Showing papers in "Psychology & Marketing in 2013"

The Marketers’ Prismatic Palette: A Review of Color Research and Future Directions

Abstract: Color carries meaning and can influence consumers’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Many disciplines, such as neuroscience, psychophysics, visual cognition, and biology have used new technologies to gain insights in understanding the complexities of color perception, yet there exists relatively little research in the field of marketing. This paper aims to reestablish the importance of color research in marketing, draw attention to the complex nature of this research, and to fuel further investigation and the development of new insights about color as it relates to marketing. The authors offer an integrated conceptual framework centered on the embodied and referential meanings of color and highlight the complexities and nuances that researchers must consider in order to develop this area. Insights from and gaps in the extant literature are highlighted to present a set of questions and propositions for future research in this area of investigation.

Effectiveness of Marketing Cues on Consumer Perceptions of Quality: The Moderating Roles of Brand Reputation and Third-Party Information

Abstract: Consumers usually infer unobservable product quality by processing multiple-quality cues in the environment. Prior research considering the simultaneous effects of marketing cues on consumer quality perceptions is sparse. Despite the growing importance of third-party information, research examining its simultaneous effects with marketing cues on consumers’ decision making is especially absent. This research, drawing on cue-diagnosticity, cue-consistency, and negativity bias theories, proposes and tests a conceptual framework to reveal interplays among various marketing- and nonmarketing-controlled product cues. The first study examines how two- and three-way interactions of high-scope (i.e., brand reputation) and low-scope marketing cues (i.e., price and warranty) affect consumer perceptions. The second study examines a set of interaction effects between third-party quality ratings and marketing cues (i.e., price and warranty) on consumers’ perceptions. Overall, the results reveal theoretical and managerial implications for processing multiple-quality cues in consumers’ inference-making behaviors and suggest that consumers generally aggregate perceptions in more complex ways than suggested in the prior literature when making global product quality evaluations. C

In Search of Negativity Bias: An Empirical Study of Perceived Helpfulness of Online Reviews

Abstract: A basic tenet of psychology is that the psychological effects of negative information outweigh those of positive information. Three empirical studies show that the negativity bias can be attenuated or even reversed in the context of electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM). The first study analyzes a large sample of customer reviews collected from Amazon.com and concludes that negative reviews are no more helpful than positive ones when controlling for review quality The second study follows up with a virtual experiment that confirms the lack of negativity bias in evaluating the helpfulness of online reviews. The third study demonstrates that the negativity effect can be reversed by manipulating the baseline valences. This work challenges the conventional wisdom of “bad is stronger than good” and contributes to the understanding of the eWoM phenomenon.

The impact of other customers on customer citizenship behavior

Abstract: Despite extensive research on the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior, the influence of other customers remains a neglected area in service research. Drawing on social information processing and interpersonal influence theories, this article investigates how citizenship behavior of focal customers is shaped by citizenship behavior of other customers. This study also examines how informational influence in the form of other-customer credibility and normative influence in the form of customer social identity moderate this relationship. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this study shows that other-customer citizenship behavior drives focal customer citizenship behavior. This link is also moderated by informational influence (other-customer credibility) and normative influence (social identity). From a theoretical standpoint, the findings provide preliminary evidence that other-customer focus is critical to an understanding of customer citizenship behavior. This study also identifies the boundary conditions for these relationships. From a practical standpoint, the findings suggest that managers need to identify and pay attention to customers who exhibit citizenship behavior so that customer citizenship behavior is reciprocated and extended to other customers in the service encounter.

Cultural Diversity and Marketing Transactions: Are Market Integration, Large Community Size, and World Religions Necessary for Fairness in Ephemeral Exchanges?

