Louise M. Hassan and Edward Shiu
The placement of warning labels on alcoholic beverages is a policy area with renewed interest, yet a strong evidence base regarding the efficacy of text-based or pictorial warning…
Abstract
Purpose
The placement of warning labels on alcoholic beverages is a policy area with renewed interest, yet a strong evidence base regarding the efficacy of text-based or pictorial warning labels has still to emerge. Increased interest by policymakers has spurred research into potential alcohol warning label designs and messages. The purpose of this article is to draw together recearch in the alcohol warnings literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study seeks to review research that has sought to examine the effectiveness of alcohol warning labels. Searches for English-language articles (since 2000) using the terms “alcohol” and “warning label*” were conducted in 2015 across four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, PsycInfo and Cochrane). Articles were included if they empirically assessed the effectiveness and/or design of alcohol warning labels. Only studies that addressed the targeted individual consumer (consistent with downstream social marketing) were included. A narrative analysis approach was used for the 15 articles identified.
Findings
Findings are reported on five themes covering the design of the warning, starting with the use of imagery or recommendations, followed by a focus on the warning messages and whether they are specific, use signal words and are based on qualitative or quantitative information.
Research limitations/implications
Overall, there was little consistency in approach and measures, with very limited research having explored the potential of pictorial warning labels. Numerous research gaps are identified; thus, much more research is needed in this area. The evidence base is weak and caution is needed by policymakers regarding the introduction and implementation of alcohol warning labels. Limitations are discussed.
Originality/value
The review provides a timely up-to-date evaluation of the alcohol warning labels literature that has seen a recent resurgence but has not been critically reviewed.
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Nina Michaelidou, Nina Reynolds, Luke Greenacre and Louise M. Hassan
Louise M. Hassan, Edward Shiu, Gianfranco Walsh and Gerard Hastings
The purpose of this paper is to present an overview and evaluation of the European Commission “HELP – for a life without tobacco” campaign.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an overview and evaluation of the European Commission “HELP – for a life without tobacco” campaign.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected via a web and a telephone survey is used to evaluate the campaign.
Findings
The findings reveal how a campaign targeted at individuals can lead to social change through involvement with key stakeholder groups including NGO's and the public at large. At an individual level the campaign was received favourably with overall high levels of awareness and engagement with the message. The associated web site was thought to contain trustworthy information and persuasive arguments about the dangers of smoking and passive smoking.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in providing an example of social advertising across a large number of countries. Furthermore, this case study adds to the literature on demarketing, highlighting that demarketing can take place across two levels both at the citizen level and at the governmental level.
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Louise M. Hassan, Edward Shiu and Gianfranco Walsh
Long‐term orientation (LTO) is an important cultural value, which has been shown to meaningfully affect the behavior of individuals. Bearden et al. developed and tested a…
Abstract
Purpose
Long‐term orientation (LTO) is an important cultural value, which has been shown to meaningfully affect the behavior of individuals. Bearden et al. developed and tested a two‐dimensional scale measuring LTO at the individual level. This study aims to replicate and extend the work of Bearden et al. examining the psychometric properties and generalizability of the scale across ten countries of the European Union (EU).
Design/methodology/approach
Survey‐based data were collected from 3,491 respondents across ten EU Member States via an internet questionnaire.
Findings
The LTO scale is found to possess adequate dimensional properties in the majority of country samples. Discriminant validity between the two LTO dimensions is not evidenced across four country samples. Significant association is found between LTO and individualistic orientation among respondents in nine of the ten countries with few significant associations found between LTO and uncertainty avoidance. Finally, the generalizability of the scale is assessed through Cronbach et al.'s (1963) generalizability theory and found to be satisfactory though discriminant validity is found to be lacking.
Research limitations/implications
Overall, the scale is recommended for use in measuring LTO with caution. Further research is needed to clarify the difference between the two subscales of tradition and planning.
Practical implications
Measuring and better understanding cross‐cultural differences in customers' LTO can be a means to overcoming difficulties in effectively marketing products and services across cultures.
Originality/value
The paper presents an original and first presentation of a cross‐cultural validation of a parsimonious LTO scale.
