LAACRVol 1

Editors
Silvia Gonzalez
David Luna
2006 Copyright © ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 0-915552-56-6
Silvia Gonzalez and David Luna, Editors
Latin American Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 1
(Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research, 2006)
ii
Preface
The first Latin American Conference of the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) was held at the Monterrey Crowne Plaza in
Monterrey, Mexico, January 5-8, 2006. This volume is comprised of the presentations made at the conference.
This first Latin-American Conference was an important step for ACR, bringing our Association closer to being a truly global
institution. On that note, the conference was a success in that it promoted exchanges of ideas among researchers from around the world.
Every continent was represented in this conference, making for a tremendously diverse group. Of the approximately 120 attendees, about
45% were from Latin American Universities, 32% were from the United States, and 23% from the rest of the world.
We had many good paper submissions for this conference. However, we had to ensure that we followed the highest ACR standards
for presentation. As a result, 54% of the 61 competitive paper submissions were accepted for presentation and subsequent publication in
this volume. The selection process was accomplished thanks to the dedicated scholars who served as reviewers and to the 30 members
of our program committee. In addition, Russ Belk and Rob Kozinets lent us their expertise with the film festival and we would like to send
a very loud “Thank You!” to them. Also critical to the success of the conference were Cristel Russell and Ana Valenzuela, as co-chairs
of the working paper track, Marcus da Cunha and Lisa Peñaloza, as co-chairs of the methodological workshops, and Lauren Block and
Sergio Carvalho, as co-chairs of the roundtable sessions. Throughout the conference, José Luis Pineda, of the Instituto Tecnologico y de
Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, gave us valuable help with all logistical matters. Also, we would like to thank the group of students
from the Instituto de Monterrey that helped make the conference run without any glitches; in particular Rocio Garza, who managed the
group, and Diego Bibriesca, who designed the program cover and the cover of this volume.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Creating Knowledge Across Borders: Understanding Consumers Globally.” This global
theme had two dimensions: Understanding consumers throughout the globe, and understanding consumers through a variety of research
paradigms and perspectives. We think the program and this volume reflects this theme—we had participants from all over the world,
presenting work relevant to a great variety of countries, and representing a variety of research paradigms and methodologies.
In addition to the usual ACR mix of competitive papers, working papers, roundtables, and films, the Conference included
Methodological Workshops and a Meet the Editors session to fulfill its objective of fostering consumer research in the region. We were
tremendously fortunate to have many world-class scholars with us in Monterrey leading those sessions. They interacted with the attendees
in and out of their sessions, and went to great lengths to help the conference become a success. We were also extremely fortunate to have
the support of Barbara Kahn, as the current ACR President. Of course, the conference would not have happened without the support of
Debbie MacInnis, the past President of ACR, who believed in the idea of expanding the Association to Latin America and supported our
effort from the very beginning. We can’t thank both of them enough. We would also like to thank Dean Salvador Treviño from Monterrey
Tech for his support and his encouraging words.
We also had several sponsors, including the Division of Business and Finance and the Center for Retailing from Instituto Tecnologico
y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech), and the Weissman Center for International Business at Baruch College. Thanks
to them we were able to hold interesting receptions, like the one that, we think, became the non-academic highlight of the conference: the
off-site reception on Saturday night at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The reception featured traditional Mexican music and dances—
the show “The Traveler,” by students from Monterrey Tech, and great Mexican food. Tours of the Museum were offered for free to all
attendees. The reception was very well attended and the dances were spectacular! We believe that, when all the attendees look back at
the Conference, this reception will be one of the memories that will first come to mind.
Last but not least, we must mention that we would not have been able to hold this conference without the patience, guidance and
support of Jim Muncy and Rajiv Vaidyanathan. We will be eternally grateful to both of them.
Thank you again for presenting your work at the first LA-ACR. Your support of this conference made it a success, and by being there,
we all became part of the History of this great Association.
Best Wishes,
Silvia Gonzalez David Luna

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Baruch College (USA)
Superiores de Monterrey (Mexico)
iii
PRESIDENT
Barbara E. Kahn, University of Pennsylvania
CONFERENCE CHAIRS
Silvia Gonzalez, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey
David Luna, Baruch College
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Eduardo Andrade, University of California-Berkeley
Carlos Ballesteros, Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Anne Brumbaugh, Wake Forest University
Sergio Carvalho, University of Manitoba
Filipe Campelo Xavier da Costa, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
Marcus V. M. da Cunha Jr., University of Washington
Gustavo Demello, University of Southern California
Joseph Goodman, University of Texas-Austin
Stephen Gould, Baruch College
Angela Hausman, University of Texas-Pan American
Geraldine Henderson, University of Texas-Austin
Jose Mauro Hernandez, Centro Universitário Nove de Julho
Thomas Kramer, Baruch College
Juliano Laran, University of Florida
Daniel Laufer, University of Cincinnati
Tina Lowrey, University of Texas-San Antonio
Rachel Maldonado, Eastern Washington University
Alan Malter, University of Arizona
Michael Minor, University of Texas-Pan American
Leonardo Nicolao, University of Texas-Austin
Lisa Peñaloza, University of Colorado
Melea Press, Penn State University
Alexandra Rodriguez, University of Illinois
José Antonio Rosa, University of Illinois-Chicago
Cristel Antonia Russell, HEC
Sankar Sen, Baruch College
L.J. Shrum, University of Texas-San Antonio
Gladys Torres-Baumgarten, Kean University
Ana Valenzuela, Baruch College
ROUNDTABLES
Lauren Block, Baruch College
Sergio Carvalho, University of Manitoba
WORKING PAPERS
Cristel Antonia Russell, HEC
Ana Valenzuela, Baruch College
FILM FESTIVAL
Russell Belk, University of Utah
Robert V. Kozinets, York University
METHODOLOGICAL
WORKSHOPS
Marcus da Cunha, University of Washington
Lisa Peñaloza, University of Colorado
iv
REVIEWERS
Laurel Anderson, Arizona State University

Zeynep Arsel, University of Wisconsin
Aysen Bakir, Illinois State University
Carlos Ballesteros, Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Kapil Bawa, Baruch College
Anders Bengtsson, University of Southern Denmark
Mariam Beruchashvili, University of Nebraska
Matthias Bode, University of Hanover
Serkan Bolat, University of Tennessee
Maria-Eugenia Boza, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración
John Branch, Washington University
Terry Bristol, Arizona State University
Anne Brumbaugh, Wake Forest University
Oliver B. Büttner, University of Göttingen
Marylouise Caldwell, University of Sydney
Michael Callow, Morgan State University
Carmina Cavazos, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Chiu-Chi Chang, Shippensburg University
Amar Cheema, Washington University
Yun Chu, Frostburg State University
Magdalena Cismaru, University of Regina
Sameer Deshpande, University of Lethbridge
Kristin Diehl, University of South Carolina
Reto Felix, University of Monterrey
Christian Felzensztein, Universidad Austral de Chile
Susi Geiger, University College Dublin
Bianca Grohmann, Concordia University
Paul Henry, University of Sydney
Louise Heslop, Carleton University
Heather Honea, San Diego State University
Yonca Karapazar, Istanbul Bilgi University
Nora Lado, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Dawn Lerman, Fordham University
Cheryl Luczak, University of Illinois at Chicago
Rujirutana Mandhachitara, Long Island University
Gunnar Mau, University of Göttingen
Gary McCain, Boise State University
Nina Michaelidou, University of Birmingham
Risto Moisio, University of Nebraska
Lee Moy
Ruth Mugge, Delft University of Technology
Prashanth Nyer, Chapman University
Daragh O’Reilly, Leeds University Business School
Jungkun Park, Purdue University
Laura Peracchio, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Priyali Rajagopal, Southern Methodist University
Jose Antonio Rosa, University of Illinois at Chicago
Alberto Rubio-Sanchez, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Dale W. Russell, University of Amsterdam
Salvador Ruiz, University of Murcia
Maria Saaksjarvi, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration
Joel Saegert, University of Texas-San Antonio
Fernando Serson, EAESP-FGV
R.K. Srivastava, University of Bombay
Jill Sundie, University of Houston
Darach Turley, Dublin City University
Patrick Vargas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kittichai Watchravesringkan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
v
Table of Contents and Conference Program
2006 LATIN AMERICA

ADVANCES IN CONSUMER RESEARCH
January 5-8, 2006
Monterrey, Mexico
Creating Knowledge Across Borders:

Understanding Consumers Globally
Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................ iii
Conference Committees / Reviewers ........................................................................................................................... iv
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................................... vi
THURSDAY JANUARY 5
6:00 pm–8:00 pm
ACR-Latin America Welcome Reception
vi
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
8:30 am–10:30 am
2:00 pm–6:00 pm
Film Festival
Chairs:
Russell Belk, University of Utah, USA
Robert Kozinets, York University, Canada
(Each film is followed by a 15-minute discussion with the filmmakers)
“TOO MUCH PASSION”: Exploring the Telenovelas Consumption in Mexico .................................................................................. 1

Sindy Chapa, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Karla Elizondo-DuCharme, Communicator
Headbanging: As Resistance or Refuge ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Marylouise Caldwell, University of Sidney, Australia
Paul Henry, University of Sydney, Australia
There and Back Again: A Consumption Journey ................................................................................................................................... 3

Robert V. Kozinets, York University, Canada
Generaciones/Generations: Cultural Identity, Memory, and the Market .............................................................................................. 4

Lisa Peñaloza, University of Colorado, USA
Living Dolls: How Affinity Groups Sustain Celebrity Worship ............................................................................................................. 5

Marylouise Caldwell, University of Sydney, Australia
God’s Holy Fire ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

John F. Sherry, Jr.
The Gospel of Prosperity: Charismatic Churches in Ghana ................................................................................................................. 7

Samuel K. Bonsu, York University, Canada
Russell W. Belk, University of Utah, USA
Consumer Ethics Across Cultures .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Timothy Devinney, Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia
Giana Eckhardt, Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
9:00 am–10:30 am
Methodological Workshop
Experimental Methods in Consumer Research
Moderator:
Marcus da Cunha, University of Washington, USA
Panelists:
Susan Broniarczyk, University of Texas Austin, USA
Lauren Block, Baruch College, USA
Punam Anand Keller, Dartmouth University, USA
vii
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
9:00 am–10:30 am
Relationships, Expectations, and Satisfaction in Service Encounters
Session Chair: Nanda Viswanathan, Delaware State University, USA
Perceptions of Fairness and Customer Satisfaction Following Service Failure And Recovery .......................................................... 10
Constant Beugre, Delaware State University, USA
Nanda K. Viswanathan, Delaware State University, USA
The Moderating Impact of the Type of Relationship on the Consumers’ Service Recovery Evaluations and their
Consequences ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
Cristiane Pizzutti, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Daniel Fernandes, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Failure and Recovery on Satisfaction: An Approach from Script Theory ............................................................................................ 21

Benjamín Sierra Díez, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Carlos Falces Delgado, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
Rebeca Bautista Ortuño, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
11:00 am–12:30 pm
Distinguished Speakers
Hector Ureta, CEMEX
Gerardo Lozano, ITESM
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
12:30 pm–2:00 pm
ACR Presidential Address

Barbara Kahn, University of Pennsylvania, USA
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
2:00 pm–3:30 pm
From Research Idea to Finished Article: How to Conduct Research and Succeed Doing It
Panelists:
Wayne Hoyer, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Laura A. Peracchio, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Linda Price, University of Arizona, USA
viii
New Perspectives and Directions in Advertising Research
Session Chair: Reto Felix, University of Monterrey, Mexico
Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference ................................................................................................................................ 23

Tina M. Lowrey, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
L. J. Shrum, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
The Effect of Arousal on Brand Memory in Online Advergames: A Multi-Method Approach ............................................................. 24
Monica D. Hernandez, Kansas State University, USA
Michael S. Minor, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Individual Differences in Sympathy and Empathy Responses to Media and Drama Advertisements ................................................... 26
Jennifer Edson Escalas, Vanderbilt University, USA
Barbara Stern, Rutgers University, USA
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
4:00 pm–5:30 pm
Norms, Context, and Advertising Effects on Decision Making
Session Chair: Pankaj Aggarwal, University of Toronto, Canada
When Losses Loom Even Larger: The Moderating Role of Relationship Norms ................................................................................. 29
Pankaj Aggarwal, University of Toronto, Canada
Meng Zhang, University of Toronto, Canada
Context Effects on Consumer Choice: Do Brands Matter? .................................................................................................................. 31

Francisca Sinn, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Chile
Sandra Milberg, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Chile
Leonardo Epstein, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile
Persuasive Communication in Health Decision Making: A Study of Risk Information Formats ......................................................... 33
Magdalena Cismaru, University of Regina, Canada
Mary J. Naus, University of Houston, USA
Emotions in Consumption: Sellers, Buyers, Guilt and Trust

Session Chair: Mary Conway Dato-On, Northern Kentucky University, USA
The Impact of the Guilt Emotion When Benefiting at the Expense of the Seller ................................................................................... 37
Sarah Steenhaut, Ghent University, Belgium
Patrick Van Kenhove, Ghent University, Belgium
How Consumers Build Trust in e-Commerce: Towards a Trust Formation Model .............................................................................. 38
Kyösti Pennanen, University of Vaasa/Epanet, Finland
Trust Development in E-commerce and Store Choice: Model and Initial Test .................................................................................... 44
José Mauro da Costa Hernandez, Centro Universitário Nove de Julho, Brazil
José Afonso Mazzon, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
ix
FRIDAY JANUARY 6
6:00 pm–8:00 am
Working Paper Session and Reception
Focus Groups: The Neglected Tool For Construct Adaptation In Cross-Cultural Contexts .............................................................. 46
Joseann Small, University of The West Indies, Barbados
TC Melewar, Brunel University, UK
May You Live Forever?: (Re)writing the Narrative of the Self in a Cremation Volume for a Thai Funeral ..................................... 48
Kritsadarat Wattanasuwan, Thammasat University, Thailand
E-trust for Mexican Consumers: Empirical Investigation for Three Dimensions .............................................................................. 49
Eduardo Esteva Armida, Purdue University, USA
Jung Kun Park, Purdue University, USA
The Effect of Public Commitment on Resistance to Persuasion: Preliminary Findings ..................................................................... 52

Prashanth U. Nyer, Chapman University, USA
Mahesh Gopinath, Old Dominion University, USA
It’s Not Just What You Eat, But Where You Eat: Regional Perceptions of Authenticity in Mexican Restaurants .............................. 54
Caroline Lego Muñoz, Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA
Natalie Wood, St. Joseph’s University, USA
Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty in the Supermarket Industry in Brazil ......................................................................................... 55

Eric David Cohen, IBMEC Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Measuring the Relationship Building Capacity of Online Marketing Communications ..................................................................... 57

Silvia Cacho Elizondo, HEC Paris and ISC Paris, France
Virtual Communities as Reference Groups on Consumer Decision Process ....................................................................................... 59

Daiane Scaraboto, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Carlos Alberto Vargas Rossi, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
The Influence of Satisfaction and Switching Costs upon Customer Loyalty ....................................................................................... 60
Fernanda Gastal, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
Fernando Bins Luce, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
The Impact of a Crisis in Attribute Importance Perceptions ............................................................................................................... 61

Nora Lado, University Carlos III Madrid, Spain
Anna Torres, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Oscar Licandro, Univesidad Catolica del Uruguay, Uruguay
Single Language Surveys: An Efficient Method for Researching Cross-Cultural Differences ........................................................... 63
Dawn Lerman, Fordham University, USA
Sarah Maxwell, Fordham University, USA
Frederic Jallat, Paris Graduate School of Business, ESCP-EAP, France
Gary Reed, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Understanding Consumer Behavior through Consumption Experience: An Auto-Driving Study on Off-Road Experiences ............. 64
Fernanda Pagliarini Zilles, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Walter Meucci Nique, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
x
A Comparison of the Economical Behavior to Food Risk: European Consumers and Latin-American Consumers ......................... 67
Azucena Minerva García León, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico
Ruth Areli García León, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
Feminization of Global Consumption: A Movement toward Equity; Explanation and Initial Research Agenda ............................... 71
Mary Conway Dato-on, Northern Kentucky University, USA
Catherine McCabe, Suffolk University, USA
Emotion and Service Evaluation: How Different Cultures Respond to Service Experiences .............................................................. 73
Anne M. Smith, The Open University Business School, United Kingdom
Nina L. Reynolds, Bradford University School of Management, United Kingdom
Family and Leisure Consumer Behavior .............................................................................................................................................. 75

Pedro Augusto Ramirez Monteiro, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Ana Maria Figueiredo Biselli, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Gisela Black Taschner, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Karin Giglio, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
A South African Study of Children Consumers’ Cognition of Color and Graphics in Cereal Box Labeling on Packaging ............... 76
Elizabeth Kempen, North West University, South Africa
Nadine Sonnenberg, North West University, South Africa
Sonna Visser, North West University, South Africa
Service Failure Events: Understanding the Flow of Effects in a Multiple Service Provider Setting .................................................. 77
Karin Weber, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Beverley Sparks, Griffith University, Australia
Treasuring Possessions: The Rise of Materialism Among East Asian Consumers? ............................................................................ 78
Kittichai Watchravesringkan, UNC Greensboro, USA
Barbara Dyer, UNC Greensboro, USA
Unchaining Means-End Chain Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 80

Jacques-Marie Aurifeille, University of La Reunion, France
Jaime Gil-Lafuente, University of Barcelona, Spain
Stephane Manin, University of La Reunion, France
Virginie Villeneuve, University of La Reunion, France
Christian Dave, University of La Reunion, France
A Comparative Study of Spokesperson Accent and Communication Effectiveness in Border and Inland Mexican Cities ................. 82
Oscar W. DeShields, Jr., California State University-Northridge, USA
Measuring Aggregate Returns in the Customer Value: An Analytical Framework ............................................................................. 83

Dr. Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico
Ananya Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico
Pop Divas and the Expression of Emotions in Virtual Communities: A Cross-Regional Comparison ............................................... 86
Cecilia Maldonado, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Internet Addiction: Measurement and Relationship with Materialism and Compulsive Buying ......................................................... 87
Reto Felix, University of Monterrey, Mexico
Understanding Consumers in Colombia: A Retail Industry Case Study .............................................................................................. 89

Ashok Som, ESSEC Business School, Paris, France
Towards a Brazilian Life Cycle Model

Francisco Ilson Saraiva Junior, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, FGV, Brazil
Gisela Black Taschner, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, FGV, Brazil
Incorporating Heterogeneity into Count Data Models Applied to Marketing ..................................................................................... 90

Delane Botelho, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Pedro Jesus Fernandez, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
xi
Channel Blurring and Consumer Expectations: Evidence in Chile ..................................................................................................... 91
Constanza C. Bianchi, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile
Joaquin Mena, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile
Female Images in Commercials: A Content Analysis Study: 1973–2000 ............................................................................................. 92

Claudia Rosa Acevedo, Universidade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Jouliana Jordan Nohara, Universidade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Ana Laura de Arruda, Faculdade de Administração de Orlândia, Brazil
The Adoption of Foreign Music as Hedonic Experience: A Theoretical Model ................................................................................... 93

Cecilia Maldonado, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Angela Hausman, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Improving the Predictibility of Personal Values ................................................................................................................................... 95

Stéphane Manin, University of La Réunion, France
Jacques-Marie Aurifeille, University of La Réunion, France
Virginie Villeneuve Anaudin, University of La Réunion, France
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
9:00 am–10:30 am
Meet the Editors Session
Journal of Consumer Research

John Deighton, Harvard University, USA
Journal of Marketing
Roland Rust, University of Maryland, USA
Consumption, Markets, and Culture

Fuat Firat, University of Texas Pan American, USA
Alladi Venkatesh, University of California, USA
Austral Asian Journal of Marketing

Carolyn Costley, Waikato Management School, New Zealand
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
9:00 am–10:30 am
Imagery, Identity, and Celebrities in the Media
Session Chair: José Luis Pineda, ITESM, Mexico
Soap Opera Heroines and Women Consumers: Images of Vulnerability ............................................................................................ 97

Cristel Antonia Russell, HEC Paris School of Management, France
Dale W. Russell, INSEAD, France
Barbara Stern, Rutgers Business School, USA
Women Feelings about Female Images in Advertising: A Qualitative Study ....................................................................................... 99

Claudia Rosa Acevedo, Universiade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Jouliana Jordan Nohara, Universiade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Ana Laura Arruda, Faculdade de Orlândia, Brazil
Celebrity Worship Within Affinity Groups: Adopting A Multi-Faceted Perspective .......................................................................... 106
xii
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
11:00 am–12:30 pm
Qualitative Methods in Consumer Research
Panelists:
Eric Arnould, University of Nebraska, USA
Craig Thompson, University of Wisconsin, USA
The Self in Context: The Effect of Positioning, Situation, and Environment
Session Chair: Alan J. Malter, University of Arizona, USA
Ya Mon! But, No Way José! The Role of Culture in Reconciling Schema Incongruity ..................................................................... 107
Sharon Smith, DePaul University, USA
Ambient Scents in Government Offices: Direct and Indirect Effects and Moderating Variables ...................................................... 109
Virginie Maille, CERAM Sophia Antipolis, France
The Effect of Movement on Real Bodies, Virtual Selves, and Product Evaluation ............................................................................ 117
Alan J. Malter, University of Arizona, USA
José Antonio Rosa, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Ellen C. Garbarino, Case Western Reserve University, USA
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
12:30 pm–2:00 am
Awards
ACR Speaker
Abandon Old Boundaries: Welcome to Consumerspace
Michael Solomon, Auburn University, USA
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
2:00 pm–3:30 pm
Film-Making and Consumer Research
Panelists:
Russell Belk, University of Utah, USA
Robert Kozinets, York University, Canada
xiii
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
2:00 pm–3:30 pm
New Perspectives on Brands and Brand Extensions
Session Chair: Carlos Ballesteros, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain
Country-of-Origin Effects Revisited: The Case of the German Automobile Market .......................................................................... 119
Verena Vogel, University of Muenster, Germany
David Woisetschläger, University of Muenster, Germany
Dieter Ahlert, University of Muenster, Germany
Re-Examining the Wisdom of Brand Extensions: The Effects of Competitor Familiarity and Product Information on
Risk and Choice .................................................................................................................................................................................. 121
Sandra J. Milberg, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Chile
Ronald C. Goodstein, Georgetown University, USA
Consumer Perspectives of Brand Extension Effects: An Empirical Analysis of Buying Decision Patterns ....................................... 128
Dr. Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
4:00 pm–5:30 pm
The Self and Consumption
Session Chair: Melea Press, Penn State University, USA
Simulations as Possessions and Their Role in Self Extension ............................................................................................................ 130

Shakeel Siddiqui, Dublin City University, Ireland
Darach Turley, Dublin City University, Ireland
Brazilian Gays: Understanding the Construction of the Homosexual Identity through Consumption .............................................. 133
Bill Nunes Pereira, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Eduardo A. T. Ayrosa, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Sayuri Ojima Costa, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Living with Respect ............................................................................................................................................................................ 139

Carolyn L. Costley, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Lorraine A. Friend, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, The Warehouse, New Zealand
ROUNDTABLE
The Role of Family in Latin American Consumption
Discussion Leaders: Silvia Gonzalez, ITESM, Mexico
Carlos Ballesteros, Comillas University, Spain
Karin M. Ekström, Center for Consumer Science, Sweden
Participants: Karin M. Ekström, Center for Consumer Science
Jose Luis Pineda, ITESM, Campus Monterrey, Mexico
Maria Elena Vazquez, ITESM, Campus Guadalajara, Mexico
Martha Arevalo, ITESM, Campus Guadalajara, Mexico
Silvia Gonzalez, ITESM
Carlos Ballesteros, Comillas University
Adriana Carranza, ITESM
Jorge Pedroza, EGADE
Diana Davila, ITESM
Niria Goñi, ITESM
xiv
SATURDAY JANUARY 7
6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Reception
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MARCO)
SUNDAY JANUARY 8
9:00 am–10:30 am
ROUNDTABLE
Substantive Issues about Consumer Behavior Research in Latin America: Relevant Topics,
Trends, Methodologies and Empirical Analyses ................................................................................................................. 146
Discussion Leaders: Raquel Castaño, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico

Edgardo Ayala, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
Participants: Carlos Ruy Martínez, EGADE

Mauricio González, EGADE
César Sepúlveda, Tecnológico de Monterrey
María Eugenia Pérez, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Claudia Quintanilla, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Rogelio Garza, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Edgardo Ayala, Tecnológico de Monterrey
Raquel Castaño, Tecnológico de Monterrey
SUNDAY JANUARY 8
9:00 am–10:30 am
Marketing and Society
Session Chair: Gary McCain, Boise State University, USA
The Paradox of Consumption: Scarcity and Affluence in the Swedish Welfare State ........................................................................ 148
Torbjörn Hjort, Växjö University, Sweden
Karin M. Ekström, Göteborg University, Sweden
Consumer Perceptions of Value in a Developing Country: A Model and Empirical Test ................................................................. 154
Md. Humayun Kabir Chowdhury, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh
Shuzo Abe, Yokohama National University, Japan
Consumer Attitudes Toward Genetically Modified Foods in the Brazilian Market: Which Benefits Can Reduce the
Negativism? ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 162
Celso Augusto de Matos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
xv
SUNDAY JANUARY 8
11:00 am–12:30 pm
Loyalty, Satisfaction, and Preferences
Session Chair: Anne Brumbaugh, Wake Forest University, USA
Customers’ Preferred Service Behaviors in the Medical and Restaurant Industries: The Case of the Mexican Consumers ........... 169
Laura Serviere, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Anshu Saran, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Jose N. Barragan, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Longitudinal Study of Customer Loyalty and its Antecedents ............................................................................................................ 171

Lelis Balestrin Espartel, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
What Influences Satisfaction in Purchasing High-Value Goods? An Empirical Analysis from Brazilian Real State Industry ......... 172
Alda Rosana Duarte de Almeida, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Self-Esteem, the Self, and Symbolism
Session Chair: Daniel Laufer, University of Cincinnati, USA
Food Symbolism and Consumer Choice in Brazil .............................................................................................................................. 180

Michael W. Allen, University of Sydney, Australia
Claudio V. Torres, University of Brasilia, Brazil
“Smoking Can’t Hurt Me!!” and Other Death-Related Thoughts: A Test of Terror Management Theory ...................................... 186
Ingrid M. Martin, California State University-Long Beach, USA
The Impact of Country of Manufacture and Brand on Consumers’ Attributions of Blame in a Product-Harm Crisis ..................... 187
Daniel Laufer, Yeshiva University, USA
Kate Gillespie, University of Texas at Austin, USA
David H. Silvera, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
Author Index ............................................................................................................................................................... 188
xvi
ACR FILM FESTIVAL
OVERVIEW
Although it contained fewer films than the ACR North America Film Festivals, the premiere of the ACR Latin America Film Festival
was an unmitigated success. There was considerable interest surrounding the Film Festival and attendance at the one-day Film Festival
(held on Friday January 6, 2006) was often at Standing Room Only capacity. The Film Festival contained two particularly Latin American
entries. The first, a premiere of “Too Much Passion: Exploring the Telenovelas Consumption in Mexico” by Sindy Chapa and Karla
Elizondo-DuCharme explored the popular consumption of Telenovelas by Mexican consumers. The film linked the development of a
strong fan culture with national cultural characteristics, and led to an involved discussion about the rise, attractiveness, and prevalence
of telenovelas across many other Latin American countries, such as Chile and Argentina.
The other distinctly Latin entry was Lisa Peñaloza’s “Generaciones/Generations: Cultural Identity, Memory, and the Market,”
a documentary in which Mexican Americans in San Antonio, Texas share their perspective on various market experiences ranging from
discrimination to civil rights to the current stylishness of Latino culture dubbed “Latino chic.” Discussion on the film revolved around
the intersection of culture and consumer behavior, involving issues such as social class and mobility, and the role of business and capitalism
in the development of the cultural communities.
The other filmmakers offered two films each. Australian scholars and filmmakers Paul Henry and Marylouise Caldwell offered
“Headbanging: As Resistance or Refuge?” a behind-the-scenes look at a counterculture that has been stereotyped a violent and aggressive.
The film’s many interviews cut to the core of subculture members’ feelings about their many countercultural stereotypes. Discussion about
the film’s non-narrative stance, the relation between class and taste, and the countercultural tendencies behind this and most other
subcultures was revealing and animated, and this film ended up winning the People’s Choice Aware for best film of the Film Festival this
year.
Paul Henry and Marylouise Caldwell’s other film, “Living Dolls: How Affinity Groups Sustain Celebrity Worship,” won the ACR-
North America’s People Choice Award in 2004. This films examined a Cliff Richard’s fan club in Australia through interview and
observation, and concluded that celebrity worship seemed healthy, normal, and beneficial—an important de-stigmatization of a formerly
stereotyped group of people and behaviors.
Robert Kozinets offered two films: “There and Back Again: A Consumption Journey” and “God’s Holy Spirit” a film made with John
F. Sherry, Jr. “There and Back Again” examined consumer behavior at a Toronto media fan convention and used it as a springboard to
examine consumer culture’s fascination with popular culture and entertainment. Kozinets and Sherry’s “God’s Holy Fire” examined the
sacred and religious inversions and overtones of the Burning Man festival occurring annually in Nevada’s Black Rock city.
Along with co-filmmakers, Russell Belk also offered two films to the festival. The first film, “The Gospel of Prosperity: Charismatic
Churches in Ghana” was produced with Samuel Bonsu. “The Gospel of Prosperity” documents the intertwining of religion and materialist
capitalist impulses in Charismatic Pentacostal churches in Kumasi, Ghana. Filled with humor and humanity, the film exhibits how the
church’s teachings are central ideological elements in the spread of capitalism, and have both positive and negative elements for adherents.
Moving from religion to ethics, Russell Belk, Timothy Devinney, and Giana Eckhardt presented “Consumer Ethics Across Cultures.” This
film used interview techniques and scenario projective to examine consumer beliefs about moral or ethical behavior across eight different
countries in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. Exposed to ethical choices regarding products that cause harm to the
environment, foster poor labor conditions, and involve counterfeit goods, consumers exhibit a general lack of concern. The film and the
ensuing discussion concerned the implications of these important findings.
During the discussions of films at the Film Festival, there were several technical questions raised about the expenses and procedures
required in order to create such videographies. Russell Belk and Robert Kozinets addressed these questions during a 90-minutes “Film-
Making and Consumer Research Workshop” held on January 7, 2006. The Workshop began with an overview of the rise of consumption
topics in documentary film-making, and the rise in accessibility and popularity of the documentary form. It then turned to a discussion
of the judgmental and validity related concerns about consumer research-film-making. Drawing on numerous examples and involving a
lot of audience participation and Q&A, the presenters explained four potential criteria for judging videographic works: topical, theoretical,
theatrical, and technical. They then closed with a brief overview of technical consideration that covered topics such as camera choices,
media format choices, video editing procedures, and options for the distribution of finished works.
“‘TOO MUCH PASSION’: Exploring the Telenovelas Consumption in Mexico”

Sindy Chapa, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Karla Elizondo-DuCharme, Communicator
Summary
Every culture develops stories that contribute to its members’ learning, enjoyment, practice and being part of the world. In Mexico,
generation after generation of Mexicans have been fascinated by the stories shown through telenovelas (soap operas); Kids learn from their
parents and grandparents to watch them. Thus, telenovelas become part of their life and culture.
This video shows the Mexicans’ level of involvement with the telenovelas ranging from little interest to too much passion. For some
Mexicans, telenovelas may be something so big in their life that she or he might be willing to do anything to watch them. In this video,
the authors present a series of testimonials and anecdotes showing how important a telenovela can be for a Mexican. In addition to this,
this video shows scenes of a consumer who was observed and recorded with a hidden camera while watching a telenovela.
Telenovelas, or Latin American soap operas, are the most popular program among Mexicans. They have the highest rating of media
entertainment, and that is because Mexicans find telenovelas engaging enough to watch daily, talk about with friends, and identify with.
In contrast to the U.S., where sop operas last for many years, in Mexico, telenovelas have around 200 hundred episodes, are aired
five days a week during prime-time hours, and attract a broad gender-mix audience across ages, who can view the program after work.
1 Latin American Advances in Consumer Research
Volume 1, © 2006
2 / ACR FILM FESTIVAL
The telenovelas’ consumption is not exclusive of women; males are also captivated by theses stories. Husbands, sons, and boyfriends, as
well as females, enjoy, suffer and cry with the characters, forgetting their own problems and transporting themselves to another world
beyond their reality.
Kids and teenagers are also gripped by telenovelas. Televisa, the primary producer of Mexican telenovelas developed a series of
telenovelas specially targeted to them by sharing problems and situations that they confront day by day. However, because there is only
one telenovela on air targeted to those at the time, parents prefer their kids not watch telenovelas at all. Because most telenovelas are
targeted to a more mature audience, parents believe there is too much violence and sex in the shows that cannot be viewed by children.
Family conflicts can be present in some Mexican families when a member is not a follower of telenovelas. For example, some wives
and daughters find themselves hiding to watch telenovelas because moms and husbands do not want them to watch these shows. Yet, on
the other hand, the telenovelas represent for the majority of the Mexican a family union. For example, Mexicans enjoy watching telenovelas
in companionship; thus, when the whole family is a telenovela consumer watching the show together becomes a family ritual.
In conclusion, the authors found that “passion,” “loyalty” and “devotion,” are important characteristics of Mexican consumers of
Telenovelas, resulting from a high level of involvement with the shows due to the culture.
“Headbanging: As Resistance or Refuge”

Summary
Heavy metal music (HMM) participants are often characterized by wider society as simply angry, aggressive, and aberrant, but is
this the reality? Are they predominantly engaged in acts of social resistance in which they consciously reject mainstream social values,
or are they primarily seeking a place of refuge amongst an accepting social group? This video explores formative experiences that have
shaped their self identity, and how (successfully) they negotiate the dual worlds of HMM subculture and place in wider society.
The literature informing these research questions is drawn from work on the nature and functions of (apparent) consumer resistance
(e.g. Firat and Venkatesh 1995; Holt 2002; Kozinets 2002; Ozanne and Murray 1995; Thompson 2003) and subcultures (e.g. Kozinets
2001; Schouten and Alexander 1995),
The HMM scene in Sydney, Australia was described by one industry figure as “hardly breathing.” The number of participants is small
and the limited number of promotions at tiny venues reflects the interest. Our informants were certainly not conforming to the predominant
youth trends in music or fashion. They had been long term adherents of HMM. One informant noted that “metal is generally rejected in
Australia.” They suffer negative effects of being stereotyped as a pack of misfits. Adding to this disadvantage informants were from
working class backgrounds with low incomes, barriers to good jobs, and limited economic resources.
In addition to the disempowering effects of socio-economic position (Henry 2005) and stigmatization as HMM adherents (Walser
1993), informants also report lack of fit with peer group norms especially in their teenage years. These memories reflected feelings of being
different to others, experiencing rejection, and loneliness. Many informants were self-professed “geeks”, tending toward books, study and
music. Working class attitudes to these types of interests typically range from ambivalence to derision (Bourdieu 1984). Informants also
displayed a complete lack of interest in sports. In working class groups, since other forms of power are often denied, physicality and brute
strength as exhibited in playing sport is highly valued (Bourdieu 1984). Furthermore, Australian culture is ‘sports-mad’ with sporting
affiliations contributing to social acceptance.
These experiences of disempowerment have shaped informant’s sense of self, values, priorities and preferences. Recurring values
articulated by informants revolved around the importance of open-mindedness and acceptance of different people, ideas, and music. This
appeared to be a reaction to the closed-mindedness they have faced and the desire to distinguish themselves from the mainstream
oppressors. Informants see themselves as individualists, free from mainstream social pressure. One cited as evidence their ability to discern
good music independently: “you don’t go with the crowd. HMM makes us feel different and superior to the other people who are sheep
and fed mainstream stuff … (and) we can have a laugh at the world coz we know better.”
In HMM informants had found an enclave of like-thinkers from which they derived (previously denied) social acceptance, a source
of identification, and enhanced self-esteem. However, their broader aspirations throw continuing sense of disempowerment into sharp
relief. When asked about the future, all informants expressed the desire to own their own homes, pay off debts, attain financial stability
and bring up children in a secure manner. The statement “I’d like the whole wife, kids and white picket fence thing” is typical. Perceived
difficulty in aspirational attainment was evident across informants as exemplified by the quote about financial advancement: “I’ve had
a lot twists, turns and dead ends.”
Coping responses to the simultaneous desires to maintain their HHM identification as well as broader aspirations vary across
informants. Some tended to be more adept at balancing participation in both HMM and mainstream worlds. Others withdrew almost
exclusively into HMM subculture, often to detriment of their wider aspirations. They typically employed fantasy and escapist coping, with
fascination in books like “The Lord of the Rings” or medieval themes depicting powerful archetypes. Those that more successfully
balanced multiple worlds employed shielding techniques. For example, one described “work people are a whole different set of
relationships, a different wardrobe, a different way of talking and acting. A different person walks out of here on Monday morning.” This
shielding approach also had a cost in that these informants described a dissatisfying lack of fit with others in the workplace: “I just don’t
feel I’ve found my niche in life.”
This surfaces the conundrum for all informants. They have all found refuge and strength in the HMM scene. Yet in order to obtain
their wider aspirations successful engagement with the mainstream is required. This is where the economic and material resources lie.
Oppositional actions and symbols stereotypical of HMM works against the social acceptance necessary for such engagement. So
something has to give.
Latin American Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 1) / 3
References
Bourdieu, Pierre (1984), Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Firat, Fuat and Alladi Venkatesh (1995), “Liberatory Postmodernism and the Reenchantment of Consumption,” Journal of Consumer
Research, 22 (December), 239-267.
Henry, Paul (2005), “Social Class, Market Situation, and Consumers’ Metaphors of (Dis)empowerment,” Journal of Consumer
Research, 31 (March), 766-778.
Holt, Douglas (2002), “Why Do Brands Cause Trouble? A Dialectical Theory of Consumer Culture and Branding,” Journal of
Consumer Research, 29 (June), 70-90.
Kozinets, Robert (2002), “Can Consumers Escape the Market? Emancipatory Illuminations from Burning Man,” Journal of Con-
sumer Research, 29 (June), 20-38.
Kozinets, Robert (2001), “Utopian Enterprise: Articulating the Meanings of Star Trek’s Culture of Consumption,” Journal of
Ozanne, Julie and Jeff Murray (1995), “Uniting Critical Theory and Public Policy to Create the Reflexively Defiant Consumer,”
American Behavior Scientist, 38 (February), 516-525.
Schouten, John and James Alexander (1995), “Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers,” Journal of
Thompson, Craig (2003), “Natural Health Discourses and the Therapeutic Production of Consumer Resistance,” The Sociological
Quarterly, 44 (1), 81-107.
Walser, Robert (1993), Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, London: Wesleyan University
Press.
“There and Back Again: A Consumption Journey”

Summary
Consumption is a complex act: part pragmatic economization, part mystical conjuration. A consumption journey to a con-
vention that unites comic book, anime, horror, and science fiction fans is the launch point for an exploration of consumers’ popular
fascination with entertainment culture. Is entertainment culture harmful to society, as Frankfurt School theorists and other cultural critics
assert? Drawing on ideas, concepts, and theories from Debord, Baudrillard, Postman, and others, this video seeks to embody consumption
experiences such as celebrity-worship, mass media hyperbolization, collecting, and shopping, as practices shaped by the institutions of
of contemporary consumer society.
Or is it a playful expression of fun and joie de vivre, a source of community and creativity celebrated by cultural studies scholars such
as John Fiske? This video attends to the combination of commercialization and sacralization that is the modern entertainment marketplace.
The videography begins an exploration of comic book collecting, gaming, action figure collection, and other entertainment paraphernalia-
related practices that brings into relief some of the key concerns
This film employs ethnographic and cultural studies frameworks to examine consumer cultures and communities. In the process, it
will seek to educate about the characteristics of consumption-oriented communities and social formations. In terms of direct benefits, it
seeks (1) to help de-stigmatize, where necessary, social groups that are often portrayed as “fringe,” “cult-like” or “fanatical,” (2) to study
and explicate important relations of social power that corporations exercise through their control of consumer cultures and communities,
(3) to point out the social benefits and risks of cultures and communities of consumption to their members, and to society, and (4) to provide
new and useful ways of conceptualizing cultures and communities of consumption that are accessible to the public, to educators, and the
members of the culture at large.
The central focus of the film is to enhance our understanding of market-oriented or consumer cultures and communities as they
manifest in celebratory consumption gatherings such as the one studied here. This research provides an “inverted lens” look at
commonplace consumer behaviors that seeks to defamiliarize and “re-strange-ify” the ordinary-yet-remarkable worlds of consumers.
The film uses linear narrative in part, but also draws upon a quick-cut, transformative, unsteady lens to portray the shifting psychedelic
sense of the reality of modern consumer society. The film’s final section offers a new theorization of connectedness with entertainment
consumption as driven by four essential factors. First are Dimensions, the extent to which there is complexity and depth to the created
world(s) that consumer experience. Next is Desire, the extent to which the created world is one in which the consumers’ fantasy is engaged.
This type of engagement takes the form of two elements: morality/heroism and admiration and personal power. The next factor is Division,
a social capital related construct in which levels of hierarchies exist (such as those between producers and fans, between stars and
producers, and between those who are knowledgeable and those who are not), which serve as strong motivation for going deeper into the
community and the entertainment property. Finally, there are Doorways, such as occur at the convention. Doorways are the moments when
a consumer gains entrance through broaches between the worlds, where immersion can be attained, where communities form, where a
liminoidity pertains that allows trespass between the dimensions. The film theorizes that the greater the potential for Doorways, the greater
the potential for consumer attractedness. Conventions such as this one fulfill the popular and commercial need for Doorways to exist, which
deepen entertainment experiences and provide financial and consumption opportunities.
“Generaciones/Generations: Cultural Identity, Memory, and the Market”
Summary
What does it feel like to be targeted as a market? This video draws from ethnographic interviews with 28 Mexican Americans,
Chicanos/as, and Latinos/as of various generations in San Antonio, Texas, and features excerpts from their diverse experiences in the
marketplace. Theoretically, it deals with a people positioned between two cultures in a multicultural society, and thus strives to stimulate
debate regarding subcultural consumers in the U.S. and other nations as well, as they maneuver more consciously through the market and
in society in developing community in the global economy.
Film has a long tradition in ethnography, dating almost 100 years (Taylor 1994). Video research is becoming increasingly recognized
as a vital avenue in better understanding consumers and the marketplace as well, thanks to pioneers such as Russ Belk, Rob Kozinets,
Lucien Taylor, and Ilisa Barbash. Its headway into our field is evident in the rapid growth of the film festival at the annual conference of
the Association for Consumer Research over the past three years. My experience with the potential insights from video methods has been
somewhat like the claims of Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead in first using photography (cited in Richardson 1994). Over the course
of this project, I have been humbled and amazed at the insights gained using this research technique—insights generated after ten years
of studying Latino/a consumers using the more traditional ethnographic methods of participant observation and depth interviews recorded
on audio tape.
The video is part of a larger ethnographic project initiated in 1999. Issues raised in the video are developed further in a series of three
research papers, although the research process has been much more disjointed than this chronology would suggest. I initially wrote drafts
of the manuscripts based on 20 depth interviews, and then proceeded to make the video to demonstrate these points. However, in
broadening my contacts within the Latino/a community in San Antonio as I did additional interviews for the video, I realized not only that
my initial research insights were simplistic, but also that using video to illustrate the papers was a poor use of this technique and served
to tell but part of a larger, more interesting story. As I set the video free from the papers, I was able to explore more fully novel issues,
such as the reductions of community in interviews with consumers (the latter comprise but a part of the social group) and the intertwined
effects of consuming one’s own culture as compared to consumption crossovers (that is, the consumption of Latino/a culture by Latinos/
as versus that by nonLatinos). Thus, in ways somewhat similar to an iteration of interpretive data analysis, doing the video has brought
the papers to the next level.
Together, all four parts of this project strive to better understand the nexus of consumers, culture and the marketplace. The video
depicts the personal dimension of cultural experience in the marketplace—the confusion of identity terminology, the crush and disbelief
of discrimination, the ambivalence of consumer buying power, the irony of “Latino/a chic.” Yet, it offers analytical insights as well useful
in imagining the future of multicultural society. Issues raised in the film are currently being developed further in the research papers. The
first paper is targeted to JCR, and strives to rethink fundamental topics, such as identity, consumption symbolism, and community under
the larger rubric of consumer socialization, as appropriate in multicultural society. The second, targeted to JM examines the role of
multicultural dynamics in market development. The third is targeted to JPPM and examines public policy issues related to these topics.
There is an old Mexican saying that whoever forgets who they are, doesn’t know where they are going. One of the objectives of the
film is to make accessible the experiences of each of the generations to the other so that they will be remembered and the contrasts between
them better appreciated. So much has changed during their lifetimes. The men and women in this film speak of a range of experiences,
perspectives, and cultural politics over the past 60 years in U.S. society and the marketplace. They include persons who grew up in the
blatant consumer and job discrimination of the 1940’s and 50’s, to those active in the Chicano/a Rights Movement in the 60’s and 70’s,
to beneficiaries of “El Movimiento” in affirmative action programs, to those currently working in and around the present popularity of
the Latino/a market. Their work experiences range from trades to professions, housewives to leadership positions in the community and
cultural organizations, businessmen and women to artists.
A second objective is to stimulate dialogue within the Latino/a community regarding what the market can and cannot do in its
development. As such, these Mexican Americans talk about their experience in the market as consumers and as entrepreneurs. Some of
the questions relevant to the study of consumer behavior include: How does it feel to be targeted as a market? How does a community
whose identity was forged around labor adapt and remain viable in times of increasing attention to consumer culture? What is the role of
tourism in the development of the Latina/o community, and who decides how a culture is represented? How can the community leverage
attention to its consumers and employ public assets like culture for its benefit, when the market favors private gain? What is the role of
cultural centers and community organizations in contemporary society so strongly influenced by business?
Notably the film does not give answers to these questions; that is the role of the research papers. Yet, hopefully it provides much food
for thought to consumer researchers, Latinos/as and nonLatinos/as interested in learning more about ourselves as consumers, and what
the market can and cannot do in building community. For markets are based on private property and individual gain, and often work against
community, although target marketing efforts are predicated upon the existence of community and markets work to reproduce them. As
the film demonstrates, Latino/a consumers face the double-edged sword of being legitimized by market practices and challenged by them
as well in building community at the levels of personal relationships, neighborhoods, and businesses.
References:
Richardson, Laurel (1994), “Writing: A Method of Inquiry,” in the Handbook of Qualitative Research, 1994, Norman K. Denzin and
Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, p. 516-529.
Taylor, Lucien (1994), Visualizing Theory, New York: Routledge.
“Living Dolls: How Affinity Groups Sustain Celebrity Worship”
Summary
Despite considerable research in other theoretical domains (e.g., Jenkins 1992), celebrity worship attracts limited attention in the
marketing literature (for exceptions see Kozinets 2001; O’Guinn 2000; Pimentel and Reynolds 2004). The neglect is surprising. First,
celebrity worship pervades contemporary society (Hills 2002; O’Guinn 2000). Recent research suggests that at least one in three people
engage in celebrity worship (Maltby, Houran and McCutcheon 2003). Second, celebrity worship is arguably a distinctive type of
consumer-brand relationship (Fournier 1998). Marketing academicians and practitioners acknowledge that knowledge of consumer-brand
relationships is critical to understanding marketing exchange (Christopher 2002).
In this study, we examine the specific case of sustained celebrity worship within an affinity group (Macchiette and Roy 1991) by
focusing on the Cliff Richard Fan Club in Sydney, Australia. Members of this group (numbering approximately fifteen, characteristically
aged fifty years plus) typically developed an obsession with Cliff Richard (an English pop’ star, popular since the late 1950’s) during their
teenage years. The obsession continues today. Most informants are fan club members of fifteen years or more. This research aims to assess
the capacity of the extant literature to explain this behavior and offer additional insights for theory extension. Key findings are summarized
below.
Celebrity worship in adulthood associates with abnormality. Celebrity worship is regarded as integral to identity formation during
adolescence (McCutcheon, Ashe, Houran and Maltby 2003); however continuance into adulthood is frequently viewed as aberrant (Hills
2002). Obviously, informants in our study do not follow the typical pattern; maintaining their celebrity worship into middle-age. In another
instance, adult music fans are characterized as “typically dumb, unsophisticated, or poorly educated” (Grossberg 1991). Our informants
appear articulate, socially aware and capable of self irony. Most have diverse life interests spanning work, leisure, community and family.
Significantly, Duffett (2003) indicates that negative portrayals of fans are likely to be the product of the middle class taste biases of
academic researchers.
Celebrity worship is associated with religiosity. Our findings are mixed in this respect:
Fans tend to be religious (Kozinets 2001; Maltby, Houran, Lange, Ashe and McCutcheon 2002). All informants identify as devout
Christians. Cliff Richard is openly Christian, hence informants’ self reports suggests a consumer-brand relationship based on shared
values (Pimentel and Reynolds 2004)
Fans imbue celebrities with God-like powers (O’Guinn 2002). Few informants report this behavior. Most view Cliff as human. One
informant reports meeting him: “He came down off the pedestal; he was just like the man next door.” Yet one informant reports Cliff’s
music as helping her overcome a serious illness and another states: “It’s something about his music; it just lifts you up.”
Fans regard the celebrity as “everything” (O’Guinn 2002). Some informants indicate Cliff is critical to their well being, while
simultaneously stressing the importance of the fan club: “I’d be devastated if he wasn’t in my life … and I’d never have met all these
friends” Others see Cliff as a pleasant addition to their lives: “He isn’t everything. If he wasn’t there, I’d do something else.”
Fans seek to serve and/or suffer for their celebrity. Our informants do not report this behavior. For example, they see Cliff as a self-
sufficient person: “He actually loves himself.”
Fans treat celebrity-related objects as sacred (Kozinets 2001; O’Guinn 2002; Pimentel and Reynolds 2004). Informants’ self-reports
frequently suggest this behavior. For example an informant explains that when faced by the prospect of bush-fire, she chose to protect
a photo of her son and Cliff rather than other possessions.
Celebrity worship in fan clubs associates with social networks that provide considerable benefits beyond those directly linked to
celebrity worship (Jenkins 1992; Kozinets 2001). Informants routinely describe the fan club as an extended family that offers fun,
friendship and emotional support through life’s trials and tribulations. They enjoy regular contact with other Cliff fans world-wide.
Contrary to the literature (McCutcheon and De Vry 2002), celebrity worship does not always involve strongly parasocial relationships
i.e., one person knows a lot about person B, but person B knows nothing about person A (Horton and Wohl 1956). Informants typically
state: “We feel as if we know Cliff,” and describe feverishly swapping Cliff news at fan club meetings. Yet comments by Cliff: “My fans
are everything to me,” his on-going success (outselling The Beatles and Elvis in Britain) and close association between his record company
and many fan clubs dilute the parasocial label. Cliff appears to forge his career based on a keen understanding of his loyal fan base; the
embodiment of the marketing concept.
Additional findings emerged from our research. Celebrity worship sustained within an affinity group is a consumer-brand
relationship yet to be comprehensively described. Informants’ descriptions of their Cliff Richard attachments resemble Fournier’s (1998)
dependencies i.e., obsessive, highly emotional, selfish attractions cemented by the feeling that the other is irreplaceable with high tolerance
of the other’s transgressions. Within the fan club, selfishness is tempered by group acquiescence to a social norm; i.e., respecting the
celebrity’s privacy: “We try to stay in the same hotel as Cliff, but we’d never follow him for an autograph. Others might, but fan club
members know not to cross the line.” Informants forgive Cliff many of his faults including his widely acknowledged questionable dress-
sense: “Over the years, he’s worn some dreadful outfits. Maybe he has no say in what wears? Somebody said he’s color blind.”
Adult celebrity worship within an affinity group is healthy. Informants’ self-reports suggest high emotional intelligence and capacity
for mature, honest and respectful relationships across many social spheres, including the fan club and Cliff Richard. They understand that
Cliff enacts dramatistic (rather than naturalistic) performance i.e., an enactment calculated to create a particular effect (Deighton 1992).
Explaining their attraction to Cliff, they typically state: “Fantasy is better than reality. Our husbands leave their dirty socks around; thank
heavens we never see that side of Cliff.” Hence compared to lone fans, people successfully participating in fan clubs unlikely have personal
characteristics associating with significant pathology e.g., stalking.
References
Christopher, Martin (2002), Relationship Marketing: Creating Shareholder Value, Butter-worth Heinemann, England.
Deighton, John (1992), “The Consumption of Performance,” Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (December), 362-372.
Duffett, Mark (2003), “False Faith or False Comparison? A Critique of the Religious Interpretation of Elvis Fan Culture,” Popular
Music and Society, 26 (4), 513-522.
Fournier, Susan (1998), “Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research,” Journal of
Consumer Research, 24 (March), 343-372.
Hills, Matt (2002), Fan Cultures, New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, Harry (1992) Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture, New York: Routledge.
Kozinets, Robert (2001), “Utopian Enterprise: Articulating the Meanings of Star Trek’s Culture of Consumption,” Journal of
Macchiette, Bart, and Abhijit Roy (1991), “Direct Marketing to the Credit Card Industry-Utilizing the Concept of Affinity”, Journal
of Direct Marketing, 5:2, (Spring 1991), 34-43.
Maltby, John, James Houran, and Lynne McCutcheon (2003), “A Clinical Interpretation of Attitudes and Behaviours Associated with
Celebrity Worship,” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, January, 1991 (1), 25-29.
Maltby, John, James Houran, Rense Lange, Diane Ashe and Lyn E McCutcheon (2002), “Thou Shalt worship no other gods–unless
they are celebrities: the relationship between celebrity worship and religious orientation,” Personality and Individual Differences,
32, 1157-1172.
O’Guinn, Thomas C (2000). “Touching Greatness: The Central MidWest Barry Manilow Fan Club,” reprinted in Juliet Schor and
Douglas Holt (eds.), The Consumer Society Reader, New York: The New Press,155-168.
Pimentel, Ronald W. and Kristy E. Reynolds (2004), “A Model for Consumer Devotion: Affective Commitment with Proactive
Sustaining Behaviors,” Academy of Marketing Science Review, 5.
“God’s Holy Fire”

John F. Sherry, Jr.
Summary
Religious affiliation in contemporary North America has been described as a spiritual marketplace. This market-like religious drive
has been fueled in part by a loss of faith both in conventional denominational orthodoxy and in secular alternatives and it has been sustained
by a questing mood. The result is a proliferation of what have been called religions of the self. As the ever-increasing search for both
authenticity and expressive individualism goes on, tempered by a health care economy-influenced ethos of the therapeutic, we are seeing
legions of converts moving into New Age types of religions that offer solace for the soul under a variety of banners and in an ever-mutating
and hybridizing set of guises. Its religious tinge—in brand loyalty, in organizational work cultures, in alumni networks, in sports
subcultures, in entertainment fandom—seems to be one of the signposts of the consumption ethic of late capitalism. Consumer’s daily
search for transcendent, authentic meaning takes them from more traditional temples and churches to sites of feverish enthusiasm and
display such as concerts, homecomings, and festivals.
These religious forms are neo-tribal, in that they are characterized as dynamic and decentralized. Following a trajectory that has been
unfolding in American religious movements for over two centuries, they have moved from orthodoxy to personal experience. Through
these venerable venues, consumer researchers have before them a compelling opportunity to re-examine and re-theorized the role of the
sacred and profane in consumer experience.
Using the words and images of Burning Man 2002, this film explores sacred spirituality as it inheres in consumer behavior at a self-
transformative event. Centering on interview material with the events’ founder, Larry Harvey, this film presents an un-narrated
juxtaposition of images, from desert pilgrimage quests to drum circle dancing, Christian parodying to dance partying, fire-walking to
shamanic transformations, bodypainting to sacrificial burning. The film intends to raise more questions than it answers. Is Burning Man
an evil event, as some claim? Do consumers need religion and a sense of the sacred anymore? What role is played by fire, drumming, and
flashing lights?
We theorize the event as a disestablishment or countercultural religious form in the general genre of “New Age,” “Neopagan,” or
“Neoshamanic” religion, but also see the event as much as a neotribal party as a religious quest. The films presents an experiential and
eclectic mélange of syncretic expressions that converge upon the goals of personal experience and insight, and for whom the transcendence
of daily restrictions and rules is sought through a combination of the forgotten and inverted ritual and the unexpected juxtaposition.
Together, these become the touchstone of identity and community.
The film begins with Larry Harvey’s original account of how his vision raised Burning Man and its accompanying city from the desert
dust:
“. . . We started out on the beach before the broad Pacific, and though the figure was only eight feet tall, it was enough to feel
transcendence. . . Had it been backed by an eight storey building, I don’t suppose it would seem so transcendent. . . When we came
out here, we had this great flat expanse, and by that time, the Man was four stories. And that was enough to induce awe, and enormous
mystical resonance for me. I may be the only one that thought that, to tell you the truth. And that’s what chiefly struck me. That’s
why I thought they’d come. I stood there, and I looked up, and I looked around, and I could imagine . . . I saw great cyclones of dust
generated by armies marching from the four quarters of the playa, and it looked to me like columns of dust generated by armies
marching toward the center of the world. And this thing that looks cosmic in scale is part of it. It made sense to me.”
Striving to create a “visionary void” where his “stagecraft” might facilitate visions for pilgrims, Founder Larry Harvey encourages
the development of rituals which will have “conversion” effects upon pilgrims, and result in a “change of life” experience for burners
willing to accept that the “ultimate source of value” is not rationality, but, rather, faith. This faith is evident in the cinematographic evidence
presented in this videography of people walking through the burning coals of the Man with their hands clasped in prayer, dancing in the
burning embers and reaching down to touch and spray them, and people spreading the holy ashes of the Man upon their faces, sitting
meditatively by the still burning fire. Following the ecstatic rush of the Man’s sacrificial burn, there is a reflexive inward turn in which
many followers introspect and seek their own personal transcendence.
Central to the alterations of the burn and the experience are images of fire, community, and change—a primitive lingua franca enacted
annually upon what has become sacred ground. As with the Yeat’s poem, from which the film draws its name, the film is intended to evoke
an emotional response that draws the viewer towards his or her own personal quest and search for transcendence of the everyday. In the
poem, as with the Burning Man experience, one surrenders one’s soul to the community of “sages” and “singing-masters” who lead you
through an unexpected experience permeated by “holy fire.” The film ends with a slow-motion view of the fire dance preceding the burning
of the Man in 2002. A young fire-breather dressed in a wolf skin howls eerily into the night (a sound that also open the film). The confusion
of human life, the quest for meaning and primitivism of being “a dying animal” is momentarily transcended. Simultaneously, irrefragably
embodied and spiritual, an eternal moment draws fleetingly but perfectly into view:
O sages standing in God’s holy fire

As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity. –W.B. Yeats
“The Gospel of Prosperity: Charismatic Churches in Ghana”