Abstract: The study here applies qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in an examination of data from 15 societies varying in their degree of market integration (MI) and participation in world religions (WRs); the data are available in Henrich et al. (2010b). The findings here provide a more nuanced coverage of the influences of cultural causal recipes on fairness and punishment in exchanges with strangers than “net effect” explanations. The coverage here explains how acts of fairness and punishment are contingent on several alternative paths including both low as well as high levels of MI and WR. Contrary to conclusions by Henrich et al. (2010a), depending on additional ingredients in cultural recipes, a society does not need to achieve MI and adoption of a WR to be fair and punish unfairness.

Usefulness, Enjoyment, and Self‐Image Congruence: The Adoption of e‐Book Readers

Abstract: One challenge when launching new technologies is to overcome consumer resistance to change so as to accelerate market acceptance. This is the case of e-book readers. The present study investigates individuals’ perceptions of the utilitarian and hedonic values of such devices and their congruence with self-image as determinants of adoption. Additionally, consumer profile and familiarity with the new technology as a whole influence individuals’ perceptions of this particular technology and its congruence with self-image. Findings show that perceived enjoyment and self-image congruence complement perceived usefulness in forging a favorable attitude toward e-book readers and adoption intention, and that knowledge proves essential in the adoption process. Moreover, people highly involved with reading tend to perceive e-book readers as useless, which hampers their adoption.

Drivers of Brand Extension Success: What Really Matters for Luxury Brands

Abstract: The use of brand extensions has become fundamental to the business model of most luxury brands. Many traditional luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton or Chanel have expanded into traditional luxury sectors beyond their core business. Some brands such as Armani or Prada even crossed boundaries to nontraditional lifestyle segments to pursue new business opportunities. Given the high practical relevance of brand extensions for luxury brands and the importance to understand the success factors for their extendibility and potential backward effects on the parent brand, surprisingly little research has addressed these issues for luxury brands in comparison to nonluxury brands. The current research reveals extension-related differences between luxury and nonluxury brands by simultaneously analyzing key dimensions of parent brand value, fit, and extension category involvement on the consumer’s attitude toward the brand extension, which in turn influences the postextension image of the parent brand. Results of a structural equation model based on a survey among 492 participants show that the predominant driver of brand extension success for both luxury and nonluxury brands is overall extension fit, followed by the consumer’s involvement in the extension category. The influence of functional value of the parent brand on the extension evaluation is more important for nonluxury brands. The hedonic value of the parent brand is found to be of relevance only in case of luxury brands. Moreover, a reciprocal spillover effect between the extension evaluation and the parent brand evaluation is observed. The degree of luxuriousness of the parent brand moderates this relationship. This effect is weaker for luxury brands. C � 2013 Wiley

My Anger Is Your Gain, My Contempt Your Loss: Explaining Consumer Responses to Corporate Wrongdoing

Abstract: Two forms of consumer response to corporate wrongdoing are constructive punitive actions (i.e., those designed to induce firms to change their behavior but with the hope of sustaining relationships with consumers) and destructive punitive actions (i.e., those intended to discredit or harm firms, ultimately leading to disengagement from firms). This study investigates the conditions under which one or the other actions are taken and shows that anger regulates the former, whereas contempt governs the latter. Hypotheses are tested in two studies: a laboratory experiment and a naturalistic field study with an actual instance of recent corporate malfeasance. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Measuring Sponsorship Performance: Challenge and Direction

Abstract: Corporate investment in sponsorship represents one of marketing's more dramatic investment stories of recent decades with global sponsorship expenditure forecast to reach US $53.3 billion in 2013. The scale of this investment, as well as the scrutiny to which sponsorship activity has been subjected during the “Financial Crisis” has added significant momentum to the demand for improved methodologies for evaluating the returns resulting from sponsorship investment. Indeed a range of recent sponsorship studies clearly indicate the pressure, not just for greater accountability, but a demand for new and improved methodologies for measuring sponsorship performance. Against this backdrop this special issue of Psychology and Marketing is timely. It seeks to bring together a selected series of papers from leading edge practitioners and academics which critically review certain current approaches to evaluation, explores important research methodology issues, and outlines recently developed models which quantify the value generated by sponsorship investment. It is hoped that this special issue will lead to increased levels of understanding and interaction between the academic community concerned with researching sponsorship and the practitioner community charged with managing sponsorship and will, in future, serve as a key reference source for these communities in their quest for improved methodologies to measure sponsorship performance.

