Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Research in 1993"
TL;DR: In this paper, an attempt to extend current thinking on postpurchase response to include attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction as separate determinants not fully reflected in either cognitive (i.e., expectancy disconfirmation) or affective paradigms is presented.
Abstract: An attempt to extend current thinking on postpurchase response to include attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction as separate determinants not fully reflected in either cognitive (i.e., expectancy disconfirmation) or affective paradigms is presented. In separate studies of automobile satisfaction and satisfaction with course instruction, respondents provided the nature of emotional experience, disconfirmation perceptions, and separate attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction judgments. Analysis confirmed the disconfirmation effect and the effects of separate dimensions of positive and negative affect and also suggested a multidimensional structure to the affect dimensions. Additionally, attribute satisfaction and dissatisfaction were significantly related to positive and negative affect, respectively, and to overall satisfaction. It is suggested that all dimensions tested are needed for a full accounting of postpurchase responses in usage.
3,168 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the provision of extraordinary hedonic experiences on commercial, multiday river rafting trips in the Colorado River basin and found that personal growth and self-renewal, "communitas", and harmony with nature are significant in explaining overall satisfaction.
Abstract: This article explores the provision of extraordinary hedonic experiences on commercial, multiday river rafting trips in the Colorado River basin. White water river rafting provides a dramatic illustration of some of the complex features of delivering an extraordinary experience. Multiple methods were employed over two years of data collection to articulate the lived meaning of this experience from both the guides' and the consumers' perspectives. Robust quantitative measures were developed from rich qualitative data. Participant observation and interview data enriched the interpretation of quantitative results. Experiential themes of personal growth and self-renewal, “communitas,” and harmony with nature are evidenced across the data; they evolve and are woven together over the course of the trip. Together they are significant in explaining overall satisfaction. There is a complex relationship between client expectations and satisfaction. The narrative of the rafting experience rather than relationships between expectations and outcomes is shown to be central to its evaluation. Implications for other services and consumption activities are discussed.
2,327 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the underlying dimensionality of three aspects of the post-consumption experience, product evaluation, product-elicited affect, and product satisfaction, and integrated these concepts through a suggested causal framework.
Abstract: This article examines the underlying dimensionality of three aspects of the post-consumption experience—product evaluation, product-elicited affect, and product satisfaction. In addition, the article integrates these concepts through a suggested causal framework. Students evaluated either a high- or a low-involvement product in current use, reported affective responses evoked by it, and assessed their levels of product-derived satisfaction. Analysis shows that two primary dimensions of product evaluation—utilitarian and hedonic judgment—can be viewed as causally antecedent to two dimensions of affect—pleasantness and arousal—and to product satisfaction. Implications of the conceptual framework and empirical findings for the study of consumption events are discussed.
1,983 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on three studies that examine indirect questioning as a technique to reduce social desirability bias on self-report measures and conclude that indirect questioning has no significant effect on socially neutral variables and that subjects projected their beliefs and evaluations in the indirect response situation.
Abstract: Indirect (i.e., structured projective) questioning has been employed frequently in marketing and other social sciences to reduce social desirability bias, that is, systematic error in self-report measures resulting from the desire of respondents to avoid embarrassment and project a favorable image to others. Yet little is known about the validity of indirect questioning in reducing social desirability bias. This article reports on three studies that examine indirect questioning as a technique to reduce social desirability bias on self-report measures. The effects of asking indirect (i.e., structured, projective) questions were compared with direct (i.e., structured, personal) questions. The pattern of results indicates that indirect questioning reduces social desirability bias on variables subject to social influence and has no significant effect on socially neutral variables. The social nature of the differences between direct and indirect questioning groups, and the attribution of an undesirable trait to an out-group but not an in-group target, supports the view that subjects projected their beliefs and evaluations in the indirect response situation. These results are consistent across several product categories and indirect question wordings.