Samuel K. Bonsu, York University, Canada
Summary
Two quotations highlight the subject of our video. The first is by an anthropologist who has been studying Ghanaian religion for a
number of years:
Nothing can better evoke what is at stake than the salience of the contrast between the familiar image of the African prophet from
Zionist, Nazarite, or Aladura churches, dressed in white gowns, carrying crosses, and going to pray in the bush, and the flamboyant
leaders of the new mega-churches, who dress in the latest (African) fashion, drive nothing less than a Mercedes Benz, participate in
the global Pentecostal jetset, broadcast the message through flashy TV and radio programs, and preach the Prosperity Gospel to their
deprived and hitherto-hopeless born-again followers at home and in the diaspora…the emergence of these figures [and their
consumption lifestyles] suggests that the appropriation of Christianity in Africa has entered a new phase (Meyer 2004; p. 448).
The second quotation is by the founder of the church that is the primary site of our research. It is part of a sermon (later turned into
a book), like many of those heard at Lighthouse Church International:
One facet of being successful is being prosperous. Poverty does not help anyone. The devil has made us believe that a spiritual person
is a poor person. The fact that some priests take oaths of poverty only goes to emphasis the notion that there is some virtue in abject
poverty. When I read the Bible, I do not see any such doctrine. Infact, the people God walked with often turned out to be rich. It is
obvious that Satan has done a good job in making us all believe that poverty is more spiritual that prosperity…God wants to give you
more money than you can use, but He wants you to love Him more than money. Money is not evil! It cannot be evil! It is when you
love money more than God, that you are in danger of backsliding… God wants us to be successful. He wants His children to be rich
and prosperous. God wants His people to build houses and to own cars. God’s will for you is to have an abundance of all things…what
do you lose by believing this? Nothing! ...He wants you to be a millionaire, and even a billionaire… There will always be poor people
amongst us, but it is our duty as preachers to speak the general truth of the Word of God. The general truth of God’s Word is explicitly
and implicitly prosperity, riches, breakthrough, happiness, peace and success. Receive it because that is God’s desire for you…Decide
today for prosperity and riches. Decide today that you will accomplish something in this life. God does not want you to borrow money;
He wants you to be a giver. Don’t believe the lies of the devil…I am saying this because I want to help you. I am saying this because
God has sent me into your life to help you climb out of darkness. God is telling me to tell you that prosperity is for you now! No matter
who you are or where you live in this world, prosperity can be yours by faith. I see you having a breakthrough in your financial life.
I see you living long and prospering. I see you without debt. I see you with great riches…I see you owning many cars. That is God’s
plan for you! (Heward-Mills 2000a, p. 6-8; emphasis in original).
LCI is one of the leading charismatic churches in Ghana, which describes itself as a mega-church. The Church has at least 23
franchises in the USA alone, and more than 300 others in over 30 countries around the world (www.lighthousechapel.org). The
materialistic focus of the sermon, along with Meyer’s (2004) observation in the epigraph points to the pervasive nature of consumer culture
and the inroads that it has made into contemporary African Christian doctrine and practice. The theology represented in the quotations
challenges some of the core foundations of traditional Protestant Christianity such as denial of the flesh, inner asceticism, and the
preferential option for the poor (Weber 1958). Clearly, the sermon was designed to disabuse audiences of the traditional beliefs that sustain
the view that Christian religious piety and the aggressive pursuit of wealth cannot be bedfellows. Drawing on his interpretation of the Bible,
Heward-Mills and his team of preachers offer hope that all children of God are guaranteed extreme wealth as long as they commit to God.
This commitment and accompanying financial rewards, as he noted in the broader context of the excerpt above and in numerous other
sermons elsewhere (e.g., Heward-Mills 2000b, 2002), derive in significant part from a conscientious giving of tithes and offerings to the
Church. He guides his flock into compliance through teachings on loyalty and obedience to God and Church (e.g., Heward-Mills 2000c).
Based on a year of participant observation and depth interviews, this video explores both the positive and negative aspects of church-
promoted materialism in a poor nation. On one hand, the Gospel of Prosperity offers hope and encourages entrepreneurship, investment,
and generosity. On the other hand, for many this may be a false form of hope founded on greed, encouraged by displays of conspicuous
consumption, and demanding donations that may make the church and its clergy wealthy at the expense of its credulous congregation.
We show both sides of this movement and allow the audience to reach its own conclusions about whether the rapidly spreading Gospel
of Prosperity is more of a blessing or a curse for Ghana.
References
Heward-Mills, Dag (2000a), Secrets of Success, Accra, Ghana: Lighthouse Chapel Publications.
Heward-Mills, Dag (2000b), Unbeatable Prosperity, Accra, Ghana: Parchment House.
Heward-Mills, Dag (2000c), Loyalty and Disloyalty, Accra, Ghana: Parchement House.
Heward-Mills, Dag (2002), Prodigality, Accra, Ghana: Parchment House.
Meyer, Birgit (2004), “Christianity in Africa: From African Independent to Pentecostßal-Charismatic Churches,” Annual Review of
Anthropology, 33, 447-474.
Weber, Max (1958), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
“Consumer Ethics Across Cultures”

Timothy Devinney, Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia
Giana Eckhardt, Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia
Summary
While some attention has been paid in the marketing literature to unethical consumer behaviors like shoplifting, credit card fraud,
and vandalism (e.g., Abelson 1989; Fullerton and Punj 1997, 2004; Jolson 1974; Moschis and Cox 1989) and occasional attention has been
given to consumer boycotts of companies whom they deem to be acting unethically (e.g., Friedman 1999; Garrett 1987; John and Klein
2001; Klein, Smith, and John 2002), relatively little attention has been given to how ethical considerations in consumption are thought
about by consumers. Ethical consumer choices can involve purchasing from firms and nations whose behaviors and products are deemed
ethical, as well as avoiding patronizing those deemed to engage in unethical practices. Ethical issues can involve worker treatment, fair-
trade food, genetically modified food, environmental concerns, human rights, anti-competitive practices, racial or gender discrimination,
and other such issues (Michletti 2003).
The video details the rationales consumers in a wide variety of cultures use to explain and justify both their ethical stances and their
consumption behavior. Our concern is with whether and how perceptions of consumption ethics differ between varying populations, and
whether any universal factors that exist across cultures can be identified. Understanding the nature of consumer ethical rationales may
lead us to better understanding how to bridge the disconnect between beliefs and behavior. The themes raised in the video suggest that,
consistent with other recent studies, ethical beliefs are not based on one’s socioeconomic position in society, and that culture has less effect
on perceptions of consumption ethics than we expected. The middle class respondents from India and Germany, for example, have very
different responses and understandings of the scenarios presented to them, yet their overall evaluations as to whether their consumption
behavior is ethical or not is remarkably similar. Specifically, the video outlines the connection between producer ethics and consumer
ethics as perceived by our respondents, and more generally outlines the lack of concern among most of our informants to some of the most
visible consumer ethics issues discussed in the global media today.
As is evident from the excerpts of interviews seen in the video, consumers are not generally very concerned with the ethical issues
raised in the scenarios. This is surprising in that in previous studies consumers would typically give lip service to being concerned about
the issues, even if they were not willing to expend any effort to purchase in line with their beliefs, such as by paying more for ethical products
for example. Evidently the ease of marking a socially desirable answer on a questionnaire is greater than adopting a false posture in an
hour-long depth interview. Some consumers do bring ethical concerns into their product choices, but most would rather have a good
product at a good price, regardless of who makes it, the conditions of workers, the uses made of animals, or issues of copyright versus
counterfeit. Many consumers from the more affluent countries offered a justification involving ethical abuses by multinational
corporations that make these goods. Corporations were said to be out only for profits, and they were described as not caring for the workers,
consumers, or natural resources harmed in this pursuit. In citing prominent cases of corporate abuse, like Enron, consumers invoked the
argument that since sellers don’t care about what is right, why should they? Some consumers, from both more affluent and less affluent
countries, also claimed that the prices charged by companies like Nike and Louis Vuitton are immoral. While some of these arguments
may be excuses for pursuing their own perceived interests as consumers, a link between producer ethics and consumer ethics does exist
in our data.
Perceptions of Fairness And Customer Satisfaction Following Service Failure And Recovery
Constant Beugre, Delaware State University, USA
Nanda K. Viswanathan, Delaware State University, USA
ABSTRACT strategy is contingent on the type of service failure) has rarely been
Perceptions of fairness and customer satisfaction are exam- investigated. The purpose of the present study is to fill this void by
ined for distributive service recovery and interactional service examining the impact of service recovery on customer perceptions
recovery strategies. The service recovery strategies are examined in of fairness. In so doing, the study differentiates itself from previous
relationship to the type of service failure. Types of service failures studies by examining specific types of service recovery, specific
examined are distributive service failure and interactional service types of service failure, and particular forms of fairness.
failure. Results show that distributive service recovery strategies The present study adds to the extant literature on service
are more effective than interactional service recovery strategies recovery and justice in two ways. First, it explores the relationship
when the service failure is distributive. When service failures are between the type of service failure and the type of service recovery.
interactional, both distributive service recovery and interactional Recovering after service failure is an important strategy for compa-
service recovery strategies are effective. nies to solve customer complaints and ensure customer retention.
Failure to properly recover from a service failure may be costly for
LITERATURE REVIEW organizations. Second, understanding what type of service recov-
Companies strive to delight customers by providing high ery corresponds to a specific service breakdown may help organi-
quality products and services. Despite such efforts, companies are zations design strategies to bounce back from service failures.
not always able to delight customers. Sometimes, service failures Service recovery refers to “actions of a service provider to
occur and customers express negative emotions and some even mitigate and/or repair the damage to a customer that results from the
engage in complaint behaviors (McColl-Kennedy & Sparks 2003). provider’s failure to deliver a service as is designed” (Johnson &
Service failure represents a negative experience, both for the Hewa 1997, 467). In this study, we used two types of recovery,
customer and the service provider. To reduce the negative impact distributive recovery and interactional recovery. These two types of
of service failure, companies often develop and implement recov- recovery are likely to occur in face-to-face service delivery situa-
ery strategies. tions. We refer to a service breakdown leading to the loss of a
Although the increasing literature on service failure and re- tangible outcome as distributive failure. Distributive failure occurs
covery presents some insights for scholars and service managers as when a customer does not get the product or service expected.
well, it tends to consider service failure as a uniform concept. Within a service recovery context, distributive justice is usually
However, it is fair to acknowledge that when a company provides defined as what the customer receives as an outcome of the recovery
a service, there may be two elements: outcomes (getting the product process (McColl-Kennedy & Sparks 2003). A sense of equity
or the service) and process (how one is treated during the service would be restored when the customer receives the desired product
encounter). Making this distinction is important because service or service or its substitute.
delivery implies two types of experience. The first experience may Thus, we argue that distributive failure can best be compen-
be related to the outcome of the service and the second to the sated by distributive recovery. Distributive recovery occurs when
process. Thus, when people talk about service failure, their experi- the organization or its representative provides a disgruntled cus-
ence may include the outcome received as well as the process tomer a tangible outcome after a service breakdown. For instance,
underlying the delivery of the outcome. a customer dining at a restaurant finds the soup a little salty and
With this distinction in mind, we intend to assess the impact of informs the waitress. To compensate for this service failure—
service failure and recovery on customer reactions. Specifically, we distributive failure, the waitress changes the soup with another one
focus on customer perceptions of fairness after a service failure and to the customer’s taste. Distributive justice after a service failure
recovery. Indeed, researchers have examined the impact of service may positively influence perceptions of fairness and customer
failure and recovery on perceptions of justice and customer satis- satisfaction (Smith, Bolton, & Wagner 1999). Thus, we formulated
faction (Andreassen 2001; Maxham & Netemeyer 2003; Smith & the following hypothesis.
Bolton 1998). Most of these studies concur that customers are more
likely to continue doing business with a company if they are H1. When distributive failure occurs, distributive recovery
satisfied with service recovery (Andreassen 2001; Smith & Bolton, would have a more favorable impact on perceptions of
1998). distributive justice, overall customer satisfaction, and
In analyzing customer perceptions of justice, scholars often satisfaction with the recovery process than interactional
distinguished three forms of justice: distributive justice (Adams recovery.
1965), procedural justice (Lind & Tyler, 1988; Thibaut & Walker
1975), and interactional justice (Bies & Moag 1986). Distributive The same may hold true for interactional failure. Interactional
justice refers to perceptions of outcome fairness (Adams 1985), failure occurs when the organization or its representative does not
whereas procedural justice focuses on the fairness of decisions treat a customer with respect and dignity. The target appears as the
underlying the outcome distribution (Thibaut & Walker 1975). target of the organization’s mistreatment and may raise a feeling of
Interactional justice refers to the quality of interpersonal treatment moral outrage. In this case, the customer may expect an apology
people receive during the enactment of organizational procedures from the offender. Only an apology can reduce the negative impact
(Bies & Moag 1986). of interactional failure. “When a service failure occurs, the inequity
Despite a growing body of literature on the impact of service of the exchange upsets the relationship between the service firm and
failure and recovery on customer perceptions of fairness, the its customers. The first step in restoring equity, from a service
relationship between the type of service failure and the type of firm’s point of view, is to acknowledge wrongdoing and apologize.
service recovery (we argue that an effective service recovery By apologizing, the firm expresses regret that the consumer did not

Volume 1, © 2006
derive the arranged benefit (Boshoff & Leong 1998). Thus, the type derived from Maxham and Netemeyer (2003) and modified for the
of service recovery corresponding to interactional failure is interac- scenario in this study. For example, a scale used to measure overall
tional recovery. In interactional recovery, the organization or its customer satisfaction in this study included “I am satisfied with my
representative apologizes to the customer or provides an explana- overall experience with the restaurant.” Participants were asked to
tion to ease the customer’s discontent. Following the previous read the scenario and answer the 14-item scale.
example, an interactional failure would occur if the waitress ap-
peared rude to the customer; and interactional recovery would RESULTS
occur when the waitress apologizes to the customer. We anticipate AMANOVA was performed on the data. The data for all four
that interactional recovery is likely to compensate for interactional dependent variables are presented in figure 1. Interactions between
failure. Interactional justice is positively related to satisfaction type of service failure and type of service recovery were significant
(Maxham & Neteyemer 2003). Thus, we formulated the following for all four dependent variables: Distributive justice (F(1,108) =
hypothesis. 6.26, p<.05), interactional justice (F(1,108) = 8.0, p<.01), cus-
tomer satisfaction with the recovery (F(1,108) = 7.61, p<.01), and
H2. When interactional failure occurs, interactional recovery overall satisfaction (F(1,108) = 5.99, p<.05).For those interactions
would have a more favorable impact on perceptions of that were significant, t-tests based on pooled variance was con-
interactional justice, overall customer satisfaction, and ducted for differences between means.
satisfaction with the recovery process than distributive H1 was supported for perceptions of distributive justice,
recovery. perceptions of interactional justice, and satisfaction with the service
recovery. In case of distributive failure, distributive service recov-
METHOD ery led to more positive perceptions of distributive justice (t=3.55,
p< .01), interactional justice (t=3.03, p< .01), enhanced satisfaction
Participants: with the recovery (t=4.03, p< .01), and more overall satisfaction
The study was conducted on a sample of 111 undergraduate (t=2.79. p< .01) than an interactional service recovery. The means
business and psychology students enrolled in a Northeastern uni- for all four dependent variables are summarized in table 1.
versity in the United States. The study was conducted during class H2 was not supported for any of the four dependent variables.
time and students received partial credit for participating in the In the case of interactional failure, interactional recovery did not
study. lead to more positive perceptions of distributive justice or percep-
tions of interactional justice, enhanced satisfaction with the recov-
Experimental Design: ery, or enhanced overall satisfaction.
The study used a 2X2 between-subjects factorial design. The
factors are Type of service failure (Distributive or Interactive) and DISCUSSION
Type of service recovery (Distributive or Interactive). The support for H1 indicates that when subjects were faced
with distributive failure, distributive recovery has a stronger impact
Procedure: on customer perceptions of justice and satisfaction than interac-
The two independent variables were type of service failure and tional recovery. When there was a problem with the food in the
type of service recovery. The dependent variables were perceptions restaurant customers were more satisfied when the food was re-
of distributive justice, perceptions of interactional justice, customer placed than by a mere apology. The lack of support for H2 indicates
satisfaction with the recovery, and overall customer satisfaction. that when subjects were faced with interactive failure, interactive
The study used a scenario-based methodology. Such a methodol- recovery did not have a more positive impact on customer percep-
ogy is appropriate for studying service failure and recovery because tions of justice and satisfaction than distributive recovery. When
it is almost impossible (even unethical) for a company to purpose- the waitress was rude, an apology was no more effective than the
fully provide poor service to customers and attempt to rectify it. The offer of a free dessert in enhancing customer satisfaction and
scenario was built around service in a restaurant since students are perceptions of justice.
familiar with restaurant service. We constructed four scenarios While this study is exploratory in nature, the results suggest
corresponding to specific types of service failure and recovery. that distributive recovery strategies may work well in the case of
both distributive failure and interactional failures. However, inter-
Independent variable manipulations: actional recovery strategies work well only in the case of interac-
Type of service recovery and type of service failure were tional failures. Possible explanations for this result may be that a
manipulated by changing the scenario descriptions as follows: distributive recovery (free dessert) consequent to either a distribu-
tive service failure or an interactional service failure can favorably
Distributive failure: “ … The food was salty and contained influence a customer’s perceptions of distributive justice and inter-
ingredients you were allergic to.” actional justice. However an interactional recovery (an apology)
Interactional failure:”…..You observed that the waitress was consequent to either a distributive service failure or an interactional
rude when taking your order.” service failure can favorably influence a customer’s perception of
Distributive recovery: “……. The waitress changed the food interactional justice but not have an impact on the customer’s
and offered you a free desert.” perceptions of distributive justice. An apology cannot restore the
Interactional recovery: “……The waitress apologized with a outcome (good quality food) when the customer has been served
smile.” poor quality food (distributive failure). However, the offer of a free
dessert can restore the customer’s emotional state that was upset by
Dependent variable measurements: rudeness (interactional failure).
Each scenario was followed by a 14-item, seven point, seman-
tic differentialscale measuring distributive justice (4 items), inter- LIMITATIONS
actional justice (4 items), overall customer satisfaction (3 items), This study presents some limitations worth mentioning. First,
customer satisfaction with recovery (3 items). All items were the study used a scenario-based methodology to examine service
12 / Perceptions of Fairness And Customer Satisfaction Following Service Failure And Recovery
FIGURE 1
Interactions of Type of Failure*Type of Recovery
Interactional Justice
5
DF
IF
4
3
DR IR
Distributive Justice
5
DF
IF
4
3
DR IR
Recovery Satisfaction
5 DF
4 IF
3
DR IR
Overall Satisfaction
5 DF
4 IF
3
DR IR
DF: Distributive Failure, DR: Distributive Recovery, IF: Interactional Failure, IR: Interactional Recovery
TABLE 1
Cell Means (Type of Failure*Type of Recovery)
Mean Comparisons Based on H1 Mean Comparisons Based on H2

Dependent Variable DF*DR DF* IR IF * DR IF * IR
Interactional Justice 5.36 4.22* 4.22 4.64

Distributive Justice 5.10 3.89* 4.42 4.45
Satisfaction with Recovery 5.04 3.99* 4.16 4.15

Overall Satisfaction 4.63 3.96* 4.07 4.26
* Differences between cell means statistically significant, p< .01
failure and recovery. This may result in customer perceptions customers more interested in getting tangible outcomes than being
different from an actual service failure. Thus, intentions not actual treated with respect and dignity during a service encounter? Is the
behaviors are measured. This limits the generalizability of the relationship between type of recovery and type of failure dependent
study. However, since people tend to often act on the premises of on the level of product involvement of the customer? Addressing
their intentions, we believe that the methodology used helps capture such issues will improve our understanding of customer behavior.
a reality of service failure and recovery. Second, the study suggests Although previous studies have integrated fairness concepts in
that the effectiveness of a service recovery strategy is contingent on studying service recovery, they have not addressed the primacy of
the type of service failure. Although such a conclusion is advancing service recovery on customer reactions. It is our hope that the
our understanding of the dynamics of service failure and recovery, present study will spur future empirical as well as conceptual
the theoretical basis for this result needs further conceptual clarifi- analyses on the relationship between the type of service failure and
cation. Despite these limitations, the present study bears lessons for the type of service recovery.
management practice and further research.
REFERENCES
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Adams, Stacy J. (1965), “Inequity in social exchange,” in
The results are important since the cost of strategies based on Advances in Social Experimental Psychology, 2, ed. L.
distributive recovery are likely to be more expensive than strategies Berkowitz, New York: Academic Press, 267-299.
based on interactional recovery. The training and operational needs Andreassen, Tor W. (2001), “From disgust to delight: Do
for the two kinds of recovery are also different. The replacement customers hold a grudge?,” Journal of Service Research, 4
and offer of free food in a restaurant will require different opera- (1), 39-49.
tional procedures than the issuance of an apology by the waiter. By Bies, Robert J., & Joseph. S. Moag (1986), “Interactional justice:
understanding the links between specific types of service failure Communication criteria of fairness,” in Research on
and service recovery, managers may be able to design appropriate negotiation in organizations, 1, eds. R. J. Lewicki, B. H.
service recovery measures. Our results found that distributive Sheppard, & M. H. Bazerman, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press,
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satisfaction with the recovery attempt, and overall satisfaction. It is Boshoff, Christo, & Jason Leong (1998), “Empowerment,
therefore important for managers to provide tangible outcomes to attribution and apologizing as dimensions of service
disgruntled customers. In the case of a service encounter, the recovery,” International Journal of Service Industry
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here the food at a restaurant. When a service breakdown occurs, Clemmer, Elizabeth C. (1993), “An investigation into the
compensating for an outcome tends to have a more positive effect relationship of fairness and customer satisfaction with
than a mere apology. services,” in Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness
in human resource management, ed. R. Cropanzano,
IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 193-207.
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future research may be extended to the field. Researchers may use failures,” IndustrialMarketing Management, 26, 467-473.
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service failure and service recovery. For instance, researchers may procedural justice, New York: Plenum Press.
use a sample of non student customers and assess their negative Maxham, James G., & Richard G. Netemeyer (2003), “Firms
experiences and reactions during a service breakdown and recov- reap what they sow: The effects of shared values and
ery. Such studies may help capture actual behaviors that customers perceived organizational justice on customers’ evaluations of
display during a service breakdown and recovery. complaint handling,” Journal of Marketing, 67, 46-62.
A second research avenue may be the importance of each type McColl-Kennedy, Janet R., & Beverly A. Sparks (2003),
of service recovery and variables that may moderate the relation- “Application of fairness theory to service failures and service
ship. Are customers more likely to view distributive recovery as recovery,” Journal of Service Research, 5 (3), 251-266.
more important than interactional recovery? In other words, are
14 / Perceptions of Fairness And Customer Satisfaction Following Service Failure And Recovery
Smith, Amy K., & Ruth. N. Bolton (1998), “An experimental
investigation of customer reactions to service failure and
recovery encounters: Paradox or peril?,” Journal of
ServiceRecovery, 1 (1), 65-81.
Smith, Amy K., Ruth N. Bolton, & Janet Wagner (1999), “A
model of customer satisfaction with service encounters
involving failure and recovery,” Journal of Marketing
Research, 36, 356-373.
Sparks, Beverly A., & Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, (1998), “The
application of procedural justice principles to service
recovery attempts: Outcomes for customer satisfaction,”
Advances in Consumer Research, 25, 156-161.
Sparks, Beverly A., & Janet R. McColl-Kennedy, (2001),
“Justice strategy options for increased customer satisfaction.
In a service recovery setting,” Journal of Business Research,
9 (1), 209-218.
Tax, Stephen S., Brown, Stephen W., & Chandrashekaran,
Murali (1998), “Customer evaluations of service complaint
experiences: Implications for relationship marketing,”
Journal of Marketing, 62, 60-76.
Thibaut, J. W., & Laurens Walker (1975), Procedural Justice: A
psychological analysis,Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
The Moderating Impact of the Type of Relationship on the Consumers’ Service Recovery
Evaluations and their Consequences
Cristiane Pizzutti, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Daniel Fernandes, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
ABSTRACT interactional fairness) and its outcomes (i.e., satisfaction with

This paper aims to examine the moderating effect of the type service recovery, trust and loyalty).
of relationship on the links between consumer’s perceived justice This paper consists of three parts. The first part deals with the
on service recovery process and its consequences. A theoretical theoretical model and its hypotheses. In the second part the aspects
model was developed and tested by Multiple Group Structural related to the research methodology are analyzed. Finally, we
Equations Modeling. The findings from a survey with 306 respon- empirically test our model and delineate the key insights obtained.
dents indicate that relational clients present higher levels of justice
perceptions, trust, value and loyalty. Moreover, transactional cli- 2. THEORETICAL MODEL AND HYPOTHESES
ents’ perceptions of satisfaction with service recovery have a higher Figure one shows the theoretical model used to investigate the
impact on trust than the relational clients’ perceptions. impact of the service recovery episode on consumers’ trust and
loyalty. The proposed model was basically generated from diverse
1. INTRODUCTION studies on justice over conflicts between consumers and companies
Researchers and marketing professionals have witnessed a (e.g., Tax et al. 1998; Smith et al. 1999) and studies on trust in social
paradigm change that, essentially, emphasizes the retention of and interactional relationships (e.g., Morgan and Hunt 1994; Kumar
current customers by searching for more permanent relationships, 1996).
rather than the attraction of new customers and the accomplishment The central idea brought by this model is that the evaluations
of singular exchanges. The development and maintenance of strong of the complaint episode will affect the consumer’s level of trust
and lasting relationships between consumers and suppliers have and loyalty after the complaint. In this way, it establishes interac-
emphasized the importance of the loyalty concept that is being tions among specific factors of the complaining process–justice and
considered the “currency” of the 21st century (Singh and satisfaction perceptions–and relational factors–trust and loyalty. In
Sirdeshmukh 2000). In this new business environment the rel- general, the model indicates that the perceptions of distributive,
evance of the complaint handling episodes in building loyalty has interactional and procedural justice, will affect the level of
been highlighted (Etzel and Silverman 1981; Hart, Heskett, and consumer’s satisfaction with the complaint handling. The consumer’s
Sasser 1990; Smith, Bolton and Wagner, 1999; Tax, Brown and trust after the complaint episode will be directly influenced by the
Chandrashekaran, 1998). final level of satisfaction achieved. Finally, the consumer’s level of
Many studies on complaint handling have focused on service loyalty after the complaint event will be influenced by the satisfac-
recovery (e.g., Bitner, Booms, and Tetreault 1990; Hoffman, Kelley, tion with the specific episode, by the consumer’s trust, and by the
and Rotalsky 1995; Webster and Sundaram 1998). This is not perceived value.
surprising since complaint handling is particularly crucial to the Marketing researchers, in general, have been less interested in
services sector for its peculiar characteristics such as intangibility, studying the moderating effects on service recovery evaluations
greater dependence between the parts, and great personal contact and their consequences. Instead, the most frequently utilized ap-
between employees and clients. proach is to test for direct (main) effects on justice perceptions,
Despite Smith, Bolton and Wagner’s (1999) warning that satisfaction, trust and loyalty levels (e.g., Palmer, Beggs, and
customers may not be homogeneous in their judgments of the Keown-Mcmullan 2000; Richard and Adrian 1995). Once few have
effectiveness of service recovery attempts, consumer differences examined how the relations between variables vary from customers
have been minimally included in research as variables worthy of with weak to strong bonds with companies (Garbarino and Johnson
examination in their own right. Clearly, studies that address indi- 1999), the objective of this study is to test the proposition which
vidual responses to service recovery efforts are needed, as it would argues that the type of relationship between consumer and company
enable organizations to design service recoveries that best suit the (transactional/relational) will have moderating effects on the rela-
needs and wants of their customers and thus increase satisfaction tionships among service recovery evaluations, post-complaint sat-
with service recovery (McColl-Kennedy, Daus, and Sparks 2003). isfaction, trust, and loyalty.
It is also important for the company to know the consequences Since there is virtually absent prior research on moderating
of trying to solve a conflict situation and whether the customer’s hypothesis, we are unable to propose more specific priori hypoth-
satisfaction with the complaint handling impacts his loyalty feel- eses. However, an example of this moderation effect may be
ings. However, not all the consumers are oriented to establish a observed on loyalty antecedents, which involve two types of
relationship with a company. Some consumers would desire only to relationships. The satisfaction-loyalty relationship, linking epi-
make a single transaction while others would intend to build a sodical attitudes to relational attitudes, and trust-loyalty relation-
stronger bond. And as preceding studies indicate that consumers act ship, linking two variables considered relational ones. The trust-
in a different manner depending on the type of connection estab- loyalty effect is expected to be dominant in the relational exchanges
lished between them and the company (Garbarino and Johnson context. In fact, in a study on these effects on transactional and
1999), our aim in the present study is to examine the moderating relational consumers, Garbarino and Johnson (1999) showed that
effects of the type of relationship (transactional or relational) on the while satisfaction had a significant influence on transactional
nomological relationship between consumer’s perceived justice on consumers’ future intentions, this effect has been insignificant to
the service recovery process (i.e., distributive, procedural and relational consumers. For these consumers, on the contrary, trust
was the greatest determinant of future intentions.

Volume 1, © 2006
16 / The Moderating Impact of the Type of Relationship on the Consumers’ Service Recovery Evaluations
FIGURE 1
Model for Understanding the Moderating Effect of the Type of Relationship on the Consumers’ Service Recovery
Evaluations and their Consequences
3. RESEARCH METHOD First, the measurement model was examined. Only after this
To empirically test the model we did a cross-sectional study examination and the establishment of the measures validity and
with 306 consumers engaged in complaint processes on car repair reliability, the exam of the structural model, i.e., the model includ-
services (performed by automobile dealers), within the previous 12 ing the relationships between constructs, was carried out. This
months, in Porto Alegre, a big city in the South of Brazil. approach is known as two-step approach and is suggested by
After several contacts with local car dealers, nine companies various researchers (Anderson and Gerbing 1988; Kline 1998;
provided lists of complainers (about 800 names). The companies Schumacker and Lomax 1996).
which agreed on taking part in the research represent the four Following the Byrne’s recommendation (1994), the estima-
biggest automobile brands in the Brazilian market: GM, Ford, Fiat, tion method chosen was the ERLS (iteratively reweighted general-
and Volkswagen. Clients were contacted through telephone by a ized least squares), available in EQS, which is not based on the
team of trained interviewers, in November 2003. prerogative of normality. In addition, as the chi-square test is very
The measurement scales were taken from diverse studies. sensitive to normality deviations and samples above to 200, the
Interpersonal (six items), procedural (six items), and distributive analysis was carried out with other goodness of fit indices besides
fairness (four items), and satisfaction with complaint handling the chi-square test.
(three items) were drawn from Tax et al.’s work (1998); consumer
trust (four items) and perceive value (four items) from Sirdeshmurkh, 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Singh, and Sabol (2002); and consumer loyalty measures (five
items) from Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman (1996), and 4.1. Sample Profile
Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002). Since the measurement scales originate The respondents’ mean age is 41 years (s.d.=11.21) and 62%
from North-American studies, they were translated into Portuguese of the respondents men. Fifteen percent of the interviewees have a
using the back translation technique. After elaborating the ques- monthly familiar income of up to 680 dollars, 38% from 680 to
tionnaire, the measurements were submitted to four experts–mar- 1,360 dollars and 47% have an income of over 1,360 dollars. Most
keting professors-who evaluated them for wording/meaning and part (76%) has complete or incomplete undergraduate education
consistency. The questionnaire was modified as required and a pre- and only 5% have only the elementary school instruction. The
test was conducted on 15 people who fitted the desired profile. complaints were mostly made face to face (51%), 36% by phone
We tested the moderating hypothesis by analyzing the model and 3% by email.
of Figure one through Multiple Group Structural Equations model- Most of consumers did the complaint within the previous six
ing. This approach has several advantages, among them, it enables months (70%). The remainder (30%) had made it within the
us to simultaneously estimate the hypothesized model in each group previous 12 to six months. This demonstrates that the complaint
and it allows for “restricted” models that include systematic con- episodes were relatively recent, what may provide more reliable
straints on relationships among constructs. Thus, it is possible to responses.
test if one or more estimated coefficients are invariant across the Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the respondents had already
transactional and relational clients (Singh, Verbeke and Rhoads utilized the company’s services more than three times and 34,6%
1996). had never contacted the company before the problem situation.
TABLE 1
Differences between the means obtained by transactional and relational customers
Interpersonal Procedural Distributive Satisfaction Trust Loyalty Value

Justice Justice Justice
Transactional 3,15 3,41 2,77 2,79 3,43 2,89 3,00

Clients
Relational 3,58 3,71 3,20 3,19 3,84 3,56 3,52
Clients
F 6,28 3,58 5,00 3,87 6,10 9,40 11,30
Sig. ,013 ,060 ,027 ,051 ,014 ,003 ,001
Among the customers that had previous experience with the com- sizing that they are, in fact, measuring a same construct and
pany, 46,7% said they had positive experiences. explaining substantially their respective latent constructs. More-
over, items associated to a same construct present significant
4.2. Clustering Relational and Transactional Customers correlation between them.
To test the moderator hypothesis, we classify the respondents Besides the convergent validity, the constructs’ discriminant
in two groups-one whose elements evidence strong relationships validity was verified. This verification is particularly important
and another whose elements demonstrate weak relationships with when the constructs are highly correlated and are similar by nature
the company. The relationship literature generally expects evi- (Garver and Mentzer 1999). The discriminant validity between the
dence of a repeated exchange to demonstrate the presence of a constructs was verified through a procedure proposed by Bagozzi
relationship (Czepiel, 1990; Dwyer, Schurr and Oh 1987). Gundlach, and Phillips (1982). According to these authors, the discriminant
Achrol and Mentzer (apud Garbarino and Johnson 1999) argue that validity between two estimated constructs can be evaluated through
there must be a current behavioral investment in the relationship, a the restriction to the parameter unit (1) that indicates such correla-
psychological bond of commitment, and a relationship that endures tion. A chi-square significantly lower when the correlation is not
over time. In the present study, we segment the sample in the restricted to zero indicates that the constructs are not perfectly
following way: relational clients were those who had used the correlated and that the discriminant validity is achieved. The result
services of a company three times or more and have had positive of this test showed that all the constructs were found properly
experiences with it (n=68). This last aspect has to do with commit- distinct from one another.
ment, because to be committed to the company a customer needs to
be satisfied with the previous contacts he/she has had with the firm. 4.4. Overall Fit of the Structural Model
Besides, in this kind of service (car repair) warranties are often After the model’s measurement exam, the focus of this study
used, and repetitive consumption may not represent an effective turned to the theoretical structure, which establishes the moderator
relationship. The transactional customers were those who had not effect on the nomological relationships between the constructs.
used the company’s services before the episode, which caused the Following the process done by Singh et al. (1996), we estimated the
problem (n=106). The remainder customers in the sample were Service Recovery model of Figure one through Multiple Group
excluded for the mean difference across groups and the moderating Structural Equations modeling (Table two). Overall, model fit
effect analyses. statistics were satisfactory (c2=1409.455, df=939, χ2/df=1,50,
First we analysed the differences of means between transac- NFI=0,92, NNFI=0,97, CFI=0,97 e RMSEA=0.05). Subsequently,
tional and relational clients related to all constructs of the model. based on the Lagrange-multiplier test (Byrne 1994), parameters
Table one summarizes this analysis. were released to improve significantly the model. Unlike the
As predicted by the partnering theory, some of the largest measurement parameters, the estimated structural parameters de-
differences are in the trust, value and loyalty measures, which pict one differential relationship across the two groups of consum-
distinguish consumers “partners” from consumers oriented to sin- ers. It refers to the impact of the satisfaction with the complaint
gular exchanges (Berry, 1995). Thus, the assumption that we are handling on the consumers’ trust.
dealing with high and low relational customers is well supported. The estimated structural parameters, presented in Table two,
provide support for six out of seven nomological relationships
4.3. Measurement Model Analysis specified in the model. These relations reflect the impact of: 1)
The convergent validity was supported, basically, because all interactional justice on satisfaction; 2) distributive justice on satis-
items, without exception, presented high and significant factorial faction; 3) satisfaction on consumer trust; 4) satisfaction on con-
coefficients in the proposed constructs. The estimated parameters sumer loyalty; 5) trust on consumer loyalty; 6) perceived value on
reveal that the standardized factor loadings, without exception, are consumer loyalty. The hypothesized procedural justice impact on
statistically significant and substantively large (from 0,54 to 0,91, the satisfaction with the complaint episode was not significant.
t-values>6,97). In addition, the composite reliability estimates The results in Table two also indicate only one different
ranged from .66 to .81 (perceived value and interpersonal justice, relationship between the two groups of consumers. It is the impact
respectively), and variance extracted from .52 to .85 (procedural of the satisfaction with the complaint handling on consumers’ trust.
justice and loyalty, respectively). This is an evidence to the internal While for relational consumers the impact of satisfaction on
consistence between the multiple indicators of a variable, empha- trust is 0.65, for transactional consumers it is 0.88. This result
TABLE 2
Estimated Coefficients for the Nomological Relationships in the Service Recovery Model across groups
Dependent variable: Transactional Client Relational Client
Satisfaction with complaint handlinga
R2 0,86 0,86
Interpersonal justice–Satisfaction 0,27 (2,07)c 0,27 (2,07)
Procedural Justice–Satisfaction 0,09 (0,40) 0,09 (0,40)
Distributive Justice–Satisfaction 0,68 (5,06) 0,68 (5,06)
Dependent variable: Trust
R2 0,72 0,54
Satisfaction–Trust 0,88 (7,44) 0,65 (5,97)
Dependent variable: Loyalty
R2 0,68 0,68
Satisfaction–Loyalty 0,19 (2,05) 0,19 (2,05)
Trust–Loyalty 0,62 (6,11) 0,62 (6.11)
Perceived value-Loyalty 0,54 (5,48) 0,54 (5,48)
c Most nomological relationships were constrained to be equal across the two groups. Only the relationship between satisfaction and trust
was indicated to be released by the LM test. The unstandardized coefficient in bold is statistically significant and differs significantly across
the groups. T-values are in parenthesis.
corroborates the idea that for transactional consumers, the com- efficient use of time, promptness answers, and other questions
plaint resolution has a bigger importance in molding their trust in related to procedures (Santos and Singh, 2000).
the company, because it is their first experience with the company The impacts of the satisfaction, trust and value level on
and strongly indicates the level of company commitment to them. consumer loyalty were confirmed by the results. However, the
On the other hand, relational clients are affected by the specific maintenance of the same level of relationships between loyalty and
episode, but also use previous experiences with the firm to build its antecedents-satisfaction, trust and value–differs from Garbarino
their trust judgments. It is important to note that satisfaction and Johnson’s (1999) idea. According to these authors, for transac-
explained more trust variance among transactional (.72) than among tional customers, satisfaction with complaint handling would have
relational costumers (.54). So, the first group would tend to exhibit great impact in loyalty, and trust would not affect loyalty, while for
a trust behavior driven basically by the level of satisfaction with the relational customers, only trust would affect loyalty.
complaint handling; by contrast, the last group may also consider Although the two distinct types of customers presented the
the past experiences with the organization, besides the complaint same impact of satisfaction, trust and value on loyalty, these
episode. For them, satisfaction would be an important element (but impacts were substantialy significant. Trust had a main effect (.62),
not the only one) in building or depleting their confidence in the while value a secondary (.54) and satisfaction a peripheral effect on
company. loyalty (.19). The main impact of trust on loyalty confirms that high
The other parameters remained equal. The effects of the levels of trust lead consumers to believe that the company will have
interactional and distributive justice perceptions on the satisfaction a consistent and competent performance in the future, guaranteeing
with the complaint handling were confirmed by the results. On the that the consumer will continue obtaining profits in future busi-
other hand, the procedural justice impact on the final satisfaction nesses with the same supplier. As such, trust will reduce the risk in
was not significant. The R2 of 0.86 indicates that the personal relational exchanges contributing to loyalty feelings.
treatment, the tangible results achieved through the complaint The reasonable effect of perceived value on loyalty (regres-
explained an expressive proportion (86%) of the variance in the sion coefficient .35) demonstrates that the cost vs. benefits’ evalu-
final satisfaction levels of the consumer, regardless of being trans- ations influence loyalty levels. It means that, even when the
actional or relational clients. company manages efficiently the complaint, consumer may defect
Some reasons can be raised for the weak effect of the proce- if he/she perceived the company as providing a poor value ex-
dural justice. Among them, it should be noted the cultural differ- change.
ences present between Brazil and North-America, where most The peripheral direct impact of satisfaction on loyalty should
studies in this area have been carried out. These differences are be considered with it’s indirect effect, through the impact of
related to the great relevance given by North-Americans to the satisfaction on trust. Analysing this indirect effect we can see that
aspects related to internal control on processes, appropriate and it is fundamental to satisfy relational as well as transactional
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Failure and Recovery on Satisfaction: An Approach from Script Theory
Benjamín Sierra Díez, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Carlos Falces Delgado, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
Rebeca Bautista, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
EXTENDED ABSTRACT impact on evaluation depends on the result. If they solve the
Many Works on service encounters have investigated the interruption, the consumer will feel satisfied; if not, the consumer
impact of experience of failures and corrective actions of judge- will feel dissatisfied. Errors in the service will be understood as
ments of satisfaction (Folkes 1984; Maxham III and Netenmayer interruptions. Their impact on satisfaction will be more intense
2002; McColl-Kennedy and Spark 2003; McCollough and Berry, when the incongruence is greater between the perception and the
Yadav 2000; Smith and Bolton 1999, 2002; Tax, Brown and script. Therefore, the impact of the obstacles will be greater then
Chandrashekaran 1998). For example, the impact of cognitive that of the errors. Considering that affective states affect the use of
antecedents has been analysed, such as attribution (Folkes 1984) or scripts (Bless 2000), it is expected that their weight in judgements
perceived justice (Tax, Brown and Chandrashekaran 1998), as has will be greater when the interruption is not solved. In this experi-
been emotional responses (Smith and Bolton, 2002), the type and mental condition, the difference between obstacle and error will be
magnitude of the failures (Wun, Beatty and Jones 2004) or the type greater than in the rest.
of corrective action (Bell and Zemke 1987). Participants were 61 university students who were habitual
There is evidence that knowledge of routine activities such as users of a cafeteria service. A factorial 2x2 within-subjects design
dining in a restaurant, going shopping or going to work are repre- was employed. The factors were the type of interruption of the script
sented in scripts (Bozinoff and Roth 1983; Bower, Black and (obstacle vs. error) and the result of the corrective action (positive
Turner 1979; Smith and Houston 1986: Stoltman, Tapp and Lapidus, vs. negative). Each participant read the description of eight scenes
1989). It has been found that this type of cognitive structure (two for each experimental group). The descriptions differed in the
intervenes in evaluations (Alba and Hutchinson 1987; Peracchio type of interruption and the result of the corrective action. After
and Tybout 1996). Nonetheless, until now the impact of service reading each description they evaluated their satisfaction on a rating
failures and their corrective actions on judgements of satisfaction scale (Oliver 1997). The results are consistent with the hypothesis.
has not been analysed from within script theory. The impact of the service errors and the corrective actions on
Script theory has been used to model the role of the consumer satisfaction could be explained by the type of interruption of the
in encounters with services (Bateson 2002; Mhor and Bitner 1991; script and by the result of the corrective action.
Solomon, Surprenant, Czepiel and Gutman 1985). A script is a This study had two objectives: a) replicate the results of the
cognitive structure that describes the series of actions appropriate first study with different services, and b) examine the effect of the
for a particular context (Schank and Abelson 1977), such as going relevance of the actions of the script on the judgements with failed
to a restaurant or to the doctor. The script generates the expectations satisfactory and unsatisfactory encounters. The actions of the script
which guide behaviour and contribute rules for evaluating the varied in relevance (Bower et al, 1979; Maki 1991). It has been
actions of others (Smith and Houston 1983). If the script is suffi- observed that schematic processing is more probable in little-
ciently elaborated (Abelson 1981) it can identify interruptions in relevant situations then in highly relevant situations (Sujan 1985).
the sequence of actions. Schank and Abelson (1977) described two Therefore, the impact of the interruptions and the corrective actions
types of interruptions: a) obstacles, defined as the failure to meet a on satisfaction may vary according to the relevance of the inter-
condition which impedes normal development of the script, and b) rupted action. It was expected that the effect of this triple interaction
errors, which are produced when an action acquires an inappropri- would be greater when the interruption is produced in an action with
ate value. An obstacle in the service at a restaurant would be to have low relevant and which results to be satisfactory. In this condition,
a reservation in the non-smoking section, only to arrive and have all the difference between the impact of obstacles and errors will be
the tables occupied. An error would be to find that the table reserved greater than in the others. 200 university students participated. A
was in the smoking section. Schank and Abelson indicate that when factorial 2x2x2 design was employed. The factors were relevant of
a script is interrupted, actions are initialized to solve the interrup- the interrupted action (high vs. low), type of interruption (obstacle
tion. In the case of the obstacle, a corrective action would be to ask vs. interruption) and corrective action. For each one of 10 services,
the waiter to prepare another table, and in the case of the error, to 8 scenes were elaborated which varied in the relevance of the action,
change the table to the non-smoking section. the type of interruption and the result of the corrective action. Each
It has been found that product schemas intervene in evaluation participant read the 8 distinct descriptions. The satisfaction was
(Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Peracchio and Tybout 1996; measured as in the previous study. The results showed the expected
Stayman, Aldem and Smith 1992). This effect has been explained effect of the triple interaction on the judgements of satisfaction.
from within the framework of the hypothesis of Mandler (1982). The objective of this work was to study the impact of service
According to Mandler, the perception of a stimulus in a situation errors and corrective actions on judgements of satisfaction in the
incongruent with the expectations generated by a schema initiates theoretical frame of scripts. The results indicate that the script
a cascade of arousal and cognitive elaboration, such that the greater intervenes in the judgments of satisfaction. If these results could be
the degree of incongruence, the greater the level of activation. The confirmed, the models which intend to explain the impact of service
result is satisfactory if the cognitive elaboration resolves the incon- errors and their corrective actions would need to include general
gruence between the perceived and expected, and unsatisfactory structures of knowledge as modulator variables of judgements of
otherwise. satisfaction.
To predict the impact of service errors and corrective actions
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Volume 1, © 2006
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of Consumer Expertise,” Journal of Consumer Research, 13 customers’ emotional responses to service failures on their
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Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference
Tina M. Lowrey, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
L. J. Shrum, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT when the product category was an SUV or hammer. Thus, we
Phonetic symbolism refers to the notion that the sounds of expected a sound by product category interaction. This in fact was
words convey meaning apart from their semantic connotation, and what we found. In general, the predicted word preference emerged
research in this area has a long history. A number of researchers by about a 2-1 margin and the interaction was significant. However,
have shown that certain vowel sounds (e.g., the ih in “mill”) convey we expected a different pattern of results when the words contained
certain impressions (e.g., small, fast) whereas other sounds (e.g., sounds associated with disgust. In this case, we expected the words
the ah in “mall”) convey other impressions (e.g., large, slow; see with ah sounds to be preferred over words with ew sounds, regard-
Sapir 1929). Recent consumer research has sought to apply these less of product category. These expectations were confirmed as
notions to the phonetic symbolism of brand names (Klink 2000; well, again by about a 2-1 margin.
Lowrey, Shrum, and Dubitsky 2003; Yorkston and Menon 2004). In the second experiment, we changed the procedure slightly.
In two of these studies, researchers have shown that specific vowel Rather than varying product category, we instead held the product
sounds convey perceptions related to size, taste, and attractiveness category constant but primed attributes associated with the product
(Klink 2000; Yorkston and Menon 2004). These studies have also category. We used beer as a product category, and asked partici-
shown that names in which phonetic symbolism compliments the pants to choose which word (from the same word pairs used in the
product category (e.g., creamy ice cream, Yorkston and Menon first experiment) they preferred for either a “cool, clean, crisp”
2004; soft shampoo, Klink 2001) are preferred over brand names tasting beer or a “smooth, rich, creamy” tasting beer (this manipu-
without such complimentarity. lation was between subjects). We expected that words with front
One explanation for these findings is the front/back distinction vowel sounds would be preferred over words with back vowel
for classifying vowels, which refers to the highest point of the sounds for the former description but just the opposite for the latter
tongue when pronouncing a sound. For example, the highest description. However, as in the first experiment, we expected that
position of the tongue is more toward the front of the mouth for bee the words with aw sounds would be preferred over words with ew
than for bin, and more toward the back for boot than for bin (Klink sounds regardless of the primed description. This was in fact the
2000). Klink found front vowels conveyed meanings of smaller, pattern of results we observed.
quicker, sharper, whereas back vowels conveyed the opposite
qualities of larger, slower, duller. Conclusion
What has not been investigated in a marketing context is The results provide strong evidence that sounds of words do
whether there are vowel sounds that are generally perceived as convey meaning and that this meaning has implications for brand
positive or negative (regardless of attribute congruence). In a recent name preference. We demonstrated these effects in a rigorous and
study of the names of political candidates, there was indirect controlled environment. We used non-words in order to avoid
evidence for such an effect (Smith 1998). Smith hypothesized that previously formed perceptions of words or brand names. We varied
certain vowel sounds are often used to express disgust (e.g., phooey, only one letter in the word pairs to avoid effects of other linguistic
“eeewww”). Thus, candidates with last names containing such variables. Within this context, we were able to show that the
sounds (e.g., Dewey, Buchanan) might be less favorably perceived preference for words with particular vowel sounds varied as a
than other candidates. Using county election rosters, Smith found function of products and their associated attributes. However, this
that 73% of favorably-named candidates won their elections. was the case only when the vowel sounds used were in the form of
We conducted two experiments that were designed to extend im versus om words. When the same distinction was made, but the
the research on the relation between phonetic symbolism, attribute front vowel sound was also culturally associated with expressions
congruence, and brand name preference, and to also investigate the of disgust (ew words), the ew words were always less preferred than
possibility that certain sounds convey generally negative meaning. the aw words.
In the first experiment, we created a series of fictitious brand names
that varied only by one vowel, which consequently varied the sound REFERENCES
of the word (whether the sound was a front or back vowel sound). Klink, Richard R. (2000), “Creating Brand Names With
Thus, participants were given word pairs such as nillen/nallen, Meaning: The Use of Sound Symbolism,” Marketing Letters,
gimmel/gommel, and so forth, and asked to choose which word they 11 (1), 5-20.
preferred as a brand name. We also varied (between subjects) the Lowrey, Tina M., L. J. Shrum, and Tony M. Dubitsky (2003),
product category of the brand such that the attributes connoted by “The Relation Between Brand-Name Linguistic Characteris-
the front vowel sound (small, fast, sharp) would be complimentary tics and Brand-Name Memory,” Journal of Advertising, 32
for one product category (convertible, knife) but not the other (3), 7-17.
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vowel sound (large, slow, dull) should fit with the one category Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 225-239.
(SUV, hammer) but not the other (convertible, knife). We also Smith, Grant W. (1998), “The Political Impact of Name
varied a different sound that is associated with generally negative Sounds,” Communication Monographs, 65 (2), 154-172.
meaning (the ew sound noted earlier). Within the same study, Yorkston, Eric A., and Geeta Menon (2004), “A Sound Idea:
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pawdex, fewtip/fawtip for the same product categories. Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (1), 43-51.
We expected that participants would prefer words with front
vowel sounds over words with back vowel sounds when the product
category was a convertible or a knife, but that they would prefer
words with back vowel sounds over words with front vowel sounds
Volume 1, © 2006
The Effect of Arousal on Brand Memory in Online Advergames: A Multi-Method Approach
Monica D. Hernandez, Kansas State University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT and six electrodes across the chest of the participant. The partici-
The term arousal and its synonyms alertness, activation, and pants were provided with instructions for the advergames in their
excitation describe a process that energizes behavior and affects native language. The participants were instructed to play each game
non-exclusively cognitive performance (Ragazzoni 1998). Arousal for 5 minutes. During a total of 15 minutes of playing, the partici-
indicates the level of activation associated with an emotional pants were exposed to the brands several times. Simultaneously, a
response, and could be measured on a continuum with very excited complete 12-lead EKG was recorded on EKG paper at specific
at one extreme to calm at the other end (Bolls, Lang and Potter intervals for each game. Specifically, EKGs were recorded at 15
2001). From the consumer behavior perspective, few studies had seconds after starting each game and at 2 minutes 30 seconds of
addressed the effect of arousal on different online aspects, includ- gameplay. In addition, the researcher recorded the facial, verbal
ing Internet shopping experience, consumer’s attitudes, and and/or corporal expression of the participant. Following the
consumer’s site evaluation and purchase intention. gameplay, participants completed the questionnaires including
Advergaming is the delivery of advertising messages through both recall and recognition tests.
electronic games. Extensive exposure to the brands is a distinctive Regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.
feature offered by this technique. No previous study has addressed The results supported the claim that arousal has a negative effect on
the effect of arousal in the context of advergaming, which is usually recall memory in the advergaming context. While there was effect
characterized by emotional intensity. Moreover, no previous study of arousal on recall test (Adjusted R2=.217), there was no effect for
has applied a multi-method approach to address this issue. Our the recognition test (Adjusted R2=.040). This indicated that the
study aimed to fill this gap by applying a multi-method approach to arousal measures only explained recall tests and not recognition
measure the effect of arousal on short-term brand memory in the tests results.
context of online advergaming. The study procedures used three The most robust finding was the effect of physiological
measures to overcome the possible drawbacks inherent to each measures on recall tests. The impact of the heart rate scores was the
approach. Specifically, self-reported, behavioral and physiological most salient. Results of the experiment demonstrated the impor-
(heart rate) measures were used. tance of including physiological measures when assessing arousal
Consistent with Tavassoli’s (1995) findings, two studies found in online advergames. Results also indicated that the physiological
a negative effect of arousal on short-term ad recall in the Super measures contributed more to the memory results followed by the
Bowl context. Among the Pavelchak, Antil, and Munch (1988) self-reported measures, and the behavioral measures contributed
findings, both pleasure and arousal were necessary dimensions to very little.
characterize the effects of emotion on ad recall. However, arousal Our multi-method approach revealed a conflict between the
demonstrated a higher impact on recall. Newell, Henderson, and positive relationship between self-reported with memory and nega-
Wu (2001) concluded that programs evoking strong emotional tive relationships of both physiological and behavioral measures
reactions inhibit ad and brand recall. Emotional intensity empha- with memory. Although the behavioral measures contributed less to
sizes arousal, which narrows attention to the stimuli responsible for the explanation of brand memory, they occurred in the same
the emotional experience and subsequently inhibits recall of other direction of the physiological measures. This finding was consis-
peripheral stimuli. One additional study found that a negative tent with the position regarding the suggested direct link between
relationship between arousal and recognition of sports sponsorship facial expressions and physiology. The conflict between the rela-
stimuli. Pham (1992) study concluded that arousal and involvement tionships might suggest that since heart rate measures assess phasic
account for a large proportion of recognition of sports sponsorship arousal, self-reported measures of arousal might measure a differ-
variance. Thus, the following hypotheses were posited: ent aspect of arousal (i.e. tonic arousal). Alternatively, it is impor-
tant to consider the time-lag of the self-reported measures versus the
H1a: Lower arousal levels correspond to greater brand recall simultaneous physiological and behavioral recording to the interac-
scores. tion of the stimuli.
H1b: Lower arousal levels correspond to greater brand recog- As a laboratory experiment, the study was susceptible to some
nition scores. limitations. The games selected for the study promote global brands
of an international corporation with considerable time in the mar-
The data collection procedure was conducted in an adapted lab ket. Therefore, some respondents might have retrieved brand infor-
with a computer and an electrocardiogram (hereafter, EKG) ma- mation based on past experience rather than based on the exposure
chine. The experimental stimuli consisted of designated exposure in the advergame. Despite the limitations, this study reinforces the
to selected sports advergames from nabiscoworld.com. Thirty need to triangulate measures when dealing with the effect of arousal
individuals voluntarily participated in the experiment. All partici- on memory in the online context, in order to provide guidelines into
pants were highly educated, from different cultural backgrounds an effective use of emotional measures and their effect in brand
(Chilean, Chinese, Korean, Lebanese, Malaysian, Mexican, Turk- memory among the diverse Internet audience.
ish and American).
Physiological data were recorded during exposure to brand REFERENCES
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recorded, and self-reported data were measured via a post-exposure Effects of Message Valence and Listener Arousal on
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the right and left wrists, two electrodes to the right and left ankles, Advertisements,” Communication Research, 28 (5), 627-651.