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Hean Tat Keh, Wenbo Ji, Xia Wang, Joseph A. Sy-Changco and Ramendra Singh
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of volume and valence of online movie ratings on consumers’ risk perceptions and purchase intentions, as well as the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of volume and valence of online movie ratings on consumers’ risk perceptions and purchase intentions, as well as the moderating impact of cultural values, in four emerging Asian markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey questionnaire, data was collected from 204 respondents for Study 1 and 376 respondents for Study 2 in four emerging markets (China, India, Chinese Macau, and the Philippines). The analysis was conducted using analysis of variance.
Findings
Results indicate that moviegoers express higher risk perceptions and lower purchase intentions when the volume of online ratings is smaller and when the valence (average rating) is lower. These effects are enhanced for more conservative consumers, but are not influenced by consumers’ self-transcendence. Indian consumers were found to be more conservative than the other Asian consumers in the study.
Research limitations/implications
Taken together, the findings make significant contributions to the literature on services marketing, online ratings, cultural values, risk perceptions, and emerging markets. In contrast to correlational studies, the experimental design controls for potential confounding factors and provides evidence of causality between online ratings and consumer responses. In addition, by using cultural values, the authors avoid the problems associated with using national culture scores to characterize individuals or sub-groups within countries.
Practical implications
The study suggests that despite the geographical proximity of these emerging markets, key discernible differences exist due to the moderating impact of cultural values on consumer responses. When targeting consumers in relatively conservative markets (e.g. India), a large volume of positive online ratings may lower consumers’ risk perceptions and increase their purchase intentions.
Originality/value
This study is one of the pioneering studies examining the impacts of volume and valence of online movie ratings on consumers’ risk perceptions and purchase intentions in emerging Asian markets.
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Gianfranco Walsh, Louise M. Hassan, Edward Shiu, J. Craig Andrews and Gerard Hastings
In 2005, the European Union launched a four‐year antismoking television advertising campaign across its 25 Member States. This study aims to evaluate the second and third years…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2005, the European Union launched a four‐year antismoking television advertising campaign across its 25 Member States. This study aims to evaluate the second and third years (2006 and 2007) of the campaign based on telephone interviews with over 24,000 consumers (smokers, non‐smokers, and ex‐smokers).
Design/methodology/approach
The study focuses on smokers and examines the potential for using segmentation and targeting in informing the campaign. Three important factors are used to identify clusters: attitude toward the campaign; comprehension of the campaign; and inclination to think responsibly about their smoking behaviour.
Findings
Cluster analyses identify three distinct and significant target groups (message‐involved, message‐indifferent, and message‐distanced) who respond differentially to the advertising. Furthermore, the percentage of respondents within each cluster varies across the EU Member States. Using Schwartz's cultural framework, the cultural dimension of “openness to change versus conservatism” is found to explain substantial cross‐national variation in message‐involved and messaged‐distanced respondents.
Research limitations/implications
Cluster solutions are shown to be stable across the two data waves. Implications of these results are discussed.
Originality/value
This is the first study that seeks to better understand consumer reactions to social‐marketing advertising across different segments of the overall target group.
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John Thøgersen, Marcia Dutra de Barcellos, Marcelo Gattermann Perin and Yanfeng Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if consumer buying motives regarding organic food in emerging economies China and Brazil are culture bound or determined by key…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate if consumer buying motives regarding organic food in emerging economies China and Brazil are culture bound or determined by key characteristics of the product.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was collected in Guangzhou, China, and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling, checking for measurement invariance between samples.
Findings
The reasons why Brazilian and Chinese consumers buy organic food are strikingly similar to what is found in Europe and North America. Consumers’ attitude toward buying organic food is strongly linked to beliefs about its healthiness, taste and environmental friendliness. Also, consumer attitudes toward buying organic food are positively related to what Schwartz’s “Universalism” values in all studied cultures.
Research limitations/implications
Correlational (survey) data do not allow conclusions about causality and conclusions are limited by the covered countries and products.
Practical implications
Key consumer value propositions with respect to organic food seem cross-culturally valid and universally accepted by a segment of customers that share these values. Hence, organic food can be marketed globally based on a universal set of key value propositions. The same could be true for other global products sharing similar types of certifiable value propositions.
Social implications
New insights of value for the cross-cultural marketing of “green” and ethical consumer products.