1,738 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the dynamics of individuals' motives, risk perceptions, and benefit/cost outcomes of participation in increasingly popular high-risk leisure activities such as skydiving, climbing, and BASE jumping (parachuting from fixed objects).
Abstract: A sociocultural approach is used to explore voluntary high-risk consumption. Specifically, we examine the dynamics of individuals' motives, risk perceptions, and benefit/cost outcomes of participation in increasingly popular high-risk leisure activities such as skydiving, climbing, and BASE jumping (parachuting from fixed objects). An ethnography of a skydiving subculture provides the primary empirical data. We propose an extended dramatic model that explains both macroenviron-mental and inter- and intrapersonal influences and motives for high-risk consumption. Key findings indicate (1) an evolution of motives that explains initial and continuing participation in high-risk activities and (2) a coinciding evolution of risk acculturation that leads to the normalization of risk.
1,099 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined consumers' perceptions of warranties within the framework of economic signaling theory and developed propositions about conditions under which higher warranties may lead to higher, lower, or the same quality perceptions as do lower warranties.
Abstract: This article examines consumers' perceptions of warranties within the framework of economic signaling theory. We develop propositions about conditions under which higher warranties may lead to higher, lower, or the same quality perceptions as do lower warranties. These quality perceptions of consumers are consistent with different types of market equilibria predicted by signaling theory. The propositions are tested in an experiment which varies warranty length, warranty scope, and the conditions for warranty signaling. Results suggest that, in general, consumer responses to warranties are consistent with the behavioral assumptions of signaling theory. The authors suggest that consumer researchers can gain greater insight by integrating signaling theory with psychologically based approaches.
873 citations
TL;DR: This article found support for two variants of this paradigm, but also revealed an alternative paradigm of gift giving as an expression of agapic love, suggesting that agapeic expressiveness is a needed addition to exchange instrumentalism for understanding gift giving and perhaps for understanding consumer behavior in general.
Abstract: The social sciences are dominated by a paradigm that views human behavior as instrumental exchange. It is not surprising that consumer research on gift giving has also been dominated by this exchange paradigm. The present research on dating gift giving among American college students finds support for two variants of this paradigm, but it also reveals an alternative paradigm of gift giving as an expression of agapic love. It is suggested that agapic expressiveness is a needed addition to exchange instrumentalism for understanding gift giving and perhaps for understanding consumer behavior in general.
642 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of positive affect, induced by the gift of a small bag of candy or sugarless gum, on variety-seeking behavior was found to increase the tendency of subjects to categorize nontypical items as belonging to a predefined product category.
Abstract: In three brand-choice experiments executed on personal computers, a significant interaction was found regarding the influence of positive affect, induced by the gift of a small bag of candy or sugarless gum, on variety-seeking behavior. In three food categories (crackers, soup, and snack foods), a positive-affect manipulation increased variety-seeking behavior relative to that in the control conditions, when circumstances did not make unpleasant or negative features of the items in the choice task salient. However, when a negative feature, such as the possibility that a product would taste bad, was made more salient, there was no difference in variety-seeking behavior between the subjects who had received the small gift and the control subjects. Positive affect was also found (1) to increase the tendency of subjects to categorize nontypical items as belonging to a predefined product category, (2) to increase credibility that a product designed to reduce negative health effects would be successful, and (3) to increase variety-seeking behavior in choice sets containing the latter two types of items.
639 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the relationship between age and the development of consumer tastes (over time) and the relationship of nostalgia proneness (a psychographic variable) to patterns of consumer preferences and found that age and nostalgia appear to work independently as separate aspects of nostalgic preference patterns.