Volume 1, © 2006
Newell, Stephen J., Kenneth V. Henderson, and Bob T. Wu
(2001), “The Effects of Pleasure and Arousal on Recall of
Advertisements during the Super Bowl,” Psychology &
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Individual Differences in Sympathy and Empathy Responses to Media and Drama
Advertisements
Jennifer Edson Escalas, Vanderbilt University, USA
Barbara B. Stern, Rutgers University, USA
This research examines differences in individuals’ sympathy/ Based on a series of factor and LISREL analyses of a series of
empathy responses to media artifacts, such as books and movies, in pretests, we selected four seven-point scale items, anchored by not
relation to sympathy/empathy responses to drama commercials. at all descriptive/very descriptive, to measure individual differ-
We begin with clarification of the sympathy/empathy constructs ences in media empathy (IDME) and sympathy (IDMS):
and their application to media and advertising contexts. A convo-
luted history has led to a semantic muddle in which the terms Individual Difference in Media Empathy Scale Items
“sympathy” and “empathy” have become so intertwined that no two 1. I sometimes feel as if I have become one of the characters
researchers necessarily define them in the same way (Langfeld in a movie I am watching;
1920 [1967]). Unstable usage is traceable to a varied research 2. When I watch a movie, I often feel as if I am “in” it;
heritage from fields as disparate as psychology, aesthetics, theol- 3. After seeing a movie, I have felt as though I were one of the
ogy, literary criticism, and moral philosophy or ethics (Morrison characters;
1988). The consequence is a lack of threaded discourse not only 4. When I watch a good movie, I can very easily put myself
among fields, but also within consumer behavior research. in the place of a leading character.
As a prerequisite to clarification, we begin by differentiating
between responses to real-life situations and aesthetic creations, Individual Difference in Media Sympathy Scale Items
specifying that our definitions relate only to media responses 1. When I’m watching a movie, I try to understand what the
(Eisenberg et al. 1989). The need for such differentiation calls for characters are feeling;
a leap backwards to the late nineteenth century work of “psycho- 2. I usually try to understand what is bothering the characters
logical aestheticians” (Vivas and Krieger 1953, p. 277). The ratio- in a movie;
nale is that responses to advertising stimuli occur in the domain of 3. When I watch a movie, I try to understand what is motivat-
created media representations rather than that of real-life events. ing the characters’ actions;
The transition from real-life to media representation can be seen as 4. I am usually able to recognize the problems that the
follows: whereas someone might react with terror to the experience characters in a movie are facing.
of viewing a sinking ship, that same person might react with
enjoyment to the cinematic spectacle of the Titanic going under. EXPERIMENT
To summarize the sympathy/empathy distinction in the philo- A total of 154 undergraduate students at a southwestern
sophical, aesthetic, and psychological literatures (described in university participated in our experiment; each group saw one of
detail in our paper), we propose the salient characteristics of six, Clio award-winning classical drama commercials. Partici-
sympathy applicable to responses to media dramas to be: cognitively pants’ sympathy and empathy responses to the ads were measured
determined, emanating from an individual’s predilection to distin- using the scales developed by Escalas and Stern (2003). Detailed
guish between another’s experience and his/her own, and demon- analysis of the eight individual differences items developed above
strated by an individual’s comprehension of another’s state or shows that IDMS and IDME are unidimensional, reliable, and
circumstances. That is, a sympathy response is volitional and empirically distinct. Confirmatory factor analysis provides evi-
cognitive in that it requires self-other differentiation; it is control- dence of both construct validity and discriminant validity. The
lable in that an individual comprehends another’s feelings in a IDMS and IDME scales are significantly but moderately correlated
performance of emotions, but does not share them. In contrast, an (r=.26) and have solid internal consistency (IDMS a=.91, IDME
empathy response is involuntary, unself-conscious, and affective in a=.85). Next, we briefly summarize our hypotheses and the corre-
that the self merges with another person or object. As a response to sponding empirical results.
a created work, empathy refers to a person’s capacity to feel within In consumer research, classical dramas ads are characterized
an object outside of the self (Langfeld 1920 [1967]). When experi- by unified linear plots, causality, a dramatic turning point, character
encing an empathic response to aesthetic stimuli, individuals iden- development and interaction (Stern 1994). Because classical dra-
tify “with a particular character in a film, book, or play” (Mercer mas show characters engaged in actions to achieve their goals, these
1972, p. 15) such that the empathizer completely forgets his/her scenarios may be matched to an individual’s personal history,
own “personal existence” in experiencing “the feelings of the leading to sympathy and empathy responses. Our empirical results
characters” (Delacroix, 1927, p. 281). Thus, empathy stems from support the hypothesis that an increase in classical drama elements
the perspective of a participant caught up in the dramatic world, enhances sympathy and empathy ad responses. Further, we predict
experiencing a vicarious automatic emotional reaction (Eisenberg that interruptions to the drama unfolding in the advertisement, due
et al., 1989). to voice-overs by an announcer, text overlays, product shots, etc.,
will diminish the commercial’s capacity to evoke sympathy and
SCALE DEVELOPMENT empathy because interruptions will disrupt the viewer’s recogni-
The introduction of individual differences in sympathy and tion of (sympathy) and the absorption in (empathy) the ad’s por-
empathy responses to media artifacts into consumer research re- trayal of emotions. Our experimental data reveal that interruptions
quires measurement instruments for both constructs. To develop lead to lower levels of ad response sympathy, providing only
two new scales, we first reviewed the sympathy and empathy scales directional support for a reduction in ad response empathy.
used in current psychological research (Davis 1980, Mehrabian and We predict that individual differences in the propensity to
Epstein 1972) and consumer behavior research (Boller et al. 1989). respond with sympathy or empathy to media artifacts will influence

Volume 1, © 2006
advertising responses 1) directly, and 2) indirectly, by moderating Eisenberg, Nancy and Paul A. Miller (1987b), “The Relation of
the effect of properties of dramatic advertisements. In terms of a Empathy to Prosocial and Related Behaviors,” Psychological
direct effect, our experimental results confirm that general media Review, 101 (1), 91-119.
response tendencies affect corresponding ad sympathy/empathy Eisenberg, Nancy and Janet Strayer (1987), “Critical Issues in
responses: IDMS affects ad response sympathy, but not empathy, the Study of Empathy,” in Empathy and its Development,
whereas IDME affects ad response empathy, but not sympathy. In Nancy Eisenberg and Janet Strayer (eds.), Cambridge:
terms of an indirect effect, we predict that the ability of classical Cambridge University Press, 3-16.
drama elements to evoke sympathy/empathy will be stronger for Escalas, Jennifer Edson and Barbara B. Stern (2003), “Sympathy
viewers who are predisposed to feel sympathy/empathy towards and Empathy: Emotional Responses to Advertising Dramas,”
media, as these viewers may be more sensitive to the classical Journal of Consumer Research, 29: 4 (March), 566-578.
aspects of media presentations that evoke these emotional re- Escalas, Jennifer Edson (2004), “Narrative Processing: Building
sponses. Supporting this notion, our experiment finds that individu- Consumer Connections to Brands,” Journal of Consumer
als who are high in IDME respond with more empathy to ads with Psychology, 14: 1 & 2, 168-179.
many classical elements, while consumers low in IDME do not Fogle, Richard Harter (1949 [1962]), The Imagery of Keats and
appear to be affected by the number of classical elements. Shelley: A Comparative Study, Chapel Hill: University of
In reference to dramatic interruptions, we predict that the North Carolina Press.
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tive effect. Our experiment finds an interactive effect of IDMS and Accuracy, New York: The Guilford Press, 311-340.
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37.
When Losses Loom Even Larger: The Moderating Role of Relationship Norms
Pankaj Aggarwal, University of Toronto, Canada
Meng Zhang, University of Toronto, Canada
EXTENDED ABSTRACT consumers more loss averse. The first two studies use standard
Prospect theory states that people interpret outcomes not as endowment effect experiments while the third study uses a more
end-states but as gains and losses relative to a reference point. direct measure to assess participants’ perceived loss aversion.
Removing a good from the endowment reflects a loss while adding Study 1 uses students as participants and measures their
the same good (to an endowment without it) reflects a gain. relationship with the university. Participants are divided into com-
Furthermore, the value function for losses is steeper than the value munal and exchange groups based on a median split. Participants
function for gains, v (x) <-v (x), where v is the value of x. As such, then go through the standard endowment effect experiment using a
losses loom larger than gains resulting in people generally being coffee mug with the university name and logo on it. Results show
averse to losses (Kahneman and Tversky 1979). Thaler (1980) that both sets of participants show significant endowment effect.
termed this increased value of a good when it becomes part of the Further, even though there were no differences in their buying
individual’s endowment the endowment effect. Recent research prices ($4.08 vs. $4.22), participants in the communal relationship
has identified factors that moderate the strength of the loss aversion stated a significantly larger selling price for the mug displaying
and endowment effect, for example, source dependence stronger loss aversion than those in the exchange condition ($9.12
(Loewenstein and Issacharoff 1994), transaction demand (Mandel vs. $6.23).
2002), and symbolic value of products (McGraw, Tetlock, and Study 2 replicates the results of study 1 but instead of measur-
Kristel 2003). The present research proposes one other potential ing the relationship norms study 2 manipulates them by using a
moderator of loss aversion: the type of relationship that consumers scenario description of a social interaction. Endowment effect
form with the product. experiment using a plain mug conducted subsequent to this rela-
A growing body of literature in marketing has drawn upon tionship manipulation shows that, as before, there were no differ-
social psychology to understand consumer-brand relationships, ences in the stated buying prices of participants in the communal
and has noted that people differ in how they relate to brands and exchange conditions ($1.88 vs. $2.04). However, loss aversion
(Fournier 1998; Muniz, Jr. and O’Guinn 2001). In particular, experienced by participants in the communal condition was signifi-
Aggarwal (2004) finds that consumers use norms of relationship as cantly larger than that in the exchange condition, as revealed by
a lens to evaluate a brand: consumers’ evaluations differ depending their stated selling prices ($5.32 vs. $3.60).
on the type of their relationship with the brand. Two types of Study 3 tests the overall hypothesis by more directly examin-
relationships are examined: exchange relationships in which people ing the participants’ loss aversion coefficient. Adapting from prior
provide benefits to others to get something back from them; and research (Schmidt and Traub 2002), participants were administered
communal relationships in which benefits are given to take care of two tasks that required them to provide dollar values that made two
others’ needs and to demonstrate concern for their well being (Clark particular gambles worth playing. Greater loss aversion would
and Mills 1993). suggest that participants should require greater dollar amounts to
In this research, we propose that the distinctive norms of persuade them to gamble. Results show that participants in the
exchange and communal relationships will also lead consumers to communal condition indicated a significantly larger dollar amount
demonstrate different magnitudes of loss aversion. Norms of a ($884) than those in the exchange condition ($217) to play a gamble
communal relationship, relative to those of an exchange relation- that had an equal likelihood to lose $100. Similar results were
ship, will result in a stronger loss aversion. Two reasons argue for observed for a gamble that had an equal likelihood of losing $200
this hypothesis. First, relationship norms lead consumers to treat (Mcom=$890 vs. Mexch=$312), further supporting the overall
gains and losses differently. Norms of exchange relationship sug- hypothesis. Furthermore, the three studies carefully ruled out
gest that people be attentive to the net balance of inputs and output alternative explanations like affect and perception of quality.
in the relationship. This means that people are more likely to Our studies, to the best of our knowledge, are the first to
compute the net of gains and losses. Given that the value function demonstrate that mere salience of relationship norms makes con-
of losses is steeper than that of gains, aggregating losses with gains sumers systematically more or less loss averse. Given that the
is likely to result in the subsequent behavior being consistent with salience of relationship norms can be influenced using different
lower loss aversion levels. Second, different relationship norms marketing tools, marketers can play a significant role in making
may lead to the experience of loss being different for the two sets consumers more loss averse towards their brand making them less
of consumers. When communal norms are salient the endowed likely to switch to competitive brands. This has huge implications
option is akin to a friend or a family member and hence more likely on issues relating to brand loyalty–and opens up some exciting
to be incorporated into the consumer’s extended self (Belk 1988). opportunities for future research.
Due to self-enhancing bias that leads to enhanced evaluation of
others with whom people have an association (Beggan 1992), an REFERENCES
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Volume 1, © 2006
30 / When Losses Loom Even Larger: The Moderating Role of Relationship Norms
Clark, Margaret S. and Judson Mills (1993), “The Difference
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Context Effects on Consumer Choice: Do Brands Matter?
Leonardo Epstein, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile
EXTENDED ABSTRACT In a second study we test whether the findings of the first study,
A great deal of research has documented that consumers´ i.e., brand familiarity moderates the compromise effect, generalize
judgments and choices are affected by the context, in particular, the to situations where consumers are provided with quality and at-
relative positions of alternatives under consideration (e.g., Huber tribute information in addition to price. Moreover, in the second
and Puto 1983; Pan and Lehmann 1993; Simonson 1989; Simonson study, we test whether brand familiarity moderates preferences for
and Tversky 1992). For example, researchers have found that superior alternatives in a choice set. More specifically, we investi-
consumers prefer alternatives that are in superior or compromise gate whether brand familiarity is a stronger influence than objective
positions in the choice set. A superior position is one in which an attribute information on choice when consumers are able to assess
alternative dominates other alternatives on one or more product tradeoffs between attributes and determine that some alternatives
attributes, whereas a compromise alternative is one that is posi- are superior in terms of the attributes. We predict that superior
tioned between other non-dominated alternatives (e.g., Simonson alternatives in a choice set will be preferred to relatively inferior
1989). alternatives, independent of the relative familiarity of the brands.
While the studies establishing these context effects and its To test this prediction and retest findings from study one with
moderators have certainly contributed to our understanding of expanded information we use a 2x4 between-subjects factorial
consumer choice, their generalizability to more realistic market design. The two factors are the relative level of familiarity of the
settings may be limited because these effects have been tested competitors compared to the entrant (less/more familiar) and
almost exclusively in choice situations where alternatives are entrant position (extreme /assimilated compromise /superior /
presented without brand names. It is rarely the case in the market- inferior). The extreme and assimilated compromise positions are
place where an option in a choice set would be introduced as Brand the same, non-dominated, positions used in study one. The rela-
X or Y, rather with a real brand name. Brands play an important role tively superior entrant position dominates the high quality competi-
and in some cases are the major determinant of choice (e.g., tor (HQC) and the relatively inferior entrant position is dominated
Heilman, Bowman, and Wright 2000; Hoyer and Brown 1990). For by the HQC. Since the pattern of results in study one is the same for
example, consumers often use their familiarity with a brand as a both parent brands we use only one parent brand.
risk-reducing cue in determining the value of an alternative (e.g., We find that the moderating effect of brand familiarity on the
Erdem and Swait 1998; Heilman, Bowman, and Wright 2000; preferences for compromise alternatives generalizes to situations
Hoyer and Brown 1990; Keller 1993). where consumers are provided with expanded information. Fur-
Thus, it is not clear how pervasive these context effects would ther, in situations where a choice alternative is superior, we find no
be in a more realistic setting that includes different brands within a moderation due to brand familiarity, i.e., preferences for superior
choice set. We address this issue by conducting two studies that alternatives are independent of the relative familiarity of the avail-
examine whether preferences for compromise and superior brands able brand alternatives.
in a choice set are moderated by the inclusion of real brands that In summary, our research suggests that the inclusion of branded
vary with respect to consumers‘ familiarity with each of these choice alternatives somewhat limits the generalizability of previ-
brands. ous compromise effect findings. In particular, preferences for
We predict that preferences for compromise alternatives will relatively more familiar brands in extreme positions than for less
be moderated by the relative brand familiarity of the choice alter- familiar brands in compromise positions, establishes a boundary on
natives, such that compromise brands that are more familiar than prior findings on the compromise effect. In situations where con-
extreme brands are going to be preferred, whereas, compromise sumers look for cues to reduce risk, it appears that brand name
brands that are less familiar than extreme brands are less preferred. familiarity is more diagnostic than the relative position of non-
Additionally, we expect that preferences for superior alternatives dominated alternatives in a choice set. The inclusion of brand
will not be moderated by the relative brand familiarity of the names is not just another moderating variable, it goes beyond that
alternatives. In the first study, to test whether the compromise effect as it represents a variable that is rarely, if ever, absent in any realistic
is moderated by brand familiarity, participants are presented with a choice situation. However, the results of study two indicate that
choice set containing three non-dominated, branded alternatives when one alternative is clearly better than another, the diagnosticity
that vary with respect their familiarity and price. No other attribute and reliance on cues, such as brand familiarity is diminished. These
information is provided. Therefore, there is no possibility of mak- findings are consistent with diagnosticity theory (e.g., Miyazaki et
ing tradeoffs between attributes. To test our prediction we use a al. 2005; Purohit and Srivastava 2001) and suggest that superiority
2x2x3 between-subjects factorial design. The three factors are effects are robust to brand familiarity cues. Finally, we discuss
parent brand of the product entrant (used as replicates with varying several strategic implications of our findings for decisions concern-
levels of quality), competitor brand familiarity (less/ more famil- ing positioning, and line extensions, as well as, assessments of a
iar), and entrant positioning (extreme/ assimilated compromise/ brand’s vulnerability to the entry or repositioning of competitors.
equidistant compromise). Competitor brand familiarity represents
situations in which competitor brands are relatively less familiar REFERENCES
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brands when they are relatively more familiar in that choice set.
Volume 1, © 2006
32 / Context Effects on Consumer Choice: Do Brands Matter?
Dowling, Grahame R. and Richard Staelin (1994), “A Model of
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Persuasive Communication in Health Decision Making: A Study of Risk Information Formats
Magdalena Cismaru, University of Regina, Canada
Mary J. Naus, University of Houston, USA
ABSTRACT accuracy. Meyer, Russo, and Talbot (1995) reported that the type of
This research investigated the effects of graphical representa- information remembered about various treatment options influ-
tion and attribute framing on the persuasiveness of a health mes- ences the treatment decision. McKelvie (2001), who investigated
sage. Two experiments, using two types of information delivery, the effects of free and forced retrieval instructions on true and false
revealed higher persuasion when positive framing was used with recall and recognition, reported that with both recall and recogni-
graphical representation. Positive framing was found to facilitate tion, when participants were correct (high accuracy and compre-
decision making in a preventive surgery context, consistent with hension), they were also certain about their responses. According to
existing literature. Results also suggest that, when compliance is Droge and Darmon (1987), higher clarity or comprehension leads
desired, practitioners should consider providing patients with a to higher confidence in beliefs. The results from these studies
graphical representation of important numerical information re- suggest that high recall, recognition, or comprehension will lead to
gardless of the way that information is delivered or of the numerical higher confidence. Based on these findings, it is expected that the
format used. utilization of appropriate graphs will enhance comprehension,
strengthen the decision making process and facilitate the develop-
INTRODUCTION ment of confidence in patients. This differs from typical health care
Decision making is a crucial component in the doctor-patient decision making where information is communicated exclusively
relationship. The physician has to determine what is wrong with the through an oral or written medium. In addition, it is anticipated that
patient and recommend treatment, while the patient has to decide a better understanding of the information provided will lead to
when to seek medical care and whether or not to comply with the higher persuasion when the information is perceived as favorable,
recommended treatment. Establishing a link between the physician’s in comparison to when the information is perceived as risky or
recommended treatment and the patient’s compliance with the unfavorable.
recommendation can result in a substantial reduction in illness,
morbidity and premature mortality (Department of Health and ATTRIBUTE FRAMING EFFECTS IN MEDICAL
Human Services 1991). DECISION CONTEXTS
Discussing the risks and benefits of treatment or care options For more than a decade, researchers have found that framing
available to the patient has been found to be an important part of message content, either positively or negatively, influences the
medical communication. However, the format, modality, and con- decision making processing. Health care professionals often pro-
text in which the information is presented to a patient have been vide information on the risks associated with their recommenda-
shown to have different effects (Winett and Kagel 1984). Research- tions to enhance “informed choices” (Elwyn, Edwards, and
ers and public health campaigners have attempted to determine the Kinnersley 1999) or to reduce risky behaviors (Menon, Block, and
most optimal communication format to maximize the persuasion of Ramanathan 2002). Research to date that has focused on cause-
their messaging. To date, research has focused on commonly made related or health-related areas such as breast cancer (Banks et al.
errors in judgment when making decisions (Baron and Bazerman 1995; Meyerowitz and Chaiken 1987), testicle cancer (Steffen et al.
2002). 1994), skin cancer, sexually transmitted diseases (Block and Keller
This study attempts to determine how best to present health 1995), and heart disease (Maheswaran and Meyers-Levy 1990)
information to patients as measured by their rate of compliance. The shows that framing message content, either positively or nega-
combined effect of the graphical representation and framing the tively, influences decision making processing.
information in terms of negative or positive consequences to The present study is consistent with attribute framing as it
enhance message communication was investigated using two dif- describes situations in terms of successes and failures when evalu-
ferent methods of delivering the information: written and oral. ating medical treatments (Levin, Schneider, and Gaeth 1998; Levin,
Further, the effect that a graphical representation has on persuasion Schnittjer, and Thee 1988). Literature on attribute framing shows
was considered when equivalent numerical information was pre- that the same alternative rates more favorably when surgery or
sented in a different format (i.e., percentages versus natural fre- another medical treatment is described in terms of survival rates
quencies). rather than mortality rates (Llewellyn-Thomas 1995; Marteau
1989; Rothman et al. 1993). Consequently, it has been predicted
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION that a treatment option will be judged as relatively more attractive
Graphical representation is important for problem solving. when the outcome is framed positively (i.e., in terms of survival)
Wainer (1982) stated that the goal of graphics is to communicate than when it is framed negatively (i.e., in terms of number of
information accurately and clearly. This suggests that comprehen- deaths).
sion of information is assisted when the number of dimensions
addressed by charts is limited and when information is presented in THE PRESENT RESEARCH
a clear, unambiguous format. The likelihood of effective commu- This study investigates how the use of graphical representa-
nication at higher levels of processing is enhanced when the display tion impacts the relationship between framing and persuasion. The
format of graphs is compatible with the presented information effects of framing and other manipulations on patient outcomes,
(Simcox 1981, 1984). Simcox also suggested that graphical aids reviewed by Edwards et al. (2001), reported only a single study that
might facilitate understanding across a wide range of individuals considered numerical and graphical presentation of information
with varying backgrounds. versus numerical information only. Greenwood, Ellis, and Gross
Findings in memory research have suggested that the greater (1992), compared two forms of health risk appraisal feedback, one
the retrieval accuracy, the greater one’s confidence is about such with numerical information, and the other with numerical and
Volume 1, © 2006
34 / Persuasive Communication in Health Decision Making: A Study of Risk Information Formats
graphical illustration of the individual’s data. The accuracy of Hanoch (2004) recently suggested that using natural frequen-
respondents’ risk perceptions were not reported but were assumed cies, instead of probabilities, provides more accurate information to
to show no change as the groups were combined for further analysis. the patient, who is then in a better position to judge whether a
No significant differences in intention to change behavior were medical treatment or procedure aligns with his/hers goals and
identified (Greenwood, Ellis, and Gross 1992). values. Consequently, both percentages (traditionally used) and
This research differs from Greenwood et al. (1992) in two natural frequencies (suggested to be more appropriate) were used in
important ways. First, Greenwood et al. (1992) investigated whether this study. A pie graph was selected to represent percentages (70%
a health risk appraisal produced a change in personal health knowl- and 30%), and rectangular graphical representations with bullets
edge or behavior when completed as part of a routine physical were used to depict natural frequencies (70 out of 100, and 30 out
examination. Knowledge was not considered in the present re- of 100). Half of the participants were not provided with any
search, rather, the effect of a graphical representation on the graphical representation, whereas the other half were provided with
likelihood of choosing an option recommended by the doctor and a graphical representation of the outcome rate: 70% (and 70 out of
the confidence in the decision made was investigated. Second, 100) that one will survive after the surgery, and 30% (and 30 out of
Greenwood et al. (1992) used two different appraisals: the Univer- 100) that one will die. Thus, four different graphical representations
sity of Minnesota Health Risk Appraisal 2.0 and Carter Center were used, consistent with the frame and the number representing
Healthier People Health Risk Appraisal. The present research used the outcome appeared near the graph. Students were directed to
identical hypothetical scenarios, with the only difference between follow the instructions in the booklet, read the scenario provided,
conditions being that half of the participants were provided with a and answer the questions that followed.
graphical representation of the numerical information contained in The first question assessed the likelihood of following the
the scenario, whereas the other half was not. In this way, the doctor’s recommendation using a 7-point Likert-type scale from 1-
researchers elected a laboratory format to provide systematic con- Extremely Unlikely to 7-Extremely Likely. To improve on previous
trol of the research variables. studies using a single measure of favorability of the decision,
The present research considered the combined effects of confidence in the decision was also measured using a 7-point Likert
framing and graphical representation on the likelihood of following type scale between 1-Extremely Unconfident to 7-Extremely Con-
a doctor’s recommendation and the patient’s confidence in the fident. Following Levin, Johnson, and Davis (1987), a combined
decision made in two studies that differed only in the format that the measure of the likelihood of following the recommendation and the
message was presented to the patient. The first study followed the confidence in their choice was created. This scale was sensitive to
procedure usually seen in literature where participants read a both the decision and its strengths, such that, for example, high
scenario describing the option. The second study simulated a values of likelihood and confidence meant that participants were
typical interaction between doctor and patient, where one of the not only very likely to choose the recommended option but also
researchers assumed the role of a health care professional and orally confident that they had made the right choice.
provided the scenario to the participants. Responses varied from 1 (Extreme Unlikely to choose the
recommended option and Extremely Unconfident about the deci-
STUDY 1: WRITTEN DELIVERY OF sion made) to 49 (Extremely Likely to choose the recommended
INFORMATION option and Extremely Confident about the decision made). Seeking
This study hypothesized that a graphical representation would higher persuasion, the higher values were considered to be of
enhance the effect of framing on message persuasiveness leading to particular interest. The two questions assessing the dependent
a higher likelihood of following the doctor’s recommendation and measures were followed by demographic information (race, age,
greater confidence in the decision under conditions of positive gender, and family history of cancer). At the end, participants were
framing. In the case of negative framing, it was expected that a thanked and debriefed. They received extra credit for their partici-
graphical representation would increase confidence in the decision pation.
made, but decrease the likelihood of following the doctor’s recom-
mendation as a result of the negatively perceived outcome. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Preliminary analysis indicated no significant differences re-
Participants, Design, Materials, and Procedure garding any of the demographic variables, and no significant
Two hundred and twenty-two undergraduate students from a differences were observed when comparing percentages and natu-
university in the United States were randomly assigned to one of ral frequencies. Consequently, groups were analyzed together. The
four experimental conditions in a 2 x 2 between subjects factorial results follow.
design consisting of framing (positive-will survive, negative-will
die) and graphical representation of the numerical information Likelihood of Choice
contained in the scenario (present, absent). The dependent variables A 2 (framing) x 2 (graphical representation) between subjects
were the likelihood of following the doctor’s recommendation and ANOVA on the likelihood of following the doctor’s recommenda-
the confidence in the decision made. High values were of particular tion revealed a significant interaction effect (F(3, 219)=2.745,
interest. p=.044). The positively framed message with graphical represen-
A short scenario, resembling real preventative surgery, was tation of the outcome rate was more persuasive than both the
provided to each participant to read. While realistic, the scenario positively framed message without graphical representation (M=5.07
presented was in less detail and complexity than it would be in the in comparison to 4.54) and the negatively framed messages with
real world. The scenario described the issue, prevalence, mortality and without graphical representation (M=4.19 and 4.56).
rates, and symptoms, along with the doctor’s recommendation to A significant main effect of framing was also observed (F(1,
undertake preventive surgery, which if not followed would place 221)=3.753, p=.054). Consistent with findings in existing litera-
the patient at risk of developing untreatable cancer. ture, positive framing led to higher persuasion than negative fram-
ing (M=4.80 and 4.38).
Likelihood of Following the Doctor’s Recommendation x RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Confidence Measure A marginally significant effect of age on all dependent mea-
A 2 (framing) x 2 (graphical representation) between subjects sures was observed (p’s=.06). A marginally significant effect of
ANOVA on the combined measure between the likelihood of gender on the likelihood of choosing the option multiplied by the
choice and confidence, revealed a significant interaction effect confidence measure was also observed (p=.07). No other signifi-
(F(3, 219)=2.542, p=.057), with no main effects of framing or cant differences were found.
graphical representation. The positively framed message with graphi-
cal representation representing the outcome rate was found more Likelihood of Following the Doctor’s Recommendation
persuasive than both the positively framed message without graphi- A 2 (framing) x 2 (graphical representation) between subjects
cal representation (M=24.78 in comparison to 19.63) and the ANCOVA controlling for age was completed on the likelihood of
negatively framed messages with or without graphical representa- choice. A significant interaction effect (F(3, 136)=3.33, p=.021)
tion (M=19.67 and 20.96). was observed. Positive framing with a graphical representation of
In short, results suggest that the provision of a graphical the outcome rate led to the most persuasive results (M=5.19 in
representation enhances persuasion in the case of positive framing comparison to 4.92 for positive framing and no graphical represen-
in written communication. Better results were obtained when the tation, 4.45 for negative framing with graphical representation
outcome was framed in positive terms (i.e., chances to live) and representing the outcome rate, and 4.05 for negative framing and no
participants were able to visualize a graphical representation of the graphical representation).
provided numerical information. In the case of negative framing, A main effect of framing on the likelihood of choice was also
the results were similar for both conditions-with or without graphi- observed (F(1, 138)=8.77, p=.004). Positive framing was found to
cal representation-indicating that the provision of a graphical be more persuasive than negative framing (M=5.09 and 4.22). No
representation does not influence the effects of framing on persua- other effects were found.
sion when the outcome is displayed in number of deaths. No
significant differences were obtained when using percentages in Likelihood of Following the Doctor’s Recommendation x
contrast to natural frequencies. An explanation of this null result Confidence Measure
might be the college student pool, trained to know that different A 2 (framing) x 2 (graphical representation) between subjects
numerical formats mean the same thing. ANCOVA controlling for age and gender revealed a marginally
significant interaction effect (F(3, 136)=2.19, p=.092). Positive
STUDY 2: ORAL DELIVERY OF THE framing with graphical representation led to higher compliance
INFORMATION rates than positive framing without graphical representation or
Research on the delivery of oral information in health care to negative framing with or without graphical representation (M=26.59
date has focused primarily on information retention, not on deci- in comparison to 24.50, 22.16 and 18.98).
sion-making and persuasion. For example, Thomson, Cunningham, A significant main effect of framing on the likelihood of
and Hunt (2001) compared the effectiveness of written, oral, and following the doctor’s recommendation multiplied by the confi-
graphical methods to provide orthodontic information in a study dence measure (F(1, 138)=4.41, p=.037) was also observed. Again,
assessing memory retention of information by patients and parents. positive framing was found to be more persuasive than negative
Although the results demonstrated little difference among the three framing (M=25.83 in comparison to 20.31). A marginally signifi-
methods, they did suggest that oral information should be supple- cant main effect of graphical representation on the combined
mented with written and/or visual information. Fylan and Grunfeld measure of likelihood and confidence was also found (F(1,
(2002) also reported that participants in their study expressed a 138)=3.54, p=.062). Graphical representation enhanced persua-
desire for both written and verbal information regarding eye exami- sion (M=24.71 in comparison to 20.96).
nation procedures and interpretation of prescriptions.
Based on these findings it was expected that the oral delivery DISCUSSION
of information, complemented by a graphical representation, would The two studies investigated the effect of a graphical represen-
increase comprehension and enhance the effects of framing on tation on the likelihood of following the doctor’s recommendation
persuasion. Specifically, it was predicted that in the case of positive and the patient’s confidence in the decision made. The results
framing, people would be more likely to choose the recommended replicated findings in earlier studies that concluded positive fram-
option and be more confident in the decision made when someone ing leads to higher persuasion than negative framing. The results
spoke the information to them and a graphical representation was also indicated that when a message is framed positively and
provided. In contrast, the oral delivery and provision of a graphical graphical representation is provided, there is a greater likelihood
representation framed negatively may increase the participants’ that patients will follow the doctor’s recommendation and that they
confidence in the decision made, but lead to a lower adoption rate will be more confident in the decision made.
of the doctor’s recommendation because of the negatively per-
ceived outcome. GENERAL DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The primary purpose of this research was to investigate how
Participants, Design, Materials, and Procedure the presentation of a graphical representation would impact on the
One-hundred and forty undergraduate students were ran- persuasiveness of a health communication by measuring both the
domly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions in a 2 x likelihood of following the doctor’s recommendation and the
2 between subjects factorial design consisting of framing (positive, patient’s confidence in the decision made. The effect of presenting
negative) and graphical presentation of the numerical information a graphical representation of the outcome rate in the context of
(present, absent). The scenarios were slightly modified to fit an oral attribute framing was investigated in a hypothetical health care
delivery. The same researcher orally presented the same scenario to context to allow for the systematic manipulation of a variety of
all of the participants who were randomly assigned to one of the informational variables.
conditions. All of the other aspects of methodology and procedure The results demonstrated that positive framing leads to higher
were identical to those in the first study. persuasion than negative framing in the context of a cancer treat-
36 / Persuasive Communication in Health Decision Making: A Study of Risk Information Formats
ment surgery, replicating the results from existing literature. The Levin, Irwin P., Richard D. Johnson, and Marja L. Davis (1987),
provision of a graphical representation representing the outcome “How Information Frame Influences Risky Decisions:
rate further increased the persuasiveness of the health communica- Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Comparisons,”
tion in the case of positive framing. Journal of Economic Psychology, 8 (1), 43-54.
Future research should evaluate these issues in an applied, Levin, Irwin P., Sandra L. Schneider, and Gary J. Gaeth (1998),
non-laboratory setting, with patients as participants, using more “All Frames Are Not Created Equal: A Typology and Critical
complex and realistic scenarios. The laboratory setting of this study Analysis of Framing Effects,” Organizational Behavioral
may have created an artificially low level of attention and involve- and Human Decision Processes, 76 (2), 149-88.
ment, while the college student sample may not generalize to more Levin, Irwin P., Sara K. Schnittjer, and Shannon L. Thee (1988),
vulnerable populations (e.g., patients). Also, although this study “Information Framing Effects in Social and Personal
incorporated confidence in the decision as an important component Decisions,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 24
of the decision process, additional measures such as recall, compre- (6), 520-29.
hension, and satisfaction with the decision, should also be consid- Llewellyn-Thomas, Hilary A. (1995), “Patients’ Health Care
ered (Edwards et al. 2001). Nevertheless, this research constitutes Decision-Making: A Framework for Descriptive and
a first step towards understanding how health information can be Experimental Investigations,” Medical Decision Making, 15,
communicated to maximize compliance. 101-06.
Maheswaran, Durairaj and Joan Meyers-Levy (1990), “The
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The Impact of the Guilt Emotion When Benefiting at the Expense of the Seller
Sarah Steenhaut, Ghent University, Belgium
Patrick Van Kenhove, Ghent University, Belgium
EXTENDED ABSTRACT for a behavioral change to occur due to guilt if one of the two
Guilt is “an individual’s unpleasant emotional state associated perspectives is made salient.
with possible objections to one’s own actions, inaction, circum- Together the results of these two studies point to the non-
stances, or intentions” (Baumeister, Stillwell and Heatherton 1994 negligible role of the guilt emotion in situations in which the
p.245). In the psychology literature a lot of attention has been consumer benefits at the expense of the seller. These findings
devoted to the vital role of guilt in behavioral tendencies as this contribute to a greater understanding of guilt in the consumer ethics
emotion is found to be a pervasive aspect of everyday life. In domain providing suggestions for strategies aimed at preventing
consumer behavior, however, the guilt emotion has been rather inappropriate consumer behavior in the retail setting. In addition,
neglected despite its identification as a key consumption emotion also more general implications can be discussed since the present
(Dahl, Honea and Manchanda 2003). In line with the increasing research contributes to the emerging stream of research on discrete
attention for discrete emotions in consumer behavior and behav- emotions by extending the limited range of specific emotions
ioral decision making research, the current research sought to get an investigated up till now (regret, anger, anxiety, and embarrass-
insight into the eliciting conditions, subjective feelings, and behav- ment). Following these implications, several suggestions for future
ioral consequences of the affective experience of guilt in consumer research can be put forward.
behavior. More specifically, as guilt is generally acknowledged as
a moral emotion, we used the context of questionable consumer REFERENCES
situations in which the consumer benefits at the expense of the seller Baumeister R.F., Stillwell A.M. and Heatherton T.F. (1994),
by committing a moral transgression (e.g. shoplifting, copying cds Guilt: An Interpersonal Approach, Psychological Bulletin,
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Since the pioneering study of Muncy and Vitell (1992) an important Dahl D.W., Honea H. and Manchanda R.V. (2003), The Nature
stream of research has emerged involving inappropriate consumer of Self-Reported Guilt in Consumption Contexts, Marketing
practices as these may compose a major problem for retailers (for Letters, 14 (3), 159-171.
a recent overview see Vitell 2003). Scrutinizing the role of guilt in Muncy J.A. & Vitell S.J. (1992), Consumer Ethics: An Investi-
the context of questionable consumer situations may contribute to gation of the Ethical Beliefs of the Final Consumer, Journal
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seller (while others do not), which in turn could be very helpful in Roseman I.J., Wiest C. and Swartz T.S. (1994), Phenomenology,
ultimately curtailing consumer misbehavior in the retail setting. Behaviors, and Goals Differentiate Discrete Emotions,
In a first study we explored the existence of guilt versus shame Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (2), 206-
feelings in various questionable situations which differentiated on 221.
two key themes of the guilt emotion: (1) perceived control and (2) Tangney J.P. (1992), Situational Determinants of Shame and
act of commission versus omission. As people may find it difficult Guilt in Young Adulthood, Personality and Social Psychol-
to differentiate the affective experiences of guilt and shame the ogy Bulletin, 18 (2), 199-206.
widely applied procedure of Roseman, Wiest and Swartz (1994) Tangney J.P. and Dearing R.L. (2002), Shame and Guilt, The
was used. This approach fully encompasses the experiential content Guilford Press New York.
of discrete emotions by concentrating on a wider range of states that Vitell S.J. (2003), Consumer Ethics Research: Review, Synthesis
are assumed to be central components of the emotional experiences and Suggestions for the Future, Journal of Business Ethics,
(feelings, thoughts, action tendencies, actions, and emotivational 43 (1-2), 33-47.
goals). The results confirmed our hypothesis that guilt, not shame,
is an important affective experience in situations in which the
consumer benefits at the expense of the seller.
In a second experiment we scrutinized two distinct theoretical
conceptualizations of the guilt emotion: the traditional self-evalu-
ation (intrapersonal) view and the more recent interpersonal per-
spective of the guilt emotion (Tangney & Dearing 2002). The
intrapersonal notion considers guilt to be a product of a negative
evaluation of one’s behavior compared to norms and standards of
appropriate behavior (Tangney 1992). The interpersonal view
states that guilt arises because of the negative interpersonal conse-
quences of one’s behavior (Baumeister et al. 1994). By experimen-
tally manipulating both norm violations and interpersonal conse-
quences, we found that the two notions separately cause guilt to
occur in questionable consumer situations. Furthermore, examin-
ing the consequent behavioral intentions, we found that guilt
(aroused by the intrapersonal or interpersonal theory) decreases
consumers’ intentions to benefit at the expense of the seller,
supporting the guilt emotion as an action control-mechanism.
However, when combining the two notions it seems to be sufficient
Volume 1, © 2006
How Consumers Build Trust in e-Commerce: Towards a Trust Formation Model
Kyösti Pennanen, University of Vaasa/Epanet, Finland
ABSTRACT expectation that the other will perform a particular action important
Although consumer trust in e-commerce has aroused much to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that
interest among researchers in the fields of consumer behaviour and other party.”
information systems, little research has been devoted to investigat- Many alternative conceptualisations of consumer e-trust exist
ing the methods consumers use to build trust in e-commerce. This in the fields of information systems and marketing (e.g., Gefen et al.
article partially fills the gap in the current literature by presenting 2003a; Lee and Turban 2001; McKnight et al. 2002; Tan and
different methods that consumers use in order to form trust in e- Sutherland 2004; Tan and Thoen 2000–2001). According to these
commerce. The article concludes by introducing a framework for conceptualisations, three major elements of consumer trust can be
consumer’s trust formation process in e-commerce. identified. These are institutional trust, interpersonal trust, and
dispositional trust (Tan and Sutherland 2004). Institutional trust
INTRODUCTION refers to an individual’s trust in institutions, like the laws in a society
In the late 1990’s e-commerce was anticipated to expand or in the case of e-commerce the technology itself. (McKnight et al.
rapidly and become a normal part of consumers’ everyday lives. 2002). On the other hand, interpersonal trust refers to an individual’s
Nowadays some Internet-related services such as electronic news- trust in another specific party or the trustworthiness of the third
papers and information search are widely used by consumers, but party (Tan and Sutherland 2004). In the context of e-commerce, this
there are only a few commercially successful fields of e-commerce. specific party may be an e-vendor, some third party like a local
One of the reasons for the failure of expectations is claimed to be newspaper that publishes an article about some e-vendor or the
consumer trust, or more likely the lack of trust (Merrilees and Frye consumer’s friend who makes recommendations about some e-
2003). vendor (Lee and Turban 2001; Tan and Thoen 2000–2001). The
The phenomenon of e-trust (consumer trust in e-commerce) is concept of dispositional trust is based on the research in the area of
widely discussed and many conceptualisations have been presented psychology (Rotter 1971). Dispositional trust means an individual’s
modelling consumer trust in e-commerce (Gefen, Karahanna, and ability to trust in general and is based on an individual’s belief that
Straub 2003a; Kim et al. 2005; Lee and Turban 2001; McKnight, other people are well-meaning and reliable (Gefen et al. 2003a; Tan
Choudhury, and Kacmar 2002; Tan and Sutherland 2004; Tan and and Sutherland 2004). Usually disposition to trust is considered to
Thoen 2000–2001). The problem with the current literature con- be a personality-driven feature of an individual. That is, an
cerning consumer e-trust is that the conceptualisations do not take individual’s personality determines his/her propensity to trust in
into consideration how consumers form e-trust, but rather concen- general. Furthermore, an individual’s disposition to trust may be
trate on describing different elements of it. More specifically, endogenous or it may be developed during the life experiences
different mechanisms that consumers use to build e-trust have not (McKnight and Chervany 2001–2002). Disposition to trust is
attracted much, if any, attention among researchers. especially important in novel situations, such as using e-commerce
This article contributes by expanding the current knowledge (Gefen et al. 2003a).
about consumer e-trust by developing a model that presents how The problem with the current literature on consumer e-trust is
consumers form trust in e-commerce. The first objective of this that the different conceptualisations only describe different ele-
study is to review the literature addressing consumer trust, con- ments of trust and, thus, they do not take into consideration the
sumer perceived risks, risk reduction strategies, and the relation- consumer as a builder of trust in e-commerce. Therefore there exists
ship between these concepts. The second objective is to empirically a gap in understanding of how a consumer forms e-trust. According
explore how consumers use different risk reduction strategies to to the definition of trust proposed by Mayer et al. (1995) someone
generate trust in e-commerce. The third objective is to present a is willing to be vulnerable to the actions of others based on
model based on the literature and empirical findings that illustrates expectations that others will perform a particular action important
consumer’s trust formation process in e-commerce. to the trustor. Thus, the definition of trust assumes that the trustor
In the following section we review the literature on consumer is expecting that others will perform a particular action important to
e-trust and present three major elements of trust. Furthermore, we the trustor. This assumption generates a need to form the expecta-
argue that the current knowledge about consumer e-trust is not tion, but recent conceptualizations do not provide opportunities to
adequate and there is a need to take into account different mecha- understand how a trustor develops it. More specifically, we argue
nisms that consumers can use to form trust in order to understand that consumer trust in e-commerce is an outcome of a process that
consumer’s e-trust formation process. The article continues by consumers go through and, at least to our knowledge, that process
introducing the data collection process and methodological choices. has gained only little, if any, attention among researchers. In this
The subsequent section presents our findings. The article concludes article we will propose a model that includes the three elements of
with model development and theoretical discussion. e-trust but also takes into account different methods that consumers
can employ to form the expectation that the other party will be
THREE ELEMENTS OF CONSUMER TRUST IN E- trustworthy. In order to do so we will use the theory of perceived
COMMERCE risks and the concept of consumer’s coping strategies introduced by
The concept of trust has been heterogeneously defined by Mick and Fournier (1998) in their research on technological para-
many authors in the fields of economics, social psychology, sociol- doxes.
ogy, management, marketing, and information systems (Blomqvist
1997; Garbarino and Lee 2003). Garbarino and Lee (2003) argue CONSUMER PERCEIVED RISKS AND RISK
that the most widely accepted definition of trust is proposed by REDUCTION STRATEGIES
Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995, 712): “the willingness of a The relationship between consumer trust and consumer per-
party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the ceived risks needs to be elaborated upon, because risk has been seen
Volume 1, © 2006
to be a prerequisite to trust. For instance, Mayer et al. (1995) stress model, an expensive model, a widely known brand or a reliable
that a need for trust arises only in risky situations. However, the brand. Furthermore, So and Sculli (2002) propose that consumers’
relationship has confused researchers; for example, Mayer et al. perceived risks diminish if the quality of a product or a service is
(1995) speculate whether risk is an antecedent to trust or an high. In the context of e-commerce, Ha (2004) found that web
outcome of trust. On the other hand, Gefen, Rao, and Tractinsky stores’ names are positively correlated with the perceived level of
(2003b) note that the literature offers three models that explain the brand trust.
relationship between risk and trust. Firstly, risk mediates the Consumers use different methods to increase their knowledge
relationship between trust and behaviour. Secondly, risk moderates about the product they purchase. This kind of behaviour is called
the relationship between trust and behaviour. Thirdly, the threshold extended decision-making. Mick and Fournier (1998) define ex-
model explains the relationship between trust and risk. All of these tended decision-making as searching diligently for detailed prod-
models assume that trust exists before risk and risk either mediates uct/brand information and then purchasing the most appropriate
or moderates the effect of trust in behaviour or that they both operate alternative in a careful, calculative manner. Other methods that
independently. The assumption that trust occurs before risk meets consumers can use to increase their knowledge and reduce risks are
some difficulties, because the vast body of literature on consumers’ also identified. For instance, consumers may ask advice from their
risk reduction strategies (Akaah and Korgaonkar 1988; Mick and friends concerning some product (Mitchell and Boustani 1994;
Fournier 1998; Roselius 1971; Van den Poel and Leunis 1996) Roselius 1971). In the context of e-commerce consumers are seen
indicates that consumers are doing something to cope with the to increase their knowledge by using different discussion boards in
perceived risks. Thus, why would consumers use different strate- order to obtain information about the products they are interested in
gies to reduce risks if trust already exists? The answer could be the purchasing (Grönroos et al. 2000).
difference between the concepts of dispositional trust and interper- The last coping strategy discussed in this article is extended
sonal and institutional trust. As mentioned earlier, disposition to maintenance and warranty contract. Several researchers argue that
trust is a personality-driven feature of an individual and therefore it consumers use different warranties to reduce risks (Akaah and
is always present and certainly exists before any risk perceptions Korgaonkar 1988; Mick and Fournier 1998; Roselius 1971). Alto-
regarding some other party. This can also explain why different gether three different categories of warranties can be identified in
models assume that trust occurs before risk. Therefore, we argue the literature. These are extended warranty, extended maintenance
that only the disposition to trust appears before risk perceptions and contract, and money-back guarantee (Akaah and Korgaonkar 1988;
trust in some other party (interpersonal) and trust in institutions Mick and Fournier 1988). According to Mick and Fournier (1998),
(institutional) develop after the risk perception. More specifically, extended warranty and maintenance contract seem to reduce the
consumers can evaluate these two elements of trust by using risks perceived by their informants. Moreover, a money-back
different mechanisms. guarantee has been shown to be an important risk reduction strategy
Because mechanisms that consumers can use to form e-trust for consumers (Akaah and Korgaonkar 1988; Tan 1999; Van den
have attracted only little, if any, attention among researchers there Poel and Leunis 1996). There is also evidence that consumers use
exists no readymade method to address the issue. Therefore we extended maintenance and warranty contract in the context of e-
adopted some mechanisms from the literature on consumers’ risk commerce. For example, Tan (1999) found that consumers reduce
reduction strategies. More specifically, we adopted the concept of risks in e-commerce by using money-back guarantee.
consumers’ coping strategies by Mick and Fournier (1998). In Mick
and Fournier‘s (1998) model there are four categories of coping DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
strategies, all of which contain different mechanisms that consum- The empirical task of our study is to explore different mecha-
ers use to cope with technological issues. These four categories are nisms that consumers use to form trust in e-commerce. Due to the
1) pre-acquisition avoidance strategies, 2) pre-acquisition newness of the issue, a qualitative method was deemed to be the
confrontative strategies, 3) consumption avoidance strategies and most appropriate in data collection. Empirical material was col-
4) consumption confrontative strategies. From these four catego- lected during the summers of 2003 and 2004. The method used in
ries, we decided to take pre-acquisition confrontative strategies for gathering empirical material was semi-structured theme interview.
more detailed examination, because these strategies also appear in The theme interview was selected as a data collection method
other studies addressing consumer’s risk reduction strategies in the because it is seen as suitable approach when the study deals with
context of e-commerce (Tan 1999). Pre-acquisition confrontative issues that are not discussed by people on a daily basis (Hirsjärvi
strategies contain different variants. These are 1) pretest, 2) buying and Hurme 1991). Altogether 10 interviews were conducted during
heuristics, 3) extended decision-making and 4) extended mainte- the summer of 2003. To recruit informants we first contacted
nance and warranty contract (Mick and Fournier 1998). Next, all certain persons who were known to be actively involved with
these variants are discussed in detail. Internet and who knew potential informants. Secondly, we ap-
Pretest means that the consumer is using some else’s product proached possible informants and asked them to participate in our
temporarily or purchases some product but is not sure if (s)he is research. In selecting those 10 we used two criteria. Firstly, all the
going to own the product after the return policy or warranty expires informants had to be 18 or older. Secondly, all of them had to have
(Mick and Fournier 1998). The reason for a consumer to use pretest experience of using e-commerce. The themes covered in the inter-
is to reduce the risks (s)he perceives. Some studies argue that pretest views were the various risk reduction strategies presented earlier in
is widely used among consumers as a method for risk reduction this article. The interviews were conducted after two test inter-
(McDonald 1998; Mitchell and Boustani 1994). Furthermore, there views. A few interviews took place at informants’ homes and some
is evidence that links pretesting to e-commerce. For instance, Tan in public places like cafeterias. The interviews lasted from 30 min.
(1999) and So and Sculli (2002) found that consumers use pretest- to 90 min. and were recorded and fully transcribed.
ing as a strategy for reducing risks in e-commerce. The second research phase took place during the summer of
Buying heuristics refers to consumer’s use of different buying 2004 and the number of informants was 10, increasing the total
rules in order to solve problems or make decisions (Statt 1997). number of informants to 20. To get into contact with informants we
From the viewpoint of coping strategies, Mick and Fournier (1998) co-operated with an electronic grocery shop that put an advertise-
argue that consumers buy the latest model, less sophisticated ment for our study in their web site. We also offered a gift token
40 / How Consumers Build Trust in e-Commerce: Towards a Trust Formation Model
worth 20 euros to all the respondents selected for the actual latest model, a less sophisticated model and an expensive model
interviews. At the end, 156 respondents contacted us. From these refer.
we selected 10 informants who had some experience in using the A widely known brand and a reliable brand were used as a risk
electronic grocery shop. Themes in the interviews consisted of reduction strategy among informants.
three elements of e-trust and risk reduction strategies. The idea in
choosing these themes was to explore the possible link between the “Well, of course if you say Anttila’s e-services then of course
two concepts. The interviews were conducted after two test inter- it would have an affect.. It is familiar and secure because they
views. Some of the interviews were held at informants’ workplaces also have those traditional stores.. And I also like Amazon.com..
and some in public places such as cafeterias or restaurants. The I’ve got to know their web-site and it seems quite trustworthy
interviews lasted from 30 min. to 90 min. and were recorded and and if I could speak and read English better I would order
fully transcribed. books there.. It felt quite secure because I knew it already..”
The analysis of the empirical material was conducted as (Kalle, 59, male)
follows. Firstly, the material was read several times. Secondly,
transcriptions were sorted according to the themes of the inter- Kalle’s opinion illustrates the use of a widely known brand as
views. Thirdly, issues arising from the interviews based on our a risk reduction strategy. Kalle mentions that he uses Anttila’s e-
analysis were written in memos and read again to make sure that services (a widely known brand in Finland). Thus, Anttila’s brand
informants’ ideas had been captured. Fourthly, the dialogues con- convinced Kalle about Anttila’s trustworthiness and furthermore
cerning the different themes were sent via e-mail to informants in made him willing to engage in a relationship with Anttila. Kalle
order to confirm that we had interpreted their thoughts correctly. would also use the Amazon.com’s e-service if he could only speak
and read English properly. As the reason for his willingness to use
FINDINGS Amazon.com Kalle mentions that it is widely known and that makes
In this section, the findings of our empirical study are pre- it feel secure and trustworthy.
sented. Starting with the pretest, we will present and discuss various The next quotation illustrates Jaana’s opinion about banks as
strategies used by informants to reduce perceived risks. The role of a reliable brand.
every risk reduction strategy is moreover discussed from the
viewpoint of trust formation. “Of course I try to trust that banks have the latest knowledge
about hazards.. that they update their services all the time and
Pretest they take care that there are no security-risks..” (Jaana, 33,
According to our findings informants used pretest as a method female)
for reducing perceived risks in e-commerce. Pretest seemed to be
effective, especially when informants felt that e-service was a According to Jaana, banks are reliable and Jaana expects that
somewhat vague and they perceived some risks concerning the they have the latest knowledge about risks and other hazards that
service. Thus testing the service reduced risks they perceived. exist in e-commerce. This reduced the risks Jaana perceived and
convinced her about the trustworthiness of the banks’ e-services.
“Yes, I’ve tested e-services. I guess I also tested ruoka.net Earlier examples illustrate that informants used two out of five
about a year ago.. And I also tested Viking Line’s service buying heuristics in order to reduce the risks they perceive in e-
because we are going to cruise when the holidays begin.. so I commerce. In terms of trust formation, both of these strategies refer
went through different options and prices and so on.. And also to the interpersonal element of trust. The reason for this is that both
made a reservation..” (Janne, 37, male) of the strategies are based on the brand of an e-vendor. Thus, by
evaluating e-vendors’ brand, informants were convinced about the
Janne’s account illustrates the way the pretest was used in e-vendors’ trustworthiness, which allowed them to engage in a
order to reduce risks. Janne perceived some risk and wanted to test risky relationship.
the e-service offered by Viking Line (a local passenger ferry
company). After browsing and testing the service he finally made Extended Decision-Making
a reservation. From the viewpoint of trust formation, it seems that According to our findings, informants used extended deci-
Janne evaluated Viking Line’s trustworthiness. More specifically, sion-making as a risk reduction strategy. Friends’ experiences and
Janne evaluated how competent Viking Line is to set prices for their advices were especially important for informants. In some cases
services. The result of this evaluation seems to be trust, because he informants used e-mail to ask their friends’ opinions about the e-
made a reservation and thus was willing to engage in a risky services they wanted to use. Furthermore, some informants re-
relationship with Viking Line. This finding provides evidence that ported that they use only e-services that their friends recommend.
pretest is used by informants as a method of forming interpersonal Thus, informants used extended decision-making to evaluate e-
trust, because Viking Line is a vendor and therefore the relationship vendors’ trustworthiness in order to decide whether to use their
between Janne and Viking Line is a manifestation of interpersonal services or not. The following quotation illustrates some of the
trust. aspects of extended decision making.
Buying Heuristics “My friends have the same hobbies as I and because of that we
Earlier, five different buying heuristics were introduced as a send e-mails to each other concerning some test results or
method for reducing risks in e-commerce. Of those five, widely something. And ask others’ opinions about some products and
known brand and reliable brand were identified in our material. so on..” (Ilpo, 23, male)
Buying the latest model, a less sophisticated model, and an expen-
sive model did not exist in our material. This can be explained by According to our findings, informants used extended deci-
the fact that the present study concentrates on consumers’ e-trust sion-making as a method to evaluate the trustworthiness of an e-
formation. Because of that, informants talked about the different e- vendor, thus, form interpersonal trust. Furthermore, our findings
services they use rather than specific products to which buying the indicate that informants used extended decision-making as a method
to build institutional trust. More specifically, informants reported reduce risks and form trust. Although the role of dispositional trust
that they had difficulties in using the computer and they had to ask could not be clearly identified in our empirical material we argue
advice from their friends in order to cope with the technology. This that it has its own role in consumer’s trust formation process
kind of behaviour refers to informants’ need to reduce risks they because every individual has some disposition to trust (Gefen et al.
perceived toward technology and to form trust in it. 2003a; Tan and Sutherland 2004), a fact that could not be ignored.
In our opinion, the disposition to trust affects consumer risk
Extended Maintenance and Warranty Contract perception before the overall trust is formed as discussed in the
Earlier in this article we presented three different extended theoretical part of this article. Furthermore, other consumer charac-
maintenance and warranty contract-related strategies that emerged teristics cannot be ignored. For instance, there is evidence that
from the literature. Those were extended warranty, extended main- consumer’s age and gender have an affect on consumer’s risk
tenance contract, and money-back guarantee. Our findings indicate perception (Liebermann and Stashevsky 2002; Mitchell 1998). One
that only money-back guarantee was used among our informants. can also ask how consumers’ personal values and cultural back-
The reason for this may be that Finnish e-vendors rarely offer ground affect trust formation in e-commerce.
consumers extended warranty and extended maintenance con- As figure 1 shows, there are links between interpersonal trust,
tracts. In any case, money-back guarantee was quite widely used by institutional trust, and perceived risks, because we see consumer
informants. The following quotation illustrates the issue. trust as a dynamic phenomenon, which can change over time and
depending on the situation where it occurs. An illustrative example
“Researcher: You said that you have bought some clothes.. so is a situation where a consumer has earlier bought something from
did you have any problems with them..?” an e-vendor and encountered some problems. It could be assumed
that in the next purchase situation consumer e-trust will not be that
“Minna: No, actually not.. And if they send, for example, the high, that it could lead to purchasing direct from the same e-vendor.
wrong size then you can always send it back and change for More likely the consumer perceives more risks and is forced to use
free.” (Minna, 28, female) different mechanisms in order to rebuild trust. Thus, it could be
argued that consumers are always actively forming trust and that the
Although informants used the money-back guarantee, there level of overall trust changes over time and depends on the situation
were also some restrictions to it. Some informants reported that where trust occurs.
when ordering products from abroad they did not use money-back Our model suggests that consumers can use different mecha-
guarantee as a risk reduction method, because they felt that foreign nisms to form trust in e-commerce. Compared with other models
companies are not as trustworthy as domestic ones. In the inform- and conceptualizations (Gefen et al. 2003a; Kim et al. 2005; Lee
ants’ opinion, there were no assurances that foreign companies and Turban 2001; McKnight et al. 2002; Tan and Sutherland 2004;
would really give them their money back in the event of problems. Tan and Thoen 2000–2001) our model takes the consumer into
Furthermore, one warranty-related issue that informants empha- account as a generator of trust instead of only describing different
sized was the role of laws in society. Because of the legislation on elements of trust. In spite of this, there is still a need for further
consumer protection, informants felt that companies would give studies before consumer’s trust formation process in e-commerce
them their money back in a problematic situation. could be satisfactorily understood. This article provides some paths
From the viewpoint of trust formation, the warranty-strategy to approach the issue by exploring the strategies that consumers use
is linked to both interpersonal and institutional trust. Informants’ to form e-trust and by introducing different consumer characteris-
use of money-back guarantees links it to interpersonal trust, be- tics which may have a role in consumer’s trust formation process.
cause the e-vendor is the one that offers the guarantee. More
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42 / How Consumers Build Trust in e-Commerce: Towards a Trust Formation Model
FIGURE 1
A Model for the Consumer Trust Formation Process in e-Commerce
Consumer
characteristics
-dispositional trust
-age, gender
-values
-culture
Perceived Risks
Consumer's Risk Reduction Strategies
Pretest BH EDM EMW
Interpersonal Institutional
Trust Trust
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Trust Development in E-commerce and Store Choice: Model and Initial Test
José Mauro da Costa Hernandez, Centro Universitário Nove de Julho, Brazil
José Afonso Mazzon, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT It is also hypothesized that institutional-based and calculative-

It has often been said that one of the reasons for the weak based types of trust are less efficient in reducing the perceived risk
performance of electronic commerce is that Internet users are afraid of the purchase than both characteristics-based and knowledge-
of shopping online and this would be a matter of trust. Despite the based types of trust. Finally, it is hypothesized that institutional-
interest in the investigation of how important trust is for e-com- based and calculative-based types of trust are less positively asso-
merce, several problems of previous studies have made it difficult ciated with future intentions towards the electronic store than both
to integrate their results. This study tries to overcome some of these characteristics-based and knowledge-based types of trust.
problems by incorporating the idea that trust has several facets and To test these hypotheses, a large, convenient sample of people
it is not a static but rather a dynamic phenomenon. received an invitation by email to participate in the study. The final
The main objective of this study is to propose and test a model sample was comprised of 528 respondents. Subjects were asked to
of trust development in the relationship between consumers and think about their last purchase over the Internet and answer the
online retailers by investigating the relevance of different types of questions.
trust (dispositional, calculative-based, institutional-based, knowl- To assess the relevance of each type of trust for the respondent’s
edge-based, and characteristics-based) in the consumer store choice. store choice, subjects were asked to read several reasons for
The second objective is to investigate the association between these choosing an online store to make a purchase from and then indicate
different types of trust and both the perceived risk of the purchase how important each reason had been in their store choice process.
and the future intentions towards the online store. Each reason corresponded to an item of the four trust types scales
This study followed Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995), (calculative-based, institutional-based, knowledge-based, and char-
according to whom “trust is the willingness of a party to be acteristics-based). Additional measures included details of the last
vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation purchase, the perceived risk of the purchase, the future intentions
that the other will perform a particular action important to the towards the store, dispositional trust, habits of Internet use, and
trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other demographics.
party” (p.712). The total sample of 528 respondents was divided into three
However, conceptualizing trust in only one form risks missing groups based on the number of purchases made from the store,
the richness of the concept. Therefore, this study discusses five which was taken as a proxy for the length of the relationship
types of trust and their influence over the consumer store choice. between the consumer and the store. It was used multinomial
Disposition to trust is defined as the general tendency an individual logistic regression to analyze how much each trust type discrimi-
has to trust others across a broad spectrum of situations and persons. nates the groups formed based on the number of purchases.
Calculative-based trust refers to the acceptance of a certain level of Results show that while calculative-based trust is not signifi-
vulnerability based on calculations of the relative costs of maintain- cant in differentiating the three groups of respondents, institutional-
ing or severing a relationship. Institutional-based trust is the trust based and characteristics-based types of trust are partially signifi-
that develops when individuals generalize their personal trust to cant in differentiating the groups and knowledge-based type of trust
large organizations made up of individuals with whom they have is significant in differentiating the three groups of respondents.
low familiarity, low interdependence, and low continuity of inter- Therefore, the first hypothesis must be partially rejected.
action. Knowledge-based trust develops over time as a result of the The second and third hypotheses were tested via multivariate
history of interactions that allows the parties to develop a general- linear regression analyses. The results support the conclusion that
ized expectation about the other’s behavior. Characteristics-based knowledge-based trust is negatively associated with perceived risk
trust refers to the characteristics that could signal the trustee’s (p<.01) and calculative-based trust is positively associated with
trustworthiness. perceived risk (p<.01). Further, while characteristics-based trust is
Several authors have proposed that trust develops as the negatively associated with perceived risk (p<.10), institutional-
relationship matures. In general, these studies have suggested that based trust is positively associated with perceived risk (p<.10).
at the early stage of a relationship, trust is more calculative, being Therefore, the second hypothesis is partially rejected at the signifi-
partial and fragile. As the parties increase their mutual knowledge, cance level of 1% and cannot be rejected at the significance level of
the reciprocal trust is not so fragile and is not necessarily broken by 10%.
inconsistent behavior. Finally, at the last stage of the relationship, Finally, the results show that knowledge-based and character-
parties not only know and predict the other’s needs, choices, and istics-based types of trust are positively associated with future
preferences but also share them, seeing each other as a single intentions towards the online store (p<.01) while the coefficients
identity. for calculative-based and institutional-based types of trust are not
The first hypothesis suggests that institutional-based and significant. Therefore, the third hypothesis is also partially rejected.
calculative-based types of trust are more relevant for the consumer Although not all of the results are significant, it seems plau-
store choice when she does not have a long history of relationship sible to say that trust has multiple facets and these facets do not all
with the electronic merchant and characteristics-based and knowl- make equivalent contributions for the consumer store choice.
edge-based types of trust are more relevant when she has a longer
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WORKING PAPERS
Focus Groups–The Neglected Tool For Construct Adaptation In Cross-Cultural Contexts

Joseann Small, University of the West Indies, St. Michael Barbados
TC Melewar, Brunel University, UK
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
Craig and Douglas (2001) propose that the modification of marketing constructs to suit new cultural contexts is best facilitated
through the conduct of personal interviews within the cultures/countries themselves. However, it follows that the group interview, rather
than the personal interview should be the choice of the social science researcher who accepts that language and meaning are
intersubjectively defined. This paper advances the appropriateness and efficacy of group interaction in general, and focus groups in
particular, for construct development and modification.
Introduction
Increasingly, researchers in marketing are making the effort to adapt theories and constructs developed in the world’s more affluent
economies to new cultural contexts. Craig and Douglas (2001) recommend that the personal interview is the best tool for testing the cultural
and lingual appropriateness of constructs prior to large scale questionnaire administration.
Nevertheless, there is an established body of research grounded in philosophy, psychology and sociology which proposes that
meaning is intersubjectively defined (Schutz, 1967; Wittgenstein, 1953; Gadamer, 1992; Fay, 1996). Fay (2003:51) citing Gadamer (1992)
convincingly argues that ‘meanings do not exist in the minds, but within the shared domains of activity on the basis of which human beings
act and relate to each other.’ If the researcher accepts that meaning is a historical-cultural phenomenon and that the cultural world largely
consists of social rules, institutions, language, even rules of expression (Geertz, 1971), then he/she must consider qualitative techniques
which engage respondents in an interactive group setting, rather than on an individual basis. However, the use of group interviewing for
scale refinement and modification is quite rare in marketing academic circles.
Marketing research has been plagued by reservations concerning the use of focus groups for more than twenty years. Fern (1982)
following Calder (1977) recommended that focus groups be utilized only to test the ‘wording’ of questionnaire items. Calder (1977:356)
went as far as to suggest that the focus group should not even be used for the generation of hypotheses because it is an unscientific technique
which simply cast ‘everyday knowledge into ostensibly scientific terms.’ What is interesting is that the recommendation to restrict the
use of focus groups to tasks such as concept development, advertising assessment and the pre-testing of question wording and order has
been repeated as recently as 2000 (Cowley) and 2001 (Craig and Douglas). Admittedly, focus groups encourage interaction between
average persons with no scientific background, and can result in biased and flawed findings if this interaction is poorly managed by the
researcher/moderator. Nevertheless, this study, in addition to a number of research projects in psychology, nursing and health education1
suggests that effectively administered focus group sessions can deliver superior constructs for use in unfamiliar cultural contexts.
Willgerodt (2003:798) proposes that ‘conventional instrument development or validation techniques’ may not be adequate to determine
whether an instrument is appropriate for use with populations which differ from those with whom the instrument has originally been
developed.
The Study
Five focus groups were conducted on the island of Barbados, to determine the relevance and appropriateness of several constructs
in the context of the Caribbean.2 Participants, chosen across gender, age ranges, and income and education levels were required to comment
on the realism (cultural appropriateness) of 81 statements spread across 8 different multi-item scales. They were also challenged to
collaboratively reword any item that was seen to be unnecessarily complicated, or not reflective of how Barbadian persons would express
themselves in every day discourse.
Findings
Time Pressures and Concentration Issues
Though each of the sessions lasted approximately 2.5 hours, active participation was noted throughout the process across all five
groups! Focus groups are unique amongst qualitative techniques in their provision of ‘down time’. In the group interview, participants
can spearhead the discussion by advancing ideas and suggestions or contribute, in less demanding way, by simply supplementing or
questioning the propositions of other informants. However, it is not difficult to imagine interviewees in the one-on- one setting becoming
tired and overwhelmed if they are required to assess every item in several multidimensional constructs.
Management of Interaction
In the focus group session, great care must be taken to manage the process of interaction, given that individual voices of dissent maybe
silenced by a gravitation towards majority opinion and group norms (Kenyon, 2004). In this study, it was critical not only to manage
interaction, but to ensure that it occurred only at particular stages.
1
Nassar-McMillan and Borders (2002), Willgerodt, (2003).
2DVD of sessions is available for viewing.