Originality/value
Fills a gap in research regarding the extent to which consumer purchase motives are culture bound or determined by the characteristics of the product.
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Carlos J. Torelli, Sharon Shavitt, Young Ik Cho, Allyson L. Holbrook, Timothy P. Johnson and Saul Weiner
The purpose of this paper is to investigate cultural variations in the qualities that White Americans and Hispanic Americans believe power-holders should embody, and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate cultural variations in the qualities that White Americans and Hispanic Americans believe power-holders should embody, and the situations in which these norms influence consumer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experimental studies (n1=130 and n2=121) and one field study (n=241) were conducted with White American and Hispanic participants. Results were analysed using ANOVA and regression.
Findings
White Americans are predisposed to apply to power-holders injunctive norms of treating others justly and equitably, whereas Hispanics are predisposed to apply injunctive norms of treating others compassionately. These cultural variations in the use of injunctive norms were more evident in business or service contexts in which power was made salient, and emerged in the norms more likely to be endorsed by White American and Hispanic participants (Study 1), their approval of hypothetical negotiators who treated suppliers equitably or compassionately (Study 2), and their evaluations of powerful service providers in a real-life, on-going and consequential interaction (Study 3).
Research limitations/implications
This research suggests key implications for our theoretical understanding of the role of social norms in carrying cultural patterns, as well as for cross-cultural theories of consumer satisfaction with service providers.
Practical implications
Marketers should pay attention to signals of fairness (compassion) in their services, as perceptions of fairness (compassion) by White American (Hispanic) consumers can boost satisfaction ratings. This is particularly important in service encounters that might be characterized by power differentials, such as those in health care and financial services.
Originality/value
As consumer markets grow more culturally diverse, it is important for marketers to understand how distinct notions of power impact the attitudes and behaviors of consumers from different cultures. This research investigates the implications of distinct power concepts for multi-cultural consumers’ evaluations of service providers, an important and under-researched area with implications for global service management.
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Lynn Sudbury-Riley, Florian Kohlbacher and Agnes Hofmeister
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way consumers view their age.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were used to sample 880 Baby Boomers. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate multinational measurement invariance of the cognitive age scale.
Findings
Two distinct segments are identified, providing support for a young-at-heart consumer culture in all nations in the study. Results also find cognitive age to exhibit partial measurement invariance, which is expected given the disparate nations under study.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to cross-cultural global age research which is still in an early pioneering stage. The study builds on a small number of previous studies that validate cognitive age, extends current knowledge of the measurement properties of cognitive age, and identifies two distinct international segments of Baby Boomers. Further research needs to delve into the antecedents of self-perceived age, particularly in the ways in which different life experiences and cultures may impact age identities.
Practical implications
The study has implications for marketing managers wishing to target the increasingly important young-at-heart Baby Boomer.
Originality/value
The study uses four non-American countries, uses samples matched for chronological age, and does not use convenience samples, which make it unique in the cognitive age literature. The study has value for marketing managers, global age researchers, and consumer culture researchers.
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Cindy B. Rippé, Suri Weisfeld-Spolter, Yuliya Yurova and Fiona Sussan
The purpose of this paper is to present a buying process for the multichannel consumer (MCC) that starts at online information search and ends at the offline retail channel and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a buying process for the multichannel consumer (MCC) that starts at online information search and ends at the offline retail channel and then seeks to determine the universality of such behavior across countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was administered to MCCs from Russia, Singapore and the USA. The model was estimated using partial least square and country comparisons were conducted with a multi-group analysis.
Findings
The empirical results validated the conceptual model. In country comparisons, there is both converging (online information search) and diverging (retail store) MCCs’ behavior exhibiting nuanced differences.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should examine values of MCCs at the individual level so as to increase the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
The convergence of MCCs information search behavior suggests that there is an opportunity for companies to standardize their online information strategy to educate global MCCs prior to their visiting brick and mortar stores. In-store salesperson remains important and effective for MCCs in the USA and Singapore, but not Russia.
Originality/value
A new conceptual framework that integrates economic and psychology theories is presented to depict the shift of control tilting in favor of MCCs in the buying process and introduces the concept of “reversal” information asymmetry in which consumers perceive to have more knowledge than the vendors.