Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Research in 1984"
TL;DR: This article surveyed reasons for and reactions to product failure and manipulated reasons in an experiment, finding that reasons for product failure influenced reactions such as desiring a refund or an exchange for the product, perceiving that an apology is owed the consumer, and wanting to hurt the firm's business.
Abstract: Attribution theory provides the framework for predicting consumer responses to product failures. Study 1 surveyed reasons for and reactions to product failure and Study 2 manipulated reasons in an experiment. Reasons for product failure influenced reactions such as desiring a refund or an exchange for the product, perceiving that an apology is owed the consumer, and wanting to hurt the firm's business.
1,275 citations
TL;DR: The effectiveness of advertising messages is widely believed to be moderated by audience involvement as mentioned in this paper, which allocates increasing attentional capacity to a message source, as needed for analysis of the message by increasingly abstract and qualitatively distinct representations.
Abstract: The effectiveness of advertising messages is widely believed to be moderated by audience involvement. In this paper, psychological theories of attention and levels of processing are used to establish a framework that can accommodate the major consumer behavior theories of audience involvement. Four levels of involvement are identified (in order from low to high) as preattention, focal attention, comprehension, and elaboration. These levels allocate increasing attentional capacity to a message source, as needed for analysis of the message by increasingly abstract—and qualitatively distinct—representational systems. Lower levels use relatively little capacity and extract information needed to determine whether higher levels will be invoked. The higher levels require greater capacity and result in increasingly durable cognitive and attitudinal effects.
1,060 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that consumers familiar with the product category demonstrate stronger brand organization for the new information and that familiarity facilitates learning when consumers rate each alternative, but when consumers are instructed to choose one alternative, an "inverted u" relationship between familiarity and learning results is found.
Abstract: Does product familiarity improve shoppers' ability to learn new product information? We examine an earlier study which indicated that greater familiarity increased learning during a new purchase decision. Our reanalysis confirms that the effect depends strongly upon decision strategy. Familiarity facilitates learning when consumers rate each alternative, but when consumers are instructed to choose one alternative, an “inverted u” relationship between familiarity and learning results. Our new analyses also show that consumers familiar with the product category demonstrate stronger brand organization for the new information.
819 citations
TL;DR: This paper provided a view of decision making based on the notion that consumers are not motivated to engage in a great deal of in-store decision making at the time of purchase when the product is purchased repeatedly and is relatively unimportant.
Abstract: Despite the large amount of theory and research on consumer choice, current understanding is still at a less than desirable level—especially in the cases where involvement with or importance of the choice is low and the product is purchased frequently. The present paper provides a view of decision making based on the notion that consumers are not motivated to engage in a great deal of in-store decision making at the time of purchase when the product is purchased repeatedly and is relatively unimportant. As a result, consumers tend to apply very simple choice rules or tactics that provide a satisfactory choice while allowing a quick and effortless decision. An empirical test of this proposition is provided and implications are discussed.
745 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the theory of reasoned action examines the standard Fishbein-Ajzen paradigm and several model variations by incorporating tests of interdependent relations between attitudinal and subjective influence variables, and by comparing direct effects of Aact and SN on behavior against indirect effects mediated through behavioral intentions.
Abstract: This application of the theory of reasoned action examines the standard Fishbein-Ajzen paradigm and several model variations. These variations extend and challenge the standard model by incorporating tests of interdependent relations between attitudinal and subjective influence variables, by postulating multiple cognitive and normative structures rather than unidimensional structures, and by comparing direct effects of Aact and SN on behavior against indirect effects mediated through behavioral intentions.
688 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an empirical investigation was conducted to determine the effects of image variables on beliefs and attitudes in the multi-attribute model framework, and the results indicated that country of origin affects beliefs but not attitudes.
Abstract: An empirical investigation is conducted to determine the effects of image variables on beliefs and attitudes in the multi-attribute model framework. Simultaneous equation regression is used to estimate a model linking a particular type of image variable, country of origin, to attitudes and beliefs obtained through a survey of evaluations of automobile alternatives. The results indicate that country of origin affects beliefs but not attitudes.