Abstract: As studied in recent consumer research, the role of nostalgia involves both (1) a link between age and the development of consumer tastes (over time) and (2) the relationship of nostalgia proneness (a psychographic variable) to patterns of consumer preferences However, questions remain concerning whether the influence of nostalgia proneness and age can be regarded as two independent aspects of nostalgic consumption This research reports a pair of studies that investigate this issue with respect to motion picture preferences among subjects Study 1 uses an age-homogeneous sample to examine 20 items that assess nostalgia proneness, to derive a nostalgia scale, to form a spatial representation of movie preferences, and to test the fit of a vector reflecting differential nostalgia-related tastes in this preference space Study 2 generalizes these results to a sample heterogeneous with respect to age and shows that age and nostalgia proneness appear to work independently as separate aspects of nostalgic preference patterns
637 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that difference scores often have problems in the areas of reliability, discriminant validity, spurious correlations, and variance restriction, and conclude that they should not be used in consumer research and offer alternatives that overcome their limitations.
Abstract: This article illustrates the common use of difference scores in consumer research and discusses a number of potential problems with using them. Difference scores often have problems in the areas of reliability, discriminant validity, spurious correlations, and variance restriction. The article concludes that difference scores should generally not be used in consumer research and offers alternatives that overcome their limitations.
567 citations
TL;DR: Mixed results suggest that high levels of ability and motivation are not always critical precursors of health behaviors; instead, the impact of these characteristics depends on the particular health behavior and the specific health ability characteristic.
Abstract: This article develops and tests a model of the individual and joint effects of various consumer characteristics on health information acquisition behaviors (e.g., using media sources) and health maintenance behaviors (e.g., restricting diet). Theory development overviews the interdisciplinary literature on health and proposes that health motivation independently influences consumers' preventive health behaviors while the effect of health ability on health behaviors is moderated by the level of health motivation. This theory is tested in a survey of 404 consumers. Results indicate that the interaction of health ability and health motivation affects consumers' health behaviors. However, mixed results suggest that high levels of ability and motivation are not always critical precursors of health behaviors; instead, the impact of these characteristics depends on the particular health behavior and the specific health ability characteristic. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, mere exposure to a brand name or product package can encourage a consumer to have a more favorable attitude toward the brand, even when the consumer cannot recollect the initial exposure.
Abstract: Mere exposure to a brand name or product package can encourage a consumer to have a more favorable attitude toward the brand, even when the consumer cannot recollect the initial exposure. This article provides evidence that mere exposure effects persist when initial exposures to brand names and product packages are incidental, devoid of any intentional effort to process the brand information. These unintentional mere exposure effects are attributed to preattentive processes and are explained through hemispheric processing theory.
TL;DR: In this article, consumer mood, involvement level, and the quality of the shopping experience have significant effects on shopping intentions, and consumer mood is shown to be affected by a bad shopping experience.
Abstract: This article proposes that consumer mood, involvement level, and the quality of the shopping experience have significant effects on shopping intentions. Results from a laboratory experiment reveal that mood interacts with involvement and shopping experience. Involved subjects are found to magnify their evaluations of the shopping experience, subjects in good moods evaluate good experiences still better, and a bad shopping experience appears to cause mood-protection mechanisms to fail. Finally, consumer mood is shown to be affected by a bad shopping experience.
TL;DR: In this article, the potential impact of individual consumer decisions to transmit or withhold word-of-mouth information on the flow of information in a market is examined in networks composed of graphs and nodes.
Abstract: This article explores the potential impact of individual consumer decisions to transmit or withhold word-of-mouth information on the flow of information in a market. Information flow is examined in networks composed of graphs and nodes, where graphs represent channels that foster information flow and nodes represent sentient decision makers who can potentially impede or foster information flow. We assert that actors in embedded markets first judge the moral hazards imposed by the information they consider for transmission and the social context of transmission, and then moderate their decisions to transmit the information in light of these judgements. We analyze this process using a modified version of Marshall Sahlins's social exchange theory, examine the plausibility of this analysis using two laboratory experiments, and explore the consequences of this behavior at the aggregate level using a computer simulation. Our view highlights the importance of the interplay of individuals and their social context for understanding word-of-mouth processes.
TL;DR: The Journal of Consumer Research and the Association for Consumer Research initiated a new discipline, intended to embrace divergent topics, methods, concepts, data, motives, partners, and ideas.