The Beautiful, the Cheerful, and the Helpful: The Effects of Service Employee Attributes on Customer Satisfaction

Abstract: In contrast to prior studies examining only piecemeal aspects of employee attributes (i.e., physical attractiveness, displayed emotion, or helpfulness), the present research adopts an encompassing approach and considers these attributes simultaneously. These three attributes were selected as they represent the physical, emotional, and motivational aspects of the employee, respectively. This holistic approach provides an understanding of how these three dimensions of employee attributes exert differential effects and interact with one another on customer satisfaction. In order to validate the proposed framework and hypotheses, the authors conducted an experiment as well as a survey in an actual retail setting. Results show that even though all three employee attributes lead to customer satisfaction, employee helpfulness has the strongest impact. In addition, employees’ displayed emotion interacts with their physical attractiveness and helpfulness, respectively, to influence customer satisfaction. These findings not only contribute to the literature, but also have managerial implications for high-contact services.

The Impact of Food‐Related Values on Food Purchase Behavior and the Mediating Role of Attitudes: A Swiss Study

Abstract: Personal values and attitudes can help to explain food choice. This study confirmed a hierarchical organization of the value–attitude–behavior chain: Food-related values influence attitudes, and these, in turn, impact behavior. Contrary to previous findings, values are only partially mediated by attitudes: Some food-related values are fully mediated, whereas others are partially mediated, and still others have exclusively direct effects on purchase behavior. Questionnaire data from a roughly representative sample of 851 adults living in Switzerland was complemented with actual food purchase behavior measured by a loyalty card of a Swiss retailer over the period of one year. Four theoretically derived structural equation models were compared across eight different food product categories (organic, fair trade, low-budget, fresh convenience, ready-to-eat, light, functional foods, fruits and vegetables). The results question central assumptions of the theory of planned behavior and emphasize the role of food-related values in food consumption. Implications for marketing and future product developments of food companies are discussed.

New Challenges in Sponsorship Evaluation Actors, New Media, and the Context of Praxis

Abstract: This paper seeks to address a number of changes taking place in sponsorship, which have implications for performance measurement. One such change is the extent to which major sponsors now view sponsorship more holistically and strategically as a platform to address the entire range of stakeholder groups enabled by sponsorship. A second challenge involves the increased usage of social media in sponsorship and its capacity to engage and connect with sponsorship audiences. Both of these changes represent important challenges for the evaluation of sponsorship effects. These challenges are considered against the backdrop of key principles regarding evaluation and the current state of industry practice with regard to sponsorship evaluation.

The Role of Baseline Physical Similarity to Humans in Consumer Responses to Anthropomorphic Animal Images

Abstract: While humans have a long history of anthropomorphizing animals and the use of animal imagery in the marketplace and popular culture is commonplace, the phenomenon has received little attention. This research investigates the role of how consumers respond to anthropomorphic portrayals of animal mascots that differ on their baseline physical resemblance to humans. In order to test this assertion, an experimental study was conducted with 62 undergraduate participants from a large state university in the Northeastern United States. Results from the study indicate that evaluations of anthropomorphic portrayals of animals with a lower baseline physical similarity to humans are less favorable than nonanthropomorphic portrayals. In contrast, evaluations of anthropomorphic portrayals of animals with a higher baseline physical similarity are more favorable than nonanthropomorphic portrayals. C � 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Influence of Cognitive Dissonance on Retail Product Returns