629 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the role of competence in the enjoyment of games and found that performance, perceived complexity, and personality-game congruity determine emotional responses and that performance itself depends both on previous performance and on various ability-related individual characteristics.
Abstract: Consumer researchers have recently begun to focus on the experiential aspects of consumption in general and on intrinsically motivated hedonic enjoyment in particular. Within this broad class of consumer behavior, play (as in sports, games, and other leisure activities) constitutes a particularly familiar and important type of consumption experience. This study investigates some phenomena involved in playful consumption. The results suggest that performance, perceived complexity, and personality-game congruity determine emotional responses and that performance itself depends both on previous performance and on various ability-related individual characteristics. Though still tentative, such findings indicate an important role for the competence motive in the enjoyment of games.
581 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the memorability of brand names semantically related to product class was tested in pictorial versus verbal-only form under various conditions, and the results indicate that picture superiority occurs in both immediate and delayed recall tasks when processing is directed at appearance features.
Abstract: Based on three explanations of imagery effects on memory, hypotheses regarding the conditions under which pictorial ads are or are not remembered better than verbal-only ads are generated and tested. The memorability of brand names semantically related to product class was tested in pictorial versus verbal-only form under various conditions. The results indicate that picture superiority occurs in both immediate and delayed recall tasks when processing is directed at appearance features. Verbal-only stimuli are recalled as well as pictures in immediate recall but become inferior once again in delayed recall, when processing is directed at the semantic content of the ads.
529 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the meaning of correlated measurement errors is discussed within a hierarchical framework of error terms provided by true score, first-order factor, and secondorder factor models: random error, indicator specific error, and group specific error.
Abstract: The meaning of correlated measurement errors is discussed within a hierarchical framework of error terms provided by true score, first-order factor, and second-order factor models: random error, indicator specific error, and group specific error, respectively. Group specific error can be represented either as extraneous first-order factors or as unwanted components of first-order factors that define a second-order factor. The uncritical use of correlated measurement errors without theoretical justification is shown to lead merely to more acceptable fit while obfuscating a more meaningful theoretical structure.
500 citations
TL;DR: The notion of information overload has received a fair measure of attention in the consumer behavior literature as discussed by the authors, and it has been suggested that there could be dysfunctional consequences resulting from providing consumers with "too much" information.
Abstract: T he notion of information overload has received a fair measure of attention in the consumer behavior literature. Early research on the phenomenon (Jacoby 1974; Jacoby, Kohn, and Speller 1973; Jacoby, Speller, and Berning 1974; Jacoby, Speller, and Kohn 1974) suggested that there could be dysfunctional consequences resulting from providing consumers with "too much" information. These studies soon spawned critics (Russo 1974; Summers 1974; Wilkie 1974), rejoinders (Jacoby 1977; Jacoby, Speller, and Beming 1975) and additional empirical work (Scammon 1977; Staelin and Payne 1976). While the critics raised a variety of technical issues regarding the empirical procedures employed (e.g., what are the best ways to operationalize information and decision quality, should one correct for guessing as a function of the number of brands available, and so on), Jacoby was perhaps his own severest critic. This occurred primarily in two articles which appear to have attracted negligible attention and which, when cited, seem not to be recognized as the fundamental critiques that they are. The first paper (Jacoby 1975) begins by summarizing the results of several additional overload studies (including some conducted outside of the U.S. and others involving authentic subject motivation-that is, test situations in which the consumer actually kept the product selected), all of which seemed to confirm an overload effect and most of which were likely to have been published in the climate of those times. The purpose of the paper was to describe the evolution of my thinking. Accordingly, the second half raised and discussed several fundamental issues, all of which focused on the inability of the traditional overload research paradigm-as advanced and researched by Jacoby-to capture and model the real world. These same arguments are made even more explicit in the second paper, which concluded that the information overload research paradigm had limited ability to provide a suitable basis for real-world managerial and policy decisions (Jacoby, Speller, and Berning 1975, p. 155). Thus by 1976, the literature contained ample cause for concern about attempts to employ the basic overload approach to answer applied questions. Yet the flow of such research has not abated. Indeed, some researchers even rely on the overload paradigm to argue for both sides of the issue. As a case in point, consider the papers by Malhotra (1982) and Malhotra et al. (1982). In April 1982, an article by Malhotra, Jain, and Lagakos entitled "The Information Overload Controversy: An Alternative Viewpoint" appeared in the Journal of Marketing. This article reanalyzed the data from three prior overload investigations-two in the Journal of Consumer Research (Jacoby, Speller, and Kohn Berning 1974; Scammon 1977) and one in the Journal of Marketing Research (Jacoby, Speller, and Kohn 1974)-and arrived at the following conclusions (Malhotra et al. 1982, p. 35):
414 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of different temporal and nontemporal cues on individuals' time perception was observed using data on actual and perceived time in retail checkout lines, and the importance of considering a time perception approach to consumer behavior was suggested.