Abstract: The Journal of Consumer Research and the Association for Consumer Research initiated a new discipline, intended to embrace divergent topics, methods, concepts, data, motives, partners, and ideas. Over the years, that vision has faded. Now the discipline faces inward, toward a narrower range of issues, and away from the real world. Five guidelines seek to redirect the discipline toward its original goals. These guidelines advocate wider horizons, a larger audience, a different talent mix, more emphasis on discovery, more attention to consumers, and more single-minded dedication to meaningful results.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of measuring intent on subsequent purchase behavior was explored. And the results revealed that the effect of merely asking intent to buy once is an increase in the subsequent purchase rate.
Abstract: Past research has established that, while self-reports of purchase intentions can predict behavior, various factors affect the strength of the intentions-behavior link. This article explores one such factor: the impact of merely measuring intent. Our specific question concerns the impact of measuring intent on subsequent purchase behavior. Prior research suggests a mere-measurement hypothesis: that merely measuring intent will increase subsequent purchase behavior. We also suggest a polarization hypothesis: that repeated intent questions will have a polarizing effect on behavior. The results reveal that the effect of merely asking intent to buy once is an increase in the subsequent purchase rate. The effect of repeatedly asking intent for those with low levels of intent is a decreased propensity to buy with repeated measurements. These two effects are reduced given prior experience with the product. The implications of these findings and opportunities for future research are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, a review of introspective methods in other social science disciplines is presented, and the authors identify five categories of introspection: (1) researcher introspection, (2) guided introspection), (3) interactive introspection (4) syncretic combinations, and (5) reflexivity within research.
Abstract: On the basis of a review of introspective methods in other social science disciplines, we identify five categories of introspection: (1) researcher introspection, (2) guided introspection, (3) interactive introspection, (4) syncretic combinations, and (5) reflexivity within research. We draw from this literature a set of six methodological issues relevant to the conduct of introspection in consumer research. Because of the recent publication of consumer behavior papers that rely extensively or even exclusively on the researchers' life experiences as data, we consider these methodological issues in detail regarding the conduct of researcher introspection. On the basis of substantive and methodological developments in other categories of introspection, researcher introspection is critiqued in terms of data collection and recording issues, its lack of separation of the roles of the researcher and introspector, and its exclusive focus on one individual. Because of the difficulties of overcoming critical methodological limitations inherent in this research approach, we conclude that researcher introspection has severely limited potential to contribute to future research in consumer behavior. In contrast, we suggest that appropriate use of guided introspection and reflexivity within research can be used to advance theory in consumer behavior. We conclude by discussing the balance between openness and rigor necessitated by the pluralistic composition of the field of consumer research.
TL;DR: This paper found that typicality effects are moderated by the extremity of prior category affect and processing goals of consumers, which is consistent with the results in this paper, and they also found that the typicality effect may be moderated with ad-processing goals.
Abstract: Consumers watch a television ad at different levels depending on their motivation to process the ad. In this article, the fit between an ad and an evoked ad schema in memory is hypothesized to influence consumers' motivation to process. It is also hypothesized that this motivation is moderated by effects due to consumers' prior category affect and processing goals. Results from an advertising experiment suggest that ads typical of an evoked schema elicit relatively less extensive processing and evaluations, while those atypical of the schema motivate more extensive processing and evaluations. In an extension of previous research in the domain, the results imply that typicality effects are moderated by the extremity of prior category affect. Limited evidence also reveals that typicality effects may be moderated by ad-processing goals. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply three distinct feminist perspectives to critique scientific objectivity and the problematics, theories, methods of data collection, and methods of analysis in consumer research.
Abstract: This article applies three distinct feminist perspectives to critique scientific objectivity, and the problematics, theories, methods of data collection, and methods of data analysis in consumer research. Each feminist perspective helps heighten sensitivity to gender biases in current research and offers insights on new directions for consumer scholarship.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present and test the theory that crosscountry differences in the prevalence of tipping reflect cross-country difference in values, and the results of the study generally support the theory.