Abstract: Given the significant costs and customer service ramifications associated with the return of retail merchandise it is important to understand the underlying reasons for product returns. One such underlying reason is cognitive dissonance. Customers who experience cognitive dissonance may seek to undo the effects of a regretted choice by returning the product in question. This research examines the influence of two forms of cognitive dissonance (emotional dissonance and product dissonance) on the frequency of product returns. Three antecedents (consideration of liberal return policies, customer opportunism, and switching barriers) are examined in terms of their influence on cognitive dissonance and product returns. In addition, the moderating role of gender and store brand is reported. The research is based on a survey of Wal-Mart and Target customers who engaged in product returns. Structural equation modeling is used to verify and test these relationships. Emotional dissonance and product dissonance were found to be positively related to product returns frequency. It was found that consideration of liberal return policies reduces both emotional and product dissonance, while customer opportunism and switching barriers increase both dimensions of cognitive dissonance. Both gender and store brand were found to be significant moderators of the relationships between cognitive dissonance and two antecedents (consideration of liberal return policies and customer opportunism). In addition, gender and store brand moderated the linkage between product dissonance and emotional dissonance, and the linkage between emotional dissonance and return frequency.

Does Innovativeness Drive Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behavior

Abstract: This study seeks to improve the predictive utility of the attitude–behavior link within the realm of environmentally responsible consumption by examining the role of consumer innovativeness as a mediator. A sample of over 1400 American consumers provided data regarding their attitudes about the environment, receptiveness to new and innovative ideas, propensity to adopt new products early, and likelihood of performing a variety of green behaviors. The evidence suggests that one dimension of consumer innovativeness mediates the link between environmentally conscious attitudes and behaviors: the general affinity for new ideas. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed. C

Celebrity Scandal Fallout: How Attribution Style Can Protect the Sponsor

Abstract: An attribution is an inference about why an event occurred or about a person's disposition or other psychological state. This study is designed to examine the effects of consumers’ attribution styles (i.e., dispositional and situational) and moderating role of celebrity identification and brand commitment in the evaluation of negative information about a celebrity endorser. The study finds that people who make dispositional attributions judge the endorsed brand more negatively than do those who make situational attributions. The findings also suggest that consumers with a higher level of identification with the celebrity are less likely to react negatively to the bad publicity. Finally, the study found that, when faced with a celebrity scandal, people with high brand commitment showed more favorable attitudes toward the brand as well as higher purchase intention than those with low brand commitment.

Antecedents of Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty for Emerging Devices in the Initial Market of Korea: An Equity Framework

Abstract: This study investigates the relevant predictors of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and explores the group difference by innovativeness or device type, based on equity theory for emerging devices in the initial market of Korea. The results from an online survey of users of emerging devices and structural equation modeling indicate that utilitarian benefit, hedonic benefit, nonmonetary cost, and alternative attractiveness are significant predictors of customer satisfaction, which in turn affects customer loyalty. Hedonic benefit has a stronger relationship with customer satisfaction for more innovative users and nonmonetary cost has a stronger relationship with customer satisfaction for less innovative users. Nonmonetary cost has a negative relationship with customer satisfaction for netbooks; an additional exploratory analysis produced no such evidence for smartphones. These findings suggest managerial implications for customer loyalty regarding emerging devices.

Linking Sources of Consumer Confusion to Decision Satisfaction: The Role of Choice Goals

Abstract: Previous empirical research on the relationship between consumer confusion and customer satisfaction has largely neglected the role of choice goals. In a context of technologically complex products, the authors analyze the effect of selected choice goals on the consumer confusion-decision satisfaction link. The empirical findings, which are based on a field study of smart phone users, show that different sources of confusion have distinctive effects on choice goals, which in turn influence decision satisfaction. For example, while confusion caused by ambiguous information and choice overload is found to reduce choice confidence, perceived attribute similarity between products or brands increases choice confidence. Among the choice goals, evaluation costs and negative affect are found to increase decision satisfaction. The findings have important implications for marketers and consumer policymakers in terms of marketing communication and customer satisfaction. C � 2013

Shame-Free Guilt Appeals: Testing the Emotional and Cognitive Effects of Shame and Guilt Appeals

