Tilottama G. Chowdhury, Adwait Khare and Robin A. Coulter
This paper aims to propose the sensory stimulation spillover effect phenomenon, defined as the process by which sensory stimulation in one area generates positive impressions and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose the sensory stimulation spillover effect phenomenon, defined as the process by which sensory stimulation in one area generates positive impressions and favorably impacts opinions in other areas. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that the spillover effect of sensory priming via an advertised brand impacts the viewer’s self-brand connections (the mental representation of a brand connected to an individual’s self-concept), brand attitude and brand purchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Across six experiments, 883 participants considered advertised brands from diverse product categories (food snacks, electronics and detergent). The multisensory prime in Studies 1–3 uses positively valenced sensory imagery and text, whereas the multisensory prime in Studies 4–6 is a sensory imaging task. Studies 1–4 examine the spillover effect of the multisensory prime on consumers’ self-brand connections, as well as downstream brand-related variables. Studies 5 and 6, respectively, examined the moderating roles of advertising appeal, regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention) and cognitive versus affective tone.
Findings
Results provide robust evidence of the proposed sensory stimulation spillover effect. Sensory priming strengthens self-brand connections and positively impacts brand attitude and purchase intention; self-brand connections mediate the relationship between a multisensory prime and brand attitude and purchase intention. The sensory stimulation spillover effect is stronger when advertisements have a promotion (vs prevention) focus and particularly for participants with a stronger intrinsic promotion (vs prevention) orientation, as well as for advertisements with an affective (vs a cognitive) tone.
Research limitations/implications
The authors manipulated sensory stimulation using visual images and text as well as using a multisensory-imaging task. Future work can explore the use of actual sensory stimulation, and retail spaces or public venues may provide opportunities for field experiments to study sensory stimulation in situ.
Practical implications
The research focuses on spillover effects in an advertising context with broader implications for consumers’ in-store shopping experiences based on multisensory store architecture and atmospherics, as well as online shopping that is impacted by multisensory information.
Originality/value
This paper introduces the phenomenon of sensory stimulation spillover effect, the process by which sensory stimulation in one area generates positive impressions and favorably impacts opinions in other areas and demonstrates that multisensory priming strengthens self-brand connections and downstream brand-related variables, with self-brand connections as the mediator. The results are robust across multiple product categories and are contingent upon the type of advertising appeal. The research focuses on spillover effects in an advertising context with broader implications for consumers’ in-store shopping experiences based on multisensory store architecture and atmospherics, as well as online shopping which is impacted by multisensory information.
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Robin A. Coulter and Mark Ligas
Research on customer relationships has documented that customers focus not only on the functional benefits they receive, but also the relational benefits. This study examines the…
Abstract
Research on customer relationships has documented that customers focus not only on the functional benefits they receive, but also the relational benefits. This study examines the underpinnings of customer relationships designated as professional relationships, casual acquaintances, personal acquaintances, and friendships, with regard to the relational factors: emotional attachment to a particular provider; personal advice seeking, and socializing outside of the service encounter. A survey is used to examine relationship types across four service industries (healthcare, financial services, hair care, and automotive repair). It is found that relationship types can be distinguished based on the relational factors, and that relationship types vary by service.
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Keith S. Coulter and Robin A. Coulter
Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long‐term relationships between service representatives and their customers. Prior research has documented that both “person‐related”…
Abstract
Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long‐term relationships between service representatives and their customers. Prior research has documented that both “person‐related” (e.g. empathy, politeness and customer/service representative similarity) and “offer‐related” (customization, competence, reliability and promptness) service representative characteristics have an impact on trust. However, the relative importance of these characteristics, and in some cases the direction of their relationships with trust, has varied across studies. In this paper, we posit a contingency model of trust, suggesting that the effects of the above variables on trust are moderated by length of the customer/service provider relationship. Our model is tested in a business‐to‐business context by means of a mail survey involving 677 small business owners. The small business owners provided data about their relationships with their insurance industry service providers. Our results demonstrate how service representatives and firms can work toward the establishment of trust with their clients under varying market conditions.