Abstract: The effect of different temporal and nontemporal cues on individuals' time perception was observed using data on actual and perceived time in retail checkout lines. Findings suggest the importance of considering a time perception approach to consumer behavior.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify six distinctive external information search patterns among purchasers of new automobiles and cross-validate the typology using data obtained from automobile sales personnel, which was partially successful.
Abstract: Cluster analysis of questionnaire data was used to identify six distinctive external information search patterns among purchasers of new automobiles. Two of the shopper clusters had not been clearly specified in prior research—namely, an advisor-assisted shopper group and a highly self-reliant shopper group. An effort to cross-validate the typology using data obtained from automobile sales personnel was partially successful. It is hypothesized that these strategies are reflections of heuristic decision processes which reflect both individual difference characteristics and the purchase situation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the problem and two general strategies for comparing noncomparable alternatives, a subset of choices that has been overlooked in the literature, and report experiments that support use of the strategies.
Abstract: Research on consumer choice has focused on easily comparable alternatives, a subset of the choices consumers regularly face. This paper outlines the problem and two general strategies for comparing noncomparable alternatives, a subset of choices that has been overlooked in the literature. Experiments are reported that support use of the strategies.
TL;DR: The authors argue for an interaction between advertising and evidence on evaluations, and find experimental support for the interaction, and draw connections between advertising testing and hierarchy models of advertising effects for advertising effects.
Abstract: Recent advertising research appears to neglect the role of evidence in persuasion. From work on confirmatory bias in the field of behavioral decision theory, this paper argues for an interaction between advertising and evidence on evaluations, and finds experimental support for the interaction. Implications are drawn for advertising testing and for hierarchy models of advertising effects.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors offer some reflections on the information overload paradigm by focusing on the issues raised by Jacoby (1984) and address the questions of whether consumers can be overloaded and whether consumers will be overloaded.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to offer some reflections on the information overload paradigm by focusing on the issues raised by Jacoby (1984). Toward this end, I address the questions of whether consumers can be overloaded and whether consumers will be overloaded. This is followed by a brief discussion of the theoretical, managerial, and public policy implications of the information overload paradigm. Finally, I reinforce a call for more research in this area and identify several directions for such research.
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model linking measures of objectively defined changes in consumer life status to changes in brand preferences and overall satisfaction with product and service purchases is proposed and empirically tested Bivariate and multiple equation analyses of cross-sectional data in one metropolitan area indicate strong support for the model.
Abstract: A theoretical model linking measures of objectively defined changes in consumer life status to changes in brand preferences and overall satisfaction with product and service purchases is proposed and empirically tested Bivariate and multiple equation analyses of cross-sectional data in one metropolitan area indicate strong support for the model The results imply that households undergoing status change are more likely to be (1) undergoing spontaneous changes in brand preferences and (2) open to intervention by change agents in the future
TL;DR: The authors showed that the concept of overall quality has many dimensions and that the relation of price to overall quality is quite weak, and showed that these studies are methodologically invalid by showing that the concepts of quality have many dimensions.
