Pielah Kim, Hua Chang, Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Leslie Stoel
Customization allows brands to provide goods that match customers’ preferences, but its impact on consumer–brand relationships is unclear. This study aims to examine the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
Customization allows brands to provide goods that match customers’ preferences, but its impact on consumer–brand relationships is unclear. This study aims to examine the impact of two key moderators on the effectiveness of customization to enhance brand’s perceived partner quality, which mediates the relationship between customization and brand attitude.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 (n = 219) tests the moderated–mediation relationship, the effect of customization (IV) on perceived partner quality (mediator), and its indirect effect on brand attitude (DV), which is moderated by consumers’ self-construal orientation (Moderator 1). Study 2 (n = 416) extends the model tested in Study 1 by including an additional moderator, shopping task context (Moderator 2).
Findings
Results empirically demonstrate the impact of self-construal and shopping task context on the effectiveness of customization in improved customer–brand partner quality and eventual brand attitude.
Practical implications
Customization may not appeal to every customer for the same reason. Marketers must target customers’ individual traits (independents vs interdependents) and understand the context of the shopping task context (self-purchase vs gift-giving).
Originality/value
The work reveals how brands can enhance consumers’ perceptions of the brand by allowing them to customize the product. It is novel in demonstrating that customization is not just a fine-grained segmentation strategy but a brand building tool. It highlights contextual factors affecting the outcome of customization by demonstrating the conditions under which it is most effective.
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Praveen Aggarwal and Rajiv Vaidyanathan
In promotional ads that contain both the Regular Price and Sale Price information, this paper aims to investigate whether changing the font sizes of these two prices has an effect…
Abstract
Purpose
In promotional ads that contain both the Regular Price and Sale Price information, this paper aims to investigate whether changing the font sizes of these two prices has an effect on how consumers process the ad message. The authors use acquisition-transaction utility perspective to identify key differences in mechanisms invoked by the larger font size of the Regular Price vs that of the Sale Price.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 uses eye-tracking apparatus to study subjects’ responses to a full-color, realistic-looking ad for a digital camera. Study 2 uses a survey questionnaire to gauge subjects’ responses to a similar print ad. The font sizes of Regular Price and Sale price were manipulated while keeping all the other elements of the ad the same. Subjects were undergraduate students who participated in the study for a small incentive.
Findings
The authors find that making the relative font size of Regular Price bigger invokes a transaction-utility mechanism where customers’ attention is focused on the savings that can be had using the promotion. A bigger font size of Sale Price invokes an acquisition-utility mechanism that draws on the customers’ value consciousness.
Research limitations/implications
The use of student subjects and only one product category in the experiments may limit the generalizability of the study’s findings.
Practical implications
In print ads, managers predominantly use a bigger font size for the Sale Price. This study suggests that the choice of a bigger font size should really be driven by the objective of the promotion: a bigger font size for Sale Price is advised if the objective is to take an acquisition utility approach, whereas a bigger font size for Regular Price is advised for using a transaction utility approach.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt at using an acquisition-transaction utility perspective for understanding the use of relative font sizes in the context of price promotions.
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Pielah Kim, Hua Chang, Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Leslie Stoel
Increasing industry interest in visual artists and commercial brand collaborations has heightened the need for research on exactly how visual art can add meaning to brands in ways…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasing industry interest in visual artists and commercial brand collaborations has heightened the need for research on exactly how visual art can add meaning to brands in ways that enhance brand value to existing consumers and potentially reach new consumers. Consumers are known to select brands on the basis of how well these brands reflect their own personalities. The purpose of this research is to understand whether brand alliances with artists exhibiting distinct personalities can make brands more attractive to consumers whose personalities do not currently match the brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experiments are used to examine the impact of artists’ personality (in)congruence on consumers’ perceptions of the brand and purchase intentions of the brand’s products.
Findings
The results show that consumers whose personalities do not match the brand’s current personality are likely to alter their view of a brand when the brand partners with an artist whose personality matches with that of the consumers’. This happens without negatively affecting the brand personality perceptions of current consumers who already identify with the brand.