Volume 1, © 2006
One study objective was to identify whether the Patriotism scale was more suited to the Barbadian context than the Nationalism scale
(both developed by Kosterman and Feshbach, 1989). Participants were required to privately study both scales, and then indicate, by show
of hands which scale was most suitable. ‘Show of hands’ removed the opportunity for participants to influence each other, a key advantage
of the one-on-one interview, relative to the group interview.
After the most appropriate scale of the two scales was identified, and the rationale for its selection discussed, then participants were
required to speak individually on the realism of each item in the chosen scale. If the item was deemed to be realistic in the context of
Barbados, then its clarity and wording came into question. For example, the researcher would ask “Mr. X, what do you understand by the
statement ‘I love my country?’, and attempt to poll all participants on this scale item. If there was common understanding (clarity of item),
then the wording of the statement would be addressed. If it was deemed to be complicated or culturally inappropriate then participants
were encouraged to actively work and interact to rephrase the statement in a simpler and culturally suitable fashion.
Item Exclusion, Item Modification and the Development of Culture- Specific Components
For example, one item in the Patriotism scale stated -‘Barbados is an institution, big and powerful yes, but still an institution’. For
the most part, respondents agreed that (a) the term institution was seen as a building where people worked in the context of Barbadian
culture (b) in the scheme of international relations and politics, Barbados was better described as being ‘small and vulnerable’, rather than
big and powerful (c) this statement, along with the majority of the items in the Nationalism scale, seemed to be talking about an advanced
and militarily strong country such as the United States. Though the participants worked diligently to reword a number of statements in
the Patriotism scale, they questioned whether this particular item should be excluded all together. The immediacy and intersubjective
nature of the construct refinement process, and the significant level of agreement on the realism and wording of the items within and across
groups, gave the authors added confidence in the credibility of modifications proposed. Indeed, the researcher who utilizes personal
interviews for this task must summarize and judge the comments of individual interviewees, whereas the focus group allows participants
to weigh and assess the comments made by other informants from the same culture, with less imposition by the researcher.
Discourse on the realism of constructs/scales provided excellent information for the identification of aspects of cultural or economic
uniqueness not captured by the original constructs. The actual phrases which participants used in speaking on the realism and relevance
of the scale laid the groundwork for the development of culture-specific items. In addressing the realism of the CETSCALE3 for example,
several groups expressed the fear that overt ethnocentrism maybe offensive to Barbados’ more powerful trading partners, who may then
respond negatively to the island’s export offerings. Whether this ‘vulnerability’ dimension is applicable to the Barbadian context, will be
determined through the statistical and construct equivalence analysis to be undertaken after the administration of the pilot questionnaire.
Conclusion
It is true that the interactive dimension of focus groups can seem intimidating to the inexperienced researcher. Nevertheless, this
aspect of group interviewing allows the researcher tap into the benefits of discourse, whereas individual interviewing will allow for
exposure to language and terminology only. Lunt and Livingstone (1996:82) propose that ‘conversation, public discussion, even gossip
are all important processes in the production and reproduction of meanings in everyday life.’
References
Cowley, J.C.P.(2000). Strategic Qualitative Focus Group Research- Define and Articulate our skills or we will be replaced by others.
International Journal of Market Research 42(1) 17- 38.
Craig, C.S. & Douglas, S.P.(2001). International Marketing Research, 2nd edition, Chichester: John Wiley &Sons.
Fern, E.F.(1982). The Use of Focus Groups for Idea Generation: the Effects of Group Size, Acquaintanceship and Moderator on
Response Quantity and Quality. Journal of Marketing Research 19(February) 1-13.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1992) Truth and Method, trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald. G. Marshall. New York: Seabury.
Geertz, Clifford (1971). Thick Description : Toward an Interpretive Theory of Cultures. In The Interpretation of Cultures. New York:
Basic Books, 3-30.
Kenyon, A.J.(2004). Exploring Phenomenological Research, Pretesting Focus Group Techniques with Young People. International
Journal of Market Research 46(4).427-441.
Kitzinger Jenny (1995). Qualitative Research: Introducing Focus Groups. BMJ, 311(29 July) 299-302.
Kosterman,R. & Feshbach, S. (1989). Toward a measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. Political Psychology, 10(2), 257-74.
Lunt, Peter. & Livingstone, Sonia (1996) ‘Rethinking the focus group in media and communications research’, Journal of Communi-
cation, 46(2), 79-98.
Nassar-McMillan, S.C. & Borders, L.D.(2002) ‘ Use of Focus Groups in Survey Item Development’, The Qualitative Report 7(1)
(http://nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR7-1/nassar.html)
Schutz, Alfred (1967). The Phenomenology of the Social World. Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Shimp, T., & Sharma, S. (1987). Consumer Ethnocentrism: construction and validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing,
24(3) 280-289.
Willgerodt, M.A. (2003) Using Focus Groups to Develop Culturally Relevant Instruments. Western Journal of Nursing Research
25(7), 798-814.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig [1953] (1958) Philosophical Investigations, 2nd edition., trans. G.E.M. Anscombe, ed. G.E.M.Anscombe and
R. Rhees. Oxford: Blackwell.
3
A measure of consumer ethnocentrism developed by Shimp and Sharma, 1987.
48 / WORKING PAPERS
May You Live Forever?:

(Re)writing the Narrative of the Self in a Cremation Volume for a Thai Funeral
Kritsadarat Wattanasuwan, Thammasat University, Thailand
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
As social saturation in postmodernity has decentred our experience into pieces (Firat and Venkatesh 1995), we are striving to bring
together diverse elements into an integrated whole in order to live meaningfully (Gergen 1991). We try to re-organise and unify our
saturated self into the narrative self (Giddens 1991; McAdams 1997). We make an effort to coordinate the multiple and conflicting facets
of our lives within a narrative framework which connects past, present, and an anticipated future and confers upon our lives a sense of
sameness and continuity (McAdams 1988). Ricoeur (1984;1992) also supports that we require a narrative identity for our self, that is, we
make sense of ourselves and our lives by the stories we can (or cannot) tell. Presumably, we come to know ourselves by the narratives
we construct to situate ourselves temporally and spatially. Coyle (1992) elaborates that a person creates a life story, a biography or a
personal narrative in an attempt to impart meaning and coherence to his/her disparate life experiences by forging connections, imposing
causality, and making it appear as if his/her life has unfolded or is unfolding in a purposeful way.
The life stories we create are not only a way of telling others or ourselves about our lives but also the means by which our identities
are fashioned (Rosenwald and Ochberg 1992). We may not only tell the chronicle of who we are (or have been) but also an imagination
of what we wish to become (or to have become). Gabriel and Lang (1995) observe that identity is not only an embellished account of our
adventures, accomplishments and tribulations, but also that vital web of truths, half-truths and wish-fulfilling fictions which sustain us.
Certainly, in order to carry on our sense of existence, we need to uphold our capacity to keep a particular narrative going (Giddens 1991).
Giddens (1991) maintains that we cannot just tell a wholly fictive story–we must persistently incorporate events that occur in the ‘real’
world and arrange them into the ongoing narrative of the self.
Although we attempt to construct a coherent and continuous narrative of our lives, we frequently tell different stories about ourselves
in different contexts (Harre 1998; McAdams 1997). Obviously, the narrative self is not just one story told to some generic and anonymous
audience. In fact, it comprises several episodes of our lives, and how the quality, value, detail and arrangement of the episodes recounted
depends on the person to whom the tale is told, the context of the telling and the aim of the story-teller at that moment in the telling of it
(Harre 1998). Nevertheless, each life episode is not totally worlds apart from each other–all episodes still share the main character (i.e.,
the person whose life story is about), even though the main character possibly appear in a variety of guises, each embody particular facets
of her/his narrative self (McAdams 1997). Indeed, some narrative selves can integrate all of their life episodes into a better unified and
continuing theme than others, and some narrative selves can even achieve ‘a kind of symbolic immortality’–the narratives that can outlive
the embodied self (McAdams 1997).
In Thailand after a person has passed away, the narrative of the deceased may live on in his/her cremation volume. Traditionally, the
living relatives would have a cremation volume published and distributed as a souvenir for the funeral guests at a cremation ceremony.
A cremation volume usually includes a life history of the deceased and knowledge about something related to the deceased (e.g., if the
deceased’s hobby was stamp collecting, the content may include knowledge about stamps). Generally, the content of a cremation volume
is prepared by the living relatives; but occasionally it might be earlier prepared by the deceased themselves. Purposefully, a cremation
volume is an attempt to maintain or to recreate the narrative of the self of the deceased that the livings (or perhaps the deceased) want others
to remember.
This study explores how the livings (re)write a life history of their late beloved in a cremation volume. Interpretive research was
employed to study the (re)writing process of a personal narrative in eight cremation volumes. Data collections were through content
analysis of the selected cremation volumes and a series of the long interviews (McCracken 1988) of the relatives who involved in the
production of those cremation volumes.
The interpretations suggest that the livings utilized a cremation volume to (re)tell a life history of their late beloved so that they could
maintain or renegotiate the identity of the deceased. Apparently, a cremation volume was a means to materialise such memories of the
deceased’s identities to which the living (or perhaps the deceased) wanted to hold on. Bertman (1979) remarks that memories of the
deceased bring continuity and meaning to the existence of the living. Indeed, through memories the deceased come to play many roles
in the affairs of the living. By this, the deceased never leave us (Kearl 1997). Thus, through (re)writing the narrative of their beloved, the
livings could immortalize the deceased.
Preparing a cremation volume was also a way the livings employed to express their gratitude towards the deceased. It was regarded
as the last gift for their late beloved. Evidently a cremation volume also assisted the livings to settle their grief and guilt. The idealization
of the deceased’s personal narrative in the cremation volume certainly helped to console the livings. Furthermore, to cherish the deceased’s
legacy in the cremation volume was undoubtedly to cherish the living’s life since the living relatives were the extended self of the deceased
(Belk 1988). Like the death-ritual consumption in Asante studied by Bonsu and Belk (2003), a cremation volume was employed by the
livings to express and affirm their status in society. Having a cremation volume for the funeral signified the elite aspect of the deceased’s
family. It was a means to demonstrate that even though their beloved passed away, the family’s legacy would live on.
References
Belk, Russell W. (1988), “Possessions and the Extended Self,” Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (September 1988), 139-168.
Bertman, Sandra L. (1979), “Communicating with the Dead: An Ongoing Experience as Expressed in Art, Literature, and Song,” in
Between Life and Death, ed, R. Kastenbaum, New York: Springer, 124-155.
Bonsu, Samuel K. and Russell W. Belk (2003), “Do Not Go Cheaply into That Good Night: Death-Ritual Consumption in Asante,
Ghana,” Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (June), 41-55.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1984), Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, London:Routledge.
Coyle, Adrian (1992), “My Own Special Creation?: The Construction of Gay Identity,” in Social Psychology of Identity and the Self
Concept, ed. Glynis M. Breakwell, London:Academic Press Limited, 187-220.
Firat, A. Fuat and Alladi Venkatesh (1995), “Liberatory Postmodernism and the Reenchantment of Consumption,” Journal of
Consumer Research, 22 (December), 239-267.
Gabriel, Yiannis and Tim Lang (1995), The Unmanageble Consumer: Contemporary Consumption and its Fragmentations,
London:SAGE Publications.
Gergen, Kenneth J. (1991), The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, USA:BasicBooks.
Giddens, Anthony (1991), Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Cambridge:Polity Press.
Harre, Rom (1998), The Singular Self: An Introduction to the Psychology of Personhood, London:SAGE Publications.
Kearl, Michael (1997), “You Never Have to Die: On Mormons, NDEs, Cryonics, and The American Immortalist Ethos,” in The
Unknown Country: Experiences of Death in Australia, Britain and the USA, eds., Kathy Charmaz, Glennys Howarth and Allen
Kellerhear, London: Macmillan.
McAdams, Dan P. (1997), “The Case for Unity in the (Post)Modern Self,” in Self and Identity: Fundamental Issues, ed. Richard D.
Ashmore and Lee Jussim, Oxford:Oxford University Press, 46-78.
McCracken, Grant (1988), The Long Interview, London: SAGE Publications.
Ricoeur, Paul (1984), Time and Narrative, Chicago:Chicago University Press.
Ricoeur, Paul (1992), Oneself as Another, Chicago:Chicago University Press.
Rosenwald, George and Richard Ochberg (1992), Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding, New Haven:Yale
University Press.
E-trust for Mexican Consumers: Empirical Investigation for Three Dimensions

Eduardo Esteva Armida, Purdue University, USA
JungKun Park, Purdue University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
E-trust has gained importance in online consumer behavior researches. Many studies find that e-trust is critical in building positive
e-tailer consumer relationships, but only a few investigate different levels between dimensions of trust and willingness to depend for e-
tailers. Primary purpose of this study is to find causal relationships between perceived website quality, perceived reputation, and perceived
risk as determinants for three dimensions of trust, ability, benevolence, and integrity, depending on online experience level. Data were
collected from 140 Mexican internet users. Proposed model tested using structural equation modeling and identified different level of
willingness to depend on the e-trust dimensions.
Introduction
The Internet has changed the way consumers exchange their goods or services and relationships between the seller and buyer. This
emergence of online shopping has revolutionized the retail environment. Researchers have given much attention to the e-world and those
elements that affect its successes and failures. While this innovative form of e-commerce is forecast to grow rapidly, recent market surveys
have reported that still a lot of online shoppers tend to be reluctant to make purchase through the Internet (Lee & Turban, 2001). Principal
among the concerns of e-retailers are privacy and security issues that plague online shoppers as ever present threats (Hoffman, Novak,
& Peralta, 1999). Consumer trust for online transactions has recently received growing attention within online shopping research as much
as in traditional offline setting. Trust has been studied to determine how it is established and maintained. Three distinct dimensions of trust–
ability, integrity and benevolence–have emerged. The present study aimed to determine whether antecedents (i.e. degree of online
experiences, reputation, website quality, and perceived risk from consumers) impacted e-trust dimensions differently and whether the
various e-trust dimensions contributed differently to willingness to depend on an e-tailer for Mexican consumers. Mexico is a primary
economic partner of the U.S in North America in the NAFTA. Economical and social conditions are different in Mexico including the
Internet development in the aspects of consumers and infrastructures. The number of Internet domains in Mexico increased from less than
3,000 in December, 1996 to more than 60,000 in December, 2001 and the visit rates to e-store are similar to countries such as Germany
and France (Palacios 2001). In year 2004, e-commerce sales were expected to reach $107 billion only in Mexico and $81.8 billion in the
rest of Latin America (Jones and Tullous 2001). It is clear that Mexico is an attractive market for U.S. retailers for borderless market entry.
Despite the significance of e-trust, there is a scarcity of empirical research on the nature of trust and its dimensions with antecedents
in the specific context of online shopping such as cultural differences in consumer marketing (Geyskens, Steenkamp & Kumar, 1998).
Since e-trust researches have been limited to U.S. context (Tan & Thoen, 2000; Ba & Pavlou, 2002), the article attempts to fill the gap
by investigating online consumers in Latin culture: Mexico. However, the trust theories and mechanisms developed in the U.S. context
might not apply for other cultures, in that cultures can be considered the influential factors which may affect the trust mechanisms (Sako
& Helper, 1998). Thus, there is a need to re-investigate the concept of e-trust and its mechanisms in the context of different markets and
cultures (Lee & Turban, 2001).
Conceptual Background
Many researchers have studied the influence of perceived trustworthiness on building trust in the online shopping context (Lee &
Turban, 2001). Although several researches approached trust as one dimensional construct (Javenpaa, 1999, 2000; Merrilees & Fry, 2003),
this research is fundamentally based on the fact the trust is multiple dimensional constructs (Singh & Sirdeshmukh, 2000). Following
50 / WORKING PAPERS
earlier studies, ability, integrity, and benevolence are consistently related dimensions to explain trust in most studies (Mayer, Davis &
Schoorman, 1995). Chen & Dhillon (2003) argue that an overall measure of consumer trust can be accounted for by using these dimensions.
Past research has revealed support for the same three main dimensions that reflect the multifaceted nature of trust (Doney & Cannon, 1997).
Ability involves the e-tailer’s competence of fulfill the needs of the consumer (Selnes, 1998). Integrity entails qualities such as honesty,
fairness and responsibility of the e-tailer while benevolence refers to the e-tailer’s willingness to act on the consumer’s behalf. Thus, we
expect to find multiple relationships between e-trust dimensions for e-tailer.
A web site with high quality will improve users’ trustworthiness for e-tailers (McKnight, Choudhury, & Kacmar, 2002) while,
reputation reduces uncertainty, and therefore increases trust (Chen & Dhillon, 2003). Additionally, consumers are more willing to depend
on e-tailers that they believe have a stronger reputation (McKnight et al., 2002). However, in the case that the e-tailer only exists online,
reputation and perceived quality must be dependent on secondhand information and personal experience with the website, degree of online
experiences. The perception is e-tailers who are of good standing are less likely to endanger their reputation by taking advantage of
consumers and are therefore thought to be more trustworthy (Jarvenpaa, Tractrinsky, & Vitale, 2000). Thus, we expect to find a positive
relationship between perceived e-tailer reputation, website quality and e-trust in e-tialing context.
As an e-commerce is comparably new kind of commercial activity for Mexican consumers as well as Internet shopping is even riskier,
stabilized trust to e-tailor can reduce online shoppers’ perception of the risks. As consumers perceive higher risk, they expect the high level
of trust for the specific e-tailor to make a transaction. In this perspective, consumers who generally have high level of perceived risk related
to the online shopping context are likely to tend to have a lower level of trust to the specific e-tailor. Based on the foregoing, following
model of e-trust for Mexican consumers within three dimensions are proposed:
Methodology
An online survey was utilized for data collection. After distribution of an e-mailed invitation to 1,000 potential Mexican subjects,
140 respondents filled out and submitted the survey (response rates of 14 percent). The survey was completed anonymously and on a
voluntary basis. The nature of the information being gathered made the online process an ideal method for data collection due to the
characteristic of e-trust research. The population for this study consisted of all online consumers who reside in Mexico. The online survey
software utilized to collect and distribute also screened to prevent respondents from taking the survey more than once. In this way, the
validation error was minimized. Coverage error may not be a problem since the study was designed to only survey people who use
electronic mail. Data collected included perceived e-tailer’s reputation, website quality, risk, trust in an e-tailer which was comprised of
three separate dimensions, and willingness to depend. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed paths.
Results and Discussion

Findings from the research are expected to extend trust and e-commerce theories, and be utilized to guide the strategic efforts of e-
business to enter new markets in Mexican online market. The original model of this study relate to three variables as determinants for three
dimensions of trust: ability, benevolence, and integrity, depending of online experience level. Different measures are used to test the model
fit between three different dimensions. Since there is no single recommended measure of fits for the SEM, a variety of measures are used
to evaluate these models as follow.
On the basis of this study, it appears that perceived e-tailer reputation and website quality positively contribute to e-trust. These
antecedents are unique e-environment and have been demonstrated to have significant effects not only on the trusting beliefs, but also
indirectly on a consumer’s willingness to depend on an e-tailer. This provides further evidence for the importance of trust in the online
retail environments. In terms of the antecedents and their impact on the different trust dimensions, the results were quite interesting.
Perceived reputation was the strongest contributor to trust building in an e-tailer within three dimensions of trust. This in itself has
important implications, since reputation is both under the control of the e-tailer and consumers’ word-of-mouth. This finding underlines
the importance of establishing and maintaining a good reputation among consumers. Perceived reputation is the most essential factor for
fostering e-trust and mediating consumers’ willingness to depend on e-tailer. Overall, website quality is the second most important
predictor of e-trust in an e-tailer among the three proposed antecedents except integrity dimension. When evaluating the three trust
dimensions separately, however, perceived website quality is markedly more relevant for ability and benevolence than for integrity. Each
trusting model demonstrated a strong and significant path from trust in an e-tailer to a willingness to depend on an e-tailer. The implication
is that trust, overall and with each specific dimension, is important for building a relationship with online consumers. This study suggests
strong implications for foreign e-tailers wanting to strengthen their ties with Mexican consumers through trust. The results demonstrate
different trust dimensions impacting e-trust in different ways. Moreover, this study shows that increasing e-trust can increase consumers’
willingness to depend on the e-tailer, which is essential for securing and maintaining successful business in the online retail environment.
References
Ba. S., & Pavlou, P.A. (2002). Evidence of the effect of trust building technology in electronic markets: Price premiums and buyer
behavior. MIS Quarterly, 26(3), 243-268.
Chen, S.C., & Dhillon, G.S. (2003). Interpreting dimensions of consumer trust in e-commerce. Information Technology and
Management, 4, 303-318.
Doney, P.M., & Cannon, J.P. (1997). An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing, 61(2),
35-51.
Hoffman, D., Novack, T., & Peralta, M. (1998). Building consumer trust in online emvironments: the cases for information privacy
(Project 2000). Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbuilt University, Nashville, TN, From
www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu. (need to be replaced 1999 paper)
Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J-B, E. M., & Kumar, N. (1998). Generalizations about trust in marketing channel relationships ssing meta-
analysis. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 15, 223-248.
FIGURE 1
Conceptual Model of E-trust for Mexican Consumers within Three Dimensions
Reputation
Online Trust
Web Quality
experience Dimensions
Risk
Willingness
to depend
TABLE 1
Model Fits of Three-dimension Models of Consumer E-trust
Fit Measures Fit Ability Benevolence Integrity
Guidelines
χ2 p .05
χ2/df 3.0 1.544 1.285 1.813
GFI .90 .914 .933 .902
TLI .90 .965 .978 .949
CFI .90 .975 .985 .963
RMSEA .08 .063 .045 .076
TABLE 2
Coefficients of Three-Dimension Models of Consumer E-trust
Path Ability Benevolence Integrity
Trust → Willingness to Depend .86 ** .86 ** .83 **
Reputation .80 ** .77 ** .97 **

Trust ← Website Quality .27 ** .40 ** .03
Perceived Risk .06 .01 -.14 **
Reputation → Web Quality .55 ** .54 ** .54 **

Reputation .42 * .41 * .45 *
Online Experiences → Website Quality .09 .11 .13
Perceived Risk -.37 * -.36 * -.37 *
** p<0.01, * p<0.05
52 / WORKING PAPERS
Javenpaa, S.L., Tractinsky, N., Saarinen, L., & Vitale, M. (1999). Consumer trust in an Internet store: A cross-cultural validation.
Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 5(2), From http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol5/issue2/jarvenpaa.html
Javenpaa, S.L., Tractinsky, N., & Vitale, M. (2000). Consumer trust in an Internet store. Information Technology and Management,
1(1-2), 45-71.
Jones, Kellye L. and Raydel Tullous (2001), “E-Commerce: Attitudes in the U. S. and Mexico”, unpublished paper, Management
Department, College of Business, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249. (need to be replaced 1999
paper)
Lee, M.K.O., & Turban, E. (2001). A trust model for consumer Internet shopping. International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
6(1), 75-91.
Mayer, R.C., Davis, J.H., & Schoorman, F.D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review,
20(3), 709-734.
McKnight, D.H., Choudhury, V., & Kacmar, C. (2002b). Developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: An integrative
typology. Information Systems Research, 13(3), 334-359.
Merrilees B., & Fry M-L. (2003). E-trust: the influence of perceived interactivity on e-tailing users. Marketing Intelligence &
Planning, 21(2), 123-128.
Palacios, Juan J. (2001), “Globalization and E-Commerce: Growth and Impacts in Mexico,” Report from Center for Research on
Information Technology and Organizations, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4650.
Sako, M., & Helper, S. (1998). Determinants of trust in supplier relations: Evidence from automotive industry in Japan and the
United States. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 34, 387-417.
Selnes F. (1998). Antecedents and consequences of trust and satisfaction in buyer-seller relationships. European Journal of
Marketing, 32(34), 305-322.
Singh, J., & Sirdeshmukh, D. (2000). Agency and trust mechanisms in consumer satisfaction and loyalty judgments. Journal of
Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 150-167.
Tan, T.H., & Thoen, W. (2000). Toward a generic model of trust for electronic commerce. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 5(2), 61-74.
The Effect of Public Commitment on Resistance to Persuasion: Preliminary Findings

Prashanth U. Nyer, Chapman University, USA
Mahesh Gopinath, Old Dominion University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
We find that individuals who publicly declare their positions on an issue (i.e. make a public commitment) are more resistant to
persuasion. The study explores the psychological processes underlying this phenomenon, in particular the role played by Attitude
Certainty in mediating the effect of Public Commitment on Resistance to Persuasion. The study also finds that among the individuals who
engage in public commitment, those high in the personality trait of Preference for Consistency are more likely to be resistant to counter-
attitudinal persuasion.
Introduction
This working paper summarizes the findings from the first of a few ongoing research studies that examine the impact of public
commitment on resistance to persuasion. The findings indicate that subjects who make a public commitment to their initial position on
an issue (by stating their position in a public manner), are less influenced by a counter-attitudinal message compared to subjects who do
not make a public commitment to their initial position.
According to Kiesler, (1971) commitment is a binding of the individual to the position implied by his act or decision, and a key
determinant of the magnitude of the commitment is the publicness with which the individual declares his/her commitment to a position.
The more publicly one states one’s attitudes, the more one is committed to and locked to that position (Hollenbeck, Williams, and Klein
1989). Cialdini & Trost (1998) found that commitments made in public tend to be more persistent than commitments made in private.
Pallak, Cook, and Sullivan (1980) argued that attitudes stated publicly are relatively stable and are more likely to result in behaviors
consistent with the attitudes. Various studies have shown that individuals who make a public commitment to a goal are more likely to
engage in behaviors consistent with that goal (Dellande and Nyer, 2005; Pallak and Cummings, 1976).
How does public commitment influence attitude and behavior? As Tedeschi (1981) noted, people have a strong desire to appear
consistent and rational in the eyes of others. When individuals publicly state their position on an issue, they may be motivated to stay
consistent with their publicly stated position to avoid anticipated personal and social disapproval for any failure to do so (Parrott et al.
1998). It is therefore possible that personality traits such as Preference for Consistency (PFC) could influence the effect of public
commitment on attitudes and behavior. Individuals high in PFC are expected to exhibit higher levels of resistance to persuasion since these
individuals place great value on being viewed as consistent.
Further, using Bem’s attribution theory, we argue that individuals who make a public commitment to an issue will evaluate themselves
as being more confident in the position that they have taken.
Study
An experiment (approved by the Institutional Review Board) was conducted using 118 undergraduate student subjects participating
in a computer-based exercise administered in a computer lab. Each subject was seated before a computer and began by answering a survey
which included six measures of SNI (adapted from Bearden, Netemeyer, and Teel 1989), and six measures of PFC (adapted from Cialdini,
Trost and Newsom, 1995). The subjects were then shown a billboard ad for a new Italian fast-food restaurant. The subjects were instructed
to evaluate the ad slogan using three seven-point scales. This was followed by two measures of the subjects’ certainty (Certainty) in their
evaluations of the ad slogan.
A randomly selected half of the subjects who were assigned to the ‘no public commitment condition’ moved on to the next task while
the remaining half who were assigned to the ‘public commitment’ condition were requested to provide consent to having their evaluations
be made public on a web site. These subjects were informed that their evaluations, along with their names would be visible to other study
participants soon afterwards. While the ‘public commitment’ subjects were led to believe that their evaluations had been made public, in
reality they were not. All subjects then participated in various filler tasks.
Each subject was then exposed to a screen that provided what was purportedly the evaluation of the ad slogan by students at a different
university. Subjects who had evaluated the slogan unfavorably were informed that the slogan had been favorably evaluated by the students
in the other school (an average of six on the seven-point scales, where larger numbers represent more favorable evaluations). On the other
hand, subjects who had evaluated the slogan favorably were informed that the slogan had been evaluated unfavorably by the students in
the other university (an average of two on the seven- point scales).
This was followed by further filler tasks. A research assistant interrupted the proceedings at this point and informed the subjects of
a problem with the computer database, and requested the subjects to evaluate the ad slogan once again on a printed questionnaire (which
was then handed out) using the same three seven- point scales.
Analysis
All the measures used in the study were found to have high levels of reliability. An ANCOVA was conducted using the two levels
of public commitment as the experimental factor, and the pre-post change in ad slogan evaluation was used as the dependent variable. PFC,
and Certainty were used as covariates. The analysis showed that the main effect of public commitment and both covariates (PFC and
Certainty) had significant effects on attitude change. Higher levels of public commitment, Certainty, and PFC led to higher levels of
resistance to persuasion.
Discussion
The study demonstrates the ability of public commitment to lock individuals to their publicly stated positions. The analysis also
indicates that individuals high in PFC are more likely to be influenced by public commitment and thus these individuals are likely to
become more resistant to counter-attitudinal influence. Further, the analysis indicates that one of the psychological mechanisms
underlying the effect of public commitment is the individual’s confidence in his/her evaluation, with those individuals who make public
commitments becoming more confident in their evaluations and thus becoming more resistant to counter-attitudinal persuasion.
References
Bearden, William O., Richard G. Netemeyer, and Jesse E. Teel (1989), “Measurement of Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal
Influence,” Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (March), 473-481.
Bem, D. J. (1972), Self-Perception Theory, In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, ed. L. Berkowitz, 6, 1-62, New York:
Academic.
Cialdini, Robert B. & Melanie R. Trost (1998), Social Influence: Social Norms, Conformity and Compliance, In The Handbook of
Social Psychology, ed. Gilbert, ST Fiske, G Lindzey, 2:151-92. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 4th ed.
Cialdini, Robert B., Melanie R. Trost and Jason Newsom (1995), “Preference for Consistency: The Development of a valid Measure
and Discovery of Surprising Behavioral Implications,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69 (2), 318-328.
Dellande, Stephanie and Prashanth U. Nyer (2005), “Using Public Commitment to Gain Compliance Behavior,” working paper.
Hollenbeck, John R., Charles R. Williams, and Howard J. Klein (1989), “An Empirical Investigation of the Antecedents of Commit-
ment to Difficult Goals,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 18-23.
Kiesler, Charles A. (1971), The Psychology of Commitment: Experiments Linking Behavior to Belief, San Diego, CA: Academic
Press.
Pallak, Michael S., D. A. Cook, and J. J. Sullivan (1980), “Commitment and Energy Conservation,” in Applied Social Psychology
Annual, ed. L. Bickman, Beverly Hill, CA: Sage Publication, 235-253.
Pallak, Michael S. and William Cummings (1976), “Commitment and Voluntary Energy Conservation,” Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 2, 27-30.
Parrott, Roxanne, Jennifer Monahan, Stuart Ainsworth, and Carol Steiner (1998) “Communicating to Farmers about Skin Cancer,”
Human Communication Research, 24 (March), 386-409.
Tedeschi, James (1981), Impression Management: Theory and Social Psychological Research, New York, NY: Academic Press.
54 / WORKING PAPERS
It’s Not Just What You Eat, But Where You Eat: Regional Perceptions of Authenticity in
Mexican Restaurants
Caroline Lego Muñoz, Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA
Natalie Wood, Saint Joseph’s University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Cultural interpenetration, “the exposure of members of one culture (or subculture) to another through direct experience and/or
indirectly through the media or the experiences of others,” is a growing trend in the United States (Andreasen, 1990). Cultural exposure
is impacted by a variety of “image formation agents” (i.e. direct contact, news and popular culture, etc.) (Gartner, 1993), with ethnic themed
restaurants providing another point of contact to experience a foreign culture (Germann Molz, 2003). However, an individual’s
determination of the restaurant’s authenticity is influenced by their own set of experiences (Lu and Fine, 1994; Germann Molz, 2003),
with one intervening factor being the consumers’ proximity to the host culture. The purpose of this study is to investigate how geography
(distance from the host country) mediates individuals’ perceptions of “authentic” Mexican themed restaurants and to identify which
information sources influence their beliefs.
Mexican ethnic restaurants and cuisine have become mainstays within the American culture. Beyond the dissemination of Mexican
food, these ethnic restaurants (primarily casual dining) are also educating consumers about the Mexican culture through their interior
design and atmospheric components. Increasingly, consumers are seeking more “authentic” Mexican cultural experiences (Gerst, 2005).
While some chains have heeded this call by providing more regional dishes and flavors, others have not fully capitalized on this notion
of authenticity. Furthermore, these restaurants often do not realize the role they play as a cultural arbiter. For many consumers, these quasi-
real environments may literally constitute their sole contact with a foreign culture. Thus, the following research questions are posed: 1.
What, if any, regional differences exist (within the U.S.) between consumers’ perception of what is authentically Mexican? 2. Who are
these image formation agents? and 3. What implications does this have for those in the hospitality and tourism industries?
In order to determine U.S. regional differences, respondents were recruited from two U.S. regions with differing proximity to Mexico
(San Diego, CA and Northern, NJ). The study was completed in two parts. In part one, a convenience sample of 26 consumers (13 per
region) was recruited from the Northeast and Southwest regions the United States. Respondents were asked to prepare a collage depicting
what in their mind represented an authentic Mexican restaurant. They were also asked to prepare a brief report (2-5 pages) explaining each
of the images contained within the collage and their contribution to creating an environment that is an accurate reflection of Mexican
culture. The collages were analyzed by the researchers and common themes and elements noted. The findings from the collage exercise
were then utilized to create a survey which was posted online and distributed to a convenience sample of consumers in the Southwest and
Northeast United States. Utilizing a series of multiple choice and five-point Likert scale questions, respondents were asked to identify
factors that formed a barometer for measuring authenticity and questions pertaining to how they formed their expectations regarding what
is authentically Mexican. Three hundred and thirty eight responses were received, of which 180 (53%) were from the Southwest and 158
(47%) from the Northeast.
Overall, both samples responded (on a Likert scale of 1-5) that the most important element contributing to perceived authenticity was
food (M=4.7), whereas artifacts such as flags, sombreros, etc., were the least important (M=3.2). A regional comparison of restaurant
attributes found numerous significant differences. For example, Northeast restaurant patrons were more likely to consider the interior
design as being important for creating an authentic environment (MNE=4.0 MSW =3.5, t(332)=4.328, p<.001). More specifically they
believed that the furniture (MNE=3.6 MSW =3.2, t(332)=3.949, p<.01), décor (MNE=3.8 MSW =3.5, t(330)=3.419, p<.01), artifacts
(MNE=3.4 MSW =3.1 t(333)=2.358, p<.03) and ambience (MNE=4.0 MSW =3.7, t(331)=2.754, p<.01) were more important elements
compared to the Southwest sample. Furthermore, the Northeast sample relied upon more stereotypical Mexican associations (e.g. tequila),
than the Southwest.
The set of expectations regarding what constituted an authentic Mexican restaurant was mediated by different “image formation
agents” for each region. Respondents were asked (on a Likert scale of 1-5) the extent to which they rely upon other restaurants, family
and friends, and the media as a frame of reference for determining the authenticity of a Mexican restaurant. Overall, the most influential
was family and friends (M=3.7) and least influential, television (M=2.4). Respondents in the Northeast were more likely to rely on
television (MNE= 2.6 MSW=2.2, t(324)=5.807, p<.001), movies (MNE= 2.7 MSW=2.3, t(333)=2.981, p<.01) and advertising (MNE=3.0
MSW =2.5, t(332)=3.868, p<.001) when compared to the Southwest.
Prior research has readily acknowledged that foreign cultures are perceived differently between countries, yet geographic differences
which exist within a country also need to be examined. The “think global act local” concept, which is largely applied for international
marketing, also needs to be considered when marketing a foreign culture nationally. What consumers expect to encounter and what they
consider important within a restaurant differs, in this research, between the Northeast and the Southwest United States. Respondents further
away from the host country, held somewhat more stereotypical cultural expectations and considered various atmospheric components to
be significantly more important when determining a restaurant’s authenticity. These findings have direct implications for those involved
in the marketing of cultures.
Lastly, this research revealed that consumer expectations of authentic Mexican restaurants are formed from a variety of sources (i.e.
family, media, direct exposure, etc.) for both regions, however, the reliance upon the mass media was greater the further the distance from
the foreign culture. Thus, creating a service encounter that relies on authenticity as a point of differentiation necessitates an understanding
of where/how consumers construct their set of cultural expectations and what specifically those cultural expectations entail. Mexican
restaurants positioning themselves as “authentic” need to address their proximity to Mexico and alter their interior design and food
offerings to match their consumers’ criteria.
References
Andreasen, Alan R. (1990), “Cultural Interpenetration: A Critical Consumer Research Issues for the 1990s,” Advances in Consumer
Research, 17, 847-849. Accessed from http://www.acrweb.org. On March 31, 2005.
Gartner, William C. (1993), “Image formation process,” Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing,” 2(2/3), 191-215.
Gerst, Virgina (2005, February 15), “Get Real: Authenticity Now is the Featured Ingredient in Mexican Dishes,” Special to R & I,
Accessed from http://www.foodservice411.com/rimag/archives/2005/02b/mexican-cuisine.asp. On May 22, 2005.
Germann Molz, J. (2003), “Tasting an imagined Thailand: Authenticity and culinary tourism in Thai restaurants,” In Culinary
Tourism: Eating and Otherness (Ed: Lucy Long) Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
Lu, Shun and Gary Fine (1995), “The presentation of ethnic authenticity: Chinese food as a social accomplishment,” Sociological
Quarterly, 36(3), 535-554.
Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty in the Supermarket Industry in Brazil

Eric David Cohen, IBMEC Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Summary
Firms in today’s competitive markets seek long-standing relationships with their clients. The literature in the field shows that
considerable efforts are made in building relationships, and customer loyalty is at the heart of this Marketing orientation (MÜCKENBERGER,
2001).
This orientation has numerous motives. First, loyalty increases market share, and sustained profitability due to recurring revenues.
Second, loyalty helps firms reduce acquisition cost, which is often higher than the cost of retaining customers (JONES and SASSER, 1995).
Loyalty results in repeat purchases and increased transactions. Fourth, loyalty protects the relationship with the customer from competitor
offers, and this in turn facilitates premium pricing, bringing additional revenues for the firm.
This research investigates the antecedents of customer loyalty and satisfaction of credit card customers issued by Carrefour, a large
French hypermarket chain operating in Brazil, with nearly 200 stores. 400 customers were surveyed, with data collected with regard to
product use, customer demographics, preferences, habits, perceptions of quality and satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend the product
or increase usage.
In terms of academic contribution, this investigation helps marketers understand the drivers of customer loyalty, as well as
appreciating the characteristics of consumers in Brazil, a developing country with a large population of low-income customers and limited
credit offerings. Another important contribution is the proposition of a loyalty model specific to the Retail industry.
Conceptualization
The satisfaction and loyalty model tested in this work is founded on the Expectation Disconfirmation model (OLIVER, 1980), defined
as a psychological process of congruence between consumption and an internal referent, pre-existent to the service encounter (HOWARD
and SHETH, 1969).
According to the Disconfirmation model, satisfaction (a) is an evaluation, (b) which occurs after the encounter, and (c) is specific
to a transaction. Since stronger emotional responses occur in the first encounters, there are diminishing returns in terms of satisfaction.
Another construct is Equity (ADAMS, 1965), defined as the cost incurred and benefit gained by a party, and compared with those
of the other individual. Inequity occurs when an individual perceives imbalance in the distribution of benefits, in light of the resources
employed. Equity relates to perceptions of price, customer treatment, and the manner with which procedures are distributed (FORNELL
et al, 1994; GANESAN, 1994).
According to DICK and BASU (1994), factors other than customer attitude affect consumption, for example, price and barrier to
access. Similarly, WICKER (1969) and EHRLICH (1969) point that the social environment influences customer behavior.
Loyalty is the central construct of the model tested. Two loyalty dimensions exist according to DICK and BASU (1994), and LARÁN
and ESPINOZA (2004). Behavioral loyalty corresponds to recurring customer behavior, typically measured through the number of
transactions, monetary value, frequency, and transaction recency.
The other component of loyalty is attitude. According to SIRDESHMUKH, SINGH and SABOL (2000) and SHETH, MITTAL and
NEWMAN (1999), the customer’s attitude is a critical determinant of loyalty. Behavioral loyalty could be high simply because there are
no alternatives–for example, when the consumer lives in an area where there are no other competitors. Attitudinal loyalty is operationalized
as the intent of the customer to recommend the product, or to increase use of product.
Method
The analytical method of choice given our research objectives is Structural Equation Modeling.
A sample of 400 Carrefour cardholders was selected from the company’s database, and contacted by telephone in order to collect
their perceptions of quality, value, satisfaction, intent to recommend and increase usage. In the event that the customer could not be
contacted, the sampled customer was replaced by the subsequent record. A total of 4,573 contacts were needed to reach the target sample,
which corresponds to 8.7% response rate.
The company’s database provided information of quantity of transactions, average ticket size, frequency of purchase, and
demographics.
56 / WORKING PAPERS
The variables and corresponding measurement models are given below:
• Equity is a consequent of two constructs, quality and value. Quality was captured through the following questions: “trust”,
“quality products”, “community orientation” and “courteous service”. The measurement model captured 48% of the variance.
• Value was assessed on the telephone interview through perceptions of “good price”, “market orientation”, “market leadership”
and “worth to shop”. The model captured 55% of the total variance.
• Satisfaction was operationalized through the following questions: “satisfaction with Carrefour”, “satisfaction with the card”,
“ease of use of the card” and “card is hassle-free”. The measurement model captured 51% of the variance.
• Economic capacity was captured on the interview using the Social Class criterion of the Brazilian Association of Market Research
Firms, as well as from income and credit limit database information. The model captured 64% of the total variance.
• Attitudinal loyalty was operationalized through the following questions: intent to recommend the product, and intent to increase
usage. The measurement model captured 47% of the variance.
• Behavioral loyalty was measured from database variables such as frequency, quantity of transactions, and average spend. The
measurement model captured 75% of the total variance.
Cronbach’s Alpha scores were calculated to verify the consistency of the measurement scales. For Value, the Alpha=0.7271 drops
when an indicator is deleted. Similarly, for Quality the Alpha=0.7257 drops, and for Satisfaction Alpha=0.6742 drops when an indicator
is removed from the scale, thus the measurement scales are consistent.
Major Findings
The structural model loadings are:
Equity → Satisfaction: λ = 0.51

Equity → Attitudinal Loyalty: λ = 0.36
Satisfaction → Attitudinal Loyalty: λ = 0.27
Economic capacity → Attitudinal Loyalty: λ = -0.11
Economic capacity → Behavioral Loyalty: λ = 0.35
The significance of the other links was low. SEM performance indicators (P=0.21 ; RMSEA=0.035 ; NFI=0.99), as well as normalized
residuals (HAIR et al., 1998) allows us to conclude that the model is plausible.
The influence of Satisfaction over the Attitudinal Loyalty means that satisfied customers recommend the product or increase usage.
Economic capacity drives Behavioral Loyalty. Purchase frequency, average ticket and average spend increase with customer’s
purchasing power.
An interesting result is the influence of Economic capacity to Attitudinal Loyalty. First, attitude is more influenced by the other
variables. Second, the economic capacity’s negative value means that Economic capacity translates to positive attitudes. For instance,
affluent cardholders do not promote the product, but low-income customers do, as we would expect in private label credit cards.
Equity is the most important antecedent of Attitudinal Loyalty.
References
ADAMS, J. (1965). Inequity in Social Exchange. In: Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. BERKOWITS, L. (ed.) Vol. 2.
New York: Academic Press.
DICK, A. and BASU, K. (1994). Customer Loyalty: Toward an Integrated Conceptual Framework. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science. Vol. 22, nº 2, p. 99-113.
EHRLICH, H. (1969). Attitudes, behavior, and the intervening variables. American Sociologist. Vol. 4, p. 29-34.
ENGEL, J., BLACKWELL, R. and MINIARD, P. (1995). Consumer behavior. Forth Worth: Dryden Press.
FOLGER, R. (1986). Rethinking Equity Theory. In: Justice in Social Relations. BIERHOFF, H., COHEN, R. and GREENBERG, J.
(eds.) New York: Plenum Press. p. 145-162.
FORNELL, C., JOHNSON, M., ANDERSON, E., CHA, J. and BRYANT, B. (1994). The American Customer Satisfaction Index:
nature, purpose, and findings. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 58, nº 4.
GANESAN, S. (1994). Determinants of Long-Term Orientation in Buyer-Seller Relationships. Journal of Marketing. Vol. 2, nº 59, p.
1-19.
HAIR, J., ANDERSON, R., TATHAM, R. and BLACK, W. (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
HOWARD, J. and SHETH, J. (1969). The theory of buyer behavior. New York: John Wiley.
JONES, T. and SASSER, W. (1995). Why Satisfied Customers Defect. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 73, nº 6, p. 88-99.
LARÁN, J. and ESPINOZA, F. (2004). Consumidores satisfeitos, e então ? Analisando a Satisfação como antecedente da Lealdade.
Revista de Administração Contemporânea. Vol. 8, nº 2, p. 51-70.
MÜCKENBERGER, E. (2001). O papel da Satisfação, confiança e comprometimento na formação de intenções futuras de compra
entre clientes com níveis de experiência diferenciados. Anais do XXV Encontro Nacional da Associação Nacional de Pós-
Graduação em Administração-Marketing. Campinas, SP: ANPAD.
OLIVER, R. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing
Research. Vol. 17, nº 4, p. 460-469.
REICHHELD, F. (2002). Princípios da Lealdade: como os lideres atuais constroem relacionamentos duradouros e lucrativos. Rio
de Janeiro: Campus.
SHETH, J., MITTAL, B. and NEWMAN, B. (1999). Customer behavior: consumer behavior and beyond. Fort Worth: Harcourt
Brace & Company.
SIRDESHMUKH, D., SINGH, S. and SABOL, B. (2000). Impact of Frontline Employee Behaviors and Management Practices on
Consumer Trust, Value e Loyalty in Relational Services Exchanges. (Working Paper). Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland.
WICKER, A. (1969). Attitude versus actions: the relationship of verbal and overt behavioral responses to attitude objects. Journal of
Social Issues. Vol. 25, p. 41-78.
ZEITHAML, V., BERRY, L. and PARASURAMAN, A. (1996). The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality. Journal of
Marketing. Vol. 60, nº 2, p. 31-46.
Measuring The Relationship Building Capacity of Online Marketing Communications

Silvia Cacho Elizondo, HEC Paris and ISC Paris, France4
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
The consumer-brand relationship quality construct (CBRQ) can provide empirical evidence of brand community cohesion and
loyalty behavior in the virtual world. This exploratory study examine the relationship quality experienced towards the brand of the favorite
website in the French baby & toddler sector. Five online communication tools (newsletters, forums, chats, games and clubs) were analyzed
according to their CBRQ score. Our sample was composed of mothers with young children belonging to l’Institut des mamans, an Internet
panel accessed via Maman.fr. As expected, we found that users of online services and brand buyers show stronger CBRQ compared to
non-users and non-buyers.
Introduction
The Internet is changing the way people communicate, socialize and collaborate, thus affecting the consumer’s social behavior.
Additionally, the emergence of the relational paradigm places the management of the firm’s relationships at the core of the value-creation
process (Grönroos 1997, 2000, 2002).
In that context, managers and researchers require further understanding of the relationship building capacity of online communica-
tions to evaluate and justify the related marketing investments. Here, it is necessary to consider not only instrumental metrics, such as
conversion/purchasing rates and incremental sales, but also metrics focusing on the emotional and social impact of virtual communica-
tions.
Theoretical background
Brands have frequently been characterized using metaphorical concepts. One stream of research has focused in the personality of
the brand (e.g., Aaker 1997; Helgeson and Supphellen 2004). Another stream of research has used the interpersonal relationship theory
to extend the notion of brand personality to the personification of the brand as a relational partner (e.g., Fournier 1994, 1995, 1998;
Thorbjornsen et al. 2002).
For Fournier, the holistic character of consumer-brand relationships implies that the meaning of a given relationship could be a
function of other relationships not only those directly established with the brand (i.e. consumer-to-consumer). Similarly, the term brand
community has been widely used to define the multiple social structures and networks arising around a brand (e.g., Muniz and O’Guinn
1996, 2001; McAlexander, Schouten, and Koening 2002; Kozinets 1999, 2002; McWilliam 2000; Cova 1997, 2002).
One way of promoting and strengthening a kind of community around the brand is through online and offline brand communications.
For Aggarwal and McGill (2001), brand communications could produce diverse relationships and behavioral norms which influence the
way in which consumers process brand information and experience affection toward the brand. In that perspective, the brand becomes
a more dynamic, affective, and community-oriented entity.
Revisiting the consumer-brand relationship quality framework

Susan Fournier (1995, 1998) proposes the brand relationship quality construct as an alternative measurement tool to assess the broad
spectrum of consumer-brand relationships. Fournier’s framework has already been tested in different research areas (e.g., Fajer and
Schouten 1995; Aggarwal and McGill 2001; Thorbjornsen et al. 2002). But, only Thorbjornsen, Supphellen, Nysveen and Pedersen have
applied this methodology to study the relationship building capacity of two interactive applications using laboratory experiments.
The research purpose

The objective of this research is to further explore the consumer-brand relationship quality associated with the use of online
communication tools by using an authentic virtual setting. In order to do so, we translated and adapted the brand relationship quality scale
(Fournier 1998, Thorbjornsen et al. 2002) to the French context. We test whether or not online communications users and brand buyers
develop stronger relationships than non-users and non-buyers.
4
This research has been supported by CONACYT (Mexico) and Fondation HEC (France). We also thank the support of the ISC (France).
58 / WORKING PAPERS
The sector and sample choice
The sample consisted of mothers and expectant mothers who belong to the online panel of the “Institut des Mamans”. This institute
specializes in market research targeting mothers and expectant mothers. The panel, accessed via the web site Maman.fr, has more than
15,000 members from all socio-economic levels. We chose a high-commitment situation such as parenting, more specifically,
motherhood, to unify our sample under a common interest and life cycle context. Mothers could be described as high-involvement
consumers. Warrington and Shim (2000) found that high-involvement consumers seem to be “more motivated to search for and actively
process product and store-related information”. Also, in this life cycle stage, mothers, especially first-time mothers, usually have a
predisposition to look for (or give) advice and share (or listen to) motherhood-related experiences.
The online survey

Our first online survey was launched via the web site Maman.fr. The members of the panel who completed the survey were entered
in a gift lottery. The response rate was around 20%. There were 606 completed questionnaires used in the final analysis. The questionnaire
included 65 items measuring: the Internet experience, the knowledge and preferences regarding online services and parenting web sites,
the relational orientation of participants and the consumer-brand relationship quality toward the favorite brand web site. Ten additional
items cover the socio-demographic profile. The questionnaire was pre-tested (offline and online) as part of the survey development
process. We administered the survey in SPHINX and then transferred the final database to SPSS for the statistical analysis.
The consumer-brand relationship scale used was composed of seven dimensions : Love & Passion, Trust, Self-connection,
Commitment, Quality of the brand as a partner, Intimacy and Nostalgia. The high correlation among these dimensions guided us to build
a global score of the consumer-brand relationship quality (CBRQ). The reliability analysis integrating all dimensions generates an alpha
of 0.96.
Main findings
We found that the use of online communication tools, widely spread among e-moms, is related with a more favorable perception of
the consumer-brand relationship. Online communication users show in all cases higher scores of brand relationship quality compared with
non users. Also, there were significant differences in the perception of the consumer-brand relationship quality among regular buyers,
occasional buyers and non-buyers (F(2,603)=70.06, p<0.0001). As expected, regular buyers showed the strongest relationship quality and
non-buyers the weakest relationship quality.
Two main groups of online communications services were identified. The first group, composed of individual-oriented tools (ex.
Newsletters, games), generate weaker relationship quality perceptions. The second group, formed by community-oriented tools (ex. Chats,
forums, clubs), show greater relationship quality perceptions. Those who declared not using any online communication tool perceive the
weakest relationship quality. There was an overall significant effect according to the online communication tool used (F (6, 599)=4,792,
p<0.0001).
These findings provide empirical evidence of the relationship-building capacity of online marketing communication. Some services
(ex. Newsletters, games) are more suitable to reinforce the commercial exchange (short-term perspective) and others (ex. Chats, forums,
clubs) to foster brand identification and affiliation (long-term perspective). These results go along with Prandelli and Verona’s
propositions (2001) about the need to differentiate between lock-in and affiliation strategies to compete in the Internet and therefore, the
importance of using the right tools for each type of strategy.
References
Aggarwal Pankag and McGill Ann L., 2001, “Brand Relationships: The Influence of Relationship Type on Consumer Decision
Making Strategies”, Advances in Consumer Research, 28, 42.
Aaker, J., 1997, “Dimensions of brand personality”, Journal of Marketing Research, 34, 347-356.
Cova Bernard, 1997,“Community and Consumption: Towards a Definition of the Linking Value of Product and Services”, European
Journal of Marketing, 31(3 and 4), 297-316.
Cova Bernard, 2002, “Peut-on parler de tribus de consommateurs”, Actès du 1er Congrès Normand:Consommation et Société,
Rouen, 335-358.
Fajer Mary T. and Schouten John W., 1995, “Breakdown and Dissolution of Person-Brand Relationships”, Advances in Consumer
Research, 22, 663-667.
Fournier Susan, 1994, A consumer-brand relationship framework for Strategic Brand Management, PhD Dissertation, University of
Florida.
Fournier Susan, 1995, “The brand-as-relationship partner: An alternative view of brand personality”, Advances in Consumer
Research, 22, 393.
Fournier Susan, 1998, “Consumers and their Brands : Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research”, Journal of Consumer
Research, 24(March), 343-373.
Grönroos Christian, 1997, “From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing : Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing”, Management
Decision, 35(4), 322-339. (This Article was published in Asia-Australia Marketing Journal, 1994, 2(1), was reissued in Manage-
ment Decision, 1994, 32(2)).
Grönroos Christian, 2000, “Creating Relationship Dialogue: Communication, Interaction and Value”, The Marketing Review, 1, 5-14
(This article is based on issues discussed in Grönroos (2000): Service Management and Marketing. A Customer Relationship
Management Approach, ed. John Wiley and Sons).
Grönroos Christian, 2002, “Quo Vadis, Marketing? Towards a Relationship Marketing Paradigm”, The Marketing Review, 3, 129-
146 (This paper was first published in the Journal of Marketing Management, 1994, 10(5), 347-360).
Helgeson, James G. and Supphellen, Magne, 2004, “A conceptual and measurement comparison of self-congruity and brand
personality”, International Journal of Market Research, Quarter 2, 46(2), 205-233.
Kozinets Robert V., 1999, “E-Tribalized Marketing?: The Strategic Implications of Virtual Communities of Consumption”, Euro-
pean Management Journal, 17(3, June), 252-264.
Kozinets Robert V., 2002, “The Field behind the Screen : Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities”,
Journal of Marketing Research, XXXIX(February), 61-72.
McAlexander James H., Schouten John W., Koening Harold F., 2002, “Building Brand Community”, Journal of Marketing,
66(January), 38-54.
McWilliam Gil, 2000, “Building Stronger Brands through Online Brand Communities”, MIT Sloan Management Review, 41(3), 43-
54.
Muniz Albert M. Jr. & O’Guinn Thomas C., 1996, “Brand Community and the Sociology of Brands”, Advances in Consumer
Research, 23
Muniz Albert M. Jr. & O’Guinn Thomas C., 2001, “Brand Community”, Journal of Consumer Research, 27(March), 412-432.
Prandelli E. and Verona G., 2001, “Affiliation or lock-in?: Strategie di Marketing per competere in Internet”, Working Paper No. 10,
Bocconi University.
Thorbjornsen Helge, Supphellen Magne, Nysveen Herbjorn and Pedersen Per Egil, 2002, “Building Brand Relationships Online: A
Comparison of two Interactive Applications”, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16(3, Summer).
Warrington Patti and Soyeon Shim, 2000, “An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Product Involvement and Brand
Commitment”, Psychology & Marketing, 17(9, September), 761-7827.
Virtual Communities as Reference Groups on Consumer Decision Process