Abstract: Can consumers trust prices to be good quality indicators? Previous studies based on quality data from Consumer Reports have indicated that the relation of price to overall quality is quite weak. This paper demonstrates that these studies are methodologically invalid by showing that the concept of overall quality has many dimensions. To what extent do inefficient variants occur in the market? Previous studies have suggested that there is a considerable degree of inefficiency in the market. Alternative calculations imply that inefficient variants are in fact frequent, but that the loss to consumers is much lower than previously suggested.
TL;DR: The authors used graph-theoretic social network techniques to examine interpersonal relationships and brand choice behavior in natural environments, and found significant brand congruence effects were obtained, they were clustered in a few products mediated by types of social relation.
Abstract: Previous studies dealing with the notion of brand congruence suffer from questionable methods of group determination, suspect demonstrations of brand congruence effects, and inadequate attention paid to types of social relation. To overcome these shortcomings, the present study uses graph-theoretic social network techniques to examine interpersonal relationships and brand choice behavior in natural environments. The brand choices of individuals in a social relationship were compared to those of unrelated individuals across various products, types of social relation, and types of basic sociological structure (dyad, clique, and 2-plex). While significant brand congruence effects were obtained, they were clustered in a few products mediated by types of social relation. Conspicuousness of the product, as traditionally defined, was found to be insufficient to account for these findings.
TL;DR: In this article, a recently introduced model of the audience response to persuasive communications is discussed and used to develop hypotheses about the likely effects of a message quantification strategy, which is tested in an experiment and the results are discussed in terms of communications and marketing implications.
Abstract: A recently introduced model of the audience response to persuasive communications is discussed and used to develop hypotheses about the likely effects of a message quantification strategy. The predicted effects are tested in an experiment and the results are discussed in terms of communications and marketing implications.
TL;DR: In this paper, the sensitivity of the parameters and fit of compensatory choice models to contextual variations in information processing strategies is examined, and a set of predictions concerning specification errors which may arise when a compensatory model misrepresents a true, noncompensatory choice process is derived.
Abstract: The sensitivity of the parameters and fit of compensatory choice models to contextual variations in information processing strategies is examined. A set of predictions is derived concerning specification errors which may arise when a compensatory model misrepresents a “true,” noncompensatory choice process. These predictions are then tested in an experimental analysis of apartment choice behavior. Logit analysis and protocol analysis are employed to assess how the parameters and fit of a compensatory model vary in light of changes in the underlying pattern of information processing across choice sets of differing sizes. Although attribute usage and parameter variation across set sizes conformed to theoretical expectations, a hypothesized decrease in predictive accuracy was not supported.
TL;DR: The authors examined children's perceptions of the users of children's products and tested hypotheses concerning the effects of age, sex, social class, and sibling influence on children's ability to recognize consumption symbolism.
Abstract: The development of children's abilities to recognize consumption symbolism has been examined using adults' products, but not using children's products. The present study examines children's perceptions of the users of children's products and tests hypotheses concerning the effects of age, sex, social class, and sibling influence. As expected, the greatest differences are found among children of different ages. Results are interpreted as due to product-related experience and positive biases toward higher-status brand names and personally owned products.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of comparative versus non-comparative advertising were tested in an experiment across three product categories (cigarettes, golf balls, toothpastes) and a series of dependent variables (perception, attitude and cognitive response to the ads) was investigated.
Abstract: The effects of comparative versus noncomparative advertising were tested in an experiment across three product categories (cigarettes, golf balls, toothpastes). A series of dependent variables—perception, attitude, and cognitive response to the ads—was investigated. Comparative advertising by a challenger, a brand not the category leader, resulted in increased brand similarity between the challenger and leader. The results held whether an ad for the leader was present or not. Other effects of comparative versus noncomparative ads were also observed.
TL;DR: The finding that the conditioned response need not resemble the unconditioned response, and that the conditioning stimulus must predict but not necessarily precede the unconditionsed stimulus for conditioning to occur are discussed.