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Robin A. Coulter, Lawrence F. Feick and Linda L. Price
Research conducted in the early 1990s in Hungary indicated a lack of knowledgeable and influential personal sources in the cosmetics product category. The purpose of this article…
Abstract
Research conducted in the early 1990s in Hungary indicated a lack of knowledgeable and influential personal sources in the cosmetics product category. The purpose of this article is to examine women cosmetics opinion leaders in Hungary approximately ten years into the country’s transition to a market economy. Because of the evolution of the cosmetics market over the past decade and Hungarian women’s increased involvement with cosmetics, we expected to see the emergence of opinion leadership in the product category. Survey data from 340 Hungarian women indicate that the incidence of cosmetics opinion leadership and self‐reported product knowledge is lower than what we might expect in more established market economies. Nonetheless, we found the relationships between cosmetics opinion leadership in Hungary and antecedent and consequent variables are similar to what we would expect in more established market economies. We discuss the implications of these results for marketing managers.
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Piotr Chelminski and Robin A. Coulter
This paper aims to examine the relationships between consumer advocacy and consumer complaining behaviors such as voicing and negative word‐of‐mouth in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationships between consumer advocacy and consumer complaining behaviors such as voicing and negative word‐of‐mouth in the context of dissatisfactory service experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an experimental design embedded in a survey methodology, the authors examine the relationship between consumer advocacy and the likelihood for complaining about dissatisfactory service experiences among adult US consumers. Additionally, the authors examine the differences between likelihood for voicing and negative word‐of‐mouth (NWOM) in the context of dissatisfactory service experiences at varying levels of service encounter failure.
Findings
The authors find that consumer advocacy is positively related to consumer complaining (i.e. voicing and NWOM), and that likelihood of NWOM is consistently greater than likelihood of voicing.
Research limitations/implications
This study uses a convenience sample of US adult consumers, which could compromise generalizability of the results to broader consumer populations.
Practical implications
Based on these results, the authors suggest that companies and consumer protection agencies appeal to consumers' advocacy tendencies to facilitate voicing so problems can be quickly identified and resolved, and the negative word‐of‐mouth can be minimized.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt known to authors to link consumer advocacy to complaining behaviors in the marketplace.
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Basharat Raza, Sylvie St-Onge and Muhammad Ali
Based upon social exchange theory, this study investigates the mediating effect of consumers' trust in banking industry frontline employees on two relationships: (1) the relation…
Abstract
Purpose
Based upon social exchange theory, this study investigates the mediating effect of consumers' trust in banking industry frontline employees on two relationships: (1) the relation between consumers' perceptions of frontline employees' empathy and consumers' perceptions of frontline employees' performance, and (2) the relation between consumers' perception of frontline employees' customer orientation and consumers' perceptions of frontline employees' performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a time-lag research design to collect data through online questionnaires distributed in two waves. The sample comprises 375 respondents having experience and interaction with banking frontline employees.
Findings
Results confirm the mediating effect of consumers' trust in the banking industry on the relationships between their perceptions of frontline employees' empathy and consumer orientation on the one hand and their perceptions of frontline employees' performance on the other hand.
Practical implications
Results may be helpful to policymakers and managers in the service industries, prompting them to adopt approaches and strategies designed to build strong relationships with consumers, thus increasing consumers' trust and frontline employees' performance.
Originality/value
This study confirms the relevance of social exchange theory in understanding the role of consumers' trust and perceptions of frontline employees' empathy and consumer orientation in understanding their perception of frontline employee performance in the banking industry.