Daiane Scaraboto, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
The preferences of individuals are often shaped by the groups to which they belong, by their desire for social acceptance (Solomon
2002), and by their beliefs and values–depending on the cultural context in which they are inserted. The tendency to investigate consumers
as individuals free from influences leads to incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that guide their consumption activities. The
influence of groups with which consumers identify and relate is one of the most important forms of persuasion ever studied by marketing.
Consumer behavior literature (e.g. Bearden and Etzel 1982, Venkatesan 1966) identifies two main forms of personal influence:
reference groups and opinion leaders. Reference groups are able to expose individuals to a new lifestyle, influence their self-image and
attitudes, besides making social pressures that can affect their choices concerning brands and products. Family, professional groups,
community organizations, and friends are considered to be the main reference groups.
In this study, we highlight the importance of including social and cultural aspects in consumer behavior research. Considering the
development and dissemination of the Internet, a technology that bring extremely different people in terms of location and characteristics
closer, it is likely that reference groups for consumers connected to the world wide web are not the same from almost fifty years ago.
As a recent, though expressive, form of human grouping, online communities are a rich and abundant source of information on the
different meanings and symbolic aspects involved in consumer decision processes. There are several definitions and types of online
communities. However, researchers in different areas are unanimous in affirming that online communities can be conceptualized as social
aggregations that are formed in the Internet when a certain number of people lead “public discussions with sufficient human feeling to
form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace” (Rheingold 1993).
The nature of the relationships in online communities has a great variation. Participants might be exchanging technical information
or advice, making comments about other participants, receiving or providing moral support, sharing feelings or secrets, even doing
business or falling in love. Anyway, they “do just about everything people do in real life, but leaving their bodies behind” (Rheingold 1993).
This research aims at investigating online communities to verify their role as reference groups at different stages of the decision
processes. It also aims at verifying possible differences concerning the extent of the group influence on novice and expert consumers
(Tinson and Ensor 2001) and on higher involvement products/services (De Valck et al, 2003).
There are several qualitative methods that can help to obtain strategically important information on online communities (e.g. in-depth
interviews and focal groups). Among them, Dholakia and Zhang (2004) point out netnography, developed by Kozinets (1998) as a
qualitative research methodology that adapts ethnographic research techniques to study computer-mediated communities and cultures,
providing marketers a way to access natural occurring behaviors “such as searches for information by and communal word of mouth
between consumers” (Kozinets 2002).
Netnography is faster and less expensive than the traditional ethnography, besides being more naturalist and less intrusive than focal
groups and in-depth interviews. Nevertheless, it presupposes the participation of the researcher in the group to be investigated and their
acknowledgment as a cultural member of the community (Kozinets 1998).
The method also offers a close relationship to informants, since it makes possible the continuous access to community before, during,
and after the research process (Kozinets 1998). Some limitations of netnography are due to its focus being restricted to online communities,
the need for researcher interpretive skill, and the lack of reliable data to identify informants, which leads to difficulty of generalizing results.
It must also be taken into consideration the fact that computer-mediated communication is essentially text-based, lacking the support of
observational data, modifying the form by which the information is analyzed and processed by the researcher and also by the community
members (Kozinets 1998, 2002).
This research follows a four-stage sequence: (1) determining the virtual community to be investigated through lurking; (2) Entrée–
comprehending the presentation of the research to community members, obtaining consent for using posts, and the incorporation of the
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researcher in the group, (3) data collection using participant observation and in-depth interviews, and data classification; (4) data analysis
and interpretation and validation of findings concerning the members of the investigated community and another similar community.
The investigated community, “Pregnancy and Maternity”, is not a consumption community, but its theme implies in several
discussions on choosing products and brands related to the gestational period, maternity and babies. It is based in the Orkut, a popular
community site linked to Google. The program was created by a Turkish called Orkut Buyukkokten and launched in January 2004. In less
than two months, it became the main relationship site in the world. Brazilians currently account for more than 60% of almost 5 million
Orkut users.
At Orkut, users can create and take part in communities, as well as keep a personal page with a profile, which can have information
such as name, age, musical tastes and food preferences. The veracity of such information depends solely on the individual, but it can serve
as a clue for the researcher to characterize the surveyed members, minimizing one of the limitations of online research.
So far research has counted on data obtained from the community through non-participant observation. By the time conference
occurs, analyses will be well advanced and more results will be able to be presented. It is already possible to perceive that there is a great
exchange of information and experience related to products and brands within the community. The creation of emotional ties among
participants and their demonstration of trust on more experienced members can be indication for the discovery of strong influence
relationships within the community.
There is still much to be done, and this study attempts to contribute for the understanding of the role of virtual communities on
consumer decision processes, which will allow marketing practitioners and researchers to advance in the knowledge of consumers
concerning their social relationships and computer-mediated activities.
The Influence of Satisfaction and Switching Costs upon Customer Loyalty

Fernanda Gastal, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
Fernando Bins Luce, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Given universal requirements of profit and growth in organizations, business executives and academia alike have been engaged in
the task of understanding the role of customer management as an organizational asset. It follows that every customer may have their
individual value maximized in relation to their business potential to a particular organization. In this perspective, both customer acquisition
and customer retention acquire strategic relevance.
If, on the one hand, organizations may view customer retention as directly related to increased profits, customers, on the other hand,
may patronize and feel loyal to a given organization. Customer loyalty has been investigated by a number of researchers in academia,
assuming a direct relationship between customer loyalty and customer retention by organizations (e.g., Dick and Basu 1994; Reichheld
1996; Oliver 1999). Various research results have shown that customer satisfaction is an antecedent of customer loyalty (e.g., in Fornell
et al. 1996; also, Szymanski and Henard 2001): satisfied customers do return to do business with the organization and, therefore, remain
loyal and are retained by the organization.
Somewhat in line with empirical observations of customer-organization relationships is the perception that satisfaction is an
important factor in loyalty building, since the greater the satisfaction, the greater the loyalty. However, inconsistencies do arise, so that
dissatisfied customers do not always cease to be loyal to the organization. Why does dissatisfaction not lead to the end of the customer-
organization relationship?
The explanation may lie in the switching costs–the costs (including efforts and losses) that customers associate with migrating from
one supplier to another (Burnham, Frels and Mahajan 2003). These associated efforts and losses may act to prevent customers from
changing suppliers, thus resulting in customers remaining loyal to the organization even when dissatisfied.
The present study was developed towards reaching a deeper understanding of this matter-since not only does satisfaction lead to
customer loyalty and retention, but also switching costs appear to be relevant in maintaining customer loyalty. This research was conducted
in the mobile telephone market sector, in a specific organization providing these services, and having as its point of departure, in respect
to the relationships between satisfaction, switching costs and loyalty, the original study by Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003). The
present study has, however, extended their investigation with the specific objective of attempting to understand the extent to which
switching costs and satisfaction influence customer loyalty when measured in a scale of dynamic components, while seeking to include
the components of loyalty stages proposed by Oliver (1999). Thus, whilst adding a new field of inquiry–the mobile cellular phone market
sector–and a new context–the Brazilian market–to the study by Burnham, Frels e Mahajan (2003), there arises the wider question the
present study has sought to address: What is the influence of satisfaction and switching costs in customer loyalty?
To that objective, a total of 12 in-depth interviews were conducted, the analyses of which have provided the basis for the development
of hypotheses and construction of the theoretical model. That was followed by a survey-type research utilizing a five-point Likert scale
collection tool with dual-stage development, and comprising 47 items (satisfaction–four items; switching costs–29 items; loyalty–14
items). Telephone data collection resulted in a final sample totaling 493 cases, and comprising individual end-consumers, with post-paid-
type subscription.
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized in order to analyze the hypothesized relationships following the procedures
recommended by Hair, Jr. et al. (1998) and the approach by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). The constructs were submitted to a
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in order to evaluate convergent and discriminant validity, while measuring model uni-dimension-
ality.
In order to evaluate whether the duration of customer experience and switching experience had impact on the relationships between
the model constructs, a SEM multi-group analysis was conducted. It resulted that the covariant switching experience impacted the
customers’ responses to process-related costs and relationship-related costs. Customers who had already switched providers were able
to perceive more clearly the economic risks of switching when confronted with a new switching event. Meantime, the relationship loss
may not have constituted a matter of great concern to these customers, as they had already experienced a switch in providers, and,
consequently, broken relationship ties. Conversely, customers who had never switched showed a stronger reaction towards the association
between the costs involved in their loss of relationship with the provider’s brand and their loyalty. It follows that it is the experience which
occurs on the occasion of switching providers as opposed to the expectation of what might occur that constitutes the actual influencing
factor.
The significant associations found indicate a relationship between switching costs and satisfaction and customer loyalty. Switching
costs pertaining to each of the groups identified by Burnham, Frels and Mahajan (2003)–process-related switching costs, finance-related
switching costs and relationship-related switching costs–showed a significant relationship to loyalty. Thus, the exogenous model
constructs explain 73% of the variance in the loyalty endogenous variant. However, when verifying in separate the construct which had
the strongest power of explanation, it has been noted that the model estimated solely with the satisfaction construct explains 48% of
variance–which is lower than the 76% explained by the switching costs constructs. In agreement with the result found by Burnham, Frels
and Mahajan (2003), switching costs appear as having a greater effect on customer loyalty than satisfaction.
The present study adds to the body of theory which discusses the impact of switching costs and satisfaction on customer loyalty,
reapplying and validating the switching costs scale to the Brazilian context, and indicating the importance of switching costs in customer
management, while reaffirming the importance of satisfaction in the development of customer loyalty. Nevertheless, many questions
remain open and new ones have arisen, thus offering fertile ground for consistent consumer behavior research.
References
Anderson, James C. & Gerbing, David W. (1988), “Structural equation modeling in practice: a review and recommended two-step
approach”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 103, No 3, 411-423.
Burnham, Thomas A., Frels, Judy K.; Mahajan, Vijay (2003), “Consumer Switching Costs: A Typology, Antecedents, and Conse-
quences”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 31, No. 2, 109-126.
Dick, A. S.; Basu, K. (1994), “Customer Loyalty: Toward and integrated conceptual framework”, Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, Vol. 22 (Winter), 99-113.
Fornell, Claes, Johnson, Michael D., Anderson, Eugene W., Cha, Jaesung, Bryant, Barbara E. (1996), “The American Customer
Satisfaction Index: Nature, Purpose, and Findings”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 60 (October), 7-18.
Hair Jr. Joseph F. et al. (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis, 5th ed., New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Oliver, Richard L. (1999), “Whence Consumer Loyalty?”, Journal of Marketing, Special Issue, Vol.63, 33-44.
Reichheld, Frederick F. (1996), The Loyalty Effect, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.
Szymanski, David M., Henard, David H. (2001), “Customer Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence”, Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 29 (Winter), 16-35.
The Impact of a Crisis in Attribute Importance Perceptions

Nora Lado, University Carlos III Madrid, Spain
Anna Torres, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
Oscar Licandro, Univesidad Catolica del Uruguay, Uruguay5
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
How the costumers react during and before an economic and financial crisis is an important yet scantily researched issue (Zurawicki
and Braidot, 2005). We evaluate the variations in the perceived importance of the bank quality attributes as determinated by a severe shock
in the situational context. The particular episode considered here is the collapse of the financial system in Uruguay in June 2002. It was
a short but profound crisis; the Uruguayan banking system became insolvent with banking holidays resulting in a significant financial
system confidence crisis (Lado, Torres y Licandro, 2006).
Our study is twofold, our research questions are (1) how a shock in the external context can affect the weight perceptions of different
service quality attributes, and (2) the persistence of this changes over the time.
Data for this study were generated utilising a two stage, two-period approach and analysed by mixed methodology. The results of
the Correspondence analysis of square asymmetric matrices performed suggest that, the financial crisis provokes changes in the relative
importance of the main attributes.
Attributes weights and situational context

The different importance or weights of the attributes of a product is a relevant issue for the most fundamental streams of research
in marketing, such attitude models, customer satisfaction and service quality literature (e. g. Bass and Wilkie, 1973; Oliver, 1993; Kahn
and Meyer, 1991; Parasuraman et al, 1988). In a seminal work, Miller and Ginter (1979) found that attribute importance vary differentially
across situations. Mittal, Kumar and Tsiros (1999) examined how the weights of the attributes in determining overall satisfaction shift over
time according to the consumption experience. This study examined how attribute weights are temporally labile in influencing overall
satisfaction adopting a consumption-system approach.
5
This research was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia Dir. Gral de Investigación, Grant SEJ2004-00672.
62 / WORKING PAPERS
Financial services are inherent intangible and high on credence qualities. For these reasons, service quality perception is a critical
issue for financial institutions (Beckett, 2000). They need to communicate and promote their image and their reputation effectively. In
order to do it, the banks must first identify the principal dimensions used by potential clients for the assessment of the service quality level
of an institution and evaluate their relative importance for different potential clients.
This research focuses on the issue of managerial relevance for financial institutions in that the significant changes of attributes
importance, as provoked by a shock in the situational context. . We adopt the definition of situation suggested by Belk (1974): “all those
factors particular to a time and place of observations which do not follow from a knowledge of personal (intra-individual) and stimulus
(choice alternative) attributes, and which have a demonstrable and systematic effect on current behavior.” The shock considered is the
Uruguayan financial system crisis. In June 2002, the Uruguayan banking system became insolvent with banking holidays resulting in an
important financial system confidence crisis. The Uruguayan financial crisis was considered a good setting for the study because of it deep
impact as a significant shock affecting the Uruguayan banking clients. Fortunately, the Uruguayan government policy responses
implemented to face the situation were mostly adequate, allowing Uruguay to successfully counteract the financial crisis. At the end of
2003, Uruguay’s economy stabilized and within a year was growing at annualized rates in excess of 10 percent (De la Plaza and Sirtaine,
2005).
Methodology and data collection

In order to identify pertinent variables and to assist in the questionnaire design, Stage 1 of data generation consisted of focus groups
and expert interviews. In Stage 2, the research data were collected by a two-wave telephone survey. The first wave data was collected two
weeks after the financial crisis and the follow-up survey (2nd wave) thirteen months later. The survey questions used in this phase of the
research were based on the service quality literature review and on the qualitative research performed. The questionnaire was administered
to a randomly selected stratified sample of Uruguayan bank clients. The sample sizes were 601 bank clients for the first wave survey (43%
men and 57 % women) and 501 bank clients for the second one (41% men and 59% women).
Results
The results of the Correspondence analysis of square asymmetric matrices (Constantine and Gower, 1978; Greenacre, 2000; Hoffman
et al, 2001) performed suggest that in Uruguay, the financial crisis provokes changes in the perceived relative importance of the main
attributes of the financial entities. For period 1, two weeks after the financial crisis, the main shift is that for people who before the financial
crisis focused on high yield sought instead to rank security and trust as the most relevant attribute. Another asymmetry, but of lesser
magnitude, appears between the other set of attributes, service and care of the customers versus safety and trusting. We found that the
meaning of security is context dependent. In a crisis situation security is referred to the nature of the implemented policies, including
several dimensions: fulfill the promises, respect contracts terms, endorsement and honesty. This secondary segment is characterized for
priming, before the crisis, that banks that offered a good level of service and customer relationship, shifted after the event to emphases
security and trust.
In a normal financial environment, customers tend to take security for granted and assume that all banks provide almost the same
level of this attribute. In that case, security is an important but not a determinant attribute. In our case, security is seen as an important
attribute being possessed in different degree by the competing banks, in both samples. Therefore, as expected, security became an
important and determinant attribute.
Another aspect we were interested in was to analyze if the changes in attitudes- in terms of the relative importance of attributes of
financial entity- where something short-lived and exaggerated by the financial crisis or if they were maintained over time. For this reason,
we replicate our analysis one year later. The results were surprising since, not only they were stable; even further, the skew symmetric
part shows a higher weight on the second analysis.
References
Bass, F. and Wilkie, W. (1973), “A Comparative Analysis of Attitudinal Predictions of Brand Preference”, Journal of Marketing
Research, Vol. X (August), 262-69.
Beckett, A. (2000) “Strategic and Marketing Implications of Consumer Behavior in Financial services” ,The Service Industry
Journal, 20, 3, 191-208.
Belk, R. (1974), “An exploratory Assessment of Situational Effects in Buyer Behavior”, Journal of Marketing Research, 11, (May),
156-163.
Constantine A. G. and Gower, J. C. (1978), “Graphical Representation of Asymmetric Matrices”, Applied Statistics, 27 (3), 297-304.
De la Plaza, L. and Sirtaine, S. (2005), “An analysis of the 2002 Uruguayan banking crisis” World Bank Policy Research Working
Paper 3780 (December 2005).
Greenacre, M. J. (2000), “Correspondence analysis of square asymmetric matrices”, Applied Statistics, 49 (3), 297-310.
Hoffman, D., van der Heijden, P. and Novak, T. (2001), “Mapping asymmetry in categorical consumer choice data”, Research paper
in Vanderbilt University, Sloan Center for Internet Retailing, December.
Kahn and Meyer (1991), “Consumer Multiattribute Judgments under Attribute-Weight Uncertainty”, Journal of Consumer Research,
17, 4, 508-520.
Lado, N., Torres, A. and Licandro, O (2006), “Changes in the Importance of Bank Attributes Provoked by a Financial Crisis: A
Dynamic Analysis of the Uruguayan Case”, WP IUE ECO2006-4, http://cadmus.iue.it/dspace/handle/1814/4160.
Miller, K & Ginter, J. (1979), “An investigation of situational variation in brand choice behaviour and attitude”, Journal of Marketing
Research, vol XVI, 111-23.
Mittal, V., Kumar, P. and Tsiros, M. (1999), “Attribute-level Performance, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions over Time: A
Consumption-System Approach” Journal of Marketing, 63 (April), 88-191.
Oliver, R. (1993), “Cognitive, Affective and Attribiute Bases of the Satisfaction Response”, Journal of Consumer Research, 20
(December), 418-30.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. (1985), “A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research”,
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, Fall, pp. 41-50.
Zurawicki, Leon and Braidot, Nestor (2005), “Consumers during crisis: responses from the middle class in Argentina”, Journal of
Business Research, 58, 8, 1100-109.
Single Language Surveys: An Efficient Method for Researching Cross-Cultural Differences

Sarah Maxwell, Fordham University, USA
Frederic Jallat, Paris Graduate School of Business, ESCP-EAP, France
Gary Reed, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Abstract
Interest in cross-cultural research has increased with the globalization of the market. However, language differences across cultures
pose a major methodological challenge, particularly in survey-based research. In order to address this challenge, researchers typically
translate and back-translate surveys, repeating the process if necessary. This method, however, is not only costly and time-consuming but
also unreliable. With respect to the reliability issue, “a fundamental, unresolved issue… is whether similarities or differences are in fact
real” (Mullen, 1995, p. 574) or whether they are artifacts of the methodology.
The purpose of this research is to investigate an alternative to the translation and back-translation approach to cross-cultural survey
research. More specifically, we seek to determine the feasibility of capturing cultural differences by surveying bilingual respondents in
English. This paper reports the results of a study designed to compare consumer responses captured by a survey in English versus those
captured by a survey in their native language and discusses the implications of the results for cross-cultural survey research.
Language and Culture: A Chicken and Egg Question

To make cultural comparisons, constructs must be linguistically equivalent and the instrument used to measure those constructs must
be reliable across countries (Davis, Douglas and Silk 1981; Douglas and Craig 1983; Samiee and Jeong 1994). Nonetheless, a review of
cross-cultural consumer studies reveals that “cross-cultural consumer researchers appear to have paid limited attention to data equivalence
issues” (Cheung and Lee, 1999, p. 75).
Such seeming neglect may be due, at least in part, to the extreme difficulty in achieving translation equivalence across countries with
different languages (Steenkamp and Hofstede, 2002). “Some studies (Dawar & Parker, 1994; Hofstede, 1976) circumvented the translation
issue by having all respondents respond to an English questionnaire.” Researchers using all-English questionnaires, however, are not
necessarily ignorant about the issues involved. Hofstede (1976, p. 34-35), for example, was well aware that “language is not a neutral
vehicle.” Rather, he noted, “Differences in language fluency and interpretation can create other and potentially more serious biases. Our
thinking is affected by the categories and words available in our language” (1976, p. 34-35).
The influence of language on thinking has been recognized at least since Van Humboldt in mid-nineteenth-century Germany but was
popularized by Sapir and Whorf in the 1920s. According to the Whorfian hypothesis, people can share a similar view of the world only
if they share the same linguistic background. In other words, culture is bound to language. This perspective leads to the following
hypothesis about responding to a survey in a native language (L1) versus a second language (L2):
H1: Based on the theory that culture is bound to language, it is expected that the responses of bilingual consumers taking a survey
in L2 (e.g., French bilinguals taking a survey in English) will be closer to the responses of native speakers of L2 (e.g., English)
than to native speakers of L1 (e.g., French).
An opposing view, propounded by Chomsky (1980) and Pinker (1990), is that language is grafted on to culture. Humans are seen
to have an innate language of thought expressed through their learned language. Therefore, people speaking in a second language would
still reflect their own culture, even though the words they use to describe the concepts might differ.
H2: Based on the theory that language is grafted onto culture, it is expected that the responses of bilingual consumers taking a survey
in L2 (e.g., French bilinguals taking a survey in English) will be closer to the responses of other native speakers of L1 (e.g.,
French) than to native speakers of L2 (e.g., English).
The Study
The above hypotheses were tested in a 2 (language: French, English) x 2 (country: France, England) between-subjects experiment
among English/French and French/English bilinguals. One half of subjects in each country were randomly assigned the survey in their
native language, the other half in their second language. To test for differences in response, the survey included Hofstede’s measures of
power distance and uncertainty avoidance as they have been shown to distinguish the English and French. It also included measures of
politeness and complaining behavior, which, based on differences in the cultures of the two countries, were also expected to vary. The
survey included two measures of language proficiency to verify the subjects’ ability in the foreign language of the survey.
64 / WORKING PAPERS
Factor analysis supported the standard three-factor measure of complaining behavior in both countries. It also identified two stable
factors for politeness in both countries. Unfortunately, as other researchers have found, the Hofstede factors were found to be unstable.
The only clear construct was a two-item measure of power distance.
Results
The results supported the second hypothesis more strongly than the first hypothesis. The French taking the survey in English were
not significantly different from those taking it in French in four of the six factors. The two remaining factors referred to voicing a complaint
and being polite when talking with people. In both cases, they rate themselves more aggressive than the French taking the survey in French.
Similarly, the English taking the survey in French think they would act more forcefully if they were in a situation requiring French.
Although their response to voice was not significantly higher when taking the survey in French, it was in the same direction as the French.
Counter to Hofstede, the French had lower power distance than the English: means (on a 5-point scale where 1= low and 5=high)
France 1.55, England 1.89, p.=.00. The English tended to be more polite, but there was no difference in the complaining behavior of the
two countries.
Conclusion
Generally the results support the belief that surveys in a foreign language—at least to people who are fluent in that language—reflect
the cultural beliefs of the country… with some small exceptions. The exception seems to be in answering questions that refer to behavior.
It seems that giving a survey in a foreign language suggests that the question pertains to situations where the respondent would have to
use the language of the survey. So the respondents ask themselves, “If I were in this situation where I had to interact with people speaking
a foreign language, how would I act?” Some people, in this case the French, seem to think that they would compensate for their difficulty
a foreign language by being more forceful in their actions. Obviously this subject requires more study.
References
Chomsky, Noam (1980) Rules and Representations, New York: Columbia University Press.
Davis, Harry L., Susan P. Douglas and Alvin J. Silk (1981) “Measure Unreliability: a Hidden Threat to Cross-National Marketing
Research?” Journal of Marketing, 45 (Spring), 98-109.
Dawar, N. and Ph. Parker (1994) “Marketing Universals: Consumers’ Use of Brand Name, Price, Physical Appearance, and Retailer
Reputation a Signals of Product Quality,” Journal of Marketing, 58 (April), 81-95.
Douglas, S. P. and C. S. Craig (1983) International Marketing Research Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Hofstede, Geert (1976) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Publications.
Mullen, Michael R. (1995) “Diagnosing Measurement Equivalence in Cross-National Research,” Journal of International Business
Studies, (Third Quarter): 573-596.
Pinker, S. (1990) “Language Acquisition” in Language: An Invitation to Cognitive Science (vol. 1) D. N. Osherson and H. Lasnik,
eds., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 199-241.
Samiee, S. and I. Jeong (1994) “Cross-Cultural Research in Advertising: An Assessment of Methodologies,” Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science, 22 (3), 205-217.
Sin, Leo Y., Gordon W. Cheung and Ruby Lee (1999) “Methodology in Cross-Cultural Research: A Review and Critical Assess-
ment” Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 11 (4), 75-96.
Steenkamp, J.-B.E.M. and F. Ter Hofstede (2002) “International Market Segmentation: Issues and Perspectives, Research in
Marketing, 19 (3), 185-213.
Understanding Consumer Behavior through Consumption Experience: An Auto-Driving

Study on Off-Road Experiences
Fernanda Pagliarini Zilles, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Walter Meucci Nique, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Most studies on consumer behavior are based on the process that generates the purchase decision and culminates in the behavior itself.
This perspective is based on the information processing model, which presupposes that, at every decision made, consumers evaluate
functional characteristics and benefits according to the importance level, evaluate their presence in the different choice options, and finally
choose the option that presents more general utility.
In the early 1980’s, researchers started to question the premise of the rational consumer, stating that consumers are engaged in a
decision making process both cognitive and emotionally. The experiential view, as it is known, admits that perceived benefits can be
psychological and free from any functional objective, and that people are motivated by something beyond the mere satisfaction of basic
needs. The experiential perspective is focused on symbolic, hedonic, and aesthetic aspects of consumption, considering it a phenomenon
directed to the search for fantasies, feelings, and fun.
After the introduction of this new perspective, issues so far ignored on the study of consumer behavior started to draw the attention
of researchers, such as: the role of emotions in behavior, the fact that consumers feel as well as think and do, the significant role of
symbolism in consumption, the consumer’s need for fun and pleasure, and the widening of the consumer’s role, who is no longer only
a rational decision-maker. Consumers started to be seen as more human, people who can dream about pleasant adventures, emotionally
respond to consumption experiences, and use products in several leisure activities. As one admits that consumers want to be stimulated,
amused, instructed, and challenged, one must also admits that they will tend to look for products and brands that provide the experiences
they intend to obtain. Products are no longer packages of functional characteristics, but means to provide and improve consumer’s
experiences.
This study adopts the experiential perspective, treating the consumption experience as the object of study and trying to highlight its
importance in order to understand consumer behavior. The aim is to identify and analyze the elements that form the consumption
experience, including the context in which it occurs, factors related to the individual (thoughts, feelings, activities, and evaluation), and
sensorial stimuli. Such information is essential both at company and academic levels, since it offers an understanding of the forms by which
people experience consumption and use it to translate affections, desire, and social relationships, which can influence behaviors and
formation of attitudes.
The off-road vehicles were the chosen consumption experience to be studied. It is known that vehicles are objects of beauty, passion,
and desire, and that owners have a magical relationship with their automobiles. Satisfaction with this product category is every time more
detached from functional elements, such as good engine functioning. It now involves style, aesthetics, entertainment accessories,
considerations on lifestyle, and prestige. Purely experiential aspects involve the sound of the door being shut, seat covers, seeing, touching,
feeling, and driving a car and the sensations and feelings that arise. Off-road vehicles specifically present their own characteristics for the
application of experiential marketing concepts: they can be driven in muddy or sandy terrains, paved roads; they can be used both in the
countryside and in cities, for civilian or military use and as a sports utility vehicle. This multiuse potential offers several experiences, from
simple trips to great adventures.
It is known, however, that the study of human experience is different from the study of cognitive structures that can easily be measured
through quantitative methods, which, on the other hand, only capture what is literal, without obtaining richer information on what the
consumers have in mind and how they consume and use the products they acquire. Feelings, sensations, intentions, behavior, and
expectations towards products and services are, therefore, more easily explored through qualitative techniques.
In order to perform this study, we have chosen the auto-driving technique, which is based on projective and visual research methods.
This method increases the participation and involvement of the informants in the research process, because they are seeing and hearing
their own behavior through the pictures they are requested to bring to the interview. The use of images and pictures as a means of data
collection on individuals has already been used in previous studies that attempted to explore consumption experiences. Some of these
studies, however, were criticized for using images chosen by the researcher, according to his judgment of what would be relevant and
meaningful for consumers. In this study, on the contrary, we used pictures chosen by the participants themselves, which allowed us to
interpret them as directly relevant and representative of their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and expectations.
So far, the interviews have pointed interesting insights. The consumption experience is embedded in a socio-cultural context with
major tendencies of lifestyle and other consumption practices. The riders love being in contact with nature, are risk takers (not only in terms
of adventurous trips, but also with their businesses and lives) and seem to forget their age, jobs and problems during the adventures. Another
interesting finding is the relationship between the consumers, their car, and its brand. People not only love and adore their cars, but they
also feel they are part of a family–the brand family–which, in turn, pushes them to join groups of riders of that specific brand, in a very
similar way Harley Davidson bikers do. They create their own subculture, sharing values, habits and having in common social, political
and spiritual aspects of their lives.
These are just some of the preliminary results of the study. Digging deeper, we expect to find much more valuable insights which
relate the elements of the consumption experience–its context, sensorial and affective stimuli, cognitive structures, activities involved,
and the value perceived–with other patterns of consumption and behavior. It all indicates that the meaning of the total experience is
somehow magical and charmed, akin to the extraordinary experience of river rafting described by Arnould and Price (1993)–some of the
pioneer researchers in this field.
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A Comparison of the Economical Behavior to Food Risk: European Consumers and Latin-
American Consumers
Azucena Minerva García León, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico
Ruth Areli García León, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Puebla, Mexico
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
In the last few years European people have undergone several transient collective anxieties created by a situation of health risk
regarding food, due to a possible human health risk situation (real or not). These anxieties are called “food crisis”. The negative health
consequence generated by a risky human health product, and the frequency with which they are observed is called food risk.
Consumers react negatively to this type of crisis; that is, they decrease or avoid the consumption of these products, for instance the
“mad cow disease crisis”. As a result of this crisis the supply of alternative products (organic or biological) has increased.
A couple of questions most be answered: is it possible that an intercultural homogenization of food behaviors exists even though
Mexican consumers have not faced directly these problems. How do the French and Mexican consumers react to health risks associated
with alimentary and non food products?
The standard economic theory that characterizes the behavior of individuals assumes that they maximize their personal interest.
However, there are other factors that may influence the behavior of an individual such as feelings, motivations and goals. Because of this
some discrepancies with respect to theoretical models regarding this behavior are observed. Based on frequent observations about
empirical studies, the models have been improved. There are some other parameters that have not been included in the models, even though
they have an influence on the choosing decisions with respect to food risks: the type of risk and the type of products that possesses the
risk. Thus, it is apparent that the economical theory has some drawbacks to explain food consumption behavior.
The empirical works that deal with the evaluation of food products having a human health risk measure the consumer willingness
to pay for avoiding or accepting something in return for consuming a product having a health risk; or to collaborate in making them safer
for human consumption. These studies use incomplete information, regarding food risks, that are not reliable or that are confusing to the
participants. Many of these empirical studies such as contingent evaluations use hypothetical scenarios that are difficult to imagine for
the individuals which may result in answers or behaviors that are economically irrational in regards to the evaluation to risky food products.
From our literature review it was found that the experimental works concerning consumer behavior to health food risk are incomplete
since only a risky product is evaluated with respect to different information levels. In these works the behaviors to the same risk coming
from different sources are not compared. In particular, there is not a comparison among the behaviors to the same risk in products of
different nature neither in different cultures.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the behavior of Mexican and French consumers to the purchase of risky food
products is homogeneous. It will be observed how the individuals behave when they purchase risky consumption goods at a super market.
The experimental method is the most convenient method to measure the consumer behavior to a risky product, since it can be controlled,
it is not hypothetical and it is close to reality. The market institution that has more advantages to measure the economic value of the
consumers for a good is the second better price or Vickrey´s auction. The economic value measurement that is less influenced by the
environment for a risky good and that will be used is the willingness to pay.
The experimental protocol used in the experimental sessions to observe and compare the differences in consumer behavior to products
of different nature having the same risk consists of four essential features: (i) a health risk present in a product of common consumption,
brain cancer; (ii) the choice of two products where the consumption or the use represents the same health risk; an food and non food product;
(iii) alternative products to risky products that guaranteed no health risk; (iv) different levels of real information about this risk: name of
the danger, possible negative consequences due to these dangers and the magnitude of the most severe negative consequences. The
experimental design consisted of three main phases: 1) the “learning” phase; 2) the so called “tasting and hedonic notation”; and 3) the
phase of simultaneous sales of “real products”, at the second better price in an auction. The four products, arranged by couples of alternative
products, are sold in parallel in each of these sales. These phases include four auction periods with a conducted sale in each of these periods.
As an addition of this investigation a survey was conducted to obtain the consumption experiences and the socioeconomic information
of the individuals participating in our experimental sessions.
The results obtained from the experiments conducted in a sample of French consumers are as follows:
In general, the consumers behave adversely to risky products when they are aware of the information about the severity of the possible
negative health consequences. However, when the consumers are aware of the information about the type of risk and of the magnitude
of the negative consequences they behave adversely to food products but not to non-food products.
Thus, the French consumers react differently to the same information about risks to human health depending on the nature of the
product that carries it.
68 / WORKING PAPERS
The food product effect, that is, the nature of the risky product is much more important than the risk effect or the information about
the health risk in relation to the consumer choosing behavior.
From our point of view this investigation is relevant in four important sectors: scientific, political, industrial and consumer behavior.
As a continuation of the experiments conducted in France a similar investigation will be conducted in Mexico. This will be done to
explain the food product effect and to develop a “Theory of human behavior to food risks” to this end the relationship between the consumer
behavior and the perceptions and beliefs of individuals regarding health risks.
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Feminization of Global Consumption: A Movement toward Equity: Explanation and Initial

Research Agenda
Mary Conway Dato-on, Northern Kentucky University, USA
Catherine McCabe, Suffolk University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Introduction
The objective of this manuscript is to explore the role of feminine and masculine values and their bearing on consumption in the global
marketplace. Limited research exists in the feminine values and feminism in marketing (e.g., Bristor and Fischer 1993; Costa 1994;
Hirschman 1993; Palan 2001; Stern 1993). To accomplish this objective we begin with research questions and discussion of cultural value
systems and their components. We illustrate how a nation’s value system shapes consumption. We seek to discuss and investigate a trend
among consumers to spend in ways that support their values of equity for consumers and producers (Ray and Anderson 2000).
Research Questions
Underpinning the primary research question of what roles do masculine and feminine values play in global marketing exchanges are
three questions that guide the present research.
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1. What are the main societal value systems that drive creation of value?
2. How is consumer behavior influenced by the value system adopted by their nation?
3. What changes may arise if a shift in value systems were to occur among large segments of consumers across the globe?
Constructs
Value Systems: Values are held by individuals as well as collectivities such as (sub)cultures, organizations, and nations (Hofstede
1979). Values are mutually related and form value systems or hierarchies. If an individual or group “holds” a value, this means that the
issue involved resonates with them and that they identify some outcomes as “good” and others as “bad” (Hampden-Turner and
Trompenaars 1993).
Hofstede and colleagues (1980; Hofstede and Bond 1988) catalogued five universal values of culture: power distance, uncertainty
avoidance, masculinity/femininity, individualism/collectivism and Confucian dynamism. Hofstede’s research provides standardized
indices that enable levels to be compared across countries. While Hofstede’s scales receive criticism for validity (Sondergaard 1994), the
scales continue to be applied and referenced for consumer behavior and marketing research. The focus of the current study is on feminine
and masculine values; therefore we suggest using Hofstede’s scales to measure the concepts of Masculinity/Femininity (MAS), Power
Distance (PDI) and Individualism/Collectivism (IND). Hofstede’s concepts are well accepted and documented in the marketing literature
this condensed paper will not expand on them.
Value Systems and Segmentation in the Global Marketplace

A recent study of value systems in the US catalogued three distinct segments within American society: Moderns (100 million people),
Traditionals (50 million people), and a relatively new, emerging subculture of 50 million people, Cultural Creatives6 (Ray and Anderson
2000). There are an estimated 80-90 million Cultural Creatives in the European Union, which translates to approximately 30 to 35% of
every Western European country. In addition, preliminary indications are that Asian countries are constructing their own version of
cultural creativity (Moore 2001).
Each value system segment has different approaches to consumption. Moderns and Traditionals follow a masculine value system
emphasizing sex-typed roles, individual achievement, status through accumulation of goods, and varying degrees of power distance.
Cultural Creatives follow a feminine value system based on collective goals, sustainable global development, and low power distance
among consumers and producers (Ray and Anderson 2000). Complete descriptions of each segment society are described by Ray and
Anderson (2000).
Cultural Creatives and Consumption

The CC segment size is estimated at 50 million people in the US and 80-90 million in Europe. In the US the CC segment has an annual
family income $6,317 higher than the national average (Ray 1997). Cultural Creatives possess feminine values: they have great concern
for life quality and relationships. These values indicate a shift in the cultural fabric for US consumers to a lower MAS and a lower PDI.
Cultural Creatives desire a quality of life, equity for producers and consumers; they do not strive for affluence in the form of goods
and possessions. They do not care about the “status purchases” which are prevalent in Moderns’ high MAS cultures. Even though CC value
uniqueness, authenticity, and care about personal growth, they care as much about others as they do about themselves, and they consider
social networks and sustainable growth for future generations to be of utmost importance.
Proposed Study
We propose that as CC increase in number the cultural consumption fabric across the globe will change. Feminine values will replace
masculine values, which will ultimately lead to more equity (lower power distance) among workers, consumers, and in the global society
as a whole. Values of individual responsibility coupled with collective orientations will encourage consumers to choose products/services
that nurture natural and human resources.
We suggest implementing a combination of quantitative survey research using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Ray and
Anderson’s questionnaires with qualitative interviewing on select respondents whose responses indicate different values and different
consumer segments. We suggest that administering the Hofstede cultural scales together with the Ray and Anderson questionnaire will
reveal trends among national populations and major sub-cultures within the nations.
We recommend the use of feminist research methods. Following the women’s voice/experience feminism techniques (Bristor and
Fischer 1993), we suggest the use of qualitative data collection which is reflexive in nature, rejects traditional hierarchical assumptions
of knowledge, and acknowledges that the researchers’ own class, gender, and culture affect interpretation of results. One feminist method
shown to meet the three criteria listed above is memory-work (Friend and Thompson 2000; Haug and Others 1987).
Specifically we propose the following:
P1: Nations with low (high) MAS index scores will have a large (small) segment of cultural creatives who will indicate desires for
reduced (increased) consumption of goods/services and (not) emphasize sustainability and equity for consumers and producers
as important product attributes.
P2: Nations with low (high) PDI index scores will have a large (small) segment of cultural creatives who will indicate desires for
reduced (increased) consumption of goods/services and (not) emphasize sustainability and equity for consumers and producers
as important product attributes.
6
The present manuscript focuses on value systems in the US and the potential of the emerging segment to change the face of global
competition.
P3: Nations with low IDV index scores will have a large (small) segment of cultural creatives who will indicate desires for reduced
(increased) consumption of goods/services and (not) emphasize sustainability and equity for consumers and producers as
important product attributes.
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Costa, J. A. Ed. (1994) Gender issues and consumer behavior. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, Inc.
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Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. (1993) The seven cultures of capitalism: Value systems for creating wealth in the United
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Hofstede, G. and Bond, M. H. (1988) “The confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth,” Organizational Dynam-
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Moore, P. (2001) “The cultural creatives: We are everywhere the “innerview” with Paul Ray.” in Alternatives Resources for Cultural
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responses,” Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (4): 556(11).
Emotion and Service Evaluation: How Different Cultures Respond to Service Experiences
Anne M. Smith, The Open University Business School, United Kingdom
Nina L. Reynolds, Bradford University School of Management, United Kingdom
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Introduction
The increasing trend towards globalization/ internationalization of services (Bolton and Myers 2003; Cicic, Patterson, and Shoham
1999) has highlighted the need for researchers to examine the ways in which consumers from different cultures evaluate the service they
receive and how this then affects their behavioral intentions towards the service provider. Many researchers adopt similar frameworks to
those described in mono-cultural studies focusing on consumers’ cognitive evaluation based on perceptions, expectations or both. Yet a
considerable body of literature (Arnould and Price 1993; de Ruyter and Bloemer 1999; Mattila and Enz 2002; Menon and Dubé 2000)
has emphasized the role of affect in service experiences and in consumer decision-making. Since the nature of feelings and emotions, and
how these are expressed, is known to differ across cultures (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 1997) it is likely that an examination of
the role of affect will have implications for both the development of cross-cultural service quality measurement and services marketing
theory.
This paper reports the findings of a two-stage study which examines whether consumers from different cultures evaluate services
in the same or different way(s). Specifically, the relative role of affect and cognition is explored and the impact on behavioral intentions
is assessed. The first stage of the research is based on focus group interviews comparing West African and U.K. respondents. By adapting
Shaver et al’s (1987) emotional prototyping model this aims to identify differences between cultures in emotions evoked in a single
encounter and the subsequent impact on behavioral intentions. The second stage involves a survey of student banking services involving
African, Chinese English and Scottish respondents. This assesses differences in service experiences and evaluations and the relative
validity of scales, measuring service quality, satisfaction and affect/emotions, in predicting behavioral intentions.
The Focus Groups

The aim of the focus group discussions was to explore cross-cultural differences in consumers’ emotional/affective responses to
negative service encounters and how these then impact on future service- related behaviors. For each of the eight focus groups (four from
each cultural grouping), eight participants were recruited as they attended registration for professional courses offered to both UK and
74 / WORKING PAPERS
international post-experience students. Each group included equal numbers of men and women; mean age ranged from 27 to 28 and all
participants had spent their childhood (and most of their life) in either the UK or West Africa, thus representing opposite quadrants on
Hofstede’s (1980) power distance/individualism map. Participants watched two video scenarios focusing on negative service encounters
between airline ground staff and passengers and were asked to analyze the feelings and intentions of the actors. Shaver et al.’s (1987)
“prototype” approach was adapted to fit the service encounter context. This identifies emotional antecedents (e.g., frustration or
interruption of a goal directed activity), basic emotions (e.g., anger) and subordinate emotions or ‘emotional words’ (e.g., ‘annoyed’).
Participants were also required to describe the behavior of the actors in the scenario and to predict the future service-related behavior of
the consumer in terms of complaining, switching or engaging in negative word of mouth.
The focus groups supported the premise that emotional responses to service encounters will differ cross-culturally. Both cultural
groups described the ‘basic’ emotion ‘anger’ as a response to negative encounters. African participants in particular, however, projected
feelings of ‘sadness’, ‘humiliation’ and emphasized ‘being let down’ and ‘not being valued as a customer’. There were also differences
with respect to behavioral intentions as a result of these emotions and an important mediating role for attribution or ‘agency’. African
respondents were more likely than those from the U.K. to blame the consumer for the negative encounter.
The Survey
The focus group findings have subsequently been explored in a survey of international students’ evaluations of their banking services.
A self-administered questionnaire included measures of service quality (Cronin, Brady, and Hult 2000); satisfaction (Spreng and MacKoy
1996); affect/emotion (Izard 1977; Richins 1997) and behavioral intentions (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1996). The results
presented here are based on two geographic areas, considered to be highly similar culturally (England and Scotland) and two considered
highly dissimilar (West Africa and China). At the individual level, sampling required that respondents had experience of banks and held
a current bank account. Since differences between cultural groups are of interest in this research we controlled for age, educational level
and social class by focusing on students in higher-education.
In order to assess the potential for the three constructs (i.e. service quality, satisfaction and affect/emotion) to predict behavioral
intentions for each of the four cultural groupings, hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. Other potential explanatory variables
i.e. age, gender, and whether the respondent had experienced a problem with the service (and if so, whether this had been resolved
successfully) were also assessed. The findings indicate that the predictive ability of measures varies across cultures. For African and
Chinese respondents, for each of the behavioral intentions variables considered, that is, word of mouth communication, repurchase and
internal response (e.g., complain to employees), the change in the variance explained is greatest with the affect/emotion scales. In contrast,
for English and Scottish respondents, the more traditional measure of quality explains a greater amount of the variance for all behavioral
intentions measures. A second finding relates to the comparatively low explanatory ability of any measure for Chinese respondents
suggesting that current models linking both cognitive and affective evaluations of services to behavioral intentions may not generalize
to this culture.
Conclusion and Implications

The findings indicate that behavioral intentions towards services in non-Western environment may be best predicted through the use
of emotional responses rather than the more traditional measures of customer satisfaction and service quality. Consequently, cross-cultural
researchers should examine the validity of generally accepted antecedents and consequences of models for each group of interest. Although
a major focus of cross-cultural research is the need to establish equivalence in measurement instruments, as suggested by other researchers
(Kettinger 1995; Winsted 1997), alternative measures for individual cultures may be necessary if the aim is to predict behavioral intentions.
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Bolton, Ruth N. and Matthew B. Myers (2003), “Price-Based Global Market Segmentation for Services,” Journal of Marketing,
67(3), July, 108-28.
Cicic, Muris, Paul G Patterson and Aviv Shoham (1999), “A conceptual model of the internationalization of services firms,” Journal
of Global Marketing, 12(3), 81-106.
Cronin, J. Joseph Jr., Michael K. Brady, and G. Tomas M. Hult (2000), “Assessing the Effects of Quality, Value and Customer
Satisfaction on Consumer Behavioral Intentions in Service Environments,” Journal of Retailing, Summer, 76(2), 193-216.
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Hofstede, Geert (1980), “Motivation, leadership and organization. Do American theories apply abroad?” Organisational Dynamics,
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Izard, Carroll E. (1977), Human Emotions, New York: Plenum Press.
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Menon, Kalyani and Laurette Dubé (2000), “Ensuring Greater Satisfaction by Engineering Salesperson Response to Customer
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Richins, Marsha L. (1997), “Measuring Emotions in the Consumption Experience,” Journal of Consumer Research, 24(September),
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66
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Marketing, 60(April), 31-46.
Family and Leisure Consumer Behavior

Pedro Augusto Ramirez Monteiro, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Ana Maria Figueiredo Biselli, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Gisela Black Taschner, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
Karin Giglio, Fundação Getúlio Vargas–EAESP, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
The study of consumer behavior has been explored by researchers of many areas such as marketing, tourism, leisure and sociology,
each one with a particular approach. For example, Hegelsen et al. (1984) found 37 different approaches in papers and journals of Consumer
Behavior, from 1950 until 1980.
Among those, the Family Decision Process was mentioned only in 3,4% of the total collected papers. Researches show little interest
in consumer behavior studies when considering leisure as the main subject. A search was done in EBSCO database, by using “Leisure”
as main word and “Consumer” as Journal identificator. Only 9 papers were found, considering the period from January 2000 to April 2005.
When the main word was replaced by “Family”, 134 works were found. Taking into account that the total number of works was 1883 in
that period, one computes 7,12% of the papers related to Family and 0,48% of them about Leisure. Doing the same research for a different
period, from January 1995 through December 1999, 1654 papers were found, 76 of which were related to Family (4,59%) and 6 were
related to Leisure (0,36%).
However, there is no doubt that, especially in leisure studies, understanding people’s behavior is of utmost importance. (Kelly [1975];
Pestle, Arrington & Card [1989]; Shaw & Dawson [2001]; Raymore et al [2001]; Hutchinson, Baldwin & Caldwell [2003]; Lee &
Bhargava [2003]).
The data presented above show a modest increase in the relevance of these themes (Family and Leisure), but there is an enormous
gap specially considering the Leisure area. In Brazil, the increase in the expenditures in entertainment and cultural activities justifies
research in leisure consumption. According to the National Bureau of Geography and Statistics of Brazil (IBGE), in 1987 the average
expenditure with these activities was 0,43% of the family income. In 1996, this amount decreased to 0,31%, but in 2002/2003 it showed
a significantly increase, reaching 1,91% (Source: Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiar–IBGE–accessed on April 27th 2005).
In much of the research developed in the leisure area, one finds attempts to identify the factors that influence people’s behavior. This
is a relevant analysis because it allows the researcher to better understand why people engage in some leisure activities rather than others.
What is beyond those decisions? Why do those decision change along people’s life cycle? How do internal and external elements affect
leisure behavior?
Pestle, Arrington and Card (1889) have mentioned that the family is one of the factors that influence individual behavior most.
Therefore it is important to understand how families influence their members’ leisure behavior.
Research referring to family life cycle (SCHANINGER and DANKO, 1993), the influence of the family on teenagers’ leisure
activities (HUTCHINSON et al, 2003) and the study of the leisure in the family as whole (ZABRISKIE e McCORMICK, 2003) have also
been found. In leisure research the relevance of the family is also explored by Kelly (1997), who discloses the development of the different
approaches of families and their influence on leisure.
Other researchers discuss the transitional periods in the family life cycle, e.g., the periods between adolescence and the beginning
of a new family, and the period between the marriage and the birth of the first child (RAYMORE et al 2001, p.198). The latter is not present
in many studies related to the family life cycle. This is surprinsing, as one considers that the birth of a child is a critical element that can
really change individual behavior. Kelly (1975) corroborates this idea, upon suggesting that the individual’s roles in the family will directly
influence the parent’s leisure style. According to this author, there is little difference between the behavior of adult singles and married
couples without a child. This assumption is not true for married couples with children, whose leisure activities are related to the whole
family expectations. It has been already established that the fact of being a parent decreases free and flexible time of an individual,
particularly for leisure activities (LEE & BHARGAVA, 2003).
When the mother is considered, the reduction of free time is accentuated. In a study by Brown et al (2001), almost all women
interviewed had their physical activities time diminished due to commitments with their children, house and partner.
This working paper aims to analyze the perceived leisure time allocation of upper middle class women of the city of São Paulo who
have recently had children, by focusing on a comparison between their (perceived) leisure time allocation before and after the birth of their
first child.
It is an exploratory study that uses a qualitative approach so far. Thus, semi-structured questionnaires have been given to mothers
of children aged approximately 3 years in nursery schools, which are located in upper-middle class districts of São Paulo city, Brazil.
The questions have been designed to identify the most relevant activities frequently practiced, by mothers, according to their
perception, in two different family life cycles moments: before and after the birth of the first child.
76 / WORKING PAPERS
This work is in progress and the next steps depend on the analysis of the questionnaires, which are still in the field. Their results should
give the basis for the elaboration of hypotheses to be tested in a further survey to be made with a probabilistic sample.
References
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HUTCHINSON, Susan L., BALDWIN, Charyl K. e CALDWELL, Linda L. Differentiating Parent Practices Related to Adolescent
Behavior in the Free Time Context. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 35, nº 4, 2003.
KELLY, John R. Life styles and leisure choices. The Family Coordinator, April, 1975.
KELLY, John R. Changing Issues in Leisure-Family Research–Again. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 29, nº 1, 1997.
LEE & BHARGAVA. Time allocation for leisure activities: a comparison of married and sigle households. Consumer Interest
Annual, 2003
PESTLE, Karin H., ARRINGTON, Zina A. e CARD, Jaclyn A. The Caroussel Model of Leisure Behavior. JOPERD, October, 1989.
RAYMORE, Leslie A., BARBER, Bonnie L. e ECCLES, Jacquelynne S. Leaving Home, Attending College, Partnership and
Parenthood: The Role of Life Transition Events in Leisure Pattern Stability From Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence, vol. 30, nº 2, 2001.
SCHANINGER, Charles M. e DANKO, William D. A Conceptual and Empirical Comparison of Alternative Household Life Cycle
Models. Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 19, March, 1993.
ZABRISKIE, Ramon B. e McCORMICK, Bryan P. Parent and Child Perspectives of Family Leisure Involvment and Satisfaction
with Family Life. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 35, nº 2, 2003.
A South African Study of Children Consumers’ Cognition of Color and Graphics in Cereal
Box Labeling on Packaging
Elizabeth Kempen, North West University, South Africa
Nadine Sonnenberg, North West University, South Africa
Sonna Visser, North West University, South Africa
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Extrinsic product attributes such as labeling and packaging may have a particular role in children’s’ purchasing behaviour
(Valkenburga, 2001). A qualitative study was designed to gain an in-depth understanding of seven-year-old children’s cognition of colour
and graphics used in the labeling and packaging design of breakfast cereals. Semi-structured interviews, sorting and drawing exercises,
were used to gather data of a sample of 40 children. The findings suggest very specific colour and graphic preferences among children
consumers as well as between colours and flavours. The ideal combination of these aspects were compared to the colours and graphics
used in existing labeling and packaging designs.
Children are born into a world where they are socialized from a very tender age to become responsible consumers. According to
Valkenburga (2001) children as young as five increasingly exhibit independent purchasing behaviour. Research indicates that they
compare prices, prefer certain brand names and are influenced by commercials in their decision-making (Wilson & Wood, 2004;
Pettersson et al., 2004; Valkenburga, 2001; Ozgen, 2003). Moreover, their income is said to have doubled and their spending almost tripled
in the last seven years (McNeal & Yeh, 2003). These and other studies suggest that children are active shoppers, which highlight a few
practical implications for retailers and manufacturers.
A question that has been raised in the South African context is how do marketers reach this emerging segment of young consumers
and deal with the complexities associated with this target market. Clearly, extrinsic product attributes such as labeling and packaging,
which is often highlighted as significant variables in influencing adult buying behaviour, need to be adapted to effectively communicate
the intended messages to children–especially within the preoperational stage of cognitive development. These children, aged between
three and seven years, are in the process of developing symbolic thought (Piaget in Deborah, 1999) and tend to focus on a single dimension
such as the colour of the packaging. Authors such as McNeal and Ji (1999) have in fact reported that children seem to respond better to
colour and graphics as a result of their limited reasoning and reading abilities.
Yet, most of the above-mentioned research has been conducted in countries other than South Africa. Due to the limited empirical
nature of this topic within the South African context, a qualitative study was designed to gain a more in-depth understanding of seven-
year-old children’s cognition of colour and graphics used in the labeling and packaging design of breakfast cereals. This product was
chosen as it is often targeted at the children’s segment of the consumer population (Wilson & Wood, 2004; Dotson & Hyatt, 2000). Another
reason for selecting this product category is the wide variety available on the shelves of South African grocery outlets.
The study addressed specific objectives, which included gaining an enhanced understanding of seven-year-old children’s preferences
for particular colours and graphics in the labeling and packaging of breakfast cereals. The association between colours and flavours was
also investigated. The children’s perceptions of the ideal combination of these aspects were further explored and compared to the colours
and graphics used in existing labeling and packaging designs.
Various qualitative techniques were used to obtain the data needed to realize the objectives of this study and to ensure that the criteria
of triangulation and saturation were met. These techniques included semi-structured interviews in addition to sorting and drawing
exercises. Purposive sampling was employed in recruiting a sample of 40 children from a diverse population of seven-year-old grade one
learners at various schools within the Potshefstroom district. A conceptual content approach was used to interpret and systematically
categorize the data obtained from the sample. A combination of open and axial coding was then used to organize the transcribed data from
the audio taped interviews as well as the information gained from the drawing and sorting exercises into relevant categories and themes.
The findings of the study suggest very specific colour and graphic preferences among seven-year-old children consumers, which is
often associated with particular gender roles. Furthermore, graphics were found to be very useful in identifying existing brands of breakfast
cereals. These findings seem to underpin research conducted by others such as Bradley, Greenwald, Petry and Lang (in Bywaters et al,
2004) that found that better encoded long-term memory could be assured with extremely pleasant or unpleasant stimuli and highly arousing
stimuli such as colour. The analysis of the data also brought to light seven-year-old children consumers’ association of certain flavours
with particular colours. Perhaps most significant, is seven-year-old’s preoccupation with matching graphics to background colours of the
packaging and vice versa.
Noteworthy consequences of this study for the industry are that colour and graphics seem important elements in drawing the attention
of children consumers. As stated by Greg (1998) in today’s competitive atmosphere, colour (and graphics) could be an element in the
marketing mix that helps messages stand out and perform. In this case it could also be considered a primary communicator of the intended
message of both labels and packaging. Retailers and manufactures should therefore strive to select colours and graphics that maximize
attention (Gorn et al, 1997).
References
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recall, stimulus affect and individual differences. Memory, 12(4):479-488.
DEBORAH, R.J. 1999. Consumer socialization of children: A retrospective look at twenty-five years of research. Journal of
consumer research, 26: 183-213, Dec.
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United States: implications for consumer socialization. Journal of marketing communications, 6:219-230.
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in the shade. Management science, 43(10):1387-1400, Oct.
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554.
OZGEN, O. 2003. An analysis of child consumers in Turkey. International journal of consumer studies, 27(5):366-380, Nov.
PETTERSSON, A., OLSSON, U. & FJELLSTR?M, C. 2004. Family life in grocery stores–a study of interaction between adults and
children. International journal of consumer studies, 28(4):317-328, Sept.
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Service Failure Events: Understanding the Flow of Effects in a Multiple Service Provider
Setting
Karin Weber, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Beverley Sparks, Griffith University, Australia
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Service failure and recovery (SF/R) in strategic alliance settings are the focus of this research. The area of service failure and recovery
has recently received considerable research attention (Smith, Bolton & Wagner, 1999; Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 2001; Tax, Brown &
Chandrashekaran, 1998) due to their critical impacts on customer satisfaction (McCoullough, Berry & Yadav, 2000), word-of-mouth
(Blodgett, Hill & Tax, 1997) and repeat purchase intentions (Keaveney, 1995). However, thus far research has been limited to investigate
the effects of SF/R on a customer’s evaluation in which one organization was the sole service provider. Consequently, current research
has ignored the impacts of SF/R in situations in which two or more service providers are closely linked in the provision of services to the
customer by means of an alliance.
Strategic alliances have become a prominent form of business arrangement, especially since the late 1980s and beyond. Early
literature emphasized the need for strategic alliances due to the changed business environment whereby collaborative or cooperative
strategies were proposed as viable counterparts to competitive strategies as a key strategic management tool (e.g., Ohmae, 1989; Hamel,
Doz, & Prahalad, 1989; Harrigan, 1986). Critical issues such as the definition of strategic alliances (Varadarajan, 1995), motivations to
enter these arrangements (Glaister, 1996), key factors for their success and demise (Li, 2000) and selection criteria for alliance partners
(Harvey & Lusch, 1995) were focused on in subsequent research. However, an apparent lack of research is the impact of alliances on
customers. That may in part be explained by the fact that the vast majority of alliance research to date has focused on products rather than
services. Yet, even in the service context, the neglect of customers and the lack of inclusion of the customer have been lamented by several
researchers (Hellman, 1995; O’Farrell & Wood 1999, Weber, 2001).
Consequently, there is a situation whereby SF/R research has not focused on settings other than individual customer- individual
service provider settings, while alliance research has largely ignored the customer in and his/her evaluation of alliance offerings.
Recognizing the importance of both SF/R and alliances to service providers, the present research aims to address this research gap.
Justice theory and fairness theory, both originating in organizational research, have recently been applied in the context of service
failure and recovery (Smith et al., 1999; Sparks & McColl-Kennedy, 1998; Tax et al., 1998). Both theories are regarded as especially
appropriate to investigate the nexus of SF/R and alliance research. In their review of organizational justice research Cropanzano, Byrne,
78 / WORKING PAPERS
Bobocel & Rupp (2001) argue for a differentiation between individuals’ appraisal of justice relating to a particular event from that relating
to a particular individual, group or organization (i.e., social entities), noting a prevalent focus on event justice in previous studies. Their
model has been adapted to the particulars of the study, i.e., a SF/R and airline alliance setting. Furthermore, it has been expanded in that
in contrast to only one social entity in the original model, the model proposed here assesses fairness appraisals to multiple, related social
entities (airline, airline partner, and alliance), consistent with the strategic alliance setting. Therefore, the critical question to what extent
a service failure and recovery is not only impacting a customer’s evaluation of the airline on which the service failure occurred but also
that of the partner airline to which he/she is loyal to and to the alliance in general can be addressed.
The proposed presentation will detail the elements and processes of the advanced model. Based on this theoretical foundation, it will
then report on an experimental design that examined the effect of a service failure event caused by one alliance partner on customers’
fairness perceptions, satisfaction and repeat purchase intentions not only towards that particular airline but also towards the other airline
alliance partner involved in the service provision and the alliance entity. We utilized a 2 (social identification: salient v. non-salient) X
2 (locus of causality: home carrier v. partner airline) X 2 (social account: excuse v. apology) between-groups design with three repeated
(within-subjects) measures. Eight service recovery scenarios were developed, identical except for manipulations of the three independent
variables. They were set in an airline travel context, where the customer was experiencing difficulty getting a seat on a previously
confirmed flight. The context of the scenarios was distinct in that there were three separate entities involved in the service failure event
rather than only one, as has been the case in previous studies. The three entities were the airline the customer is loyal to (home carrier),
the partner airline and the alliance. The proposed presentation will detail study results, discuss their implications, both theoretical and
managerial, and propose future research directions.
Treasuring Possessions: The Rise of Materialism Among East Asian Consumers?

