SUMMARY The purpose of the study was to develop a scale tomeasure the construct of involvement. Hence, a se-mantic differential scale was developed to capture theconcept of involvement for products. This Personal In-volvement Inventory was developed over four data setsof 268 undergraduate psychology students; two data setswith 49 MBA students; and two data sets with 57 clericaland administrative staflf members. The scale was dem-onstrated to have content validity by expert judges attwo phases of the scale development: first, for the se-lection of items, and second, through classification ofopen-ended responses from subjects. The reliability orstability of the scale over time was checked over twosubject populations for an average test-retest correlationof 0.90. The criterion-related validity of the scale waschecked by demonstrating agreement with the order ofvarious products as found in previous studies. The con-struct validity—the test ofthe scale to theoretical prop-ositions—was then carried out. The scale was admin-istered to clerical and administrative staff and coveredthree different product categories and several statementsof behavior proposed to be representative of involve-ment. Over all three product categories there was a pos-itive relationship between the scale scores and the sub-jects' responses to the statements of theoretical prop-ositions pertaining to involvement.

Measuring the Involvement Construct

This article reviews the literature regarding the effect of country of origin on buyer evaluations of products. The issue is important for countries (especially resource-poor, developing countries) that need to increase manufactured exports and for firms that source products in countries different from where sold. Marketing inferences are drawn, and implications for future research are developed.

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Country-of-origin effects on product evaluations

There has been considerable research on the factors that predict whether individuals will accept and voluntarily use information systems The technology acceptance model (TAM) has a base in psychological research, is parsimonious, explains usage behavior quite well, and can be operationalized with valid and reliable instruments A limitation of TAM is that it assumes usage is volitional, that is, there are no barriers that would prevent an individual from using an IS if he or she chose to do so This research extends TAM by adding perceived user resources to the model, with careful attention to placing the construct in TAM's existing nomological structure In contrast to measures of self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control that concentrate on how well individuals perceive they can execute specific courses of action, this paper examines perceptions of adequate resources that can facilitate or inhibit such behaviors The inclusion of both a formative and reflective set of measures provides the opportunity for the researcher and manager to decide whether to evaluate only the overall perceptions of adequate resources or also the specific underlying causes The extended model incorporating these measures was then tested in the field The results confirmed that perceived user resources is a valuable addition to the model

Extending the technology acceptance model: the influence of perceived user resources

Substantial evidence exists to support the proposition that consumer perceptions and preferences should be the basis for tourism marketing and consumerpolicy. Some of this evidence is reviewed, and a general model of traveler destination awareness and choice is presented. Results of an empirical test of the model provide some supportfor the hypotheses presented in the model.

A General Model Of Traveler Destination Choice

This article focuses on memory-based choice situations where changes in a brand's accessibility may affect the probability that it is retrieved and considered for choice. In such instances, factors other than evaluation may affect which brands are brought to mind at purchase. Two experiments are described that manipulate the determinants of brand accessibility and measure consequent effects on retrieval, consideration, choice, and evaluation. Results provide evidence for the influence of memory during the brand-choice process. For a brand to be selected in memory-based choice, the consumer must recall that brand and fail to recall other brands that might otherwise be preferred.

Recall and Consumer Consideration Sets: Influencing Choice without Altering Brand Evaluations

IN the consumer goods market, there are many product categories that are represented by numerous brands. To cope with this multiplicity of relatively similar brands in such common consumer product categories as toothpaste, beer, and canned vegetables, consumers must devise a means to simplify their purchase decisions. Several models and theories have been proposed to explain this consumer behavior. This article expands the concept described by the term evoked set by including and classifying all the brands that may be in the consumer's awareness set. This classification, based on the consumer's "psychology of simplification," is examined and the consequences of such behavior for product performance are discussed.' In this regard, the concepts of inert set and inept set are introduced, and the results of an exploratory study are presented to demonstrate the applicability of this conceptualization.

Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization:

This article reports the results of an exploratory study comparing U.S. and Japanese consumers' perceptions of various foreign and national “made in” product images. “Made in” profiles of products originating in England, France, Germany, U.S.A., and Japan were constructed using semantic differential responses from U.S. and Japanese consumers. Profile differences are analyzed statistically and implications discussed.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fpalgrave.jibs.8490816.pdf

Analysis of ”Made in“ Product Images–An Exploratory Study

M UCH recent literature on franchising has dealt with the topic of a trend toward increased franchisor operation of franchisee outlets. By way of explanation of this phenomena Oxenfeldt and Kelley have suggested that the competitive advantages of franchising change, or perhaps deteriorate, over time or across the life cycle of the usual franchise contractual agreement.' Hunt provides empirical evidence in support of the Oxenfeldt-Kelley position that this changing situation manifests itself in the form of increased

Competitive Advantage Variation Over The Life Cycle of a Franchise

M VCH recent literature on franchising has dealt with the topic of a trend toward increased franchisor operation of franchisee outlets. By way of explanation of this phenomena Oxenfeldt and Kelley have suggested that the competitive advantages of franchising change, or perhaps deteriorate, over time or across the life cycle of the usual franchise contractual agreement.' Hunt provides empirical evidence in support of the Oxenfeldt-Kelley position that this changing situation manifests itself in the form of increased franchisor ownership outlets.' What remains to be explained is which competitive advantages normally associated with franchising are relatively important at which stages in the franchise life cycle. It is to this purpose that this article is directed.

Competitive Advantage Variation over the Life Cycle of a Franchise: Of the Tested Competitive Advantages, Franchisee Motivation is Perceived as the most Important at all Life Cycle Stages:

Attitude scales form the bulk of many survey questionnaires and contribute to respondent fatigue and boredom. The contention is presented that a substantial reduction in the length of a survey questionnaire can be achieved, without loss of any information, by judicial use of the attitude scale. An alternative measurement scale, the graphic positioning scale, is presented which was compared with the traditional scale by means of an empirical study. The results support the contention of the report.

Chem L. Narayana

Papers

Consumer Behavior and Product Performance: An Alternative Conceptualization:

Analysis of ”Made in“ Product Images–An Exploratory Study

Competitive Advantage Variation Over The Life Cycle of a Franchise

Competitive Advantage Variation over the Life Cycle of a Franchise: Of the Tested Competitive Advantages, Franchisee Motivation is Perceived as the most Important at all Life Cycle Stages:

Graphic Positioning Scale: An Economical Instrument for Surveys