Abstract: The present paper examines the implications of recent developments in classical conditioning for consumer research. It discusses the finding that the conditioned response need not resemble the unconditioned response, and that the conditioned stimulus must predict but not necessarily precede the unconditioned stimulus for conditioning to occur. The paper also considers the implications of several situations in which classical conditioning may unexpectedly fail to occur, several of the characteristics of classically conditioned behavior, and the role of awareness in conditioning.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between a wife's employment and expenditure on time-saving services was investigated, and it was found that two measures of the extent of a spouse's participation in the labor force were influential in determining monetary outlay on services that are expected to be sensitive to the value of time.
Abstract: The major focus of this research is the relationship between a wife's employment and expenditure on time-saving services. Multiple regression analysis of data from the 1972–1973 Consumer Expenditure Survey indicates that two measures of the extent of a wife's participation in the labor force were influential in determining monetary outlay on services that are expected to be sensitive to the value of time. Other factors—such as family income, education, and stage of the family life cycle—also exert an impact on expenditure. Findings indicate that family expenditure on services is a complex process influenced by many factors besides a wife's employment.
TL;DR: This paper investigated contextual effects on consumer cue-utilization policies in making judgments under uncertainty and found that the utilization of base and case information varied as a function of the numerical values of the cues and covaried with the changes in the perceived relevance of each cue.
Abstract: This research investigated contextual effects on consumer cue-utilization policies in making judgments under uncertainty. Two studies suggested that the utilization of base and case information varied as a function of the numerical values of the cues and covaried with the changes in the perceived relevance of each cue. The second study showed that individual subjects employed different cue-utilization policies in problems that were formally identical but differed in surface detail. A third study experimentally manipulated two factors that influence perceived relevance and explored their effects on cue utilization. All three studies revealed evidence inconsistent with previous research on underutilization of base-rate information.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the "legitimization effect" also occurs when donors are requested to allocate funds to a relatively less well-known organization, through telephone as well as face-to-face contact.
Abstract: Prior research has shown that by legitimizing paltry donations in face-to-face contact with prospective donors, fundraisers may increase the amount of money allocated to highly visible charitable organizations. The present study suggests that this “legitimization effect” also occurs when donors are requested to allocate funds to a relatively less well-known organization, through telephone as well as face-to-face contact.
TL;DR: In this paper, the ambiguities in Raju's general framework for explaining consumer exploratory behavior are examined with two alternative Optimal Stimulation Level (OSL) models.
Abstract: Empirical and theoretical ambiguities in Raju's general framework for explaining consumer exploratory behavior are examined with two alternative Optimal Stimulation Level (OSL) models. Results from two replicated studies using causal modeling suggest that OSL does not act as a mediating construct.
TL;DR: In this article, a comprehensive review and classification of consumer behavior literature has been called for periodically, none has been forthcoming, and this paper attempts partially to rectify this situation. It classifies by several key variables 32 years of consumer behaviour literature from selected journals and proceedings.
Abstract: While a comprehensive review and classification of consumer behavior literature has been called for periodically, none has been forthcoming. This paper attempts partially to rectify this situation. It classifies by several key variables 32 years of consumer behavior literature from selected journals and proceedings.
TL;DR: In this paper, a subtractive model was found to describe how subjects traded off price and quality values when equating two purchases of ground beef, and estimates of price change per unit of quality varied as a function of whether price or quality judgments were required and whether the quality dimension was expressed in positive or negative terms (percent fat).
Abstract: A subtractive model was found to describe how subjects traded off price and quality values when equating two purchases of ground beef Derived estimates of price change per unit of quality varied as a function of whether price or quality judgments were required and whether the quality dimension was expressed in positive (percent lean) or negative terms (percent fat) Results were discussed in terms of factors that affect the generality of conclusions about price—quality tradeoffs
TL;DR: In this paper, the conjunctive choice rule is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and the solution to this problem is then used to identify simpler versions of the rule that require less computational sophistication.
Abstract: This paper develops a theoretical framework in which the conjunctive choice rule can be analyzed and reports on a set of laboratory experiments designed to test that theory. Initially the conjunctive choice rule is formulated as a constrained optimization problem. The solution to this problem is then used to identify simpler versions of the rule that require less computational sophistication. In experiments designed to test this theory, all subject pools conformed to a particular simplified conjunctive rule.