Practical implications
When seeking to attract a new target segment, brands can ally with visual artists who convey a personality that matches that of the new target segment.
Originality/value
This paper adds to a nascent literature on the power of artist–brand alliances, and demonstrates that these partnerships need not only be between artists and brands with consistent personalities but can also effectively be used to target new consumers.
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Rajiv Vaidyanathan, Praveen Aggarwal, Donald E. Stem, Darrel D. Muehling and U.N. Umesh
While there has been much debate in the reference pricing literature on the most appropriate conceptualization of internal reference price used by consumers in evaluating deals…
Abstract
While there has been much debate in the reference pricing literature on the most appropriate conceptualization of internal reference price used by consumers in evaluating deals, the question of whether consumers may use different internal reference prices at different stages of the purchase process has not been addressed. In this article, we hypothesize that consumers may use one type of internal reference price to form their deal attitude and another to determine their purchase intentions. We also show that different dimensions of internal reference price are used to determine deal attitude and purchase intention and that price uncertainty moderates the relationship between these internal reference prices and deal evaluation.
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Rajiv Vaidyanathan and Praveen Aggarwal
Current research on brand alliances has focused primarily on alliances between two known, national brands. However, there is significant benefit to both parties in an alliance…
Abstract
Current research on brand alliances has focused primarily on alliances between two known, national brands. However, there is significant benefit to both parties in an alliance between a national brand and a private brand. Such alliances are gaining importance in the industry but have not been studied by marketers. The basic question explored in this study is whether using a national brand ingredient can benefit a private brand without hurting the national brand. First, a theoretical framework to explain how consumers may react to such an alliance is presented. Next, an experiment was conducted which showed that a private brand with a name brand ingredient was evaluated more positively. However, the evaluation of the national brand was not diminished by this association. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
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Sonali Jain and Sanjay K. Jain
This paper aims to measure outcome quality in banks in India and to make a comparative assessment of its influence on customer service quality perceptions. Though both functional…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to measure outcome quality in banks in India and to make a comparative assessment of its influence on customer service quality perceptions. Though both functional quality (i.e. how service is delivered) and outcome quality (i.e. what is delivered) are important aspects of service quality, it is the functional quality which has primarily been the focus of past studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in the study are based on a survey of bank customers located in Delhi and National Capital Region. Using the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, validity and dimensionality of the multi-item functional and outcome quality scales used in the study were assessed. A structural model of relationships of functional and outcome quality with overall service quality was tested through use of the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.
Findings
The study finds outcome quality as being a significant and major determinant of customer service quality perceptions in banks. Inclusion of outcome quality in the analysis is, moreover, found to be helpful in capturing more exhaustively the variations present in customer overall service quality perceptions.
Research limitations/implications
Both the functional and outcome quality in the study have been measured through scales adapted from past studies. But the same have not been found able to fully capture variations in customer service quality perceptions. More psychometrically sound scales to measure functional and outcome quality are needed. Studies in both the developing and developed countries and additional service sectors are called for to increase the generalizability of the study findings. Furthermore, nomological validity of the outcome quality scale needs to be investigated by relating it with other anent constructs, such as customer satisfaction and their behavioral intentions.
Practical implications
Instead of simply remaining preoccupied with functional quality, i.e. process or how part of service delivery, bank management also needs to gauze customer outcome quality perceptions (i.e. what the customers think they are eventually getting out of their transactions with the service provider) and exercise due care to see that customers in fact are getting the core banking tasks performed for which they approach the banks in the first instance.
Originality/value
Present study is first of its kind in investigating role of outcome quality in banking services sector in the context of an emerging market like India. Use of SEM for analyzing both the measurement and structural models constitutes another noteworthy feature of the study.