Abstract: Although many health communication researchers use the terms “shame” and “guilt” interchangeably, arguably these constructs are distinct and have widely divergent psychological consequences. The purpose of this study was to explore distinct cognitive and emotional outcomes resulting from shame relative to guilt appeals. Specifically, this paper provides empirical evidence that negative outcomes such as anger and perceived manipulative intent are more likely to be associated with shame than guilt. Using an experimental design, participants were randomly assigned to view either a shame or a guilt appeal about getting tested for STDs and completed an online questionnaire. Shame was correlated with both anger and perceived manipulative intent whereas guilt was not. Participants who viewed the shame appeal reported higher levels of shame, anger, and perceived manipulative intent. Tactics for creating shame-free guilt appeals and future research are discussed.

Shopping Orientation and Mindsets: How Motivation Influences Consumer Information Processing During Shopping

Abstract: This research examines the cognitive procedures that underlie experiential versus task-focused shopping orientations. The authors propose that consumers with a task-focused shopping orientation and consumers with an experiential shopping orientation apply different cognitive procedures during shopping. Studies 1, 2, and 3 show that consumers with a task-focused shopping orientation are more likely to activate the cognitive procedures of an implemental mindset, whereas consumers with an experiential shopping orientation are more likely to activate the cognitive procedures of a deliberative mindset. Study 4 demonstrates a fit effect between activated cognitive procedures and shopping orientation. Activating a mindset that matches the shopping orientation increases the monetary value that consumers assign to a product. The studies extend previous research by linking shopping orientations to mindsets and by providing evidence for mindset fit. The findings suggest that marketers and retailers will benefit from addressing experiential and task-focused shoppers via the mindsets that underlie their shopping orientation. C

The Effects of Following Islam in Decisions about Taboo Products

Abstract: This study tests the role of consumers’ religious motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) in their decision making regarding the consumption of a prohibited brand or product category because of a religious declaration called Fatwa. Despite numerous studies on the effects of religion in consumers’ marketplace behaviors, little is known of about consumers’ decision making under a religious ruling like Fatwa. A Fatwa is a decree issued by religious scholars for Muslim communities. A survey based on the Theory of Planned Behavior asked young adult Muslims about their responses to a brand, and two product categories that were subject to Fatwa. The data concerning the respondents’ decision making were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test hypotheses based on the available literature. The analyses found that the respondents’ motivation in following Islamic teachings had the greatest effects in their deciding to smoke, listen to contentious popular music, but was not relevant for buying the Coca Cola brand. The results are discussed in terms of the study's theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research.

Memory for sponsorship relationships: a critical juncture in thinking

Abstract: Marketing communications that utilize partnerships between a brand or corporation and a sport, art, or community activity are thoroughly integrated into our understanding of business behavior. Despite the ubiquity of sponsorship relationships as the bases of communication platforms, we still do not understand fully how they work when successful, and how they do not work when they fail. Memory is important to the communication function of all sponsorships and a strategic objective of many. Thus, we explore memory for sponsorship relationships. The aim is to codify our progress to date in measuring memory-related sponsorship outcomes, to identify where shortcomings in our understanding remain and to move toward more complete and explanatory models of sponsorship effects. Topics discussed include: memory as a measure of sponsorship success, strong and weak memory objectives, implicit and explicit memory, interference from competitors, strategic encoding processes, cueing memory retrieval, redefining memories, and enhancing memory for sponsorship relationships.

Consumption‐Focused Self‐Expression Word of Mouth: A New Scale and Its Role in Consumer Research

Abstract: This research represents the first systematic empirical examination of the motivation to spread word of mouth about consumption activities in order to self-express, a phenomenon that has been observed in both the academic literature and the popular press. Consumption-focused self-expression is a motivation to engage in word-of-mouth communication that is distinct from other word-of-mouth motivations that have been discussed in the literature. This work defines consumption-focused self-expression word of mouth as communication about one's consumption activities for the purpose of expressing one's self-concept and attracting attention to oneself. A scale to measure consumption-focused self-expression word of mouth is developed and shown to exhibit a consistent scale structure, acceptable reliability, and convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity. Scores on the consumption-focused self-expression word-of-mouth scale are shown to predict differences in the quantity and nature of consumers’ actual word-of-mouth communications via the social networking Web site Facebook.