Kittichai Watchravesringkan, UNC Greensboro, USA
Barbara Dyer, UNC Greensboro, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Introduction
Westernization, modernization, and globalization of world markets has led to transitioning “consumer societies” in many parts of
the world, implying a spread of materialistic ideology from industrialized, capitalistic cultures such as the United States and Western
Europe to other cultures (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy 2002). Belk states that, “…even third world consumers are often attracted
to and indulge in aspects of conspicuous consumption before they have secured adequate food, clothing, and shelter” (1988, p. 104-105).
Yet, despite the intuitive logic for a spread of materialism across cultures, our ability to understand such a transition depends on the
availability of effective cross-cultural measures of materialism. In response, this study tests the applicability of Richins and Dawson’s
(1992) materialism scale for Chinese, Korean, and Thai consumers, exploring for the first time the existence and possible nuances in
materialistic values among three discrete East Asian cultures.
Literature Review and Hypotheses

The Richins and Dawson (1992) scale measures overall materialism, defined as “a set of centrally held beliefs about the importance
of possessions in one’s life” (Richins and Dawson 1992, p. 308), as well as three separate dimensions of materialism recognized throughout
the literature: (1) success as defined by possessions (success equals the number and quality of possessions); (2) acquisition centrality
(possessions hold a central place in peoples’ lives); and (3) acquisition as the pursuit of happiness (acquisition is essential to well-being).
Attempts have been made to validate this tri-dimensionality in non-US cultures with limited success (Eastman et al. 1997; Griffin, Babin,
and Christensen 2004). Researchers have found inconsistent results in overall materialism levels across cultures (Eastman et al. 1997;
Schaefer et al. 2004; Webster and Beatty 1997). Eastman et al. (1997), looking across U.S., Chinese, and Mexican consumers, found that
the levels of the individual dimensions of materialism did not consistently reflect the levels of overall materialism. Based on the broad
literature support for a tri-dimensional materialism construct, as well as the inconsistency of findings on overall and individual materialism
levels cross-culturally, it is hypothesized that:
H1: Three distinct, but correlated, dimensions of materialism—success, centrality, and happiness—will be demonstrated by
Chinese, Korean, and Thai consumers.
H2: There will be different levels of overall materialism among Chinese, Korean, and Thai consumers.
H3: The individual dimensions of materialism will not reflect the same levels as overall materialism levels among Chinese, Korean,
and Thai consumers.
Methodology
Sample and Survey Development
The study sample included 207 students from the People’s Republic of China (131 men and 76 women), 268 students from South
Korea (67 men and 203 women), and 248 students from Thailand (71 men and 177 women), all ages 18 through 24. Using the 18-item
Richins and Dawson (1992) materialism scale, a survey was constructed and meticulously back-translated for each sample. Participants
used a Likert scale of 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”) to respond to the survey items.
Analysis and Results
Initially the original Richins and Dawson (1992) scale was modified based on item-to-total correlations, resulting in a 12-item, three-
factor model of materialism that was validated by confirmatory factor analysis via LISREL 8.3 using maximum likelihood. All scale
reliabilities met the 0.50 acceptable level for cross-cultural research involving complex multidimensional constructs (Hair et al. 1998).
The three-factor model was tested and demonstrated a better fit than a one- or two-factor model. Results of χ2 difference tests on each
of the estimated interfactor correlations (i.e., φ) and confidence interval tests both supported discriminant validity for the three-factor
model. Additionally, analysis of the congeneric measurement model indicated equivalent factor structures across the three samples. Thus,
Hypothesis 1 was supported.
Given significant differences across the study samples in age, gender, and income, these three demographic variables were controlled
for in subsequent analysis. The results of MANCOVA showed a significant country/culture effect for overall materialism, as well as for
the three correlated dimensions of materialism. ANCOVA results indicated some significant differences in the levels of overall
materialism and in the three dimensions of materialism across the three samples, with Hypothesis 2 partially supported and Hypothesis
3 supported.
Conclusions and Implications

This study resulted in three major findings: (1) the tri-dimensionality of materialism found in Western culture (i.e., the United States)
was found in East Asian cultures, supporting Richins and Dawson (1992), the general materialism literature, and the study prediction; (2)
differences in the overall level of materialism across cultures were partially supported; and (3) contrary to Richins and Dawson (1992),
who predict overall high materialism values to be associated with similar patterns for the three dimensions of materialism, some differences
were found. Although it does indeed appear that some East Asian consumers treasure their possessions, it also appears that how they
treasure them may differ. In summary, the Richins and Dawson materialism scale worked sufficiently well cross-culturally to produce
the above results.
However, several methodological issues did arise in conducting the research. First, the centrality dimension items were not as robust
as the other two dimensions’ measurement items. Griffin et al. (2004) experienced problems with low factor loadings for centrality in their
study, and in this study only two valid items could be extracted. This suggests that researchers might want to explore item modification
for the centrality dimension of the materialism scale. Second, questions were raised about the Likert response format. It may be that Asian
consumers feel more comfortable with moderate responses, 3 to 5, while non-Asian populations feel no hesitancy to express more extreme
opinions, such as 1 or 7. Thus, researchers may want to investigate the perceptions of Asian consumers relative to Likert-type responses.
Certainly, continued improvement of the measurement of the materialism construct will help us to understand consumers better in an
increasingly global world.
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Warr, P. (2004, April), “Globalization, Growth, and Poverty Reduction in Thailand,” ASEAN Economic Bulletin, 21 (1), 1-18.
Wall Street Journal (2004, Nov. 24). WorldWatch. A11.
Webster, C. and R.C. Beatty (1997), “Nationality, Materialism, and Possession Importance,” in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol.
24, ed. M. Brucks and D. MacInnis, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 204-210.
Wong, N. Y. C. and A. Ahuvia (1998), “Personal Taste and Family Face: Luxury Consumption in Confucian and Western Societies,”
Psychology and Marketing, 15 (5), 423-441.
Unchaining Means-End Chain Analysis

Jacques-Marie Aurifeille, University of La Reunion, France
Jaime Gil-Lafuente, University of Barcelona, Spain
Stephane Manin, University of La Reunion, France
Virginie Villeneuve, University of La Reunion, France
Christian Dave, University of La Reunion, France
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Introduction
Many studies have supported the notion that consumers’ fundamental expectations could be connected to product attributes via a
series of implications between benefits. The series was called a “Means-end chain” (MEC, Gutman and Reynolds 1979). As MECs are
sequences of items, their variety is huge. Moreover, because any respondent chooses only a small number of items, the database is sparse
and the same zero value (i.e., item not elicited) reflects attitudes ranging from total rejection to near acceptation.
To face these problems, researchers have proposed methods that constrain the format of the chains (number and content of the steps).
However, fixing the length of the MECs may lead to discarding important intermediate levels or impede the emergence of shorter processes
that could reflect cognitive abstraction, product familiarity and involvement (Walker et al. 1987; Perkins et al. 1988; Pitts et al. 1991;
Mulvey et al., 1994). A constrained approach also faces the problem of assigning items to a priori levels. For instance, ‘joy/joyful’ may
be considered as a psychosocial consequence, an instrumental value or a terminal value. In such cases, the position of the item in the chain
is more explicit than its name. Hence, the analysis should be done at the chain level rather than at the item level.
Brief review of the existing methods

Researchers initially suggested to identify the dominant MECs by drawing a tree of the most frequent links (Reynolds and Gutman
1988). This solution has two limitations:
- it displays a large number of possible paths

- it can be difficult to draw, especially if the “direct” paths (those without intermediate items) and the “indirect” paths are
differentiated.
Then, multidimensional methods have been proposed. However, because they ignore the order in which the items are generated, their
solutions are difficult to interpret and sometimes inadmissible (Aurifeille et al., 1995).
Recently, multi-way tables have been used to analyse the interaction between levels, so that the sequential aspect of the means-end
processes is accounted for. However, reliability issues imply drastic constrains: all chains should have two links and the same levels (ter
Hofstede et al.1998).
The proposed method

First the MECs are translated into a common “reference” space where their similarity is measured. Then, the dominant processes are
identified by clustering (Aurifeille, 2004).
The translation of the chains in a common means-end space is based on a dynamic approach, known as “Markov Chains” (Meyer
et al. 1990). Two types of information are considered:
- the individual chains (MECs)

- a matrix of the probability that any two item are linked, across all chains. A common means-end structure is identified by
multiplying this matrix by itself several times, until it converges to stable probability values.
Means-end processes are a specific case of Markov Chain because some items never lead to another item (e.g., the terminal goals).
In this case, known as “non-transient”, the common structure has two specificities: its values concern only the output items and they differ
according to the preceding items. Therefore, in the Markov chain conception, multiplying an individual chain by the common matrix will
generate output probabilities that specify the chain in reference to the common processes.
Output probabilities are particularly meaningful in a “macro” perspective, where fundamental motivations must be found. A “micro”
perspective may also be adopted where attributes are predominant because they draw consumers’ attention (Reynolds 1985). To account
for this duality, the input probabilities should be estimated also. This is done simply, by reversing the procedure used for the output
probabilities. A MEC’s input-output probabilities are more precise than its initial values, because the binary values are replaced with real
numbers. Therefore, MECs can be clustered according to the similarity of their input-output probabilities.
Any clustering algorithm can be used. In the empirical study below, a genetic algorithm (GA, Davis 1991) was chosen because it
is less sensitive to the starting points and to the assignment order. To operate, a GA must be supervised by an objective function. Classically,
the k-biserial correlation (Milligan,1981) could be optimised using the MECs’ Euclidean distances.
In each cluster, a prototypical chain is searched. As a purely algebraic definition of this centroid could lead to interpretation problems,
the only prototypes considered are the chains observed through data collection. Any other list of prototypes could be used, thus enabling
more exploratory or confirmatory approaches.
Empirical study
For the sake of comparison and accessibility, the database was chosen because it had been published by Reynolds and Gutman (1988).
It includes 67 MECs about wine coolers. Forty-five different MECs exist, many of them without a “terminal value”. Their lengths range
from 2 to 6 items. Although Reynolds and Gutman pre-assign the items to 3 hierarchic levels, the proposed method does not require to
do so.
Solutions ranging from 2 to 7 clusters, meaning 2 to 7 prototypical MECs, were generated with good internal validity (k-biserial
increasing from 0.79817 to 0.92955). Throughout the range of solutions, no bias is observed towards a specific structure: some prototypes
have only one link, others exhibit up to 5 links. Similarly, no bias appears concerning the type of items: one third of the MECs are assigned
to prototypes with no “terminal value”. The empirical study also shows that the method can differentiate embedded processes. For
example, the dominant chain 3-20 is differentiated from the more detailed one 3-8-18-20. All these results demonstrate that the
intermediate items play a role in the identification of the MECs.
Conclusion
The proposed method does not appear to be biased in favour of any a priori means-end structure. Thus, its objective is achieved:
affording an opportunity to investigate means-end processes without arbitrary constraints on the data collection and analysis. Further
research on goal theory and benefit segmentation is then enabled by observing means-end processes that do not necessarily end with a
terminal value or start with an attribute.
82 / WORKING PAPERS
However, the database used in this paper was chosen in an illustrative perspective, because of its legitimacy and accessibility.
Additional studies should then be done.
References
Aurifeille, J.M. (2004), “Uncovering consumers’ choice processes”, European Journal of Economics and Social Systems, 18, 4, 125-
145.
and P. Valette-Florence (1995), “Determination of the dominant chains”, International Journal of Research in Marketing,
267-278.
Davis, T.E. (1991), Handbook of Genetic Algorithms, New York,Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Gutman, J. and T.J. Reynolds (1979), “An Investigation of the Levels of Cognitive Abstraction Utilized by the Consumers in Product
Differentiation”, in Attitude Research Under the Sun, J. Eighmey ed., Chicago: AMA, 128-50.
Meyer, R.J. and B.E. Kahn (1990), “Probabilistic Models of Consumer Choice Behavior”, in Handbook of Consumer Behavior, H.
Kassarjian and T. Robertson (eds.), Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 85-123.
Milligan, G.W. (1981), (1981), “A Monte Carlo Study of Thirty Internal Criterion Measures for Cluster Analysis”, Psychometrika,
46, 40-7.
Mulvey, M.S., J.C. Olson, R.L. Celsi, and Beth A Walker. (1994), “Exploring the Relationships Between Means-End Knowledge and
Involvement”, Advances in Consumer Research, 21, 51-7.
Perkins, W.S. and T.J. Reynolds (1988), “The Explanatory Power of Values in Preference Judgements: Validation of the Means-End
Perspective”, Advances in Consumer Research, 15, 122-126.
Pitts, R.E., J.K Wong and D.J. Whalen (1991), “Consumers’ Evaluative Structures in two Ethical Situations: A Means-End
Approach”, Journal of Business Research, 22, 119-30.
Reynolds, T.J. (1985), “Implications for Value-Research: a Macro vs Micro Perspective”, Psychology and Marketing, 2 (4), 297-305.
and J. Gutman (1988), “Laddering Theory, Method, Analysis, and Interpretation”, Journal of Advertising Research,
February-March, 11-31.
ter Hofstede, F., A. Audenaert, J-B.E.M. Steenkamp and M. Wedel (1998), “An Investigation Into the Association Pattern Technique
as a Quantitative Approach to Measuring Means-End Chains”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 15, 37-50.
Walker, B., R. Celsi and J. C. Olson (1987), “Exploring the Structural Characteristics Of Consumers’ Knowledge”, Advances In
Consumer Research, 14, 17-21.
A Comparative Study of Spokesperson Accent and Communication Effectiveness in Border

and Inland Mexican Cities
Oscar W. DeShields, Jr., California State University-Northridge, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Universal to all people is the use of language. Furthermore, communities that are characterized along such dimensions as ethnicity and
general economic prosperity tend to develop shared speech patterns and habit (i.e., dialects and accents) (Platt and Platt 19975, p. 34). Since
communities are perceived to vary in status (Trudgill 1983, p. 217), a speaker’s accent can influence the listener’s perception of the speaker.
The effects of accents on salesperson persuasiveness have been investigated in the United States (Tsalikis, DeShields, and LaTour 1991),
in Central America (Tsalikis, Ortiz-Buonafina, and LaTour 1992), and in Mexico (DeShields, de los Santos, Berumen, and Torres, 1997).
These studies indicate that standard accents are perceived by respondents to be more credible than nonstandard accents. The significance for
marketers is apparent: adopt the standard accent if you want to be effective (DeShields and de los Santos 2000).
The purpose of this study is to take one step closer in understanding this relationship by exploring the impact of a spokesperson’s accent
on consumer purchase intentions in four Mexican cities at different proximity to the United States border. The objective of this study is to
investigate the applicability of Tajfel’s theory in explaining the impact of spokesperson accent on consumer purchase intentions in different
locations with different language standards. This study extends the existing literature by comparing the impact of accent on purchase intentions
at different locations within a country.
Tajfel’s (1981) social categorization, social identity, and social comparison theory (CIC) is an inter-group evaluation-based model that
explains how an individual uses the group to determine his/her self-concept. According to the theory, the individual first categorizes the social
environment into separate social categories, such as race or accent. Since the individual has an association or relationship with some of these
social categories, this subset defines the individual. That is, the individual has a social identification with those particular social categories.
The second stage to Tajfel’s theory postulates that some function of the individual’s set of social identifications creates the individual’s social
identity. Social categorizations, therefore, define an individual’s social identity and part of the individual’s self-concept through a systematic
category selection process. The third stage of the theory, social comparison, suggests that a positive social identity for the individual is obtained
by the value and emotional importance of the individual’s group standing relative to other reference groups along some salient dimensions.
Thus, the in-group members are expected to evaluate their members more favorably than out-group members. Hence, advertisers who use
presenters with a positive identity along the salient dimensions of the group with which the target consumers identify will be expected to have
a positive influence on members of the target market, with other elements held constant.
A 2 x 4 x 2 x 2 factorial experimental design was used with spokesperson accent (American-Spanish and Mexican-Spanish), Mexican
cities (Reynosa, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City), spokesperson gender (males and female) and audience gender (males and female)
as the between-subject factors.
In order to conduct the study, four commercials were produced by using different spokesperson genders and two different Spanish accents
(two levels of salesperson gender x two levels of accents). The product/service used in the study was automobile insurance. At the taping
session, a hypothetical promotional pitch for the company was prepared with an American-English-Spanish-accent and a Mexican-Spanish
accent. After viewing the tapes, respondents were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of the following measurement areas: a three-
item semantic differential scale measuring respondent purchase intentions and 14 respondent classification questions.
The sample for the study consisted of 1,205 students (66.9%) and 596 non-students (33.1%), of whom 800 (44.5%) were males and 954
(53.1%) were females, and 47 were not accounted for due to missing data. Of the respondents, 76.5% were between the ages of 18-24, 6.1%
were between the ages of 25-29, 9.7% were between the ages of 30-44, 3.1% were between the ages of 45-54, and the remaining 2.1% were
more than 55-years-old, and 2.5% were not accounted for due to missing data. The primary language of 81.5% of the respondents was Spanish,
3.7% was English, and 7.3% of the respondents listed both Spanish and English as their primary languages, while 7.5% of the respondent
listed other as their primary language. The ethnic composition for the key groups of respondents consisted of 1,617 (89.9%) Mexicans, 21
(1.2%) Anglos, 55 (2.8%) other Latinos, 102 (4.6%) were other ethnic groups, and 1 (0.1%) missing data. The results of the study partially
support Tajfel’s theory. Briefly, the theory states that spokespersons who are perceived as a part of the mainstream of society will have a more
positive impact on the purchase intentions of consumers in that society than spokespersons who are not perceived as a part of the mainstream.
The study findings indicate that a spokesperson having a Mexican-Spanish accent has an advantage over a spokesperson speaking with
an American-(English)-Spanish accent in inland Mexican cities but not in a border or coastal Mexican cities. This finding is consistent with
the linguistic and social psychology literature, which noted that presenters speaking in the standard accent of the audience evoke more
favorable judgments than presenters speaking a non-standard accent. In addition, this finding is significant because it suggests some influence
of the border and coastal regions on the language pronunciation dimension. That is, an acceptable language standard became inclusive of the
accented version of the host country language along its border or coastal area.
References
DeShields, Oscar W. Jr., (2000), “Salesperson’s Accent as A Globalization Issue,” Thunderbird International Business Review, 42
(1) January-February, 29-46.
DeShields, Oscar W. Jr., Gilberto de los Santos, Olivia Aguire Berumen, and Celia Cristina Orzozce Torres (1997), “A Salesperson’s
Accent and Gender, and Consumer Purchase Intentions: Implications for Latino Salespersons in Mexico and the United States,”
Journal of International Consumer Marketing 9 (3): 7-23.
Platt, John T. and Heidi K. Platt, (1975), “The Social Significance of Speech,” New York: American-Elsevier
Tajfel, Henry,(1981), “Human Groups and Social Categories.” Cambridge University Press:
Trudgill, Peter, (1983), “On Dialect: Social and Geographic Perspectives.” New York: New York University Press.
Tsalikis, John, Marta Ortiz-Buonafina, and Michael S. LaTour, (1992), “The Role of Accent on The Credibility and Effectiveness of
the International Business Person: The Case of Guatemala,” International Marketing Review, 9, (4), 57-72.
Tsalikis, John, Oscar W. DeShields, Jr., and Michael S. LaTour, (1991), “The role of accent on the credibility of the salesman,”
Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11, 31-41.
Measuring Aggregate Returns in the Customer Value: An Analytical Framework

Dr. Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico7
Ananya Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
The customer values for a new product of firm in competitive markets are shaped more by habits, reinforcement effects, and
situational influences than strongly-held attitudes. However, the aggregate returns on the customer value towards the new product from
the perspective of a firm may be observed manifesting in enhancing the market share, market coverage and augmenting profit in a given
market. The academics, consultants and business people speculated that marketing in the new century would be very different from the
time when much of the pioneering work on customer loyalty was undertaken (Churchill 1942; Brown 1953; Cunningham 1956, 1961;
Tucker 1964; Frank 1967). Yet there exists the scope for improving the applied concepts as there have been many changes over
conventional ideologies. It has been observed in one of the studies that the customer values are created towards the new products through
individual perceptions, and organizational and relational competence (Johanson et.al., 2001). The value of corporate brand endorsement
across different products and product lines, and at lower levels of the brand hierarchy also needs to be assessed as a customer value driver.
Use of corporate brand endorsement either as a name identifier or logo identifies the product with the company, and provides reassurance
for the customer (Rajagopal and Sanchez, 2004).
The Model
A firm may introduce the new product with the high investment in terms of product attributes (i1), distribution (i2),
promotion (i3) and other related factors (…in) related with gaining competitive advantage in a given time (t) in the jth market. Let us assume
that (s) is the estimated market coverage for the new product, the customer value (Vnp ) may be initially positive and high, resulting into
deeper market penetration (with s increasing). This may be described as:
7
I express my sincere thanks to anonymous referees for their comments and guiding the improvements in the paper.
84 / WORKING PAPERS
(i)
However, may become negative following product competition within the product line due to the product overlap
strategy of the firm. In the above equation, volume of buying is represented by ∂v in a given time t. To augment the customer value and
enhance market coverage for the new products in the potential markets the firm may optimize the product line by pruning the slow
moving products in the jth chain in h market in order to reposition them in new market. Hence to enhance the market coverage for the new
product with enhancing the customer value for the new product of the firm, the strategy may be described as:
(ii)
Where in s is the market coverage of the new product, k is the investment on market functions derived in a given time [equation (vi)]
and R is the referral factor influencing the customer values with an advantage factor coefficient β in time t. The products constituting the
optimal product line of the firm in a given time is represented by Pt in the above equation. The firm may measure the customer value shocks
accordingly and shield the uncertainties occurring to the estimated market coverage due to declining customer values for the new products.
As is common the new products are susceptible to such value shocks in view of the companies’ own product line strategy.
Let us assume that the new product attractiveness is Fx and initial product market investment is , perceived
customer value of the new product is Vnp and competitive advantage driver for the customer is Cat at a given time.
(iii)
Hence
(iv)
Where in denotes the initial investment made by the firm for introducing t the new products, represents the volume of
penetration of new product in a given market in time t with estimated market coverage s. In the equation expresses the volume of repeat
buying during the period, the new product has been penetrated in the market by the firm. The total quality for new products goes up due
to economy of scale as the quality is also increased simultaneously and . In reference to the new
products x, the competitive products create lower values to the customers while the innovative products irrespective of
price advantages, enhance the customer value . The value addition in the competitive products provides lesser
enhancement in customer satisfaction as compared to the innovative products if the new products have faster penetration, re-buying
attributes and market coverage.
If, (x0,x1,x2,….xn-1,xn) represents customer value at different stages of product attractiveness, increasing with reference to the
derived advantage from the competing product in a given market at a given time (t). In the process of enhancing the customer value for
the new products a firm may use intensive customer value for new products; a firm may use intensive customer relationship management
(CRM) strategies simultaneously to the competitive sales and marketing strategies. The integrate impact of CRM, sales and marketing
strategies at different stages of product attractiveness would contribute to the customer value. An aggregated customer value represented
by Rn and can be calculated with the following equation:
(v)
Further simplifying this equation, we get,

(vi)
In the above equation A(R) represents the aggregate returns on the customer value derived at various stages of product attractiveness
and quantitative changes in the volume of goods positioned by the firm, repeat buying, and market coverage in terms of changes in the
market shares of the firms. However, a firm may need to compute the trend of customer value for all the products in its product line, and
measure the variability in the customer values perceived for its new products. The customer value trend for a given product line (pl ) may
be derived through the following equation substituting the equations (iii) and (iv).
(vii)
In the above equation the customers’ value spread across the time frame V (t0 - ∞) which represents the value spread from the time
of introduction of the new product (t0 ) till the project period (t ∞ ). It may be possible that the new product of a firm may acquire a higher
market share but relative performance in reference to the products within the given product line may be comparatively lower. Under such
conditions the profit contributed by the new product of the firm may be described as
(iv)
Wherein Yt represents the profit contribution by the new product in time t.

The derived efficiency value can be understood as the return on the customer’s investment. Products offering a maximum customer
value relative to all other alternatives in the market are characterized as efficient.
Conclusion
There has not been many contributions emerged in the past addressing the measurement of the customer value as an intangible asset
of the firms, though substantial literature is available discussing the customer relations and loyalty building perspectives. The model
discussed in this paper provides a holistic view of the customer value by proposing ways to measure the different variable associated with
it viz. product attractiveness, market coverage, communication and point-of-purchase services offered to the customers.
References
Brown, George H. (1953), “Brand Loyalty-Fact or Fiction”, Advertising Age, Vol. 24. Reprinted in A.S.C. Ehrenberg and F.G. Pratt,
Customer Behavior, Middlesex: UK: Penguin, 1971, 28-35.
Churchill, H (1942), “How to Measure Brand Loyalty”, Advertising and Selling, 35, 24
Cunningham, R M (1956), “Brand Loyalty-What, Where, How Much”?, Harvard Business Review, 34, January-February, 116-128.
Cunningham, R M (1961), “Customer Loyalty to Store and Brand”, Harvard Business Review, November-December, 127-137.
Frank, Ronald E (1967), “Is Brand Loyalty a Useful Basis for Market Segmentation”? Journal of Advertising Research, 7 (2), 27-33
Johnson Ulf, Martensson Maria and Skoog Matti (2001), “Measuring to Understand intangible Performance Drivers”, European
Accounting Review, 10 (3), September, 407-437
Rajagopal and Sanchez R (2004), “Conceptual Analysis of Brand Architecture and Relations within Product Categories”, The
Journal of Brand Management, 11 (3), 233-247
Tucker, William T. (1964), “The Development of Brand Loyalty”, Journal of Marketing Research, 1(3), 32-35
86 / WORKING PAPERS
Pop Divas and the Expression of Emotions in Virtual Communities: A Cross-Regional

Comparison
Cecilia Maldonado, University of Texas–Pan American, USA
Michael S. Minor, University of Texas–Pan American, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Studying the expression of emotions in virtual communities yields insights into the mindset of people, especially in the virtual
community environment. In this milieu, people post messages voluntarily with the only purpose to be in contact with others who share
the same interests. It’s important for marketers to understand emotions in people because emotions are a very important factor in consumer
behavior. Emotion is linked to consumption and can influence attitudes and actual behaviors. Understanding the emotions expressed in
virtual communities helps marketers improve their understanding to develop strategic plans more effectively and with more accuracy.
The purpose of this paper is to compare emotions expressed among members of three virtual communities. These communities are
composed of fans of popular female singers from Latin America, North America, and Asia. This study is not concerned with the way people
from different cultures interact in virtual communities, because virtual communities don’t have geographic nor cultural boundaries, but
in the way members of virtual communities, who are fans of popular singers from different cultures, interact.
This study is at the confluence of three important streams in consumer behavior research: Internet communities, popular culture (as
expressed in popular music), and emotion. The research is conducted by examining three virtual communities that are composed of fans
of popular music female singers. The communities considered for this study post messages in English only.
A virtual community is a group of people who interact online and share common interests (Williams and Cothrel 2000). Further, Hagel
(1999) suggests that these online discussions lead to a complex network of personal relationships. The concepts of time and space are not
constraints in the formation of this kind of community. There are no geographical restrictions because as long as the person has Internet
access, she/he can join the community. The time restriction doesn’t exist either because these communities can be reached at any time 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
Emotions are often related to consumption. For example, in an effort to measure emotions in consumption, Richins (1997) developed
the Consumption Set of Emotions (CSE) as a set of emotions felt during consumption experiences. Other examples of emotions related
with consumption are the study of both brand loyalty and image and value transmission to individuals. Brand loyalty involves the feeling
of liking, such that emotional sentiment toward a brand is likely to yield a positive feeling for that brand (O’Shaughnessy and
O’Shaughnessy 2003). Music has also been related with image and value transmission. Pop singers can influence fashion in youngsters
(Hogg and Banister 2000) and the values reflected in music (Dolfsma 1999).
Pop music consumption includes the purchase of recorded music, attending live concerts, watching music videos, and listening to
the radio (Hogg and Banister 1999). Other forms of consumption may be related with music, like the purchase of music books and
magazines and clothing with a pop star printed on them.
Music can trigger emotions and feeling, either through lyrics or the melody. Some researchers argue that emotions are reflections
of our own previous experiences. For example, a happy song may trigger sadness in a person who relates that song to a sad event
(Baumgartner 1992). For marketers it is important to understand pop music listeners’ emotions, to better target strategies which will
increase the popularity and sales of the singers, as well as to understand the consumption experience.
The purpose of this study is to examine the emotions that virtual community members express to other members of the community.
People who belong to these communities share a common interest: being fans of the same pop singer. Cultural aspects will be discussed
relevant to the expression of emotions among different cultures, such as individualism/collectivism, independent/interdependent cultures,
and high/low context. By examining the three geographical areas of Latin America, North America, and Asia, we can make cultural
distinctions among them and have a better understanding of cultural differences in music listeners. No previous study has been found that
made a regional comparison between feelings expressed among members of virtual communities. In sum, the contribution of this paper
is to shed light on two main research questions: Are there cultural differences in the way virtual community members of popular music
interact? And if so, what are these differences?
One important aspect is that we examined only English-speaking virtual communities without considering the language in which the
artist sings. Also we studied only fans of female pop singers. There are two reasons to confine our research to the fans of female artists.
First, virtual communities of Asian male pop singers do not seem to exist. And second, in previous research Maldonado and Minor (2003)
found that female singers are more likely to cross gender boundaries: That is, female singers have opposite-sex fans in bigger proportions
than male singers, as well as enjoying a substantial female fan base.
We found that levels of fear, guilt, love, anger and shame were different among the communities. Our general assumption that Latin
America and Asia would be more similar to each other than to the U.S. was not confirmed. Among the unanticipated differences we found
was that love was more often expressed in the North American than the Latin American context, suggesting that more research is needed
on the expression of emotions between countries.
References
Bagozzi, Richard P., Nancy Wong, and Youjae Yi. (1999), “The Role of Culture and Gender in the Relationship Between Positive
and Negative Affect,” Cognition and Emotion, 13(6), 641-672.
Baumgartner, Hans (1992), “Remembrance of Things Past: Music, Autobiographical Memory, and Emotion,” Advances in Consumer
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Bickart, Barbara and Robert M. Schindler (2001), “Internet Forums as Influential Sources of Consumer Information,” Journal of
Interactive Marketing, 15(3), 31-40.
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Advent of Pop Music,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 58(4), 1019-1046.
Elfenbein, Hillary Anger and Nalini Ambady (2003), “Universal and Cultural Differences in Recognizing Emotions,” Current
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Hogg, Margaret K. and Emma N. Banister (2000), “The Structure and Transfer of Cultural Meaning: A Study of Young Consumers
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Richins, Marsha L. (1997), “Measuring Emotions in the Consumption Experience,” Journal of Consumer Research, 24(September),
127-146.
Semin, Gun R., Carien A. Gorts, Sharda Nandram, and Astrid Semin-Goossens (2002), “Cultural Perspectives on the Linguistic
Representation of Emotion and Emotion Events,” Cognition and Emotion, 16(1), 11-28.
Thorbjornsen, Helge, Magne Supphellen, Herbjorn Nysveen, and Per Egil Pedersen (2002), “Building Brand Relationships Online: A
Comparison of Two Interactive Applications,” Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16(3), 17-34.
Trivedi, Saam (2001), “Expressiveness as a Property of the Music Itself,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 59(4), 411-
420.
Ward, Katie J. (1999), “Cyber-Ethnography and the Emergence of the Virtual New Community,” Journal of Information Technology,
14, 95-105.
White, Arden (1985), “Meaning and Effects of Listening to Popular Music: Implications for Counseling,” Journal of Counseling and
Development, 64 (September), 65-69.
Williams, Ruth L. and Joseph Cothrel (2000), “Four Smart Ways to Run Online Communities,” Sloan Management Review, Summer,
81-91.
Internet Addiction: Measurement and Relationship with Materialism and Compulsive Buying
Reto Felix, University of Monterrey, Mexico
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Although most consumption activities in our modern society are desired and unproblematic, there seem to exist undesired side effects
which have been described in literature as “the dark side of consumer behavior” (Mowen and Minor 2000). These effects include, e.g.,
materialism, compulsive buying, pathological gambling, and substance abuse. More recently, the excessive use of the Internet has been
added to this list, and some authors (Griffiths 2000, Young 1996, 1998) suggest that individuals may become addicted to the Internet in
a similar way as they become addicted to substance abuse or other forms of compulsive behavior. Despite the attention Internet addiction
(IA) has received in the popular press and some journals specialized in psychology and behavior on the Internet, there are several
measurement issues such as construct validity and reliability that have not been resolved satisfactorily yet. Further, it is not clear if IA
constitutes a substitute for other compulsive behaviors such as compulsive buying (in this case, IA and compulsive buying would show
a negative correlation), or if IA and other compulsive behaviors occur simultaneously and thus indicate comorbidity (indicated by a
positive correlation between the constructs). Previous research has suggested comorbidity for the relationship between compulsive buying
and binge eating (Faber et al. 1995), or the relationship between pathological gambling and cocaine-dependence (Hall et al. 2000). The
study presented here aims to address the measurement problems mentioned above, and also hopes to contribute to the question how Internet
addiction is related with two important consumer constructs of the “dark side,” materialism and compulsive buying.
Materialism, compulsive buying and Internet addiction were measured with scales previously developed and published in literature
(Richins 2004, Faber and O’Guinn 1992, Felix 2004). All scales were translated into Spanish and then backtranslated into English. A
sample procedure similar to snowball sampling (Lohr 1999) was used to obtain data from diverse parts of the population in a larger
industrial city in Northern Mexico. This procedure resulted in 296 useable surveys. No gender effects were found for the three constructs,
and age was correlated weakly to only one of the constructs, materialism.
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Exploratory factor analysis for the nine-item materialism scale revealed two factors. However, one of these factors was composed
of only one item (item 8), which is a reverse-worded item. Reverse-worded items have been shown to be problematic for the material values
scale (Wong, Rindfleisch, and Burroughs 2003), and removing this item from the scale increased internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha)
from .82 to .84 and provided a one-factor solution. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the one factor solution was compared to a three
factor solution, reproducing the suggested factor structure previously documented in literature (Richins and Dawson 1992) with the three
dimensions of success, centrality, and happiness. Model fit indices such as NFI, CFI, and RMSEA suggest that the three-factor solution
is superior to the one-factor solution. The correlations between the three dimensions range from .72 to .80, thus suggesting that the three
dimensions are in fact related to the same underlying construct, materialism. Psychometric properties for the seven-item compulsive
buying and the 11-item Internet addiction scales were satisfying as well. Cronbach Alphas were .87 and .92, respectively. Whereas model
fit indicators for the compulsive buying scale were good, models fits for the Internet addiction scale showed to be problematic. An
inspection of the modification indices suggested some error covariances that might improve model fit when being estimated. However,
because the estimation of these error covariances would have been statistically motivated instead of being based on a sound theoretical
grounding, the option of removing two items with low item-total correlations was chosen. The reduced nine-item Internet addiction scale
showed improved model fits and good internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha=.91).
To investigate the relationship between materialism, compulsive buying, and Internet addiction, three cases were distinguished
conceptually. First, the correlation between two addictive behaviors can be negative, indicating a substitutional relationship. Second, the
correlation may be zero or not significant, indicating independence between the constructs. And third, the correlation may be positive,
indicating the simultaneous occurrence of the behaviors and thus suggesting comorbidity. Both Pearson correlations and correlations from
confirmatory factor analysis showed a relatively strong and positive relationship between materialism and compulsive buying, a relatively
weak, but still significant, positive relationship between materialism and Internet addiction, and a moderate, positive relationship between
compulsive buying and Internet addiction. Thus, the results suggest comorbidity among the three constructs, with the highest level of
comorbidity between materialism and compulsive buying.
The results suggest several implications for marketing practice and policy making. From a policy making point of view, educators
may try to emphasize non-materialistic values more than those based on worldly possessions. For marketing practitioners, there are ethical
questions that should be considered and discussed more openly. For example, quite some advertisements propagate the idea that worldly
possessions are able to resolve problems in personal or social relationships. Marketers frequently suggest that buying a certain brand of
cars, perfumes, clothing, or accessories such as watches and jewelry will make individuals more attractive, more desirable, and more
successful in their relationships with others. However, a negative side effect of this cultivation of material values may be the emergence
of more addictive (and as such problematic) behaviors. Evidence from this study suggests that Internet addiction is a real phenomenon
that is in fact related to other problematic consumer behaviors and traits. Finally, it should be noted that this research has considered only
three constructs related to problematic consumer behavior, and future research should strive to integrate other constructs, such as
pathological gambling or substance abuse, to obtain a more complete picture of problematic consumer behavior.
Selected References
Faber, Ronald J., Gary A. Christenson, Martina de Zwaan and James Mitchell (1995), “Two Forms of Compulsive Consumption:
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating,” Journal of Consumer Research, 22 (December), 296-304.
and Thomas C. O’Guinn (1992), “A Clinical Screener for Compulsive Buying,” Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (Decem-
ber), 459-469.
Felix, Reto (2004), “Internet Addiction and Psychiatric Comorbidity: Evidence From Northern Mexico,” Proceedings of the Academy
of Marketing Science Multicultural Marketing Conference, Puebla, Mexico, September 22-25, 2004.
Griffiths, Mark (2000), “Does Internet and Computer ‘Addiction’ Exist? Some Case Study Evidence,” CyberPsychology & Behavior,
3 (2), 211-218.
Hall, Gladys W., Nicholas J. Carriero, Ruby Y. Takushi, Ivan D. Montoya, Kenzie L. Preston and David A. Gorelick (2000),
“Pathological Gambling among Cocaine-Dependent Outpatients,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 157 (7), 1127-1133.
Lohr, Sharon L. (1999), Sampling: Design and Analysis, Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury Press.
Mowen, John C. and Michael Minor (2000), Consumer Behavior: A Framework, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Richins, Marsha L. (2004), “The Material Values Scale: Measurement Properties and Development of a Short Form,” Journal of
and Scott Dawson (1992), “A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Measurement: Scale Development and
Validation,” Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (December), 504-521.
Wong, Nancy, Aric Rindfleisch, and James E. Burroughs (2003), “Do Reverse-Worded Items Confound Measures in Cross-Cultural
Consumer Research? The Case of the Material Values Scale,” Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (June), 72-91.
Young, Kimberley S. (1996), “Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder,” paper presented at the 1996 meeting
of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. Retrieved May 23, 2005, from the World Wide Web: http://
www.netaddiction.com/articles/newdisorder.htm.
(1998), Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction–and a Winning Strategy for Recovery, New
York: Wiley.
Understanding Consumers in Colombia: A Retail Industry Case Study

Ashok Som, ESSEC Business School, Paris
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Carrefour, since its merger with Promodès in 1999, was ranked as the French world challenger and the European leader in the retail
industry. Carrefour followed an aggressive growth strategy by going global from the early 1970s. Its first mover advantage in the
international retail sector market and the local acquisitions and by adapting itself to local cultures and consumer habits, it had become the
second largest retail company worldwide. Carrefour saw moderate success in penetrating the developed markets of the United States and
the UK but it had successfully implemented its multi-format strategy in emerging markets such as the Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin
America. The Latin American market had witnessed the highest growth rate for Carrefour especially in countries like Colombia where
the growth rate at comparable exchange rates had been over 30% in year 2003. The case discusses and highlights the (a) entry strategy
of Carrefour in the Latin American market (b) linkage between its strategic intent and its growth strategy in international markets (c)
marketing, pricing, branding, use of private label strategy (d) its overall strategy of conquering markets by fast local adaptation to
individual markets and its responsiveness to local businesses focussing on the Colombian market.
The main purpose of the case is to make the students aware, evaluate and analyze the Latin American market through the example
of a multinational company that has a well-developed strategic intent for conquering the Latin American market, and has successfully
implemented its strategic intent and in places where it failed to do so it has exited from that market.
The methodology used to write this research case has been interviews from experts in the retail sector, managers of Carrefour in France
and Columbia. The objective of the case is:
• To illustrate one of the fastest international growth strategies (mainly by acquisitions)

• To illustrate and make students aware of the retail sector in general and the retail sector in France
• To illustrate the strong linkage between a company’s organizational capabilities, its strategic intent and its core competencies.
• To evaluate the multi-format strategy that Carrefour employs to integrate local responsiveness, global scale efficiency while
evolving a capability to learn not only from its worldwide successful innovations but also from its failures.
• To show how cultural aspects are important to develop a company’s strategy, especially in emerging markets
• To analyze why Carrefour’s international strategy has been successful in Latin America, specially in Colombia
The potential audience of the case can be varied. The case can be used in a variety of MBA and executive courses in international
strategy and management, strategic marketing and general management. Students of MBA or Masters Degree programs concerned with
developing international managerial skills, especially in Latin America would find the case interesting to discuss and debate on. It is best
used in a course or a module focussed on International Business/International Strategy and Management, or more specifically, on
Managing Global Corporations. It can also be used in courses or modules on “Managing across cultures/Cross-cultural integration”, and
“Emerging Markets”, to illustrate the challenges of globalization and internationalization.
Also professionals working in the retail market and/or doing business in mass consumption sectors in the Latin American market
would find this case informative. Companies trying to enter or which are already doing business in the Latin American market may find
it interesting too to know about the retail business in the Latin American market and the trends in consumer habits, preferences and
expectations in these markets.
It has been seen that a set of four questions is identified for the case. The questions are:
1. Comment on the exponential growth Carrefour had in the last decade. In this context what does globalization mean for the retail
sector in general and Carrefour in particular?
2. What is the rationale for expansion in emerging markets vis-à-vis consolidating in mature markets? Do you think their current
strategy of rapid expansion by acquisitions is the most preferred one? How is value created in this process?
3. Why do you think Carrefour has become so successful in Latin America, and in Colombia especially? Comment on its multi-
format and pricing strategy and private labels business.
4. Discuss the impact of culture issues (French company operating in Latin America) and issues related to understanding consumers
particularly in Colombia?
These four questions can be assigned to students in advance to help them prepare for the class discussions. It may be helpful to ask
each group of students to prepare for all the four issues, but to focus on one of the four issues so as to be able to take the lead in the class
discussion on a particular issue. In MBA classes, it may be worthwhile (subject to availability of time) to kick off the discussion on each
issue with one group presenting its analysis and recommendations on that issue. With such a process, while all the learning points can be
extracted, students can enjoy the additional benefits of honing their presentation skills and of having greater fun and responsibility.
I have found maximum benefit by combining unstructured discussion on each of the four issues with a brief summary/lecture at the
end of each issue to create a structure which helps the students appreciate the underlying theory of each issue. This works very well with
European MBA students. In a mixed class of American, European and Asian MBA students, I rely entirely on discussion to generate
insights for each student and keep summary/lecture for the end of the session. For executive programs, I have found unstructured open-
ended discussions to be more effective with a debriefing session at the end of the session. Depending on the personal pedagogical beliefs,
instructors may choose to combine the presentations at the beginning of class, at the end, or eliminate them altogether. The case is best
suited to be discussed in the later stages of the course while discussing “managing business in emerging markets”.
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Incorporating Heterogeneity into Count Data Models Applied to Marketing

Pedro Jesus Fernandez, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
In numerous empirical investigations into consumer behavior, the focus of the analysis is centered on explaining a limited dependent
variable. Such limitation takes several forms, namely as a variable with limited continuous distribution to the left or to the right. Other
limitations include variables with a finite number of values, such as those that take non-negative discrete values. Those data are usually
referred to as “count data” and occur frequently in different marketing contexts, because they describe the number of times an event is
observed. Examples include the number of purchases in a product category or the number of clients who visit a given store within a
specified period of time. In marketing, this type of data has two basic characteristics: 1) excess of zeros (zero-inflation), more than expected
in any Poisson distribution and; 2) heterogeneity among observations (buyers or consumers). Such characteristics may represent real
problems if we use traditional models (such as the Poisson Regression model) to treat these data. This article deals with these two problems
and incorporates some unusual reflection on count data modeling in marketing: 1) models which do not take zero-inflation into account
will have poor fit; and, 2) the inclusion of unobserved heterogeneity may significantly improve the model’s goodness of fit, depending
on the data (which would support the idea that independent variables are not always crucial to explain the dependent variable); and; 3)
in many cases the heterogeneity of consumers may be sufficient (or even necessary) to explain the behavior of the dependent (count)
variable.
The problem of zero-inflation may be resolved, for example, by modifying the Poisson distribution and introducing Zero-Inflated
Poisson (ZIP) distribution, combining zero-inflated distribution (to represent purchases not made during the period under analysis) with
Poisson distribution. Explanatory variables may also be included, generating a Zero-Inflated Poisson Regression model. The other
problem is the low homogeneity among buyers or consumers. Economists attempt to resolve this issue by using econometric models
referring to the “average consumer,” which may be not attractive for marketing scholars, as they are interested in understanding consumer
behavior on a more disaggregated level. Also, heterogeneity among individuals is usually taken into account by incorporating explanatory
variables, such as demographic variables. Nonetheless, this heterogeneity may contain an unobserved component, and the inclusion of
such variables may not be sufficient or may even be unnecessary, when more robust models may be obtained by considering individual
differences (as in the case of this article). This means that the observed events (e.g., buying, consuming) are formed by individual
components that when combined are capable of explaining more complex phenomena. In other words, explanatory variables, which are
highly useful in aggregated behavior models, may lose their importance when heterogeneity among consumers is incorporated.
Estimates of unobserved heterogeneity may be achieved by using Bayesian methods, which have appeared increasingly in the
marketing literature and cover a variety of problems and data sources. This increase is based on the notion that buyers differ in their
preferences and that firms should therefore take this into consideration when optimizing their marketing actions. All the models presented
here were estimated with Bayesian methods.
Two datasets were analyzed: one of which was obtained from Wooldridge (2000) (cigarette consumption-dataset 1), and the other
was collected in a Brazilian supermarket chain (purchase of cocoa–dataset 2). From the results obtained and discussed, the combination
of unobserved heterogeneity and the explicit acknowledgement of zero-inflation resulted in the best model (that which presents the best
fit) for dataset 1, namely the ZINBD (Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Distribution) model. Depending on the data, the inclusion of
unobserved heterogeneity can substantially improve the quality of the adjustment of the models. The consideration of heterogeneity
(intrinsic differences among buyers/consumers) in the two datasets may be more important than the inclusion of explanatory variables.
Indeed for both datasets, the NBD (Negative Binomial Distribution) model without the inclusion of such variables (NBD distribution
model) shows better fit than the model that incorporates them (NBD regression model). This would indicate to marketing researchers that
the inclusion of explanatory variables may not always be the best option for the explanation of the response variable. Hence, it is useful
to identify explanatory variables that are more adequate. Explanatory variables are important because they normally involve variables of
the marketing mix and therefore serve as instruments of action for marketing practitioners to alter the response variable, which is often
related to demand (as was the case with the two datasets analyzed in this article). So, the inclusion of variables that do not enhance the
fit of a purely stochastic model, such as NBD, should be queried by researchers. The results also indicate that the NBD or ZINBD
distribution models (in case there is zero-inflation) could be used as a benchmark to be attained by competing models.
Future research should analyze the existence of a finite number of segments of different buyers/consumers. This could be done by
using other heterogeneity distributions, such as a mixture of normal distributions. Concentration on a finite (although unknown) number
of segments, or non-parametric methods, such as Dirichlet Process Prior, could be attempted in the Latin America arena.
References
Botelho, D. and Urdan, A. T. (2003), “Lealdade à Marca e Sensibilidade ao Preço: Um Estudo da Escolha da Marca pelo Consumidor,”
paper presented at the 27o Encontro da Associação Nacional dos Programas de Pós-Graduação em Administração-ENANPAD.
Atibaia, Brazil.
Bunn, D. W. (1979), “The Synthesis of Predictive Models in Marketing Research,” Journal of Marketing Research, V. 16, no. 2, 280-295.
Cameron, A.C. and Trivedi, P.K. (1986), “Econometric Models Based on Count Data: Comparisons and Applications of Some
Estimators,” Journal of Applied Econometrics, V. 1, 29-53.
(1990), “Regression-Based Tests for Over-Dispersion in the Poisson Model,” Journal of Econometrics, V. 46, 347-364.
Congdon, P. (2001), Bayesian Statistical Modeling, New York: John Wiley.
Franses, P.H. and Paap, R. (2001), Quantitative Models in Marketing Research, Cambridge: University Press.
Koop, G. (2004), Bayesian Econometrics, New York: John Wiley.
Maddala, G.S. (1983), Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics, Cambridge: University Press.
Montgomery, A. L. and Rossi, P. E. (1999), “Estimating Price Elasticities with Theory-Based Priors,” Journal of Marketing Research,
V. 36, 413-423.
Mullahy, J. (1997a), “Heterogeneity, Excess Zeros and the Structure of Count Data Models,” Journal of Applied Econometrics, V. 12,
337-350.
(1997b), “Instrumental-Variable Estimation of Count Data Models: Applications to Models of Cigarette Smoking Behavior,” The
Review of Economics and Statistics, V. 79. no. 4. 586-593.
Neelamegham, R. and Chintagunta, P. A. (1999), “Bayesian Model to Forecast New Product Performance in Domestic and International
Markets,” Marketing Science, V. 18, 115-136.
Robert, C. P. and Casella, G. (1999), Monte Carlo Statistical Methods, New York: Springer.
Ross, S. (2002), A First Course in Probability, 6th. ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Rossi, P. E. and Allenby, G. M. (2003), “Bayesian Statistics and Marketing,” Marketing Science, V. 22, no. 3.
Sandor, Z. and Wedel, M. (2001), “Designing Conjoint Choice Experiments Using Managers’ Prior Beliefs,” Journal of Marketing
Research, V. 28, 430-444.
Ter Hofstede, F.; Kim, Y. and Wedel, M. (2002), “Bayesian Prediction in Hybrid Conjoint Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research,
V. 34, 253-261.
Wooldridge, J. M. (2000), Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, South-Western College Publishing.
(2002), Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Zellner, A. (1971), An Introduction to Bayesian Inference in Econometrics, New York: John Wiley.
Channel Blurring and Consumer Expectations: Evidence in Chile

Constanza C. Bianchi, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile
Joaquin Mena, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Retail firms from all over the world are struggling to satisfy customers by providing more than just goods and services, but an ideal
shopping experience. The shopping experience incorporates several elements such as low prices, product quality, information, assortment,
convenience, entertainment and services, among others (Arnold et. al., 1983).
Nevertheless, it is difficult to construct a single shopping experience because distinctions between retail formats are begging to blur
and overlap. The increased competition in retailing has led to a situation of channel blurring, where retailers have broadened their
assortment and consumers can find groceries and electronics in supermarkets, as well as in department stores, drug stores, or home
improvement stores. Due to this aggressive level of competition, where consumers can buy the same products in any of the four formats,
it is important to understand what are the most important attributes for consumers when shopping at these retail formats.
Studies on store choice and shopper experience have generally been tested in one specific retail format (e.g., Sirohi et. al., 1998). A
few studies have found that the importance assigned to a store attribute may vary depending on the reason for buying the product (e.g.,
Green & Krieger, 1995; Thelen & Woodside, 1997; Van Kenhove, et al., 1999). Overall, the literature suggests that consumers may
associate certain store formats with specific expectations and needs. However, it is not clear if these consumer expectations, and therefore
saliencies, vary across retail formats.
Chile has one of the most concentrated and developed retailing industry in Latin America. The Chilean retailing industry has
consistently reacted towards foreign threats, resulting in a local industry with increased level of consolidation and concentration. An
important trend in Chilean retailing industry during the last decade has been the increase in channel blurring. For example, grocery retailers
sell appliances, electronics, clothes, books, stationary products, gardening and outdoor products. Department stores sell books, food, and
provide hairdressers, and tourist services in their stores. Drug store retailers offer food, drinks and gifts in their stores. Finally home
improvement retailers sell kitchen appliances, gifts and garden products.
This investigation attempts to identify consumer expectations regarding the relevant store attributes that lead consumers to have an
ideal shopping experience for the different retail formats (grocery retailers, department store retailers, drug store retailers, and home
improvement retailers centers). Consumers may have different expectations of an ideal shopping experience for different retail formats.
This suggests that consumers may assign different saliencies to store attributes depending on what retail format they are shopping. Can
one retail format fulfill all of the attributes required by consumers? The literature review suggests that consumers still associate certain
store formats with specific expectations and needs. Thus, the main research question of this is the following: Do consumer store attribute
saliency vary for different retail formats?
To assess the research question, this study utilized a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, such as in depth interviews,
observation, and surveys. These methodologies helped identify customer expectations regarding the salient attributes that lead to an ideal
shopping experience for the different retail formats. The study was held in two stages, with a total duration of 8 months (July 2003–
February 2004).
Twenty interviews were held with consumers of different sex and ages. The interview data identified twelve store attributes that were
salient for an ideal shopping experience for consumers when shopping at the different retail formats (drug stores, grocery stores,
department stores and home improvement stores).
Based on the qualitative data, a questionnaire was developed, pre-tested and applied personally to a population of approximately 700
graduate students of a Chilean University. This questionnaire asked respondents to evaluate the importance of each variable mentioned,
when shopping at each of the different retail formats mentioned in this study. The 12 variables included in the survey where statistically
tested in a One-way ANOVA test with a significance level of 95%, in order to verify if there existed differences between the medias. At
92 / WORKING PAPERS
the same time, to support the evidence obtained in the ANOVA test, a Scheffe test with a significance level of 95% was applied to all of
the variables. This test permitted pair comparisons between medias, to establish which ones where differing across formats.
Results showed that 7 of the 12 variables had significant variability across their means at a significance level of 95%. Responsiveness
of employees, location, possibility of purchase through Internet, store layout and decoration, quick and easy access to the store, low prices
and variety of prices showed significant differences across formats. Results also showed that one retail attribute, product quality, was
relatively important for consumers across all four retail formats. This results suggests that product quality is a must and retail firms cannot
differentiate on this attribute.
The data also suggests that differences exist in store attribute saliencies for consumers when shopping at different formats. This
implies that retailers should emphasize certain store attributes over others depending on their format in order to satisfy and retain their
consumers. These results suggest that channel blurring may not be suitable as a long term strategy, but perhaps a first step for in-store
development of new business areas that eventually will become a store format of their own, such as clothes offering in supermarkets or
delicatessen and food products in department stores.
The choice of a database of 700 graduates of a high-level university limits the generalizability, due to the selection of the sample solely
targeting the middle-up income market. Future research should address this issue by considering lower income markets as well. Despite
the limitations, the findings should enhance our knowledge of consumers in Chile and the Chilean markets as well.
References
Arnold, S.J., T.H. Oum and D.J. Tigert (1983), “Determinant Attributes in Retail Patronage: Seasonal, Temporal, Regional, and
International Comparisons,” J. of Marketing Research, 20 (May), 149-57.
Green, P.E. & A.M. Krieger (1995), “Attribute Importance Weights Modification in Assessing a Brand’s Competitive Potential”,
Marketing Science, Vol. 14(Summer), 253-270.
Sirohi, N.; E. W. McLaughlin & D. R. Wittik (1998), “A Model of Consumer Perceptions and Store Loyalty Intentions for a
Supermarket”, Journal of Retailing, 74 (2), 223-45.
Thelen, E.M. and A.g. Wooside (1997), “What evokes the Brand or Store? Consumer Research on Accesibility Theory Applied to
Modeling Primary Store Choice”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 14(May), 125-145.
Van Kenhove, P.; K. de Wulf, and W. Van Waterschoot (1999), “The Impact of Task Definition on Store-Attribute Saliencies and
Store Choice”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 75(1), 125-137.
Female Images in Commercials: A Content Analysis Study: 1973–2000