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Jagrook Dawra, Kanupriya Katyal and Vipin Gupta
The paper aims to study how deal- and bargaining-prone customers are different from each other. This paper brings out this difference based on psychographics encompassing values �…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to study how deal- and bargaining-prone customers are different from each other. This paper brings out this difference based on psychographics encompassing values – consciousness, price mavenism and personality orientations – needed for special treatment (distinctiveness and play).
Design/methodology/approach
The measurement model was assessed using both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The structural model was tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
This paper finds that value consciousness is a two-dimensional construct in the Indian context. This construct comprises two dimensions of value consciousness, including concern for price and concern for quality. The authors find that deal-prone customers are value conscious and price mavens. Bargaining-prone customers are value-conscious price mavens and have a high need for special treatment (play). Play orientation distinguishes between a deal-prone and a bargaining-prone customer.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to grocery products. The consumers surveyed were urban and educated Indians.
Practical implications
With the Indian markets being opened for Western retailers, it is imperative to study the Indian consumers. It is important to understand why the local neighborhood store is able to retain its customer base even when the organized fixed-price formats have been around for approximately 20 years.
Originality/value
This is one of the few papers that tries to understand the Indian consumer’s buying behavior, especially with respect to their haggling nature. This paper further develops our understanding of the “deal proneness” and “bargaining proneness” constructs. The authors also study their differences based on psychographics.
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Meghna Rishi, Vinnie Jauhari and Gaurav Joshi
This paper aims to identify emerging themes that can help in understanding the preferences of Indian consumers, in the transition generation (25-44 years) (Sinha, 2011), toward…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify emerging themes that can help in understanding the preferences of Indian consumers, in the transition generation (25-44 years) (Sinha, 2011), toward sustainability in the luxury lodging industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a multi-method approach for data collection. Thorough literature review and personal interviews with marketers were conducted to explore the themes and construct tentative thematic webs. In total, 42 customer inputs were drawn through focus groups and personal interviews to validate the themes. Customer perspective, marketers’ perspective and findings from literature were juxtaposed to understand the themes.
Findings
“Influence of Parents, Children and Travel agents”, “Rewards for green behaviour” and “frequent communication around sustainability efforts” have been identified as some of the key motivations for consumers to choose sustainability. Some deterrents have been identified as “limited awareness about sustainability issues in Tier II cities”, “detachment with the hotel’s operations”, “higher prices” and “unchecked wasteful/acquisitive consumption”.
Practical implications
Findings from this research work have implications for the practitioners and policy-makers because establishing an understanding of the factors that deter and motivate consumers for engaging in green behavior is important for designing meaningful marketing strategies.
Originality/value
Findings are based on the analysis of data from customer inputs and industry inputs. Themes in this research work have been analytically identified, and this study has made significant academic contributions to the marketing literature. It also provides valuable insights for the practitioners.
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Neha Srivastava, Satya Bhushan Dash and Amit Mookerjee
This paper aims to empirically examine the distinct antecedents of cognitive and affective brand trust in the context of baby care toiletry brands. Further, the moderating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically examine the distinct antecedents of cognitive and affective brand trust in the context of baby care toiletry brands. Further, the moderating role of the mother’s personality traits on the relationship between brand trust and its antecedents is investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
The study methodology involves two phases: exploratory and descriptive. The exploratory phase, with the support of a focused literature review, results in a theoretical framework that is later validated through the survey-based empirical phase.
Findings
The study finds that brand predictability and brand innovativeness are antecedents of cognitive brand trust, whereas brand intimacy is a driver of affective brand trust. The study confirms that agreeableness positively moderates the relationship between brand intimacy and affective brand trust, whereas conscientiousness positively moderates the relationship between brand predictability and cognitive brand trust.
Practical implications
The study recommends marketing strategy approaches for baby care product companies, including the essential factors they must keep in mind for promoting their brand and winning the trust of mothers.
Originality/value
The study is among the few empirical investigations that examine the role of the moderating effect of personality traits on the relationship between brand trust and its antecedents, in the little-researched context of the high perceived risk category of baby care toiletry products in an emerging-market context.