Abstract: Tipping differs from most economic transactions in that consumers who tip are paying a nonobligatory amount for a service that has already been received. Academic research on this unique yet pervasive consumer behavior has focused on the determinants of individuals' tipping decisions. Little attention has been directed at macrolevel issues such as cross-country differences in tipping practices and norms. This article addresses this deficiency by presenting and testing the theory that crosscountry differences in the prevalence of tipping reflect cross-country differences in values. Results of the study generally support the theory.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors specify a model of attitude toward advertising in general and test its cross-national applicability with data from the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, Greece, and India.
Abstract: Examining the cross-national applicability of consumer behavior constructs and models is becoming increasingly more important. In this study, procedures for testing the cross-national applicability of models are illustrated. Specifically, the authors specify a model of attitude toward advertising in general and test its cross-national applicability with data from the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, Greece, and India. The results suggest that the relationships proposed in the model are applicable and similar in strength across the five countries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of pioneering on each stage of the multistage decision process and found that consumers are more likely to bypass consideration set formation when the choice decision is simple (vs. complex).
Abstract: Recent research on the pioneering advantage has shown that consumers often prefer pioneering brands to follower brands. Recent research on consumer choice suggests that information about brands is filtered through a series of sequential cognitive processes. This study attempts to integrate these two separate lines of research by investigating the effects of pioneering on each stage of the multistage decision process. A within-subjects longitudinal experiment was conducted to simulate brand order of entry into a new market. We also developed a sequential logit model to isolate the direct impact of pioneering on each stage of the decision process while controlling for indirect effects of pioneering on previous stages. The results revealed that the pioneering brand (vs. followers) is more likely to be retrieved, considered, and selected. Moreover, the results revealed that consumers are more likely to bypass consideration set formation when the choice decision is simple (vs. complex). Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
TL;DR: This paper investigated whether consumers in their sixties or older can use nutritional information as accurately as younger consumers in a pair of studies, the first conducted in a supermarket setting, the second in a laboratory.
Abstract: We investigated whether consumers in their sixties (or older) can use nutritional information as accurately as younger consumers in a pair of studies, the first conducted in a supermarket setting, the second in a laboratory. Both studies indicate that, when shoppers are instructed to select a cereal according to specific nutritional criteria, elderly subjects are less likely than younger subjects to search intensely and to select an appropriate cereal. In the laboratory setting, however, the age-related differences diminished when subjects wrote down all the nutritional information acquired during their search. Age-related changes in information-processing ability may explain the findings. Implications for public policy are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors simplify and apply the 1978 contingency model of adoption to make predictions about the future behavior of a sample of consumers that are tested with data collected during the diffusion of six innovations.
Abstract: In this article we simplify and apply our 1978 contingency model of adoption. In the simplified model, an individual's predisposition to innovate is modified by socially transmitted messages about the innovation, as well as by other situation specific factors. This model is used to make predictions about the future behavior of a sample of consumers that are tested with data collected during the diffusion of six innovations. While our findings support the model, especially with respect to the role of innovative individuals, they also demonstrate the need to develop explanations of rejection .
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of three factors that may naturally vary in consumer experiences are studied: a consumer's goals, how much the consumer knows about the product's features prior to information acquisition and choice, and the content of feedback received after choice.
Abstract: This research investigates the learning that occurs throughout several information acquisition and choice experiences. The effects of three factors that may naturally vary in consumer experiences are studied: a consumer's goals, how much the consumer knows about the product's features prior to information acquisition and choice, and the content of feedback received after choice. Results show that the information consumers learn is organized in memory around the goal(s) that drives the experiences. Further, higher levels of prior feature knowledge result in more accurate knowledge after experience, but, contrary to predictions, subjects with no prior feature knowledge are quite adept at focusing on their goal in the choice process and at learning goal-appropriate information. The presence of feedback and its consistency with a consumer's goal are also shown to affect the goal orientation and organization of brand and feature knowledge gained during choice experiences.