Brand Love is in the Heart: Physiological Responding to Advertised Brands

Abstract: Advertising executive Kevin Roberts proposed that premium profits lie in strong emotionalconnections with brands that engender “loyalty beyond reason.” This study uses psychophysiologicalmeasures to empirically investigate the basic premises asserted by Roberts (2005): consumers’connections with brands are rooted in emotion, and that consumers connect with their ownidiosyncratic set of brands. Data support this conceptualization of brand love. Individuals’ unique setof more-loved brands elicited characteristically positive emotional responses. This was not the casefor category preferences. The notion of brand love, which varies at an individual level, is compatiblewith the current trend toward targeted advertising. C 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Brands are an inescapable part of everyday life. Withnew media opening new venues for advertisers to ex-ploreandwithguerillaadvertisementsfillinganyavail-able space, advertisers understand that brands mustbreak through the clutter and find a way to com-pete for consumers’ overwrought attention. Despite theonslaught of advertising, brands have been success-ful at engaging the consumer. Consumers have as-signed human characteristics to brands (Levy, 1985),considered brands as their counterpart in an interper-sonal relationship (Fournier, 1998), and built commu-nities around brands (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995).This research suggests that consumers have estab-lished emotional relationships with the brands theybuy. Some, like Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts(2005), propose that this relationship is one of “loyaltybeyond reason” (p. 66), or one of deep emotional con-nection similar to love. Roberts’ emotional connectionto a product that a consumer has encourages brandloyalty despite the presence of other, more logical al-ternatives. Roberts does not advocate for separatingemotion and rationality, but instead suggests that theemotional attachment individuals have to brands isstrong enough to be considered love. Likewise, Robertsdoes not make assertions about psychological scienceor how emotion is conceptualized. He does make as-sertions about the emotional connection people have tobrands, and testing those assertions is the purpose ofthis study.Previous research substantiates Roberts’ assump-tion that consumers forge emotional connections withbrands (for reviews, see Poels & Dewitte, 2006; Wiles& Cornwell, 1990). However, these studies used printor television advertisements as stimulus material. Be-cause individuals also respond to structural and con-textual cues presented in advertisements (Lang, 1990),their responses to brands alone are confounded. Thecurrent study isolates individuals’ responses to thebrand by presenting only brand logos as stimuli. Logosare a static representation of a brand that are suffi-cient for brand identification. Thus, without the visualand aural cues present in advertisements, logos allowfor the measurement of responses to a brand, not to anadvertisement’s contextual cues.

Customer Personal Features as Determinants of the Formation Process of Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions

Abstract: The authors of this paper introduce three customer demographic features (age, gender, and educational level) and three psychological traits (support, collectivism, and novelty seeking) as moderators in a classic model to better explain the formation process of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions. The results of the paper can assist CSR and marketing practitioners in better segmenting the market in order to adapt their CSR and communication strategies and make them more effective. The authors test a causal model that allows them to anticipate CSR perceptions based on customer evaluations of (1) the congruence between the company and its CSR strategy, (2) the motivations of the company to implement CSR activities, and (3) the corporate credibility in developing CSR programs. Results suggest that customer psychological features are more effective for marketing segmentation than demographic features because they explain more differences among customers in the formation of CSR perceptions. CSR support and novelty seeking are the most valuable characteristics that can be applied to marketing segmentation.