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Yuliya Strizhakova and Robin Coulter
The purpose of this paper is to provide the authors’ response to three commentaries (Batra and Wu, 2019; Papadopoulos, 2019; Westjohn and Magnusson, 2019) on Strizhakova and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the authors’ response to three commentaries (Batra and Wu, 2019; Papadopoulos, 2019; Westjohn and Magnusson, 2019) on Strizhakova and Coulter (2019), “Consumer cultural identities: local and global cultural identities and measurement implications,” International Marketing Review.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper and a response to commentaries on the initial paper Strizhakova and Coulter (2019), “Consumer cultural identity: local and global cultural identities and measurement implications”.
Findings
This paper continues an important dialogue on the topic of multifaceted consumer cultural identities. Specifically, the authors discuss the myriad meanings of cultural identity, as well as meanings of global, local, disinterested/disidentified and glocal cultural beliefs. The paper offers directions and poses questions that warrant future research attention and have important implications for global and local brand managers.
Originality/value
The paper addresses important issues and future research directions about the provocative topic of consumer cultural identities, their meanings, measurements and practical/research implications.
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Yuliya Strizhakova and Robin Coulter
The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework for considering the interplay between local (national) and global (world-based) identities and consumption practices with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework for considering the interplay between local (national) and global (world-based) identities and consumption practices with attention to various conceptualizations and measurements of consumer cultural identity.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper reviewing major works on consumer cultural identities and offering a framework for future considerations of the interplay between global and local identities.
Findings
The framework identifies two dimensions which underlie consumer cultural identity conceptualizations and measurements: first, consumer engagement with globalization–localization discourses, and second, more general identity beliefs vs consumption-based identity beliefs. Clustering and categorical measure approaches (vs a compensatory approach) are preferred for identifying and exploring global/local/glocal and unengaged consumer cultural identity segments. Research foci should guide use of global and/or local general identity vs consumption-based identity beliefs as predictors of marketplace outcomes or as segmentation variables.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptualization of consumer cultural identity is based on Berry et al.’s (1986) early work on acculturation and Arnett’s (2002) bicultural identity theorizing, and thus the authors acknowledge four consumer segments, those with: stronger global (weaker local) identity, stronger local (weaker global) identity, strong global and local identities and those unengaged with global–local discourses. The authors review measurement approaches to examine consumer cultural identity and determine that categorical and clustering (vs compensatory) approaches are consistent with the conceptualization of consumer cultural identity segments.
Practical implications
International marketers can gain insights into major conceptualizations and measurements of consumer cultural identity, and understand the advantages and limitations of different measurement approaches. The authors highlight two important dimensions underlying cultural identity that demand managers’ attention and consideration for strategic decisions. Social implications – this paper brings attention to various conceptualizations and measures of consumer cultural identity, highlighting the need to further examine differences between various cultural identity segments, specifically the unengaged consumers and glocally engaged consumers.
Originality/value
The paper provides a broadened lens to understanding conceptualizations and measurements of consumer cultural identity, identifying two dimensions underlying consumer cultural identity: consumer engagement with globalization–localization discourses, and more general identity beliefs vs consumption-based identity beliefs.
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Dandan Zhu, Nina Michaelidou, Belinda Dewsnap, John W. Cadogan and Michael Christofi
This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents a systematic literature review on identity expressiveness (IE), clarifying and expanding what is currently known about the concept.
Findings
To synthesize current knowledge on IE, the study uses the overarching framework of antecedents-phenomenon-consequences, using this same framework to identify gaps and future research directions. The findings show individual and brand-related factors such as the need for uniqueness and anthropomorphism as antecedents of IE, and eWOM/WOM, impulse purchases and upgrading to more exclusive lines as consequences of IE.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to theory by synthesizing and mapping current understanding of the state of knowledge on the concept of IE while highlighting gaps in the extant literature and paving future research directions for scholars in the field.
Practical implications
The study offers useful insights for practitioners, broadening marketers’ actionable options in identity-based marketing. Marketers can use insights from this study to inform marketing strategy and communication campaigns for different types of brands.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind and offers an integrative review of the current literature on IE, thus enhancing understanding of the concept, its antecedents and consequences. The study also contributes to knowledge by highlighting future research priorities for researchers in this field of enquiry.