Claudia Rosa Acevedo, Universidade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Jouliana Jordan Nohara, Universidade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Ana Laura de Arruda, Faculdade de Administração de Orlândia, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT:
Advertising images remain an important topic for marketing and advertising literature because research suggests that visual imagery
provided by advertisements has a significant effect on the belief system of a given society. Indeed, advertising produces and reflects values,
attitudes and behaviors of the social realm where it is embedded. It gives meanings to words and symbols, playing a special role in the
interpretation frame of the current world (Kang 1997). Actually, advertising molds and mirrors life and this is enough to pledge our
attention. Whereas, advertising’s critics have generally held that mass media pictures may well be selective and biased to forge specific
ideas, this fact reinforce the reason why these images represents an important historical record, as they denounce how a given society would
like to see itself. (Belk and Pollay 1985).
Research related to female portrayals in advertising has been the focus of attention of many academic studies because mass media
messages about women have often depicted them in a stereotypical manner such as: women are irrational, fragile, not intelligent,
submissive and subservient to men (Belkaoui and Belkaoui 1976; Courtney and Lockeretz 1971; Goffman 1979; Kang 1997; Venkatesan
and Losco 1975). In addition, these investigations have shown that these portrayals haven’t reflected changes in female roles in modern
societies. Indeed, mass media has concocted women’s image mainly as sex object, wife and mother whose primary goal in life is to look
beautiful for men.
It is in this context that the main purpose of this investigation is to examine female roles portrayed by advertising. More specifically,
the questions that motivated this research were: 1) what messages about women have been shown to society through advertisements? 2)
Have these portrayals been changed during the past decades?
We propose that images in advertising can be organized in three different groups: stereotyped, idealized and plural portrayals. These
three labels are mentioned by the literature related to female portrayals in advertising. In addition, the majority of the categories and their
operational definitions come from previous research, mainly from Goffman (1979). Nevertheless, they also come from Kang (1997),
Courtney and Lockeretz (1971), Venkatesan and Losco (1975), Belkaoui and Belkaoui´s (1976), Jaffe and Berger (1994) and Acevedo
et all (2004) studies, as it is explained in the methodology part of the article. However, some few categories were developed in a pre-test
of the present investigation.
This study consists of a systematic content analysis of the role portrayed by women in Brazilian commercials during 1973 to 2000.
Advertising television was the unit of analysis for this study. In addition, the population from which this sample was drawn consisted of
Brazilian commercials which got an award in international and national festivals from 1973 to 2000. These pieces were obtained from
a project developed by a Brazilian organization named “Museu Virtual Memória da Propaganda” (Virtual museum of advertising
memory).
Twenty seven years–from 1973 to 2000–were chosen for the study. A two stage sample procedure was employed. First, those
commercials which portrayed at least one woman were retained. In addition, repeated commercials were not selected for the sample. In
a second stage all the remained commercials were enumerated and a probabilistic simple sample procedure was undertaken. Finally, ninety
five pieces were selected. Using this sampling technique we intended to assure that the systematization criterion was followed.
Objectivity in content analysis specifies that the categories of analysis are defined quite precisely. In this way, the majority of the labels
employed to nominate each category, their definitions and their measurements were based on previous research. However, some few
categories were developed in the pre-testing of the present study. In addition, it is important to stress that the categories of this study were
not independent or mutually exclusive.
Results show that the following pictures “Function ranking”, Ritualization of subordination, Licensed withdraw, Dependent, Women
as shallow declined in later years in comparison to former years. Images as Feminine touch and Window display maintained or increased
its performances in the second decade (1981-1990) in comparison to the first one (1973-1980), however, they presented a strong decrease
in the last term (1991-2000).
Descriptions as “Body revealing clothes or nudity”, “Decorative roles”, “An object of ridicule have increased in later years in
comparison to former years. On the other hand, images as Women as low income earners and Super women have rarely been shown through
the 27 years term. Moreover, some stereotyped portrayals as Women as physically beautiful, Housewife and Irrational did not play an
extremely significant position among other images; however, they were presented in ads in a regular basis during the extent of time under
analysis.
The two idealized depictions were always well represented through the three decades of the investigation. Indeed, in comparison to
the other portrayals in the study, the image “physically perfect” was one of the two which were most depicted. In addition, the pictures
“Caucasian ethnic characteristics” and “Physically perfect” have increased in later years in comparison to former years.
In relation to the plural portrayals, two of them appeared most often during the 27 years under analysis. They were: Not Caucasian
ethnic characteristics and Independence. Indeed, the first one was the picture most exhibited in the 27 year-period of investigation. These
two pictures maintained or increased its performances in the second decade (1981-1990) in comparison to the first term (1973-1980).
However, they presented a strong decrease in the last term (1991-2000). On the other hand, the pictures as “Home and family tasks equity”
and “Women in a prestigious or professional or high income earners” have rarely been shown through the 27 years term.
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The Adoption of Foreign Music as a Hedonic Experience: A Theoretical Model

Cecilia Maldonado, University of Texas–Pan American, USA
Angela Hausman, University of Texas–Pan American, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Despite the importance of music in our everyday lives, there is no deep understanding of the factors influencing the adoption of music
as a product, especially unfamiliar music genres such as those from foreign cultures. As such, antecedents and consequences related to
music preference and acceptance remain unclear. Highlighting the importance of this study, recent data show five percent of all records
sold in the US came from foreign markets, which represented more than $ 700 million in retail sales (Throsby 2002). This paper develops
a theoretical model to facilitate understanding of this phenomenon. Specifically, two issues are addressed in this study: 1) listening to music
as a leisure activity and 2) the hedonic consumption of music as a product.
The leisure consumption of music, as opposed to background music, creates a hedonic experience characterized by gratification-
seeking motivations and includes both affective and cognitive aspects (Anand, Holbrook, and Stephens 1988, Holbrook and Hirschman
1982). Similarly, subjective experiences characterize this type of consumption, which are integrated as hedonic motives (Holt 1995).
Affective responses and pleasurable emotions generated by satisfying musical experiences influence customers attitudes, favoring
consumption behaviors that re-create this positive affect (Lacher 1989, Lacher and Mizerski 1994). Leisure consumption experiences,
such as music consumption, share these intrinsic, hedonic motives (Iwasaki and Manell 1999, Unger and Kernan 1983) and freedom (Iso-
Ahola 1979). Furthermore, novelty seekers have desire of new experiences by a search of any novel situation, like listening to foreign music
as a motivation for hedonic experience (Cotte 1997).
The model developed here integrates five theoretical issues that might impact consumer acceptance of foreign music: 1) aspects of
the music, 2) consumer responses to music (pleasure, arousal, and surprise), 3) personal characteristics, like cognitive and demographic
variables, 4) the elements in the leisure environment, like the availability of leisure time, and 5) and consumer attitudes and preferences
for music.
94 / WORKING PAPERS
Characteristics of the music itself potentially impact consumer acceptance. Among these are the familiarity and complexity of the
music (Anand et al. 1988, North and Hangreaver 1999, Zissman and Neimark 1990). In this case, familiarity might include both prior
exposure to the music, as well as exposure to key musical elements defining the musical genre, such as tempo, pitch and texture (Bruner
1990, Kellaris and Kent 1994). When music is unfamiliar, two opposing evaluative forces impact adoption. To the extant that unfamiliar
music is seen as novel or surprising, evaluations are likely to be favorable as it satisfies consumers’ needs to these affective elements
(Holbrook and Hirschman 1982). If the music is viewed as strange or foreign, it is likely to be viewed as unacceptable for the consumer.
Personal aspects of individual consumer have also been identified as factors affecting potential acceptance, although the contribution
of gender to acceptance is murky. For instance some studies report no significant difference based on gender (Lowis 2002), while others
(Wansink 1992, Lacher 1994) find that gender has a significant impact on music evaluation. Other demographic factors that may influence
the perception of music are social class (Peterson and Di Maggio 1975, Blau 1988), age (White 1985), and ethnicity (Blair and Hatala
1992).
Since leisure activities are limited by Western cultural norms favoring puritanical beliefs in the value of work, the availability of
leisure might impact music acceptance either alone or through limiting prior experience with music (Holbrook and Hirschman 1982,
Thompson and Haytko 1997).
Finally, consumers’ evaluations and preference for music might be expected to impact their acceptance of unfamiliar music, and this
acceptance will increase the likeability of music as exposure increases (Snell, Gibbs, and Varey 1995). Positive evaluations of similar types
of music or personal preferences for certain types of music might impact acceptance (Lacher 1989, Iwasaki and Mannell 1999).
The integration of various theoretical streams evident in the model gives basis for increasing our understanding of music consumption
in the context of acceptance of unfamiliar music. However there are some methodological aspects that need to be addressed to obtain valid
and reliable results (Bruner 1990). For instance, reliable and valid measures of new constructs must be developed and a suitable design
must be developed.
This study will help both academics and practitioners by understanding the factors, and the interaction among them that influence
the acceptance of foreign music. For academics, by giving a theoretical framework to base research in different cultures and scenarios.
And for practitioners, by helping develop commercialization strategies for music in other counties and cultures, especially now that music
is available all over the world using the Internet as distribution channel.
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Improving the Predictibility of Personal Values

Stéphane Manin, University of La Réunion, France
Jacques-Marie Aurifeille, University of La Réunion, France
Virginie Villeneuve Anaudin, University of La Réunion, France
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Research Question
Firms’ success often depends on how lasting is their relationship with the customers. Product attributes are not sufficient to build such
a relationship, because they can be copied and they must adapt to technical progress (Aurifeille 2004). Consumers’ expectation is a personal
and therefore stronger way to create a firm-to-consumer relationship. Human values have often been presented as a convenient approach
to consumer central expectations (Rokeach 1973). Some empirical studies indicate that values help predicting consumers’ choices (Homer
and Kahle 1988; Sheth, Newman and Gross 1991; Kamakura and Novak 1992). However, in most cases, their predictivity was found
marginal or non significant (Henry 1976; Kahle, Beatty, and Homer 1986; Mc Carty and Shrum 2000). The question, therefore, is to
measure values’ influence in a more predictive way, without reducing the durability of the measure.
Hypotheses
Researchers have suggested that this lack of predictivity is due to the fact that values’ influence is not exerting a constant pressure
on consumers’ decisions (Rokeach 1973, Aurifeille 1993): their influence depends on how important the product is for the consumer.
Therefore it may be assumed that, over time, some consumers are more value “driven” or “value minded” than others. According to this
hypothesis, consumers would not only differ according to their value hierarchy but, also, according to the global importance of their value
system. The following hypothesis (H1) is tested: “The global importance of a consumer’s values is significantly related to his or her choice
of product brands”.
Furthermore, as human values are more central, the moderating effect of attitudes should be less influent when the product is
connected with the consumer’s self (Walker and Olson 1991; Olson and Reynolds 1983). Therefore, the following hypothesis is tested
(H2): “Brands that reflect a consumer’s personality and social image are better predicted by values scores”. A third hypothesis, H3, is
resulting from H1 and directly derived from H2: “Brands that reflect a consumer’s personality and social image are better predicted by
the global importance of this consumer’s values”.
96 / WORKING PAPERS
Finally, in order to estimate the contribution of both the value scores and the global importance of values to brand choice prediction
the last hypothesis (H4) is: “Brand choice predictivity is increased by considering jointly the value scores and the global importance of
values”.
These hypotheses have important implications for marketing. H1 raises the question of how values should be collected and measured.
The ranking of a list of values does not permit to quantify the global importance of values across respondents. The marking of values on
Likert scales allows quantifying independently the importance of each value. However, some consumers are prone to give systematically
large marks thus reflecting a lack of value discrimination (Munson and Mcintyre 1979; Rankin and Grube 1980; Alwin and Krosnick 1985,
Mc Carty and Shrum 2000). Therefore, the global importance of a consumer’s values would be estimated better with the variance of the
marks he gives to the values. The greater the variance, the more the consumer is aware of the values that matter in his life, indicating that
these values are truly active. Hypothesis H2 raises the question of which products are more appropriate for a value-based strategy.
Hypotheses H3 and H4 concern the possibility of using a new consumer segmentation variable: the global importance of values.
Empirical tests
H1 is tested analysing the variance of the global importance of values across brands (ANOVA). H2 is tested by considering two
categories of products: a high involvement one (perfume) and a low involvement one (sparkling waters and soft drinks, SWSD). First,
a principal component analysis (PCA) is made. Then, an ANOVA indicates whether the scores are significantly associated with the
perfume brands and not with the SWSD brands. H3 is tested in the same way than H1, considering the variance of the global importance
of values instead of the value scores. Nine perfume brands and eight SWSD brands were considered. H4 is tested with a discriminant
analysis of the perfume brands, using the value scores and the global importance of the values. A sample of 204 non-student consumers
was interviewed.
The levels of value importance differ significantly across the perfume brands. Therefore hypothesis H1 cannot be rejected. The same
result is not observed with the SWSD, thus supporting hypothesis H3. The ANOVA of the value scores across brands shows a significant
relationship in the case of perfumes and no significant relationship in the case of the SWSD. Consequently, hypothesis H2 cannot be
rejected. Both the value scores and the global importance of values are discriminating the perfume brands. Consistently with the tests of
H1 to H3, these variables do not discriminate the SWSD brands. When the two variables are considered, the corresponding functions are
discriminating perfume brands significantly. In this case, perfume brands are better predicted and there are 50% more consumers rightly
assigned to their perfume brand. Furthermore, the two functions translate similar amounts of variance. In function 1, value scores are
slightly more influent than the global importance of values. The contrary is observed in function 2. Interestingly, in function 2, the global
importance of values is negatively correlated with the value scores. As indicated above, this result may be due to the existence of the
systematic bias often observed by researchers using Likert scales to collect information about personal values. Respondents who use
systematically high marks to quantify all values will have high value scores but the global importance of their values will be reduced. Thus,
in addition to improving the prediction of brand choices, the consideration of the global importance of values should help filtering a major
bias of the value data collection.
These results should be replicated and the reason why the global importance of values is discriminating certain product brands
requires further analysis. Finally, three main research perspective are opened by the present paper: (1) why do certain brands attract
consumers who are more “value minded” than others, (2) which type of consumers is more economically interesting and (3) how should
the preferred target be enlarged?
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Soap Opera Heroines and Women Consumers: Images of Vulnerability
Cristel Antonia Russell, HEC Paris School of Management, France
Dale W. Russell, INSEAD, France
Barbara Stern, Rutgers Business School, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT own lives in comparison: disappointment, and substitution of soap-

Daytime soap operas exemplify an industrial art constructed watching for real relationships.
according to genre “conventions that circulate between industry, Attention to details reflects audience attachment to characters
text, and subject” or audience (Neale 1980, 20). The purpose of our viewed as part of their lives, for viewers describe characters in as
study is to investigate the influence of textual images of vulnerable much detail as they would talk about real people. Perhaps the most
women characters on the female consumers who constitute the directly harmful detail is the presence of alcohol across programs
majority of viewers. The audience has remained consistent over the and settings in a world in which drinking is associated with
past generation: mostly low-income and less educated women, successful characters, “looks attractive, and is a part of everyday
teens, and elderly (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, and Signorielli 1994). life” (Diener 1993, 8). Soap life locales convey an impression of
Among the most long-standing motivations are emotional release, realism to TV viewers, who, like radio audiences before them, show
personal gratification, companionship, and escape. However be- “fierce acceptance of the reality of soaps” (La Guardia 1983, 6) as
nign the motivations may appear, we suggest that they reveal a well as its normalcy (Churchill and Moschis 1979; Russell, Norman
vulnerability loop in which industry profits flow from a genre that and Heckler 2004). Marriage is generally depicted as the means of
specializes in conveying images of damaged women living luxuri- achieving a life of luxury that viewers not only accept as realistic but
ous lives to accepting viewers who develop parasocial attachments also aspire to attain. As one viewer says about Alexia Davis (GH),
to unrealistic and inappropriate role models. “She doesn’t use the kitchen except to microwave popcorn and if it
Prior research indicates that the audience is “vulnerable” in gets dirty or needs straightening she’ll call the maid service” (43, 35
two related definitional senses (OEDO 2004, 3.b): yrs). However, aspirations are mostly expressed in terms of com-
parisons between a character’s moneyed life and a viewer’s more
1: An audience inclined to perceive an “inner need” for impoverished one. Sometimes, a viewer’s aspiration reflects a
emotional satisfaction able to be fulfilled by the fantasy disjuncture between her perception of the way that a newly rich
relationships that soaps sustain—the definition itself taken soap character lives and her unrealistic opinion of what her life
from a late Victorian romance, Marcella (Mrs. Humphrey should be like.
Ward 1894). The structural aspects of soaps—serialization, suspenseful
2: An audience exposed to the possibility of being ‘emotion- stopping points, and daily showings—influence viewers’ post-
ally harmed’ (NOAD 2001, 1894) by persistent viewing of show emotional responses to characters with whom they are emo-
the soaps’ ritual of gender subordination. tionally involved. Viewers react to the end of an episode by
expressing an intense sense of loss after it ends. Some viewers are
Our study of vulnerable women characters and audiences so emotionally involved with soaps that their responses reflect a
begins with the textual genre, which necessitates mining literary heightened level of need for the next episode characteristic of
theory to ascertain stimulus attributes briefly defined as common- addiction to drugs, alcohol, food, and so forth (Belk, Ger, and
alities shared by a distinctive literary family of texts (Frye 1957 Askegaard 1996). Emotional loss suggests that viewers feel
[1973]). Next, to link stimulus variables to response characteristics, parasocially attached to characters viewed as surrogate compan-
it presents social science research drawn from diverse disciplines ions whose departure leaves a gap in one’s life. By becoming
such as anthropology (Rofel 1994), sociology (Radway 1985), friends with soap characters, viewers participate in fictional rela-
communications research (Rubin and Perse 1987), and consumer tionships that substitute for real ones.
research (Diener 1993; Lavin 1995). Soaps occupy viewers on a daily basis, allowing them to
Qualitative data were obtained from 297 long-term viewers of satisfy emotional needs by engaging in parasocial relationships
four TV soap operas: Young and Restless (YR), General Hospital with mostly unwholesome characters. The relationships are un-
(GH), All My Children (AMC), and Days of Our Lives (DOL). healthy not only because the characters are poor role models, but
Respondents were heavy TV viewers (O’Guinn and Shrum 1997) also because the viewers can become addicted to soaps and substi-
who had watched the selected soap program for over 20 years and tute surrogate friends for real ones. The themes provide insight into
tuned in an average of 4.74 days per week. This represents an vulnerable characters as an influence on vulnerable audiences, for,
astonishing total of over 5,000 episodes watched on average per in accordance with our definitions, viewers are exposed to emo-
respondent. They commented on the programs, characters, and five tional harm by persistent viewing of subordinate and victimized
consumption categories based on prior research on TV series’ women with whom viewers enter into emotionally satisfying rela-
portrayals of consumption (Hirschman 1988; O’Guinn and Shrum tionships.
1997; Diener 1993): clothing, jewelry, home furnishings, bever-
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Women Feelings About Female Images in Advertising: A Qualitative Study
Claudia Rosa Acevedo, Universiade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Jouliana Jordan Nohara, Universiade Nove de Julho, Brazil
Ana Laura Arruda, Faculdade de Orlândia, Brazil
ABSTRACT This article is organized in six parts. The first part is the
The objectives of this investigation is to understand how introduction. In the second it is presented a literature review on the
women in Latin American context interpret female portrayals in theme. In the third section it is described the methodology adopted.
advertising, to examine if women compare themselves with adver- Subsequently, the results and discuss are shown. Finally, the
tising portrayals and if they do, how they perceive that they affect conclusion contains the implications of our results, the limitations
them. The data was gathered using in depth interviews. Seventy five of the study and suggestions for further research.
individuals selected by convenience method in San Paulo, Brazil.
Results revealed three different perceptions about female portray- PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND FRAMEWORK
als in advertising. In addition, results revealed that the informants THEORIES
not only do compare themselves with advertising endorsers, but
also believe that advertising imagery affect them in a negative way. Previous Research
Previous research related to advertising and gender has ana-
INTRODUCTION lyzed how women are represented in ads.
This article is related to the field of consumer behavior that Majority of previous research related to advertising and gen-
produces information to social policy interventions which are der have investigated gender representations in advertising. Not
conceived to insure that the exchanges between marketers and how women interpret these representations. However, these stud-
consumers are fair, equitable, safe, and contribute to improved ies were undertaken since the early seventies. According to Kang
economic and social welfare (Roberton and Kassarjian 1991). In (1997), previous investigations have provided consistent evidence
this manner, these four aspects triggered four streams of research that advertising messages about women were often stereotypical
that belong to the area called consumer social policy in consumer such as: women are irrational, weak, not intelligent, submissive and
behavior. This investigation is related to the equitability research subservient. Indeed, Courtney and Lockeretz (1971) found that four
field which examines whether or not the marketing system has been stereotypes were predominant: 1) a woman’s place is in the home;
exploiting or discriminating specific segments of the population. 2) women should not take important decisions or do important
Social policy is defined as policy for the society. It express things; 3) women are dependent and need the protection of men; 4)
where and to what purposes a society believe it may properly men see women as a sexual object and not as a human being.
intervene in order to achieve a better economic and welfare state. Venkatesan and Losco (1975) results showed women as: 1) a sexual
An issue of social policy is present in consumer behavior studies object, 2) physically beautiful and 3) dependent on men. In addi-
and practices whenever the society as a whole believes that inter- tion, Belkaoui and Belkaoui (1976) verified that women were
vention on the exchanges between sellers and consumers is needed represented primary as housewives. In the eighties, similar research
to improve the situation to the society (Roberton and Kassarjian also showed that the stereotyped portrayals of women still persisted
1991). in the media (Blackwood 1983; Bretl and Cantor 1988; Jolliffe
How do Latin American women interpret female portrayals in 1989; Luebke 1989).
advertising? Are advertising images perceived by these women as In a study which aimed at analyzing gender images according
stereotyped? Do they compare themselves with advertising endors- to categories proposed by previous study (Goffman 1979), Kang
ers? How these portrayals have been considered to their well being? (1997) found that female images, in 1991, were still portrayed in a
Despite the fact that Brazilian society is concerned with female stereotyped way. In his investigation he identified four significant
images in the advertising, little is known about how Latin American pictures:
women interpret how advertising depicts their images. Indeed, an
investigation on Brazilian literature very few articles related to - “Feminine touch”–Women portrayed using the hands to
advertising images were found. show or caress an object.
Hence, the main objective of this investigation is to add to our - “Ritualization of subordination”–woman in a submissive
understanding how women in a Latin American context interpret body position or behavior
female portrayals in advertising. The secondary objectives aim at - “Licensed withdraw”–woman is psychologically removed
identifying if and how advertising affect female consumers. There- from the picture which results in leaving the women depen-
fore, they are: to examine if women compare themselves with dent on the man ´s protection
advertising images and if they do how they perceive that they affect - “Body display”–high degree of nudity or with body reveal-
them. ing clothes
The present study was undertaken in San Paulo city in Brazil
and employed a qualitative method. Moreover, the sample was Recently, a substantial portion of advertising literature has
composed by seventy five individuals who were selected by conve- examined the negative social effects (commonly denominated as
nience method. In addition, this research uses a two folded frame- “unintended consequences of advertising”) of idealized portrayals
work in order to understand how women interpret and construct in media (Martin and Kennedy 1993; Pollay 1986; Stice and Shaw
reality about the feminine element in commercial images and how 1994) found a positive association between idealized imagery in
these ads affect them. In this way, it was selected the social advertisements, self-esteem and self-image.
representation theory and Festinger social comparison theory to It was selected three Brazilian studies to shed light to the
shed light in our phenomenon. results of this study. The first investigation presented is Sabat´s

Volume 1, © 2006
100 / Women Feelings about Female Images in Advertising: a Qualitative Study
(2001) study about gender and sexuality in advertising. The second THE SOCIAL REPRESENTATION THEORY AND
one is Rocha (1984) investigation about idealized images in adver- THE SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY
tisements and the third is Freyre´s (2003) work about the XVIII and
XIX century Brazilian patriarchal society where he describes Social Representation Theory
women´ roles during that period. The first two investigations Social representations can be defined as the results of elabora-
directly address advertising. The third contribution is a classic tion processes about the reality by a given society. The “social
masterpiece in Sociology, History and Anthropology about Brazil- representations” construct refers to how individuals fabricate their
ian society in the XVIII and XIX centuries. Freyre´s (2003) work perceptions about themselves, about the world, about their relation-
was chosen in the literature review because his portrayals of ships with the world and with each others. Thus, this concept deals
Brazilian women seem to be the foundation to understand gender with how individuals conceive “objects” of the reality, including
relations and identities in modern Brazilian society. themselves. The production of these representations is elaborated in
Analyzing gender representations and sexuality in advertis- any public dimension of the society, such as, in the streets, in
ing, Sabat (2001) suggested advertisements should work as a advertising, in social institutions or social movements (Boas, Neto
cultural pedagogy that teaches members of a given society how to and Cramer 2001; Guareshi and Jovchelovitch 1995).
be women or men, what is femininity and masculinity, hence, In this context, Jovchelovitch (1995) notes that, as social
producing, in this way, identities and representations of reality. representations are psychosocial phenomena, they are necessary
Sabat (2001) argues that advertising doesn’t create meanings but produced in public arenas, in the realm where he or she relates to the
borrows them from social relations, while, at the same time, these “other”. In addition, social representations are created in the do-
advertisements reaffirm and consolidate these very same represen- main where dwellers of a specific community acquire identities and
tations, as for instance, “women always at home or exhibiting their forge their cultural symbols. Individuals mentioned in the social
bodies to men pleasure” (Sabat 2001, 14). constructions theory are bound not only to a specific society and
Rocha (1984) argues that advertising dictates identity pro- culture, but also to a specific period of history (Boas et al 2001;
cesses, life styles and reality to consumers. In his work, Rocha Spink 1995). Furthermore, according to Minayo (1995) and Farr
(1984) examined how commercials idealize reality giving a magic (1995), communication constitutes the realm where social repre-
solution to consumer problems. He suggests that ads intervene, sentations can be apprehended because language is its most impor-
transform and reorganize every day life in a magic manner. The tant source.
author compares commercial with myths arguing that one charac- The social constructions theory has been applied to feminine
teristic of a myth is the similarity to dreams and fairy tales where studies (Boas et al 2001; Sabat 2001) in order to better understand
everything is possible. the gender identity approach which also encompasses a socially
According to Freyre (2003) women belonging to the patriar- constructed idea. In this way, it is with this aim that we have
chal system had their social participations circumscribed to the borrowed this theoretical framework from literature.
domestic realm. Their roles were limited to be mother and to The gender concept has emerged in the sixties in order to
manage the house. Indeed, it was expected from them to supervise embrace ideas related to the masculine and the feminine roles in a
the slaves who worked in the house and to look after the children. given society (Louro 1997). While the concept “sex” refers to the
In fact, this period was characterized by the absence of feminine biological aspect of the human being, this new construct represents
roles in politics, literature, education, science and public policies. a social category which is associated to subjective meanings of male
Indeed, woman was totally uneducated. According to Freyre and female identities created by the society where they are embed-
(2003), Brazilian society had imposed to women a “specialization” ded. Thus, the gender concept has a historical and a social dimen-
in the “fragile sex” or in the “beauty sex”. This specialization could sion, because it varies according to the culture and the period of time
even deform her. Indeed, the body was disfigured by the “corset” when it belongs (Scott 1995; Medrado 1996). In this way, gender
which was used to make the waist fine. The feet were forced to identity can be grasped from subjective narratives and from behav-
become small in order to be different from the “Negro´s” feet, iors.
which were scrubbed and scratched. According to Sabat (2001) gender identities can be captured
In addition, according to Topinard (apud Freyre 2003), the from advertising images. Indeed, representations embedded in
patriarchal regime influenced the “specialization” of feminine advertising portrayals, not only do they reflect gender differences
physical body in order to differentiate the sexes. This specialization in the society, but also corroborate them. According to this author,
of the body was also related to female roles in the society. It was a typical representation about femininity is the maternity image or
associated to the mother function or to a romantic idealized por- of a perfect body. Indeed, as other social institutions, advertising
trayal. Thus, women from this period should be first, in the tends to reproduce specific types of behaviors and personal values
adolescence, pale, slim and fragile in order to inspire young men which conform with the culture of the society (Sabat 2001).
dreams.. However, after the marriage she would become fat,
deformed into a “shapeless mass”. In this period of her life, she was Social Comparison Theory
the housekeeper and the procreator of the patriarchal family. Based on the Social Comparison theory (Festinger 1954)
Freyre (2003) also emphasized how female body in Brazilian many researchers (Gulas and Mckeage 2000; Lennon and Lillethun
patriarchal regime was idealized by men. In this idealized portrayal 1999; Martin and Gentry 1997; Richins 1991; Thornton and Maurice
woman had gracious feet, fine waist, delicate hands, and big 1999) have proposed that idealized images in advertising can affect
bosoms. According to the author, it was a “narcissistic cult” of the viewers because they compare themselves with people portrayed in
patriarchal man who dominated the weak sex and “pretended to ads.
adore her in order to feel stronger” (Freire 2003, 213). To sum up, Social comparison theory was originally developed by Festinger
Freyre (2003) suggested that in the patriarchal society women were in 1954 in order to explain how and why individuals evaluate
“fragile”, “beauty” and the “domestic”. themselves in comparison with others. He suggested that individu-
als tend to objectively compare themselves. However, provided
that the objective criterion is not available, they will appraise
themselves in comparison with others. One aspect of his theory was idea, the phrases were separated, computing different thoughts.
the similarity hypothesis that proposed that people compare them- When the phrases produced were interrelated, being thus part of
selves with similar ones. Besides, other elements in his theory were a single concept, another concept was produced in order to express
as follows: 1) the comparison process was related to the assessment their thought. In a third step researchers discussed the individual
of abilities and opinions, 2) comparison was made with people work of each other attempting to reach a consensus on the concepts
pertaining from the same group of the individual who has engaged produced.
in the comparison process, and 3) the individual was aiming at
appraising himself in order to have a standard of evaluation, hence, RESULTS
it was a sought comparison. In spite of these specific conditions, Analysis of the data revealed the existence of three main
further researchers have expanded the comprehensiveness of his themes throughout the interviews. Such themes are related to three
theory. Indeed, new contributions have found that social compari- different perceptions about how advertising depicts women por-
son also occurs when people evaluate their personal traits or trayals. They were images that depreciated women, images that
circumstances (Richins 1991; Wood 1989). In addition, other idealized them and images that pictured women in a modern way.
researchers have suggested that people also compare themselves Table 1 summarizes the participants feelings about female repre-
with others who belong to other group, for instance, models in sentations in advertising.
advertisements. (Richins 1991). Furthermore, recent investigations The label “depreciated images” was adopted to describe the
have proposed that unsought comparison may occur (Goethals interviewees’ perception of four portrayals, that is: 1) “women as
1986). Actually, researchers have suggested that advertising por- not intelligent or irrational” 2) “window-display”; 3) “body dis-
traying “better of” people (wealthy, happy and beautiful) tend to play”; and 4) as “housewives”. It was decided to use the construct
trigger social comparison without conscious effort. In this way, it “depreciated images”, because the idea of depreciation was objec-
was chosen Festinger (1954) social comparison theory to under- tively present in the informant’s speeches when describing these
stand why women interviewed in the present study engage in an pictures. The labels which were applied were constructed in order
appraisal process taking advertising endorsers as a standard. to be as near as possible to what informants narrated. However,
when it was possible, it was used a label that already existed in
METHOD literature. In this way, the label “women as not intelligent or
The present study was undertaken employing a qualitative irrational” was cited by Kang (1997). In addition, “body display”
method. The sample of the present study was composed of seventy was applied by Goffman (1979) to describe images related to high
five individuals who were selected by convenience method in São degree of nudity or body revealing clothes. The label “housewives”
Paulo city, Brazil. The data was gathered using in depth interviews. was used by Belkaoui and Belkaoui (1976). “Window-display”
The variables researched were: 1) women interpretations of female emerged from the interviewees descriptions. These labels are
portrayals in ads; 2) the effects of these interpretations in how they explained in the item “depreciated images”.
feel about themselves and 3) the feelings of identification with these Another perception reported by the interviewees is associated
interpretations. It was asked to the participants, for example: “how to the idea that images in advertising are idealized, and in this way,
do you feel about female portrayals in advertising?” It is important they are very far from their reality. So it was called the “idealized
to stress that we haven’t shown any advertising to interviewees. images”. The informants distinguished two aspects of idealization
Conversely, we have asked them to tell us about their perceptions in advertising: 1) “woman as physically perfect”, which is, always
in ads in general. The interviews lasted on average one hour and young, beautiful, skinny and always tidy; 2) “absence of features of
were conducted by a “senior” researcher and one assistant, trained Brazilian women”, which is, the absence of mixed races as black
to accomplish the task. The interviews were recorded and tran- and brown skinned women. In this picture women are blond, tall
scribed. The names of the participants were not utilized in order to and have white skin. These labels emerged from the informant
preserve their anonymity. speeches. Each of these concepts is discussed in the item “idealized
The social class scale applied to classify the participants was images”.
from Almeida and Wickerhauser proposed in 1991 (apud Mattar A third group of perception was that advertising pictures
1992), which is commonly used in Brazil to operationalize the women in a modern way. This idea emerged in two different ways,
social class construct. . By this criterion, five social classes levels that is, woman as 1) independent from man; and as 2) Super woman-
are produced, that is, A, B, C, D and E, which are the five levels that being able to be mother, professional, and wife concomitantly. It
official statistics utilize to classify Brazilian population. In this was called “the modern woman”. The reason to use these labels was
manner, it was found that 17.3% of the participants belonged to based again in the speeches of the informants and in previous
social class A 38.7% to B, 22.7% to C and 21.3% to class D. research (Jaffe and Berger 1994). These labels are discussed in the
The level of education of the respondents was the following: section “modern women images”.
53.3% have no college and 46.7% have finished their college
studies. On the other hand, their age brackets were composed in the Depreciated images:
following manner: 17-20 (6.7%), 20-29 (25.3%), 30-39 (26.2%), The perception of women as “not intelligent or irrational”
40-49 (21.3%), 50-59 (14.7%), 60-69 (4%), 70 and over (1.3%). refers to the image of “women whose intelligence is not exploited”,
Moreover, half of the sample reported being married and the other to “the woman that is no good at thinking”, or whose body is
half (43%) to be single. Only 6 % were separated or divorced. idealized in opposition of her intelligence. This idea is illustrated in
The interviews were read by all the researchers who were the following passage from an interview:
members of the team. The objective of this analysis was to identify
important themes in the data. After the preliminary readings, - “Women are always portrayed as beautiful, but brainless.
separately, the researchers summarized the replies to each question Their bodies are displayed but not their ideas. They don’t
in one or two words or phrases. In the second stage the replies were think, don’t ask, they just appear and sell the products…
analyzed again with the intention of verifying whether these words
or phrases produced referred to a single thought or expressed The second concept related to depreciation is the image of
separate ideas. When a single response contained more than one “window-display” which is employed to sell the product. The
TABLE 1
Perceptions of Female Images in Advertising
DEPRECIATED IMAGES IDEALIZED IMAGES MODERN WOMEN

IMAGES
Not intelligent / irrational Physically perfect : always young, Independent (from man)
beautiful, skinny and always tidy
Window-display: as if she were a Absence of features of Brazilian women Super woman Being able to be
“ hanger” , a “ package” or a absence of mixed races as black and mother, professional, and wife
“ shelf” where the product is exhibited brown skinned women at the same time
to be sold
Body display: high degree of nudity or

with body revealing clothes
Housewives
informants understand that the image of women is exploited as if it blond, and young. Interviewees reported that they don’t identify
were a “hanger”, a “package” or a “shelf” where the product is with this kind of ideal as they know another reality and they are
exhibited to be sold. In this way, women are stripped of humanity conscious that women shown in the media are not those found in
becoming unanimated beings, as the central focus is the sale. These their every day lives. In addition, the beauty idea of being slim was
images were labeled as “window-display” because this idea was highly criticized, not only because it doesn’t correspond to the
strongly stressed by the informants. This feeling is expressed in the reality of ordinary women, but also because it is seen as a danger to
following quotation: both adults and adolescent psychological health.
It is interesting to note that some of the interviewees clearly
- “I think woman is being devaluated, because she is por- deny these images imposed by the media, identifying them as “not
trayed as a gift wrapped. She is portrayed as merchandise, normal standards”, and they, the interviewees, are the ones who fit
I mean, like a hanger. The item is hung on it and she must to normal patterns. The informants also expressed their disbelief to
sell it together with her beauty. Many examples of what I am the always perfect condition in which women are shown, such as,
saying are presented in beer advertisements. Woman is with the hair always perfect and well dressed.
nothing more than a product that helps to increase sales.” It is also important to emphasize that despite the fact that the
majority of interviewees did not identify themselves with the
The concept of “body display” is related to nudity, to the idealized images, these were the portrayals that provoked most of
exposition of the body. The feminine figure is once again employed the complaints of negative sentiments about themselves. It can be
to sell the product, but in this metaphor body display is the central verified from the data that: 1) they do compare to these images and
point. It represents the main tool to draw the attention of the 2) the idealized images have a negative impact to their self-esteem
consumer. This idea can be depicted from the following quotations: and their own images. Some affirmed that they feel depressed and
suffer from anxiety and feeling of inferiority. Such sentiments are
- “I think that the product should be shown more than the accompanied by a negative devaluation of their body and a desire
woman. But companies normally do the opposite. I believe to change it. The physically perfect woman image constructed by
there is an excessive exposition of woman body and there is informants can be grasped from the following quotations:
no need to be shown so indiscreetly.”
- “Barely are they depicted with clothes, because it helps to - “She always appears with perfect hair, with a perfect figure
sell... I don’t identify with these images because they are and is very slim. This is extremely alienating; neither are we
vulgar. They are shown almost naked.” beautiful all the time, nor well dressed all the time”.
- “A typical woman in advertisements has everything in the
The portrayal of housewives refers to a stereotype of women right place. They are beautiful and have the right measure-
roles in society. This feeling is expressed in the following passage: ments. I feel fat when I compare myself physically to women
in advertisements. I feel really depressed! An ordinary
- “Women are portrayed as being beautiful, sexy or house- woman feels like garbage.”
wives. They are always shown selling electric domestic - “Women shown in the advertisements have a perfect figure,
appliances…. However, today women have new roles in our no cellulite, no belly…They are slim, tall, beautiful, young,
society. They are not full time housewives anymore, but this and blond.”
is not shown in advertising. It is a totally distorted image...” - “It is obvious that people would like to have a tall, slim
figure. But the advertisements show women as practically
Idealized images: skin and bones. These pictures are dangerous, especially
The concept of the physically perfect woman is related to the for young people who try to become similar to these im-
imposition of a particular standard of beauty, namely tall, slim, ages.”
- “I don’t think I am outside the standard, I am not that naive. DISCUSSION
There are many women who are like me, I mean, not so slim First of all, part of the members of the sample affirmed that
like the models in advertising. They are too much thin. They they do not identify with these portrayals because they depreciate
are not normal. I am the one who is normal! … I have not female roles or because they are unreal. Moreover, our informants
seen any advertising which takes my age group for granted showed to be not passive viewers who accept television images
(55 years old) or my professional segment. They don’t seem without questioning them. On the contrary, they criticized and
to have anything to do with me.” compared these images with what they used to see in their every day
lives. One example of this fact is the criticism that very few images
This idealization is also understood by the interviewees as the of black or mixed races are seen in advertisements.
absence of features of Brazilian women. For the interviewees the In addition, previous research has found that advertising has
media tends to ignore black and mixed races. The image of the depicted women with “clichés” images and does not reflect their
Caucasian (white and blond) is transmitted as the ideal of beauty. real roles in society. These studies described female’s roles as: full
Interviewees have argued that other types of beauty, especially time “housewives”, “not intelligent”, “irrational”, “body display”
from different regions of the country should be portrayed. In this and “physically beautiful”. The present study did not investigate
way, this perception is also dominated by disbelief and criticism of advertisements, but females’ perceptions of women in advertising.
the standards imposed by the media. Consider the views expressed However, our results have revealed that our informants also feel
in the following quotations: that female images in advertising are portrayed in a stereotyped
way. Hence, this investigation indicates that the same patterns of
- “I have a fair skin, thus I don’t feel very different to what images which have been found since the mid seventies in previous
they show. I don’t feel discriminated against, but if I were research permeate our informant representations of female imagery
black I would feel so. I think they should portray other in Brazilian advertising.
features of Brazilian women. They are usually shown as It is interesting to call the attention to how the interpretations
blond. Black and white mixed race is never depicted. There of idealized images made by our informants are consistent with
is no explanation to this in a melting pot country like Brazil. Rocha (1984) results. Like this author, our interviewees also
- “The typical women depicted on advertisements are white, stressed the fairy tale aspect of ads and how they narrate a perfect
blond and young. Black women or mixed race are hardly and magic life where everything is possible. On the other hand,
ever shown”. previous research has found a relationship between idealized por-
trayals in advertising, self-esteem and self-image. Indeed, many of
Modern Women Images our respondents reported not feeling comfortable with the idealized
Many interviewees understand that advertising portrayed portrayals, as these images impact their self-esteem. This fact
women in a positive way. These images were “independence” and emerged from the criticisms that these images don’t correspond to
“superwoman”. The concept of independence relates to the libera- the real world and that they affect the psychological health of
tion from male domination in various aspects of life, such as women. Low self esteem, depression and anxiety were the feelings
financially, emotionally and psychologically speaking. It repre- that the respondents described as a result from comparison pro-
sents the ability to resolve their problems and live on their own. cesses to these idealized images.
Consider the views expressed in the following quotations: Indeed, in this way, it is clear that some of the informants do
compare themselves with advertising endorsers and that the result
- “advertising are showing images of the modern woman, of this appraisal process is negative, because they feel devaluated.
such as, woman as a bread winner.” Yet, it is important to note that these results are consistent with new
- Women are resolving practically everything. They are contributions to Festinger (1954) theory which have found that
taking the place of men. They can do whatever they want social comparison also occurs when individuals assess their per-
without worrying about what others may say.” And ads are sonal traits and that this phenomenon is also triggered by unsought
depicting this new image. comparison. In this investigation we could identify that the social
- “Some advertisements portray woman as independent. A comparison process was triggered without conscious effort, was
woman who really knows what she wants. …”. related to personal traits and was associated with individuals who
belonged to another group, the advertising endorsers.
Similarly the concept of “superwoman” relates to the ability to In Freyre (2003) descriptions about women in the patriarchal
perform various roles at the same time, in other words to be mother, society, some themes are outstanding, such as: the association of
housewife, a successful professional and an attractive woman at the women to the domestic dimension of life, the role of mother and
same time. The following quotations illustrate this concept: housekeeper; the absence of the feminine role in public domains of
the society; women’s lack of education; the specialization and the
- “It is a super woman. She manages to do everything. She idealization of the body. Indeed, these themes, in some way, have
looks after the house, the children, the husband and is a also emerged from the data. The housekeeper and mother’s roles are
professional”. related to the image of “housewife”. In addition, the portrayal of the
- “Today woman plays the role of mother, professional, wife, feminine as “not intelligent” is, in some way, linked to the idea of
housewife, without stress or problems and advertising not educated. In the patriarchal regime women were kept illiterate
shows these new roles.” in order to be dominated and not to participate in other arenas.
- “A housewife, a mother, an example of beauty and an According to informant’s speeches, although women are intelli-
executive: These are the ways as advertisements are depict- gent, their abilities are not explored in advertising images. Hence,
ing us because we can really perform all these roles in the messages transmitted by advertising about women are that they are
same time” not able to perform roles that demand their reasoning capabilities.
In this way, in both periods, the lack of reasoning competence made
her body to be the center of the attention.
On the other hand, the idealization of the body described by how women are striving to forge their new identities in Brazilian
Freyre (2003) is associated to the “physically perfect” image which society. However, these women know that society still wants them
emerged from our data. In this portrayal the central points are to incorporate the roles mentioned in the depreciated and idealized
beauty and perfectionism. Another element that is present is youth. images, thus, this two opposite approaches trigger an identity
In the interviewees` perceptions of advertising imagery, women are conflict. Hence, this gender conflict issue constitutes the new
always young. Yet, in the patriarchal regime the idealized women hypotheses that we can launch to explain the phenomenon we have
were the young virgins. In addition, women from the XVIII and investigated. In other words, we can say that these eight portrayals
XIX century deformed her body in order to be beautiful in men’s were constructed because they express a main issue that surrounds
eyes. So far, some of our informants reported to be worried with social relations, which are, gender identity and gender relation
their bodies and would like to change them in order to become as conflicts. As this phenomenon exists in their world, it is also present
beautiful as advertising endorsers. Hence, both women accept to in their social representations about reality.
change their bodies searching for the perfect one.
Moreover, Freyre´s (2003) descriptions denounce how preju- CONCLUSION
dice was the patriarchal society against women. She was considered The main objective of this research was to investigate how
the “fragile sex” and the “fleshly puppet”. Also, she was confined women interpret female portrayals in advertising. Results revealed
to artificial situations to provide pleasure to male. Besides, gender three main themes, which are related to three different perceptions.
relations were dominated by men and they were molded in order to They are images that devaluate or idealize women and portray them
satisfy their narcissistic satisfaction. In this way, the data reveals in a modern way. In addition, the study has established two
portrayals which are impregnated by prejudice against women. secondary objectives, which were: to examine if women compare
This sentiment becomes apparent through the “depreciated im- themselves with advertising images and if they do how they
ages”. On the other hand, the portrayal of “physically perfect” perceive that they affect them. Results showed that not only do the
insinuates a hidden trace of male domination. It denotes a necessity informants compare themselves with advertising endorsers, but
to be always beautiful and tidy in order to be admired by men. also believe that advertising imagery affect them in a negative way,
Hence, to be physically perfect to men´s eyes is the ultimate as their psychological health is affected by making them feel
purpose. It is also important to shed light to the portrayal of depressed and anxious.
idealization related to “absence of features of Brazilian women”. According to Sabat (2001) when advertising employs a spe-
According to Freyre (2003), Brazilian society overwhelmed race cific image this means that this speech already exists in the society.
prejudice. However, this portrayal can be a hint that, as sex, race Hence, we can interpret that these three themes which are impreg-
prejudice still persists in this society. nated in the portrayals constructed by our informants reflect society
While literature defines social representations as the results of gender relations and identities. Moreover, as one of them is the
elaboration processes about the reality by members of a given opposite in relation to the two others, we can interpret that these
society, it can interpret the results in the following way: the eight images denounce a gender conflict in the society. Furthermore, as
portrayals (not intelligent, window-display, body-display, house- the interviewees deny two of the three images they perceive in
wives, physically perfect, absence of features of Brazilian women, advertising, this fact also denotes a gender identity conflict. There-
independent and superwoman) are social representations produced fore, our study, which aimed at understanding social representa-
by our informants who are dwellers of Brazilian society. These tions by our informants´ speeches, found that Brazilian society is
social representations were fabricated not only by the informants permeated by conflicts of gender relations and identities and that
but, conversely, they were forged in partnership with other mem- these conflicts are shared not only by our interviewees but also with
bers of the same society, because social representations are shared other members of the society.
with other individuals and are produced in public arenas. Some implications to social police makers can be drawn from
In addition, it can be understood that these social representa- this investigation. This study revealed that participants feel nega-
tions constitute a realm where their gender identities are con- tively affected by the depreciated and idealized portrayals shown in
structed. Moreover, according to Sabat (2001), representations ads. Moreover, it is clear that the informants did compare them-
embedded in advertising, not only do they reflect gender differ- selves with advertising endorsers. In this manner, social police
ences in the society, but also corroborate them. In this way, the eight makers should understand why this is happening. Moreover, they
portrayals concocted by the informants reflect not only gender need to investigate which is the cause of these interpretations. In
relations and identities, but also values, and behaviors which addition, social policy makers could investigate female portrayals
conform to Brazilian society. Besides, the eight images teach in Brazilian advertisings to realize if they are discriminating women,
women what is femininity and consolidate women roles in Brazil- in other words they should check if the interpretations of these
ian society. participants reflect representations of women in Brazilian advertis-
However, it is extremely important to note that both gender ing.
identity conflict and gender relation conflict are embedded in the As to any research, this study has limitations that also suggest
eight portrayals constructed by the informants. Through the possibilities for future investigative endeavor. For instance, future
interviewees speeches emerged representations that they men- research could investigate relations between portrayal of women in
tioned as the way how advertising conceived femininity. However, the media and variables such as self-esteem, self-image and self-
they deny these images as their real portrayals and blame advertis- satisfaction. In addition, new research about female images can
ing for stereotyping their roles or idealizing them. However, images examine advertisements using content analysis and comparing
narrated by the informants clearly denounce a system where male them with women’s perceptions.
dominant meanings still persist. Indeed, the depreciated and the
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Celebrity Worship Within Affinity Groups: Adopting a Multi-faceted Perspective
EXTENDED ABSTRACT spheres outside of the fan club. Strong contributing mechanisms to
Substantial evidence suggests that celebrity worship pervades their fandom include intense and highly salient emotional experi-
contemporary societies (Hills 2002). Recent research suggests that ences surrounding their first introduction to Cliff Richard in their
at least one in three people engage in celebrity worship (Maltby, teenage years; the value-congruency that drives admiration for the
Houran and McCutcheon 2003) and seventy-five percent of young celebrity; together with the social support and strong friendship
adults report a strong attraction to a celebrity (typically musicians bonds that have developed as a by-product and now act to reinforce
or movie stars) at some point in their lives (Boon and Lomore 2001). fan behaviours. Cliff’s apparent narcissism cements the celebrity-
A glance at our most popular magazines adds weight to these fan relationship.
observations. Images and stories of celebrities appear on most Additional findings emerged from data analysis. Liking of the
pages. Their front-covers lure readers with ‘fascinating’ questions pursuit in which the celebrity excels (in this case Christian style
such as: “Is Britney’s really marriage over? Are Tom and Nicole pop’ music) likely fuels celebrity worship. Informants also spoke of
back together? Will Calista win her fight with anorexia?” the ability of Cliff’s music to lift their spirits: “Two years back I was
Despite this situation celebrity worship attracts limited atten- having panic attacks and I was put into a health farm… My husband
tion in the marketing literature (for exceptions see O’Guinn 2000 brought along some Cliff music and it really was a great comfort to
and Pimentel and Reynolds’ 2004 excellent research). For a few me. It helped get me going again.” Informants are clearly cognizant
reasons, the neglect is surprising. First, celebrity worship is argu- of the emotional benefits which have addictive qualities: “You are
ably a distinctive type of consumer-brand relationship (Fournier always anxious when a new Cliff record is about to come out. I can’t
1998) that underpins many long-term buyer-seller relationships. wait to get it and hear it.” Another factor rarely mentioned in the
Marketing academics and practitioners stand to benefit from better literature, is the strong sexual attraction that many informants feel
understanding how these relationships impact market activities for celebrities, such as Cliff. For example female informants often
(Christopher 2002) such as attending films, watching television stated: “He’s really ‘yummy’”, “He wiggles his bum really well.
shows, and purchasing music CDs and fan memorabilia. Second, He’s very appealing in every way”, and “We just love to watch him.
researchers are increasingly acknowledging the extent to which He could sit on stage eating his dinner and we’d pay to watch him.”
consumables (e.g., brands, celebrities) provide galvanizing points This finding contrasts with O’Guinn (2000) who suggested that
for the development of brand communities (Muniz and O’Guinn celebrity fandom was not driven by strong sexual attraction. Simi-
2001). Use of the Internet allows such groups to transcend national larly we are less enthusiastic than O’Guinn (2001) with respect to
and geographical boundaries. Consumers report that interacting the religious metaphor. While our informants hold great admiration
within these types of global networks adds considerable richness to for Cliff Richard, their behaviour does not appear religious in
their lives. Finally, the consumption of others’ performances is nature. They see Cliff as “human” and are not uncritical of him.
highly pervasive in everyday life yet remains a poorly understood Many informants regard their Cliff Richard worship as just one
activity (Deighton 1992). factor of many others that make their lives satisfying; “he is not
We address this situation by examining celebrity worship everything” to them.
within an affinity group (Macchiette and Roy 1991), adopting a
multi-faceted perspective derived from an extensive review of the REFERENCES
psychology, sociology and consumer behaviour literature. Our Boon, S., and C. Lomore (2001), “Admirer-Celebrity Relation-
research site is the Sir Cliff Richard Fan Club situated in Sydney, ships among Young Adults,” Human Communication
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continues to this day. Cliff Richard is a relatively aged celebrity (64 Heinemann.
years old); his career spans forty-five years. He is the largest selling Deighton, J. (1992). “The Consumption of Performance,”
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Elvis. Our research site allows for significant theory validation and Fournier, S. (1998), “Consumers and Their Brands: Developing
extension as well as for modification and extension through rebuttal Relationship Theory in Consumer Research.” Journal of
of extant ideas and the emergence of new themes. Consumer Research, 24, (March), 343-372.
We suggest that celebrity worship within an affinity group be Hills, M. (2002), Fan Cultures, New York: Routledge.
viewed within a framework comprising the following interacting Macchiette, B., and A. Roy (1991), “Direct Marketing to the
components: 1) pre-adult consumption socialization, 2) self con- Credit Card Industry-Utilizing the Concept of Affinity.”
cept/personality consistency, 3) mild psychopathology, 4) religios- Journal of Direct Marketing, 5, 2, p. 34-43.
ity, 5) affiliation need fulfilment, and 6) high celebrity narcissism. O’Guinn, T. (2000), “Touching Greatness: The Central MidWest
Our study is exploratory rather than confirmatory; hence we do not Barry Manilow Fan Club,” in The Consumer Society Reader,
identify which factors carry greater weight in this context. Contrary J. Schor and D. Holt eds., New York: The New Press, 155-
to literature our informants appear psychologically well-balanced. 168.
They readily distinguished fantasy from reality. They understand Muniz, A and T. O’Guinn (2001), “Brand Community’” Journal
that Cliff enacts dramatistic (Deighton 1992) (rather than natural- of Consumer Research, (March), 412-422
istic) performances. Our participant observation over many months Pimentel, R. and K. Reynolds (2004), “A Model for Consumer
suggests they have high emotional intelligence and the capacity for Devotion: Affective Commitment with Proactive Sustaining
mature, honest and respectful relationships across many social Behaviours.” Academy of Marketing Science Review, 5.
Volume 1, © 2006
Ya Mon! But, No Way, José!
The Role of Culture in Reconciling Schema Incongruity
Sharon Smith, DePaul University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Hofstede (1983) defines uncertainty avoidance as the manner in
Research suggests that the success of a brand extension which a society responds to ambiguity. Cultures displaying high
depends on the consumer’s perception of the consistency between uncertainty avoidance exhibit a low tolerance for ambiguity, will
the brand’s pre-existing image and the new product. More specifi- resist change, and are risk adverse. In contrast, individuals from low
cally, consumers apparently prefer and are more likely to recall uncertainty avoidance cultures prefer new experiences and variety-
extensions that are moderately congruent with the consumer’s seeking over predictability and stability. Given this cultural distinc-
existing schema for the brand than for those that are congruent or tion, individuals from low uncertainty avoidance cultures should be
extremely congruent (Meyers-Levy, Louie and Curren, 1994; more likely to try new products than individuals in high uncertainty
Meyers-Levy and Tybout, 1989), particularly when they have avoidance cultures. Indeed, UA has been shown to affect national
limited knowledge about the product category (Peracchio and rates of innovation (Shane, 1993) as well as consumer acceptance
Tybout, 1996). The strength of this relationship, however, appears of new products and product innovations (Yeniyurt and Townsend
to depend on various personality traits such as need for cognition 2003).
and dogmatism (Meyers-Levy and Tybout, 1989). With respect to schema theory, individuals from countries
Personality variables are helpful for understanding differ- with low UA should have a higher threshold with regard to schema
ences in consumer response within a culture. However, differences incongruity than should individuals from high UA countries. That
in consumer response are likely to vary not only within cultures, but is, those from low UA countries should perceive brand extensions
also across cultures. Cowley (2002) found, for example, that as more congruent with their schema than would individuals from
retrieval accuracy varies across cultures based on the manner in high UA countries.
which brand information is presented and processing. This finding
may be crucial for understanding a brand’s international success as Study 1
accurate retrieval is required for a brand to be included in a One hundred and eighty nine Jamaican and American M.B.A.
consumer’s consideration set (Nedungadi 1990) and thus increases students participated in a survey designed to test the basic hypoth-
purchase likelihood. esis that UA affects consumer perceptions of brand extensions. It
In order to predict consumer response to brand extensions in was expected that the Americans and Jamaicans would differ in
the many markets where those extensions may be introduced, the their perceptions of (in)congruity resulting in differences in recall
effects of schema (in)congruity must be tested cross-culturally of the brand extensions. Although both Jamaica and the United
(Sharon and Amir, 1988). In this paper, we examine differences in States are considered relatively low in UA, the United States
consumer response to brand extensions across countries based on exhibits a higher level of UA than does Jamaica (Hofstede 1983).
the level of uncertainty avoidance (UA) within the culture. More T-tests reveal significant differences in perceived (in)congruity
specifically, we argue that the consumers from high UA countries between Jamaicans and Americans. Generally speaking, the Jamai-
will be more sensitive to schema incongruity than consumers from cans indicated a higher level of congruity than did the Americans.
low UA countries and that their responses to brand extensions will Additionally, the Americans demonstrated significantly higher
vary accordingly. We offer empirical support for such differences recall of the brand extensions than did the Jamaicans.
in two studies that compare consumer response to brand extensions
in the United States and Jamaica. Study 2
Study 2 used a cognitive response questionnaire to investigate
The Relationship Between Schema and Culture the cognitive processes behind recall among Americans and Jamai-
Schema may be universally, culturally, or idiosyncratically- cans. Given the lower level of UA in Jamaica versus the United
based (Casson, 1983). Universal schemata are uniform within the States, it was expected Jamaicans would not elaborate as exten-
human species “because of innate faculties of the mind and/or sively as Americans when presented with an unfamiliar brand
inherent divisions in the natural world” (Casson, 1983, p. 440). In extension. As elaboration leads to increased encoding and thus
contrast, cultural schemata are shared only by members of a greater likelihood of retrieval, an examination of elaborations
particular society (Casson, 1983; Casson, 1981) and idiosyncratic would help to explain the recall results in Study 1.
schemata are “unique to particular individuals as the result of their A word count revealed that the Americans engaged in greater
personal histories and life experiences (Casson, 1983, p. 440).” cognitive elaboration as indicated by word count. This suggests that
It is generally assumed that product schemata are idiosyncratic the Americans tended to elaborate more in an attempt to resolve
in nature in that the structure and content of a consumer’s schema incongruity. This greater extent of elaboration is consistent with the
will be affected by his own individual experience(s) with the higher recall rates observed in Study 1. The Jamaicans also ap-
product and exposure to product information via packaging, adver- peared to rely almost exclusively on relational processing in at-
tising, etc. Roth (1995) suggests, however, that culture may also tempting to resolve brand extension incongruity, while Americans
play a role. Drawing on three of the four cultural dimensions used a combination of relational and item-specific processing. This
identified by Hofstede (1983), Roth (1995) found empirical support sheds further light on the results observed in Study 1.
for the notion that culture influences consumer perceptions and
evaluations of brands. Discussion
Of the various cultural dimensions examined by Roth (1995), The two studies offer evidence that culture plays a role in
uncertainty avoidance is of particular interest with respect to consumer response to brand extensions. Moreover, the results have
schema (in)congruity and consumer response to brand extensions. implications for companies seeking to standardize their product

Volume 1, © 2006
108 / Ya Mon! But, No Way, José! The Role of Culture in Reconciling Schema Incongruity
mix across countries. Specifically, companies may not be able to
successfully standardize their product mix across cultures that
display varying levels of uncertainty avoidance.
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Ambient Scents in Government Offices: Direct and Indirect Effects and Moderating Variables
Virginie Maille, CERAM Sophia Antipolis, France
ABSTRACT shown in: the perception of the environment/atmosphere (Chébat