Toward Consumption Reduction: An Environmentally Motivated Perspective

Abstract: Faced with the threat of climate change, there is a challenge to promote more environmentally friendly consumption patterns. This work seeks to unearth psychographic and socio-demographic factors that could trigger environmentally motivated reductions in consumption. The context of empirical investigation is the European Union (i.e., a large-scale sample of European citizens), with a focus on two key types of environmentally motivated consumption reduction: domestic and “out-of-home” (purchasing) activities. The findings show the interrelated effects of environmental knowledge and ecological motivations (in both aggregated and disaggregated forms) on positive and negative environmental attitudes, which in turn influence consumption reduction. There is also evidence of significant moderating influences of perceived environmental threat, gender, age, education, and country value orientation—particularly on “environmental knowledge” links. The findings reported here contribute to theory and practice toward environmental sustainability.

Purchase Behavior and Psychophysiological Responses to Different Price Levels

Abstract: The aim of the study was to examine emotional processes when product prices for different brands were changed. In a within-subjects design, the participants were presented purchase decision trials with 14 different products (seven private label and seven national brand products) whose price levels were changed while their facial electromyography (EMG) and electrodermal activity were recorded. The results suggest that low prices and national brand products induce higher positive emotions indexed with zygomatic EMG compared to high prices and private label products. Also, positive emotions are related to greater purchase intent. Naturally, a low price has also a direct positive influence on purchase intent. However, the involvement of emotions and the influence that price and brand have on elicitation of emotions may be one explanation for consumers’ varying purchase behavior. The results highlight the importance of emotional factors in pricing research and support the usefulness of psychophysiological measures in the consumer research.

Metrics in Sponsorship Research—Is Credibility an Issue?

Abstract: Sponsorship has been one of the fastest growing marketing platforms in recent decades, yet while marketing expenditures generally are being increasingly subjected to the requirement and discipline of accountability, it would seem that sponsorship practice behaves as if impervious to this changed climate. Considering both the extent to which business fails to measure sponsorship effectiveness at all and where measured, the problematic nature of the metrics employed, it is probably an understatement to conclude that a “measurement deficit” exists in sponsorship. This paper proposes a critique of current practice in the evaluation of sponsorship effectiveness and in particular examines in detail inherent problems arising from the use of the two main metrics currently employed by the industry, “Media Exposure” and “Sponsorship Awareness.” It illustrates the latitude provided by these metrics and the variability of outcomes that can be extracted from their use or in some cases potential abuse. Such latitude in conceptualization and application can extend to having the same sponsorship program receive quite radically different evaluations based on the same raw data. This raises serious questions about the credibility and effectiveness of current sponsorship measurement. The paper further suggests that in order to secure the future of sponsorship and exploit its competitive media advantage, there is a need for the industry to reposition itself in terms of delivering brand experience, engagement, and involvement rather than mere exposure.

Can Consumers Forgo the Need to Touch Products? An Investigation of Nonhaptic Situational Factors in an Online Context

Abstract: Touch is an important source of information for consumers, and there is much to learn about its role in an online purchase decision context where the ability to touch products is not (at least currently) possible. The present investigation examines three nonhaptic situation-specific factors that moderate the relationship between haptic motivation and consumer responses. The results indicate that positive mood, price promotions, and level of situation-specific product expertise are influential, yielding greater purchase intentions and product judgment confidence when touch is not available. Additionally, the findings of the investigation suggest that imagining a Web site is comparable to actually viewing a Web site. Several implications for consumer behavior research and online marketers are discussed. C � 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Psychosocial influences on children's food consumption.

Abstract: This exploratory study generated a grounded theory of factors influencing children's diets, particularly those that contribute to suboptimal eating and ultimately child obesity. The study involved 124 children (aged 6–12 years) and 39 of their parents from three separate junior schools (including a lower, middle, and higher socioeconomic school). Research methods included (i) interviews with children and parents and (ii) observations, drawings, and lunchbox audits with children. The findings suggest that children and parents prioritize psychosocial needs over physiological needs during food selection and consumption. This tendency toward psychosocial eating appears to be strongly reinforced by food advertising.