet providing organic product versions in the market, of brands producing non-organic products, which cannot easily be rendered organic, and of brands offering organic products in the market.
Originality/value
This is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first empirical study and field experiment on price promotions of organic products, including explicit organic claims.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to examine the impact of olfactory cues at the point of purchase on consumers’ purchase behavior in terms of sales.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of olfactory cues at the point of purchase on consumers’ purchase behavior in terms of sales.
Design/methodology/approach
The theory of semantic congruence and sensory marketing on consumer behavior is tested using data collected through an experiment and analyzed using quantitative methods.
Findings
The presence of an olfactory cue has a positive impact on purchase behavior, as measured by product and product-category sales. Results indicate that a more common, category-congruent scent is optimal, as opposed to product-congruent, differentiating scent, even for a single product.
Practical implications
The findings encourage retailers to implement scents at the point of purchase as a sales promotion tool. Targeting a product category, instead of a single product, would seem the most feasible target scope.
Originality/value
This paper studies sensory marketing and cue congruence in a real-life retail setting, measuring the impact in terms of sales, and not only in relation to purchase intentions or brand image. Addressing a precisely defined target that suits retailing, namely, a single product and product category, is also novel, contrasting with earlier studies focused on ambient scents in large environments.
Details
Keywords
Andreas Aldogan Eklund and Miralem Helmefalk
The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework of visual-tactile interplay and consumer responses in brand, product and servicescape contexts.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework of visual-tactile interplay and consumer responses in brand, product and servicescape contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper performs a literature review of visual-tactile interplay by reviewing prior research in marketing and psychology.
Findings
The review reveals that visual-tactile interplay provokes various consumer responses depending on whether brands, products or servicescapes are used. The paper develops a comprehensive conceptual framework mapping out visual-tactile interplay and the relationship with consumers’ cognition, emotions and behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
A conceptual model was developed with a novel view on how visual and tactile cues can together influence consumer responses.
Practical implications
This paper shows how visual-tactile interplay is successful in brand, product and servicescape contexts and provides practical insight for firms into how to provoke consumers’ cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to existing literature by developing a conceptual framework and model of visual-tactile interplay and consumer responses by drawing on research in marketing and psychology.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss how sensory cues are preferred in relation to products, service and store image in a retail context and why retailers should…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss how sensory cues are preferred in relation to products, service and store image in a retail context and why retailers should consider the importance of congruence in a retail setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Four qualitative focus group discussions were conducted, following a semi-structured interview guide. A total of 24 participants discussed how and why a lighting department in an IKEA store in Sweden could be regarded as more appealing than the traditional layout.
Findings
The findings indicate that congruency works as a mediator between a retail setting, sensory cues, products, service and store image. Consumers prefer, compare and categorize sensory cues in relation to the specific product in the department, the service offered by the firm and the store image.
Originality/value
A model is developed that conceptualizes congruency as a mediator in a retail setting, which provides an opportunity to further explore external influences on congruency in retail settings, both conceptually and empirically.
Details
Keywords
Usha L. Pappu, Peter T.L. Popkowski Leszczyc, Ravi Pappu and Neal M. Ashkanasy
This research aims to examine the conditions under which individuals’ olfaction is actively engaged in purchase decisions. Consequently, it introduces the concept of need for…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to examine the conditions under which individuals’ olfaction is actively engaged in purchase decisions. Consequently, it introduces the concept of need for smell (NFS) to measure differential motivation for the extraction and use of odor information in buying contexts. A ten-item NFS scale was developed that consists of hedonic and utilitarian dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The scale’s dimensionality and construct validity were examined in five studies. The moderating role of NFS and the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses were examined. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses and customized PROCESS models.
Findings
The results show that NFS is a two-dimensional construct. The results further support the scale’s internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. NFS moderates the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses, and emotions mediate this relationship. While hedonic NFS strengthens the impact of odor perception on consumer responses, utilitarian NFS weakens this effect.
Research limitations/implications
The present research extends Krishna’s sensory marketing framework, De Luca and Botelho’s scent research framework and Herz et al.’s scent benefits framework, by introducing the concept of NFS into these frameworks. The study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.
Practical implications
The NFS scale used in this study adds to the genre of individual difference scales such as need for cognition and need for touch. Given its smell-specific focus, it has applications in a range of consumption contexts. Using NFS, marketers could effectively identify low and high hedonic and utilitarian NFS consumers and position product or ambient scents to serve these segments better. The NFS scale also has implications for the areas of product and service design and development, consumer information search, brand judgments and choice preferences in both scented and non-scented environments.
Originality/value
This work is one of the first attempts, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to explain motivational differences in active engagement of olfaction, especially in purchase decisions. As a critical step in exploring olfactory information processing, the study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.
Details
Keywords
Amalia Triantafillidou, George Siomkos and Eirini Papafilippaki
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of store characteristics (i.e. product availability, product quality, store layout, employee politeness, décor, music…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of store characteristics (i.e. product availability, product quality, store layout, employee politeness, décor, music, lighting, and aroma) on the various dimensions of in-store leisure shopping experience (i.e. hedonic, flow, escapism, challenge, learning, socialising, and communitas).
Design/methodology/approach
In order to achieve the study’s objectives, a quantitative on-site survey was conducted. Respondents were interviewed upon exiting fashion retail stores.
Findings
Findings indicate that not all store characteristics impact the various dimensions of experience in the same way. Product quality and in-store music were found to be the most important in-store characteristics that affected the majority of experience dimensions. Other important store attributes that emerged were store layout and ambient scent. Conversely, product range actually had a negative impact on in-store experience.
Practical implications
By orchestrating the most influential in-store characteristics, fashion retailers could be delivering unique in-store experiences to their customers. This research shows that they would benefit from designing experiential strategies that focus on merchandise quality, price, and availability while simultaneously carefully managing ambient (music and scent) alongside design factors (store layout and décor). Careful consideration should be paid to merchandise variety in order to avoid potentially negative effects on customers’ shopping experience.
Originality/value
Until now most studies that document the relationship between store elements and shopping experiences have examined the effects of store characteristics on a limited number of experience dimensions. This study adds to the body of research into in-store leisure shopping experience in two ways: by shedding light on its multi-dimensional nature, and by analysing the effect of the different store elements on the various components of the in-store experience.
Details
Keywords
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of older consumers with a range of product packaging.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of older consumers with a range of product packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses qualitative diary research (QDR). Ten seniors recorded all their experiences with packaging over a two-week period. Using a frame narrative that views ageing as multidimensional, diary entries uncover rich data that goes beyond physical age-related issues.
Findings
In addition to physical problems with packaging, older adults experience psychological frustration and feelings of alienation. Social implications of dependence on others are also discovered, despite many being purchasers of up-market luxury products.
Research limitations/implications
The study is exploratory and due to its qualitative methodology findings cannot be generalised to the wider population. Nevertheless it provides a starting point for future research into packaging and senior consumers.
Practical implications
The study has implications for all managers who participate in planning and designing brand packaging and calls for them to work more closely with ergonomics and design professionals in order to better plan for the needs of a large and growing sector of the population.
Social implications
Findings suggest that the basic need to feed oneself is hampered by some packaging, which of course is detrimental to the quality of life of older adults.
Originality/value
Few studies consider packaging and older consumers and this is particularly true in the marketing literature. This is the first study to use QDR in this context, and as such has several advantages over recall studies. The study also makes a contribution to knowledge pertaining to vulnerable consumers.