TL;DR: This article explored the meaning underlying Christmas shoppers' description of some recipients as "easy" or "difficult" in terms of gift selection, arguing that recipients are described as such because they either help or hinder givers' attempts to express specific social roles through exchange.
Abstract: Using interpretive techniques, we explore the meaning underlying Christmas shoppers' description of some recipients as “easy” or “difficult,” in terms of gift selection. We argue that recipients are described as such because they either help or hinder givers' attempts to express specific social roles through exchange. We identify six such roles that givers express alone or in combination to each recipient on their gift lists. These are the pleaser, the provider, the compensator, the socializer, the acknowledger, and the avoider. We discuss the implications of our findings and suggest areas worthy of further research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the analysis of citations in the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR ) during its first 15 years of publication and introduce a new, two-stage procedure to investigate the underlying structure in the from-versus-to or citing-cited matrix based on numbers of references among these authors.
Abstract: This study explores the analysis of citations in the Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR ) during its first 15 years of publication. We review previous work on citation analysis in marketing and consumer research, and we argue for the value of a more complex approach based on patterns of cocitation. Toward this end, we develop a data base that draws on the work of the 42 most frequently published authors in JCR in the first 15 years. We introduce a new, two-stage procedure to investigate the underlying structure in the from-versus-to or citing-cited matrix based on numbers of references among these authors. Our procedure yields a scale of citing-cited asymmetry for the 42 consumer researchers, a “citation-similarity space” showing patterns of symmetric citation among the researchers, and measures of research atypicality. These separate yet complementary results give interesting insights into patterns of cocitation among consumer behavior researchers and thereby appear to reflect the intellectual structure of consumer research.
TL;DR: This paper presented textual evidence drawn from the 1980 and 1990 volumes of the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) to demonstrate the dominance of masculine ideology in consumer research, arguing for the recognition and inclusion of previously muted voices and invisible constituency, especially those of groups currently excluded from achieving social and economic equality.
Abstract: This article presents textual evidence drawn from the 1980 and 1990 volumes of the Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR ) to demonstrate the dominance of masculine ideology in consumer research. Through both Marxist and feminist perspectives, it argues for the recognition and inclusion of previously muted voices and invisible constituencies, especially those of groups currently excluded from achieving social and economic equality.
TL;DR: This article examined text and consumer responses from the perspective of post-modern feminist literary criticism and used a feminist framework to incorporate the issues of advertising as gendered text and consumers responses as gedi readings into consumer research.
Abstract: This article examines text and consumer responses from the perspective of postmodern feminist literary criticism. It uses a feminist framework to incorporate the issues of advertising as gendered text and consumer responses as gendered readings into consumer research. The article begins with a brief background discussion of feminist literary theory to introduce the concept of gendered text and to set forth the “reading” methodology developed to identify it. Next, this method is demonstrated in a feminist reading of two advertising figures—the Marlboro Man and the Dakota Woman. Then, the article presents a feminist perspective on gendered reading—different male and female reading styles relevant to consumers and ads. Last, ideas about gendered texts and readers are integrated into ongoing consumer research on attitude toward the ad, inferencing, and empathy.
TL;DR: The authors found that beneficial attributes were relatively more important in preference assessments than in similarity judgments, and that characteristic attributes are relatively less important for preference assessment than for similarity judgments; however, they did not find that image attributes were more important than characteristic attributes in preference assessment.
Abstract: This article investigates the assumption that similar products are similarly liked. An examination of previous research reveals a subtle discrepancy—what is important to consumers when judging the similarity of products does not necessarily match what is important to them when evaluating products for purchase. In an empirical study, we examine this discrepancy and focus on the role of different kinds of attributes. We find that beneficial attributes were relatively more important in preference assessments than in similarity judgments. Alternatively, characteristic attributes were relatively less important in preference assessments than in similarity judgments. Unexpectedly, image attributes were relatively less important in preference assessment than in similarity judgments. These results provide insights into why “me too” products may not succeed.