This article examines the influence that pleasant ambient and Michon 2003; Spangenberg, Crowley, and Henderson 1996),
scents have on the consumer. An experiment in a post office the products/services presented in the space (Chébat and Michon,
provides evidence that all pleasant scents do not necessarily influ- 2003; Mac Donnell 2002; Morrin and Ratneshwar 2000;
ence consumers positively, probably because of their actual signifi- Spangenberg et al. 1996), the emotional response (Chébat and
cance. Some have no effect, some have negative ones. Moreover, it Michon 2003), the intention to visit the shop/outlet (Spangenberg
shows that mediating variables (cognitive and affective responses) et al. 1996), the value of purchases/amount spent (Chébat and
and moderating variables (sex, aim of the visit and familiarity with Michon 2003), the perceived time spent (Spangenberg et al. 1996),
the point of sale) have to be taken into account. the attention and memory span (Morrin and Ratneshwar 2000;
Warm, Dember, and Parasuraman 1990).
INTRODUCTION But while these effects are positive according to certain
Even if fitting out a point of sale is not a new theme, the idea studies, they are non existent in others. Thus Daucé (2000) was
that a more systematic and rigorous exploitation of the sensory unable to show any influence caused by the presence of pleasant
palette in sales areas could encourage purchase and have a positive ambient scents regarding the perception of the atmosphere or the
impact on customer loyalty is a more recent one. Because of their opinion on the store’s products. Warm et al. (1990), Morrin and
hedonic, symbolic and stimulating dimensions, sensory activations Ratneshwar (2000) and Mac Donnell (2002) equally recorded no
could enable firms to both differentiate themselves and respond to effect on the emotions or the emotional response. Daucé (2000)
consumer expectations whether these be extrinsic (efficiency, prac- observed no influence either on purchase, on time spent or on time
ticality), or intrinsic (pursuit of clients’ pleasure, dramatization of perceived. Spangenberg et al. (1996) also record no significant
store). effect on the time spent in the shop.
A rapid look at some studies in olfactive marketing could It is even more disconcerting to notice that certain effects
mislead some people. Certainly, ambient scents, supposing that which appear to be positive in a number of studies are shown to be
they are not unpleasant, can have a positive influence on client negative in others. In Daucé’s (2000) experiment, both scents,
affective, cognitive and behavioral response. However, it should be despite their pleasantness, had a negative effect on clients’ emo-
added that this does not happen systematically, and sometimes the tional response.
company observes no “return on investment”. Worse still, the scent A wiser course would be to attempt to understand these
may have negative effects. In such a case, the set up cost of the differences.
scents must be added to the decrease in turnover.
In order to better understand the mechanisms governing the The Influence of Ambient Scents: Towards Other Explanations?
influence, this article will study the impact of different ambient All the studies we have considered in the above analysis were
scents in the points of sale of “La Poste” (French state-run post- carried out in valid conditions. Furthermore, all the observed
office service). Examining studies which have already been made, responses were measured according to similar scales. The differ-
we will firstly demonstrate that other characteristics besides the ences observed are therefore not due to questions of reliability and/
“pleasant smell” should be taken into account. Secondly we will or validity, nor to using different measuring tools. We suggest
highlight the mediating role played by affective and cognitive rather concentrating on the two following questions: Is “a good
responses to scents and the necessity of taking into account moder- smell” enough? Does a stimulus-response analysis alone permit a
ating variables. We shall then present an experiment which aimed real understanding of the mechanisms of influence of ambient
to test our model. These will enable us in fine to draw a conclusion scents?
about the contributions of this work towards future avenues of An Ambient Scent Which “Smells Good” Is Not Necessarily
research. Effective. In table 1, we observe that not all pleasant ambient scents
necessarily have a positive influence on the consumer (e.g. Mitchell,
THE INFLUENCE OF AMBIENT SCENTS IN THE Kahn, and Knasko 1995 or Daucé 2000). Another question arises
LITERATURE from this observation, namely the influence of characteristics of
Several authors have already analyzed the literature concern- ambient scents other than their pleasantness. Although most of the
ing the influence of scents in the context of marketing (for over- experiments presented here were only concerned with the influence
views, see Daucé 2000 and Maille 2001). Here, we will present only of the presence of a pleasant ambient scent, certain researchers have
those results which are directly relevant to our research. looked at the role played by other characteristics of the scent.
Thus Warm et al. (1990), first of all posed questions about the
The Influence of the Presence of Pleasant or Unpleasant Ambient potential influence of scents said to be stimulating or relaxing. Now,
Scents although in the presence of these scents, both of which are perceived
We are now aware that it is essential to deodorize offensive as pleasant, participants’ response to detecting intermittent signals
smelling areas. Rotton (1983) and Ehrlichman and Bastone (1991) was better, the results do not permit any conclusion as to the
recorded the negative effect of unpleasant smells on emotional stimulating/relaxing characteristics of these scents, much less to
response and on the evaluation of photos and drawings. However, their influence. In the same way Spangenberg et al. (1996) com-
although the absence of unpleasantness is necessary, it is not pared the role of pleasant scents to those of “neutral” ones. The
sufficient. positive effects previously described can be attributed to the pres-
We feel intuitively that the sales area should smell good. This ence of the set of scents, but not to the level of pleasantness. These
is confirmed by studies presented in table 1 which demonstrate the conclusions are confirmed by Ehrlichman and Bastone (1991).
positive influence of the presence of pleasant scents on consumer Thus, neither the stimulating or relaxing qualities of ambient scents
Volume 1, © 2006
Dependent Variables
1 Opinion/ 2-Opiniont / pref 3-Emotions / 4-Intention to 5-Purchase/ 6 – time spent 7 8 – Information
Preference / / Evaluation mood / stress purchase (or to number of real/ time – Attention,me- search
THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRESENCE (VERSUS ABSENCE) OF A PLEASANT AMBIENT IN THE LITERATURE
Evaluation of the product or visit) articles perceived m. span photos, performance

Authors scented person or filmed purchased/ words brands complex task,
environment advert amount spent adverts creativity choice, search
for variety
Warm et al. (1990)
110 / Ambient Scents in Government Offices: Direct and Indirect Effects and Moderating Variables
0 (stress)
Mitchell et al. (1995)
0
Spangenberg et al. (1996)
0
TABLE 1
Daucé (2000)
0 0 0 00
Morrin and Ratneshwar (2000)
0 only
for unfamiliar
brands
Mac Donnell (2002)
0 (anger)
Ché bat and Michon (2003)
effect effect
via perception via perception
of environment of product
Key: positive effects negative effects 0 no statistically significant effect
FIGURE 1
THE TESTED MODEL
nor their relative pleasantness can explain the divergences in their can suppose that, if the reason of his visit is cognitively involving,
effects. Mitchell et al. (1995) suggest another possibility, that is, the the client will be more influenced by an ambient scent, and more
actual significance of the scents. At first, this study aimed to particularly by a congruent scent. Similarly, Zeithaml (1988) sug-
demonstrate the effect of the perfume’s congruence. It shows that gests retaining the familiarity of the client with the point of sale. The
when the ambient scent corresponds to the category of products in “familiar” consumer refers more to his or her previous evaluation
a catalogue (a floral smell if the participant is to choose flowers; a of the point of sale than to factors of atmosphere.
chocolate smell if he is to choose chocolates), the consumer adopts In the light of the above analysis, we suggest three research
a more holistic decision making process, takes longer to choose and propositions:
includes more personal references in the choice-making process.
The probability that the least well known option will be chosen, as P 1: pleasant ambient scents may have a positive influence on
well as the quest for variety are also greater. However, no effect was the consumer (P1A), but not all. Some may have no effect
recorded of these scents taken globally. It can therefore be supposed (P1B), or a negative effect (P1C).
that the incongruence (e.g. chocolate for purchasing flowers) inhib- P 2: the influence of an ambient scent bears not only directly
its the effects even if the latter is pleasant. However, we do not know on consumer, but also indirectly via cognitive and affec-
the influence of the congruence on other responses. What is more, tive responses which have a positive effect.
no comparative study exists to verify the consistency of this P 3: individual variables may modify the influence of ambi-
phenomenon. ent scents on consumer: notably, we suppose that ambi-
Towards More Complete Models Which Integrate Mediating ent scents have more effect on women (P3A), the young-
and Moderating Variables. Even though the studies presented est clients (P3B), those who are the least familiar with the
above are not limited to the behaviorist framework of stimulus- point of sale (P3C) and those who have come for a more
response, few have sought to really test a far more complete model. involving reason (P3D).
In her model of the influence of atmospheric factors, Bitner (1992)
suggests taking account of several mediating and moderating Figure 1 describes the proposed model.
variables. Below we present an experiment to test this model.
She highlights the mediating role of both cognitive and affec-
tive responses in the relationship between atmospheric factors and THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
consumer response. However, only Chébat and Michon (2003) We conducted an experiment consisting of observing clients
have pointed out the indirect effects of scents via these mediating of “La Poste” in the presence (or absence) of pleasant ambient
variables. scents.
Similarly, we know since the 1970’s that not all individuals
have the same degree of receptivity to information from the envi- The Conditions of the Experiment
ronment. The first element that comes to mind is the mediating The effectiveness of the presence of pleasant smells is mea-
quality of socio-demographic variables. Several studies have dem- sured by comparing the reactions of clients exposed to an odorless
onstrated the role of the latter in the mechanisms of influence of (versus scented) atmosphere.
smells. Knoblich and Schubert (1989) observed that women are However, we have highlighted that pleasant scents may have
more sensitive than men to smells. This fact is however not always no influence at all on the consumer, or even have influences
shown to be true (Maille 2001; Rotton 1983). We can add variables contrary to those expected. Thus we wish to demonstrate not only
expressing the relationship between the consumer and the point of the impact of the presence of pleasant scents, but also the variability
sale. According to Bitner (1992), the aim of the visit should be taken of that influence depending on the connotations of the scents. Five
into account. As suggested in a previous research (Maille 2001), we scents (all pleasant) were chosen for their varied connotations, from
descriptions provided by perfume suppliers in collaboration with The Controlled Variables
the companies Prolitec–Signatures Olfactives and La Poste. For In order to be certain that only the effect of ambient scents is
example, “Club House” evokes the warm and cozy atmosphere of measured, all other factors must be neutralized. In this experiment
offices and libraries (supposed to be “congruent” with the post we took account of several individual variables recognized as
office), whereas Iguaçu is more evocative of the dynamism of potential moderators, but we also made sure that the samples
seascapes. relative to each experiment were comparable from these points of
The perfumes were diffused continuously at a constant inten- view, firstly by assigning each subject to a perfume condition on a
sity. Prolitec had checked that the intensity of diffusion remained random basis, and secondly, by using sufficiently large samples.
comparable from one perfume to another. Additionally, the per- The physical environment remained identical throughout the ex-
fume was diffused by a nebulization system which left no deposit periment. The study was carried out over six weeks in winter in
on the surroundings, and the offices were ventilated during the order to neutralize any possible seasonal effects. We also tested
night. each scent condition each day of the week and each hour of the day.
For each participant, the time, the day and the weather were noted.
The Variables Measured Once the perfume conditions have been tested at all moments of the
In order to be able to understand the mechanisms of influence day and week, possible effects of the social environment, such as
of ambient scents, we had to consider a fairly varied set of consumer crowding, were neutralized. Slack and peak periods were repre-
responses and the above mentioned mediating or moderating vari- sented in the same way in each of the experiments. The direct social
ables. Besides, in order to be able to compare our results, we took environment was also neutralized by questioning only singletons.
into account all variables measured in previous studies: Finally, it would have been interesting to measure the influence of
the ambient scents on the post office personnel in order to isolate
- Client responses towards La Poste: the time spent, the under this factor. Given the repetitive nature of the operation over six
estimation of time spent (as in previous research) and weeks, and the impossibility of hiding the experiment from the
satisfaction towards the service. personnel, this was not possible.
- Mediators: affective responses and cognitive responses. The Experimental Sample

For the first, we considered the emotional responses. How- The sample consisted of 467 persons. Between 55 and 118
ever, since numerous previous studies in sensorial market- persons underwent each experimental condition.
ing have shown that it is difficult to demonstrate the influ-
ence of ambient scents on emotional response, we added to Experimental Procedure
this measurement the perception of the atmosphere. For the Without the clients’ knowledge, we firstly noted the time
cognitive responses, as Mac Donnell (2002), we measured clients entered the point of sale, and the time when they had finished
the quality of service. being served. Finally, respondents were approached once they had
left the postal clerks window. The questionnaire was then adminis-
- Moderators: socio-demographic variables, the aim of the tered face to face. At no time was any reference made to the ambient
visit and the familiarity with the point of sale. scent.
The time spent was measured by the researcher, while the THE RESULTS
estimation of the time spent was asked to the participants. The
moderators were also the subject of single questions with single Prior Controls
answers, except for the aim of the visit for which several answers Scales Validation Procedure. Concerning the measurement of
were possible. emotions, a factor analysis shows the two expected factors which
The other variables were integrated in the questionnaire in the explain 70% of the variance: pleasure and activation. The scale
form of multiple seven-point scales (from “not at all” to “totally”). reliability is good: Cronbach’s alpha is 0.72 for the first factor and
The emotions and the perception of the atmosphere were each 0.77 for the second one. The factor analysis carried out on the items
measured on a PAD (or rather a PA) scale, already tested and refined of perception of atmosphere also show the two factors expected,
in the French context by Rieunier (2000) to measure the impact of explaining 71% of the variance: pleasure (?=.64) and activation
music. Practically all previous studies measured items along two (one item only). Finally the factor analysis carried out on the items
dimensions: pleasure (e.g. “you feel happy”) and activation (e.g. of perception of quality of service SERVQUAL, after excluding
“you feel energetic”). The scale concerning the perception of the eight items, shows three factors, giving 69% of the variance:
atmosphere had four items also relevant to the dimensions of employees (?=.87), tangibles (?=.71), reliability (?=.72). Previ-
pleasure (e.g. ”the atmosphere is aggressive”) and activation (e.g. ously tested and validated by theirs authors and in a French context,
”the atmosphere is dynamic”). As in Mac Donnell’s (2000) re- these different scales didn’t need a confirmatory factor analysis.
search, the quality of service was measured using the SERVQUAL The Control of Homogeneity of the Sample during the Six
scale (Parasuraman 1985). We used the one which Sabadie (2001) Conditions of the Experiment. All the groups in the experiment are
adapted as suitable both for the French context and to public comparable from the point of view of respondents’ profile. Samples
services. After a new adaptation to match the specific characteris- subjected to different odors can be considered identical from the
tics of La Poste, 17 items were proposed which correspond a priori point of view of age (X2: p=.196), sex (.069) and profession (.216).
to seven dimensions: reliability, service-oriented, employee ability
to convey confidence and competence, empathy, employees, tan- The Analysis of Results
gibles, user-friendliness. Finally, satisfaction was measured also The Direct Effect of Ambient Scents on Client Response. The
using Sabadie’s scale (2001), adapted to public services in the measurement of the influence of scents was carried out over the
French context. It comprises four items (e.g. ”are you globally total number of client responses: the emotional response, percep-
satisfied with the service offered by La Poste?”). tion of the atmosphere, quality, time spent, under estimation of time
TABLE 2
SIMPLE MAIN EFFECTS OF PLEASANT AMBIENT SCENTS
spent and satisfaction. The under estimation of time spent corre- the activation dimension concerning the perception of the atmo-
sponds to the time observed crossed with the clients estimate of time sphere can not be considered as mediating. Moreover, we observe
spent. The other variables correspond to the factor scores resulting that the effect of scents on the time spent in the Post office is only
from the factor analysis carried out in the original items. direct. On the other hand, the under estimation of time spent and the
We couldn’t use Structural Equation Models due to the size of global satisfaction are both directly and indirectly influenced by the
some groups (N<100) and to the fact that some factors consisted in ambient scents. They increase in line with the feeling of pleasure,
less than three items (Hair et al. 1998). A MANOVA (GLM with the perceived level of activation and with the perception of
multivariate carried out with SPSS) of the consumers’ responses employees and reliability. We can also see the mediating role of the
according to the scent condition revealed a significant main effect pleasantness of the atmosphere on the under estimation of time and
of scents (Wilks’s Lambda=0.805; F=2,002; p=0). Univariate analy- satisfaction. Finally, only satisfaction increases with the perceived
ses showed that, as expected, scents do have an influence on each quality of tangibles.
response (p<.05), with the exception of the activation dimension of
the perceived atmosphere (p=.523). But do all pleasant scents have The Moderating Role of Individual Variables. The moderation
a positive influence? Table 2 gives a ranking of the different odor is accepted when the interaction effect moderating x perfume is
conditions according to the average responses they generate (e.g. significant (p<.05).
pleasure is the lowest with the odor 5, the highest with the odor 1). The age and profession are not moderators on the influence of
Moreover, a test by Waller Duncan allows a distinction to be made ambient scents. On the other hand, sex is one, for the time spent and
between significant results by conditions taken two by two and the activation dimension of the emotional response. Figures 2 and
enables us to constitute two groups of significantly distinct means: 3 show that, like women, men are sensitive to smells. On the other
in most cases, in the first group are the odors which have “no effect” hand, in the absence of perfume, they spend more time and feel less
(e.g. odors 3, 4, and 5 generate the same responses than the odorless activated than women.
condition) and in the second one are the odors which have a In addition, as predicted, clients cognitively involved are more
“positive effect”. The differences with the odorless condition not subject than the others to the influence of ambient scents. Indeed,
being significant in the two groups, we can’t say if the influence of figure 4 shows that, in the absence of ambient scent, clients who had
scents on the activation dimension of emotion and on the under- come for a financial operation perceive the service as less reliable
estimation of time spent is positive or negative. Finally, no odor has than the others, suggesting that the financial operation is cognitively
a “negative effect”. involving. We can see that the curve of these clients is less regular
Indirect Effects of Ambient Scents via Mediating Variables. than the other. Moreover, it’s interesting to mention that, as pre-
We followed Baron and Kenny’s procedure (1986). We firstly dicted, these people perceive the service more reliable in the
verified the existence of the influence of the perfume on the presence of perfume 5, “Club House”, selected by the experts to be
mediator and the influence of the perfume on the response towards “congruent” with the post office.
La Poste. In this second relationship, the mediator was then neutral- Finally, the familiarity of the client with the point of sale is also
ized by introducing it as a co-variable (ANCOVA). The role of the a moderating variable on the influence of the presence of scents
mediator is demonstrated if the threshold of significance associated concerning satisfaction and the perception of employees. Figures 5
with the mediator is less than .05 and if the relationship perfume- and 6 show that clients who have been coming for over two years
response towards La Poste is less significant with (versus without) to this post office were less subject than the others to the influences
the co-variable. of scents (their curves are more regular). Concerning recent clients,
The affective and cognitive responses are the mediating vari- we can’t analyze the effect of the presence of ambient scents for the
ables to be considered. The first two relationships mentioned above clients who had been clients for less than one year due to the fact that
have already been verified. Since it is not influenced by the scent, only one person of this group was exposed to the odorless condition.
FIGURE 2
MODERATING EFFECT OF THE SEX ON THE RELATIONSHIP PERFUME-TIME SPENT
FIGURE 3
MODERATING EFFECT OF SEX ON THE RELATIONSHIP PERFUME–ACTIVATION
FIGURE 4
MODERATING EFFECT OF THE AIM OF VISIT ON THE RELATIONSHIP PERFUME–RELIABILITY
But we can see that the clients from one to two years are less (proposition 1A validated). The influence on time spent or per-
satisfied and perceive the employees less favorably without perceived and on satisfaction towards the service is both direct and
fume. indirect, via cognitive and affective responses, with the exception
of time spent which is influenced only directly (proposition 2
CONCLUSION partially validated). The happier and more stimulated the client, the
The results observed here show the impact of ambient scents more favorable the responses to these variables. We notice the same
on clients very clearly. phenomenon with the perceived atmosphere (pleasure dimension)
From a theoretical point of view, we can confirm that the and perceived quality (employees, tangibles, reliability dimen-
presence of ambient scents can influence positively consumers sions). But we could see that, as predicted, an ambient scent which
FIGURE 5
MODERATING EFFECT OF FAMILIARITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP PERFUME–SATISFACTION
FIGURE 6
MODERATING EFFECT OF FAMILIARITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP PERFUME–EMPLOYEES
“smells good” is not necessarily effective. Compared to the odor- enable generalizations to be made about results. Until now, few
less condition, certain perfumes have no significant effect (propo- studies had been carried out outside laboratories. Our results
sition 1B validated). Others have negative effects, even if the suggest that a badly chosen ambient scent, even a pleasant one, can
difference with the odorless condition is not significant (proposi- have heavy consequences. Inasmuch as observing only the charac-
tion 1C not validated). Moreover, as predicted, individual variables teristic of pleasantness is not enough to predict the effect of the
moderate the influence of ambient scents. Both men and women are ambient scent, a pre-test such as that which was carried out here, is
sensitive to ambient scents, but not in the same way: unlike women, indispensable. Companies must also study their target in order to
men tend to spend less time at La Poste in the presence (versus the identify possible moderating effects. To do this, it is necessary to
absence) of perfumes (proposition 3A partially validated). More carry out a pre-test on a totally representative sample of the target,
than the others, people who came for an over-the-counter financial taking into account not only socio-demographic characteristics, but
operation (probably a cognitively involving operation) perceive also the aim of the visit and the familiarity with the store.
reliability of the service as being less in the absence of an ambient Several limitations inherent to our study put these results into
scent. Moreover, as predicted, these cognitively involved clients perspective and suggest new avenues of investigation.
are more subjects to the influence of the presence of ambient scents, The first reproach has to do with the sample. It is to be regretted
and to “congruent” scents. Finally, as predicted, familiar clients are that the experiment was carried out in only one point of sale. The
less influenced by the ambient scent than the others, while recent post office of Boulogne-Billancourt has, obviously, little chance of
clients, less satisfied than the older customers in the odorless being representative of La Poste in France.
condition, are more satisfied in the presence of perfume. Another avenue of research which it seems urgent to explore
Since it was conducted in situ and in collaboration with several concerns the characterization of the experimental perfumes. Here
companies, this work also presents considerable interest from an we have simply used a series of “pleasant ambient scents with
operational standpoint. Even if laboratory experiments do guaran- various connotations”. We have seen that the presence of a pleasant
tee greater internal validity, those which are conducted in the field ambient scent did not necessarily have a positive influence on
consumer response. Beyond this simple observation, the next Knoblich, H., B. Schubert (1989), “Le Rôle des Arômes dans le
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spends at La Poste. Since the offer of service is mainly limited to Antipolis, 6 juin.
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The Effect of Movement on Real Bodies, Virtual Selves, and Product Evaluation
Alan J. Malter, University of Arizona, USA
José Antonio Rosa, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Ellen C. Garbarino, Case Western Reserve University, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT evaluation, and subsequent purchase decision. We conducted a

This paper investigates the effects of body movement and the series of studies to test the effects of new technology that allows
ability to virtually interact with body-involving products (e.g., consumers to create a virtual model of themselves to virtually “try
apparel) on online shoppers’ evaluation of such products, confi- on” articles of clothing before deciding to purchase these products
dence in their evaluation, and subsequent purchase decisions. We online (Ives and Piccoli 2002). Based on a view of mental simula-
conducted a series of experiments using online tools that allow tion as a central cognitive process (Barsalou 1999), such perceptual
consumers to create a virtual model of themselves and virtually “try online sales aids may help consumers imagine themselves interact-
on” clothing before making purchase decisions. These studies find ing with products without actually touching them, thus facilitating
that interactive online tools and actual body movement signifi- more accurate product evaluation and more confident online pur-
cantly influence the online evaluation of body-involving products. chase decisions.
Individual differences in body esteem and preference for visual In study 1, we found that consumers do not tend to exaggerate
style of processing also influenced evaluation of the virtual model. their physical characteristics (height, weight, build) when con-
The traditional view of consumer information processing structing a virtual model of themselves; they create a relatively
(Bettman 1979) is that such cognitive activity takes place in the isomorphic model that many rated as looking very much like them.
head, that is, the mind stores knowledge, processes and integrates We tested the effects of individual differences in body-related
new information, and evaluates options in order to make optimal factors, and found that consumers’ body image and esteem (Cash
choices. Others have shown that perception and decision making and Szymanski 1995; Chapman, Chapman, and Raulin 1978;
are prone to biases and errors (Tversky and Kahneman 1974) but Secord and Jourard 1953) significantly affected the perceived
these, too, are products of the mind. An alternative view that is realism of the virtual model, though effects differed by gender and
gaining acceptance in cognitive science argues that cognition is a satisfaction with specific areas of the body. Consumers who pre-
function of both the brain and body, working together as an ferred a more visual style of processing (Childers, Houston, and
integrated system to support decision making and action (Damasio Heckler 1985) perceived the virtual model to look more like them
1994; Johnson 1987; Thelen and Smith 1994). Thus, how the body and were more satisfied with how their virtual model looked in the
can interact with an object or take action is fundamental to under- apparel “tried on” the model.
standing the meaning of the object or situation (Glenberg 1997). Study 2 tested the effect of building and using a virtual model
Indeed, research has shown that simple body movements can affect versus evaluating pictures of the same clothing in an online catalog
performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. These include the without using a virtual model. Trying clothes on a virtual model
effects of finger movements on categorization and preference increased consumers’ confidence in their online evaluation of
formation (Van den Bergh, Vrana, and Eelen 1990), hand shapes on clothing items, and shifted preference for displaying the items (on
semantic sensibility judgments (Klatzky et al. 1989), arm flexion/ a virtual model that looks like them over a professional model).
extension on attitude formation (Cacioppo, Priester, and Berntson However, the enhanced realism of using the virtual model did not
1993), head movement on attitude change (Wells and Petty 1980; lead to more positive evaluations of the sample clothing or increase
Brinol and Petty 2003), and body positioning on spatial orientation readiness to purchase the items.
(Rieser, Garing, and Young 1994) and on understanding instruc- In study 3, we tested the effect of consumers’ body movement
tions (Glenberg and Robertson 1999). (standing, turning, and looking in a mirror when constructing the
Body movement and the opportunity to physically interact virtual model and “trying on” clothing online) on perceived accu-
with products may similarly affect consumer understanding and racy of the virtual model and evaluation of the sample items. This
evaluation of products, especially body-involving products such as manipulation was intended to increase participants’ awareness of
apparel or sports equipment (Rosa and Malter 2003). The lack of their full body and body boundaries (similar to a fitting room at a
direct experiential information increases the perceived risk of brick-and-mortar clothing store), compared to the disembodied
purchasing such products in body absent environments such as state of sitting at a computer moving only their eyes and fingers. As
telephone shopping (Cox and Rich 1964), mail-order catalogs expected, body movement had the strongest effect on the evaluation
(Spence, Engel, and Blackwell 1970), and Internet retailing (Alba of shoes (cf. shirts or pants), apparently increasing awareness of
et al., 1997). Thus, consumers with a higher need for tactile input for more distant extremities compared to a static seated body position.
product evaluation make fewer Internet purchases of products such In sum, we find that perceptual online sales aids and actual
as clothing and flowers (Citrin et al. 2003) and may prefer shopping body movement significantly affect the online evaluation of body-
for such products in environments that allow for tactile/sensory involving products such as apparel. However, there are significant
evaluation prior to choice (McCabe and Nowlis 2003). More individual differences in body-related psychological and physical
specific body-related factors such as body esteem (i.e., like or factors that render sales-aid technology useful for some consumers
dislike of one’s body) and body boundary aberration (variation in but less effective for others.
the perceived location of the edges of one’s body) have been found
to influence consumer intentions to purchase apparel online (Rosa, REFERENCES
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Our research builds on and extends these prior studies by A. and Wood, S. (1997), “Interactive Home Shopping:
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Volume 1, © 2006
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Country-of-Origin Effects Revisited: The Case of the German Automobile Market
Verena Vogel, University of Muenster, Germany
David Woisetschläger, University of Muenster, Germany
Dieter Ahlert, University of Muenster, Germany
EXTENDED ABSTRACT the summary model is to a larger extent capable of predicting CE

Country-of-origin (COO) effects have been one of the top when customers are experienced with a particular product category.
research themes in international marketing over the last four de- The observed results are of considerable practical relevance.
cades, especially in the Anglo-American literature. In Germany, In the case of product-inexperience, the focus of marketing commu-
however, researchers have paid relatively little attention to this nication should be on the favorable dimensions of a country’s
topic, although with some notable exceptions. Accordingly, this general image, because people will deduce a product image based
study extends the research in the area by analyzing the COO effect on this image. In Germany, this is relevant for brands with a low
with respect to German consumers. market share that are relatively new to the market, such as Korean
COO is a complex and multi-dimensional construct. There- and Chinese brands. When consumers are experienced with a
fore, it has been interpreted and operationalized in different ways product of particular origin, communication should be focused on
(for an overview, see Al-Sulaiti and Baker 1998; Peterson and brand image and less on the particular COO image. This is presum-
Jolibert 1995; Roth and Romeo 1992; Verlegh and Steenkamp ably true for well established brands with a higher market share,
1999). Our definition is based on Nebenzahl et al. (1997) which such as Italian, French and Japanese import cars.
focuses on the origin-country image, meaning that consumers Several limitations in our study suggest the need for further
regard the home country of a product or brand as being the country- research. (1) We focused on only one product category, with a
of-origin, regardless of where the product is manufactured. strong dominance of Domestic Country Bias (DCB). (2) An exten-
The link between the COO image and brand equity is of sion to other cross-cultural settings should yield further useful
particular interest in this present research. Two alternative causal insights about COO/DCB. (3) Including other constructs could
relationships have been proposed in literature (Han 1989; Johannson explain possible reasons for COO/DCB effects (e.g., ethnocen-
et al. 1985; Nebenzahl et al. 1997; Shimp et al. 1993), also referred trism). (4) Further research should be extended at the brand level.
to as the halo and summary effects. The halo effect occurs when Determining the intensity of COO influence at the brand level could
consumers know little about a country’s products (Han 1989; yield practical implications for marketers, enabling them to benefit
Peterson and Jolibert 1995) and the COO forms the brand beliefs. from a positive COO effect on certain dimensions and to bypass
The COO image directly influences consumers’ beliefs about unfavorable dimensions.
product attributes and indirectly affects brand equity through those
beliefs. The summary effect, which applies to consumers who have REFERENCES
experience with the particular product of origin, suggests an oppos- Al-Sulaiti, Khalid I. and Michael J. Baker (1998), “Country of
ing structural relationship. The COO image, which is influenced by Origin Effects: A Literature Review,” Marketing Intelligence
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alternative directions of impact (halo and summary effect) are Heslop, Louise and Nicholas Papadopoulos (1993), “But Who
analyzed in competing models. These were estimated for the two Knows Where or When: Reflections on the Images of
groups of participants (experienced/inexperienced), resulting in the Countries and Their Products,” in Product-country images:
following four models: (1) “halo-experienced,” (2) “halo-inexperi- Impact and Role in International Marketing, ed. Nicholas
enced,” (3) “summary-experienced,” and (4) “summary-inexperi- Papadopoulos and Louise Heslop, New York: Haworth Press,
enced”. It is important to note that, contrary to other studies, we used 39-75.
country equity (CE) and not brand equity as the dependent variable Johansson, Johny K., Susan P. Douglas and Ikujiro Nonaka
for our study. The reason is that we want to make a more general (1985), “Assessing the Impact of Country-of-Origin on
statement about a product category (here: cars) coming from a Product Evaluations: A New Methodological Perspective,”
particular country, instead of just for a particular brand. In a similar Journal of Marketing Research, 22 (4), 388-96.
manner to the definition of overall brand equity (Yoo et al. 2000), Nebenzahl, Israel D., Eugene D. Jaffe and Shlomo I. Lampert
we define CE as the difference in consumer choice behavior (1997), “Towards a Theory of Country Image Effect on
between a product of a particular country of origin and one with Production Evaluation,” Management International Review,
another origin, given the same level of objective product features. 37 (1), 27-49.
The results, including data from 423 consumers who evaluated Peterson, Robert A. and Alain J. P. Jolibert (1995), “A Meta-
cars from Germany, Italy, France and Japan, confirm our hypothe- Analysis of Country-of-Origin Effects,” Journal of Interna-
ses. Only three models could be identified. Model 1 (“halo-experi- tional Business Studies, 26 (4), 883-900.
enced”) does not converge, meaning that the data does not fit the Roth, Martin S. and Jean B. Romeo (1992), “Matching Product
hypothetical model satisfactorily. Therefore, we conclude that the Category and Country Image Perceptions: A Framework for
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enced with a certain product category, in this case cars. Moreover, tional Business Studies, 23 (3), 477-96.
the model explains about 43% of variation of CE. This conforms to Shimp, Terence A., Saeed Samiee and Thomas J. Madden
the existing literature, suggesting that the halo effect is only present (1993), “Countries and Their Products: A Cognitive
when consumers are inexperienced with the product in question. Structure Perspective,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Comparing the two possible summary models, we identified a Science, 21 (4), 323-30.
clearly superior model: the “summary-experienced” model. Hence,
Volume 1, © 2006
120 / Country-of-Origin Effects Revisited: the Case of the German Automobile Market
Verlegh, Peeter W. J. and Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp (1999),
“A Review and Meta-Analysis of Country-of-Origin
Research,” Journal of Economic Psychology, 20 (5), 521-46.
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Examination of Selected Marketing Mix Elements and Brand
Equity,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28
(2), 195-211.
Re-Examining the Wisdom of Brand Extensions: The Effects of Competitor Familiarity and
Product Information on Risk and Choice
Ronald C. Goodstein, Georgetown University, USA
ABSTRACT better choice probabilities for the new brand (e.g., Heilman, Bow-
We examine the ecological validity of prior brand extension man, and Wright 2000; Hoyer and Brown 1990). For example, a
research by testing in a more realistic marketplace scenario. Spe- dominant choice strategy for inexperienced buyers in a product
cifically, we investigate the effects of competitor brand familiarity category is to choose the most familiar brand (Hoyer and Brown
and product information availability on the success of brand exten- 1990). Similarly, Heilman et al. (2000) find consumers new to a
sions relative to established competitor brands. We find that brand market tend to choose well-known brands rather than lesser-known
extensions succeed best when competitor brands are less well- national or store brands.
known and information is limited. When competitors are well- While earlier research supports the advantage of brand name
known or when information is available, brand extension success is familiarity in reducing risk, we propose that established competi-
more limited than previously predicted. tors are afforded this same advantage. That is, in determining the
success of a brand extension, the familiarity of the extension brand
INTRODUCTION name and the competitor brand names must both be considered.
In each of the past two decades, the most common method of Brand extension strategies may serve to reduce risk either when the
new product introduction has been via brand extensions (Loken and extension faces no competition or when competitors in the extended
John 1993; Zhang and Sood 2002). At least part of the reason for the to product category are relatively unfamiliar. In this case, although
popularity of brand extensions is that attaching a well-known brand the parent brand may not be well-known in the extended-to-product
name to a new product reduces companies’ introduction costs and category, its familiarity provides a cue to form inferences about the
serves as a cue to lower risk for consumers. Simply using a familiar extension’s performance. In contrast, when a brand extends to a
brand name creates a sense of security and trust even when consum- product category in which there are well-known competitors, the
ers know nothing specific about the extension or the product extension brand is relatively less known in that category and the
category (e.g., Erdem 1998; Erdem and Swait 1998; Smith and Park ability of the brand name to reduce risk diminishes.
1992). For example, imagine Nikon extended its brand name into
One well-accepted finding in brand extension research is that binoculars, where it competes with Tasco and Bushnell (leading
brand name familiarity enhances attitudes towards brand exten- binocular brands that are generally not well-known to many con-
sions (e.g., Erdem 1998). Yet, the ecological validity of this finding sumers). Here, Nikon would be perceived as relatively more famil-
warrants additional investigation because most prior brand exten- iar even though consumers are not familiar with Nikon binoculars.
sion research fails to incorporate competition or information avail- However, if Nikon extended into scanners, where it competes with
ability in the marketplace. Managers rarely face a situation where HP and Epson (leading scanner brands that are familiar to consum-
a brand extension enters into a product category as the only ers), then Nikon would be relatively less familiar. In the former
alternative available. Thus, practitioners are interested in under- case, the Nikon name would serve to reduce risk and increase choice
standing when a consumer will actually choose a brand extension probability, whereas in the latter case it would be afforded no such
over a competitive brand in a product category. Consumer research- advantage.
ers are also interested in this issue, as the call to incorporate more
ecologically valid tests of brand extensions effects has been deemed H1: Brand extension choice shares will be significantly lower
vital to better understanding of consumer behavior (e.g., Klink and when consumers are more, versus less, familiar with
Smith 2001). In this paper, we conduct two experiments that competitor brands.
investigate the appeal of brand extensions relative to established
competitors. We test three variables that we believe begin to H2: Perceived risk associated with brand extensions will be
address the issue of ecological validity of brand extension research, significantly higher when consumers are more, versus
namely competitor brand familiarity, the availability of product less, familiar with competitor brands.
information, and consumers risk perceptions when purchasing a
new product. Product Information Availability
It is important to note that prior research demonstrates that the
HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT amount of information available to consumers affects their judg-
ments, risk perceptions, and inferences (e.g., Lynch, Marmorstein,
Brand Familiarity and Weigold 1988). When intrinsic information is available and
When purchasing a new product, consumers often look for used by consumers, their reliance on extrinsic cues, such as brand
information that lessens the risk associated with the purchase (e.g., names, is lessened (e.g., Heilman et al. 2000; Miyazaki, Grewal,
Campbell and Goodstein 2001; Dowling and Staelin 1994). This and Goodstein 2005). For instance, Heilman et al. (2000) also found
information may include intrinsic product information, expert that when consumers gather more information about a product
advice, or extrinsic cues that help infer product quality (e.g., Rao category, the risk associated with lesser-known and store brands
and Monroe 1989). One commonly used extrinsic cue shown to diminish and their choice probabilities increase. Extending this
reduce risk is associating a familiar brand name with a new product logic, we propose that providing product information for all brands
(e.g., Dodds, Monroe, and Grewal 1991). Consumer researchers reduces the advantage afforded brand extensions that compete with
have shown that not only does this reduce risk, but it also leads to unfamiliar competitors. Alternately, when competitors are more

Volume 1, © 2006
122 / Re-Examining the Wisdom of Brand Extensions
well-known, providing product information for all brands will and the product category fit with the parent brands. Specifically,
enhance the effectiveness of the brand extension. two extension product categories were chosen to represent each
level of competitor brand familiarity to control for possible effects
H3: Providing information for all brands will decrease choice of fit and to enhance generalizability. Therefore, within each level
shares for brand extensions competing with lesser-known of competitor brand familiarity the two product categories varied in
competitor brands and increase choice shares for brand terms of participants assessments of their degree of fit with the
extensions competing with more well-known competitor parent brands (lower versus higher). Participants were significantly
brands. less familiar with the lower fitting, telescope brands Bushnell
(MBushnell=1.12) and Tasco (MTasco=1.20) and with the higher
H4: Providing information for all brands will reduce per- fitting, cell phone brands Nextel (MNextel=1.06) and Audiovox
ceived risk for lesser-known brands, in the case of brand (MAudiovox=1.56) than with the lower fitting, watch brands Seiko
extensions this occurs when competitors are more well- (MSeiko=6.00) and Casio (MCasio=6.44; p<.001) and with the
known.1 higher fitting, printer brands Epson (MEpson=6.04) and Canon
(MCanon=6.28; p<.001). Within each level, brand familiarity did
STUDY 1 not differ (all Fs<1, n.s.) and familiarity with Sony, Samsung,
Seiko, Casio, Epson, and Canon were not significantly different
Experimental Design and Sample (p>.10), whereas familiarity with our parent brands were signifi-
The hypotheses were tested using a 2x2x2 between-subjects cantly different from the unfamiliar competitor brands (p<.001).2
design with a control condition that was used to check our manipu- We also identified a high quality and average quality brand
lations. Participants were 576 business students assigned randomly within each of the four categories, so that we could position the
to the conditions (383 to one of the experimental conditions and 193 Sony/Samsung extension between the two competitor brands.
to the control condition) who completed the paper-and-pencil Pretest participants rated the level of quality they associated with
questionnaire during their normal class time. The three factors were each of the competitor brands that they were familiar with (it would
competitor brand familiarity (less/more familiar), attribute infor- make little sense to provide quality ratings for unfamiliar brands).
mation availability (limited/expanded), and parent brand quality This pretest evidence was combined with marketplace information
(lower/higher). As prior research indicates that brand extension (i.e., Bushnell is a high quality telescope, Tasco is an average
advantages are afforded both high and average quality brands (e.g., quality telescope, Nextel is a high quality cell phone, and Audiovox
Bottomley and Holden 2001; Keller and Aaker 1992), we included is an average quality cell phone). Respondents rated Seiko watches
two parent brands that vary in quality as replicates to increase (M Seiko =6.10) significantly higher quality than Casio’s
generalizability of our results. We also used four product categories (MCasio=4.55; p<.01) and Epson printers (MEpson=5.95) signifi-
to represent the levels of competitor familiarity (two representing cantly higher quality than Canon’s (MCanon=4.45; p<.01).
less familiar competitors and two representing more familiar com- In addition, we measured competitor brand attitudes to assure
petitors) to increase generalizability. In the limited information that participants did not choose extension brands simply because
condition, subjects received only the brand names and price, while they did not like competitors’ brands. Respondents rated the famil-
in the expanded information condition, subjects also received iar competitors, Seiko (MSeiko=6.00), Casio (MCasio=5.86), Epson
extension quality and attribute information (cf. McCarthy, Heath, (MEpson=5.84), and Canon (MCanon=6.04) positively and not
and Milberg 2001). Note that the extension brand is always posi- significantly different from each other (p>.10). Finally, informa-
tioned between the two competitors in terms of price/quality tion was designed to follow marketplace conditions (see Appen-
tradeoffs (cf. Simonson and Tversky 1992) and the information dix).
received was consistent with the price-quality positioning.
Procedure
Stimuli Participants read a brief cover story explaining that we were
Sequential pre-testing was necessary to identify candidate interested in “people’s opinions about brands and products.” They
parent brands, extension product categories, and competitor brands. were then instructed “to imagine that you need to buy a product (i.e.,
The design required that the parent brands be familiar and well- watch, printer, telescope, or cell phone) and that you went to a local
liked, but differ in terms of quality. Then, we had to identify store where you found three brands of the product from which to
extension product categories in which competitor brands varied in choose.” For each brand participants were provided with informa-
terms of familiarity and quality perceptions, but were generally tion from a “Consumer Reports” type rating about our target brand
well-liked. Finally, information was manipulated based on the extension and two competing brands. The information was either
actual price, quality, and attribute information from the market. limited to brand name and price or expanded to include information
Parent Brand Identification. To identify two parent brands for about various attributes for each product. After reading this infor-
our extensions, 24 business students were asked to assess eight mation, participants selected a brand and following their choice,
brands (Daewoo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer, RCA, they responded to a series of filler questions. Next, participants
Toshiba, and Sony) in terms of familiarity, liking, and quality using evaluated the risk associated with each alternative (1=not at all
a seven-point scale (1=low, 7=high) to measure each. Based on our risky, 7=extremely risky) and rated their familiarity with each of the
criteria, Samsung and Sony proved to be brands that were highly
familiar (MSony=6.84, MSamsung=6.60, n.s.), well-liked (though 1Note that increasing information for lesser–known competitors
Sony more so (MSony=6.64, MSamsung=5.96, p <.05)), and differ- should also reduce their risk, however, this does not imply that the
entiated in terms of quality (MSony=6.68, MSamsung=4.72; p<.001). risk of the extensión increases.
2This data was collected while the first author was visiting abroad.
Competitor Brand Identification. A second pretest was used to In that marketplace, cell phones were relatively new and Audiovox
identify extension product categories and competitors for our study. and Nextel were two of the main brands of phones available. In
Four extension product categories were chosen based on 25 busi- addition, Samsung and Sony were not yet present in this product
ness students’ ratings of competitor familiarity, quality, attitudes, market.
parent brands (“Samsung” and “Sony,” not the branded product, creased perceived risk for extensions competing with more familiar
e.g., Samsung printer, Sony printer, etc.; 1=not at all familiar, brands (MLimited=3.24, MExpanded=2.59; F(1, 96)=5.26, p<.05).
7=very familiar). None of the other contrasts were significant, thus H4 received only
In the control condition, participants read the cover story and support for the average quality brand. (See Table 1.) There were no
then rated the parent brand on seven-point favorability (1=not at all effects of fit on either choice or risk perceptions.
favorable, 7=extremely favorable) and liking scales (1=extremely
negative, 7=extremely positive). Then they rated their perceived Discussion
quality and familiarity with the parent brand (1=low quality, 7=high The purpose of Experiment 1 was to examine the relationship
quality) and (1=low familiarity, 7=high familiarity). Finally they between competitive brand familiarity and information availability
rated the fit between the parent brands and each of the extension on extension risk and choice. We found that extensions were
product categories (1=worse fit, 7=better fit). perceived as less risky and were chosen more often when they
compete against less familiar competitors. Further, providing addi-
Results tional information about brands in the product category improves
Manipulation Checks. Data from the control group were extension evaluations and choice only to the extent that competitors
analyzed to check the manipulations of parent brand quality. As are more well-known. When they are less known, adding informa-
expected, Sony was rated significantly higher than Samsung tion about all brands served to detract from the success of the
(Sony=6.38, Samsung=4.85; F(1,192)=141.24, p<.001). Addition- extension. Before accepting these conclusions, however, it is advis-
ally, attitudes toward Sony and Samsung were positive (Sony=6.21, able to test the generalizability of our results by applying our study
Samsung=5.09; F(1,192)=73.69, p<.001). As in the pretest, sub- to another set of brands and product categories (cf. Klink and Smith
jects were significantly less familiar with Bushnell (Fam=2.39) and 2001). Thus, we conducted a second study to generalize these
Tasco (Fam=2.10 ), Nextel (Fam=2.01) and Audiovox (Fam=2.63), findings across new brands, products, and competitors.
than with Epson (Fam=5.73), Canon (Fam=5.58), Seiko (Fam=5.62),
and Casio (Fam=6.0 ; F(1,362)=221.18, p<.001). Again, the levels STUDY 2
of familiarity within each instantiation of higher and lower famil-
iarity did not differ between product categories (all Fs<1, n.s.). Methodology
Hypotheses Tests. H1 predicts higher choice shares for exten- As in Study 1, the hypotheses were tested utilizing the same
sions when they compete with less familiar versus more familiar 2x2x2 between-subjects factorial design. Here, 560 business stu-
competitors. The choice data were subjected to a binary log linear dents completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire administered
model and the logistic regression revealed a main effect of competi- during their normal class time. There were 376 participants in the
tor brand familiarity on extension choice (More Fam=20.2%, Less experimental conditions and 184 in the control condition. The
Fam=67.2%; w(1)=22.97, p<.001), supporting the hypothesis. procedure and stimulus development followed the same logic as in
H2 posits that perceived risk associated with extensions will Study 1. In this study, Nikon and Minolta were chosen as the parent
be higher when they compete with more well-known versus lesser- brands based on a pretest where both brands were rated by 25
known competitors. This hypothesis was analyzed using planned business students as familiar (MNikon=5.72, MMinolta=5.08), well-
contrasts stemming from a three-way ANOVA and indicated that liked (MNikon=5.76, MMinolta=4.84), and with differentiated but
perceived risk was significantly lower when extensions compete acceptable quality levels (MNikon=6.40, MMinolta=4.36; p<.05).
with less versus more familiar competitors (MLess Fam=3.18, Again, four extension product categories (two representing higher
MMore Fam=3.76; F(1,373)=13.71, p<.001). Further, the risk levels familiarity and two representing lower familiarity with competitor
associated with the brand extension and the competitors’ brands in brands) were chosen based on ratings from another 25 business
each choice set also supported the hypothesis. In choice sets where students. As in Study 1, within each level of competitor brand
competitors were well-known, the brand extension was perceived familiarity the product categories chosen varied in terms of their
as more risky than competitor alternatives in all eight cases (p’s<.05). degree of fit with the parent brands. The higher fitting, binocular
In choice sets where the competitors were less-known, the brand brands, Bushnell (MBushnell=3.12) and Tasco (MTasco=1.20) and
extension was rated significantly less risky in all eight cases (all the lower fitting, laser pointer brands Acme (MAcme=1.12) and
p’s<.05). This data strongly support H2. Apollo (MApollo=1.88) were significantly less familiar than the
H3 predicts lower share for extensions when competition is higher fitting, scanner brands, HP (MHP=6.04) and Epson
less known and information is provided and higher extension (MEpson=6.01) and the lower fitting, CD player brands, Sony
choice share when competitors are more well-known and informa- (MSony=6.96) and Pioneer (MPioneer=5.52, p<.001). Additionally,
tion is provided. The logistic regression indicates a significant two- the parent brands and familiar competitors ranked similarly high in
way interaction between competitor familiarity and the amount of terms of familiarity (all p’s>.10), and the parent brands and unfa-
information available on choice (w (1)=11.12, p<.001). As pre- miliar competitors ranked significantly different and in the right
dicted, expanding the amount of product information decreases direction (all p’s<.001).
extension choice shares when competitors are relatively less famil- Moreover, consumers indicated highly favorable attitudes
iar (MLimited=76.3%, MExpanded=57.6%) and increases choice toward each of the familiar competitor brands. In addition, for the
shares for the relatively less familiar brand extensions familiar competitors, respondents rated the quality for HP
(MLimited=16.7%, MExpanded=23.7%). Further, we replicate pre- (MHP=5.98) and Epson (MEpson=5.36) as significantly different
vious findings that higher quality brands (Sony) outperform lower (p<.05), as well as the quality of Sony (MSony=6.64) and Pioneer
quality brands (Samsung), though the pattern is similar for both on (MPioneer=5.52, p<.001). Quality information about the less famil-
choice (w (1)=3.66, p<.05). Thus, we find strong support for H3. iar competitors was again obtained from the marketplace (see
(See Table 1 for all results.) Appendix).
H4 predicts that when extensions are lesser-known brands,
i.e., competing with more well-known brands in a product category, Results
extension risk should decrease with expanded information. Planned Manipulation Checks. Nikon’s quality was significantly higher
contrasts revealed that for Samsung increasing information de- than Minolta’s (MNikon=5.27, MMinolta= 4.56, F(1, 189)=16.10,
TABLE 1
Summary Results Study One: Choice Shares and Perceived Risk
p<.001), though both were positive. Similar results were found for supporting H4. In summary, results from Study 2 indicate that the
attitudes (MNikon= 5.39, MMinolta= 4.87; F(1,184)=8.65, p<.01). effects predicted were robust across different parent brand, product
Both brands were familiar (MNikon=4.70, MMinolta=4.61, F<1, categories, and competitors., increasing their generalizability (see
n.s.). Also, participants were significantly less familiar with the Table 2). Again, there were no effects of fit on choice or perceptions
Acme (MAcme=3.06) and Apollo (MApollo=2.13) laser pointers of risk.
Bushnell (MBushnell=2.18) and Tasco (MTasco=1.96) binoculars,
than they were with HP (MHP=6.31) and Epson (MEpson=5.52) GENERAL DISCUSSION
scanners and Sony (MSony=6.78) and Pioneer (MPioneer=5.29 ; The purpose of this research was to examine market conditions
F(1, 359)=828.2, p<.001) CD players. Thus all manipulations were that affect the performance of brand extensions relative to competi-
successful. tor brands. We found that the benefits accrued to brand extensions
Hypotheses Tests. The logistic regression revealed a main appear to be less than formerly predicted when familiar competitors
effect of competitor brand familiarity on choice with higher exten- are thrown into the choice set. Further, while we agree with Klink
sion share when competitors were less familiar (MMore Fam=16.9%, and Smith (2001) that information provision is an important con-
MLess Fam=58.5%; w(1)=37.41, p<.001), replicating support for tributor to extension success, we find that providing additional
H1. brand information helps an extension only when it is competing
H2 was retested using planned contrasts stemming from the against familiar competitors. In addition, the interaction between
three-way ANOVA and indicated that perceived risk was signifi- competitor brand familiarity and the amount of information avail-
cantly lower when extensions compete with less versus more able suggests that when extending to categories in which there are
familiar competitors (MLess=2.73, MMore=3.90; F(1, 354)=60.64, well-known competitor brands, increasing the amount of informa-
p<.001). Additional analysis of the perceived risk associated with tion about the extension is a good strategy. This may be due to the
the brand extension and the competitors’ brands in each choice set fact that extension success then depends on intrinsic information as
also replicated our findings. In choice sets where competitors were well as on the brand cue. On the other hand, in situations where
well known, the brand extension was perceived as significantly consumers do not evaluate much product information extensions
more risky than competitor alternatives in all eight cases (all are likely to be more successful when they compete with lesser-
p’s<.05). In choice sets where the competitors were less known, the known competitor brands whereby the brand cue has more influ-
brand extension was rated significantly less risky in all eight cases ence on preferences (e.g., Dodds et al. 1991).
(all p’s<.05). This set of data strongly replicates H2. Thus, extension success appears, not surprisingly, to be sensi-
A significant competitor familiarity by information interactive to market conditions. This means that when assessing market
tion for choice was again found (w (1)=19.80, p<.001). When attractiveness for an extension, managers need to consider not only
competitors were relatively more familiar, expanding information characteristics of the parent brand and the extension, but also
provided an advantage for the brand extension (%Limited=5.43% characteristics of the incumbent competitors as both affect consum-
and %Expanded=28.57%), but when they were relatively less famil- ers perceptions and choices. While such a recommendation has
iar it created a disadvantage for the brand extension (%Lim- much face validity, we were surprised to see this issue has been
ited=69.39% and %Expanded=51.77%), supporting H3. relatively ignored in prior research. This is not to say that extensions
H4 was retested using planned contrasts and indicated that cannot be successfully introduced into markets with well-known
increasing information decreased perceived risk for extensions competitors. Although the brand name may be a cue to reducing the
competing with more familiar brands (M Limited =4.17, risk associated with purchasing the extension, the risk reducing
MExpanded=3.62; F(1, 172)=5.70, p<.02), while increasing infor- ability of the brand cue is diminished in the presence of highly
mation did not change perceived risk for extensions competing with familiar competitors and intrinsic attribute information for all
less familiar brands (MLimited=2.65, MExpanded=2.81; F<1, n.s.), brands. This means that managers may not save money or garner
TABLE 2
Summary Results Study Two: Choice Shares and Perceived Risk
acceptance of the extension as easily as previously believed even in future research. Regardless, our studies support that both consumer
markets where there is a fit (e.g., Aaker and Keller 1990). researchers and managers should more closely examine the charac-
Moreover, the results suggest that perceived risk is affected by teristics of likely competitors when assessing the potential success
contextual factors and may be a key driver for extension choice.. of brand extensions.
Specifically, consumers’ extension choices and perceptions of risk
seem to be strongly influenced by brand familiarity. Further, we did REFERENCES
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Although the results of the studies presented here are consis- 449.
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work under certain scenarios, more work needs to be done to “Effects of Price, Brand, and Store Information on Buyers’
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measures and open-ended responses that can more directly assess Perceived Risk and Intended Risk-Handling Activity,”
the underlying process for extension choice (cf. Campbell and Journal of Consumer Research, 21 (June) 199-134.
Goodstein 2001). Further, our studies were limited in that the Erdem, Tulin (1998), “An Empirical Analysis of Umbrella
products studied might best be described as high-involvement, Branding,” Journal of Marketing Research, 35 (August),
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APPENDIX
aLimited information condition only includes brand and price (first two columns) while the expanded information condition includes
also three additional attributes (all six columns).
bPrices were converted in this table from the local currency (Chilean Pesos) to dollars.
cThe three additional attributes for each of the four categories are: Watches (Att. 1: duration of guarantee; Att.2: water and shock
resistant; Att. 3 black or white face), Cell Phones (Att.1: charge duration; Att.2: voice mail; Att.. 3: variety of colors), Telescopes
(Att.1: focal distance; Att.2: newtonian reflector; Att.3: aluminum tripod) and Printers (Att. 1: resolution points per cm; Att. 2; color
printing;Att.3; scanner)
dParent brand can be either Sony or Samsung
aLimited information condition only includes brand and price (first two columns) while the expanded information condition includes
also three additional attributes (all six columns).
bPrices were converted in this table from the local currency (Chilean Pesos) to dollars.
cThe three additional attributes for each of the four categories are: Scanners (Att. 1: resolution; Att.2: document size/legal; Att. 3
color), CD Players (Att.1: playback hours; Att.2: antiskip system; Att.. 3: headphones), Binoculars (Att.1: zoom; Att.2: autofocus;
Att.3: compact size ) and Laser Pointers (Att. 1: maximum projection in meters; Att. 2; battery life/5 hours Att.3; silver color)
dParent brand can be either Nikon or Minolta
Klink, Richard R. and Daniel C. Smith (2001), “Threats to the
External Validity of Brand Extension Research,” Journal of
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Lemon, Katherine N. and Stephen M. Nowlis (2002), “Develop-
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Price-Quality Tiers,” Journal of Marketing Research, 39
(May), 171-186.
Loken, Barbara and Deborah Roedder John (1993), “Diluting
Brand Beliefs: When Do Brand Extensions Have a Negative
Impact,” Journal of Marketing, 57 (Winter), 71-84.
Lynch, John G., Jr., Howard Marmorstein, and Michael F.
Weigold (1988), “Choices from Sets Including Remembered
Brands: Use of Recalled Attributes and Prior Overall
Evaluations,” Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (Septem-
ber), 169-184.
McCarthy, Michael S., Timothy B. Heath, and Sandra J. Milberg
(2001), “Brand Extensions Versus Novel Brands, Attitudes
Versus Choice: Experimental Evidence for Both Theory and
Practice,” Marketing Letters, 12 (1), 75-90.
Miyazaki, Anthony D., Dhruv Grewal, and Ronald C. Goodstein
(2005), “The Effect of Multiple Extrinsic Cues on Quality
Perceptions: A Matter of Consistency,” Journal of Consumer
Purohit, Devavrat and Joydeep Srivastava (2001), “Effects of
Manufacturer Reputation, Retailer Reputation, and Product
Warranty on Consumer Judgments of Product Quality: A
Cue Diagnosticity Framework,” Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 10 (3), 123-134.
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Price, Brand Name, and Store Name on Buyers’ Perceptions
of Product Quality: An Integrative Review,” Journal of
Marketing Research, 26 (August), 351-357.
Simonson, Itamar and Amos Tversky (1992), “Choice in
Context: Tradeoff Contrast and Extremeness Aversion”,
Journal of Marketing Research, 29 (August), 281-295.
Smith, Daniel C. and C. Whan Park (1992), “The Effects of
Brand Extensions on Market Share and Advertising Effi-
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313.
Zhang, Shi and Sanjay Sood (2002), “’Deep’ and ‘Surface’
Cues: Brand Extension Evaluations by Children and Adults,”
Journal of Consumer Research, 29, June, 129-142.
Consumer Perspectives of Brand Extension Effects: An Empirical Analysis of Buying Decision
Patterns
Dr. Rajagopal, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, ITESM, Mexico1
EXTENDED ABSTRACT The questionnaire contained a scenario describing the experience

Information inflow on brands and outflow through inter- of a company with a new product extension. Most brands are
personal communication may act as a device to coordinate con- expected to perform well in manufacturing products that are close
sumer expectations of the purchasing decisions of other consumers to their current product offerings. Hence, not only high quality
in markets with consumption externalities. The paper attempts to brands are expected to perform well most of the time, but low or
emphasize the relationship between empirical and theoretical con- mediocre quality brands also perform well at times. Consequently,
siderations in the information analysis of brand extensions on positive information about a close extension is not very indicative
consumer behavior. Broadly the study focuses on analysis at the of the family brand quality. However, negative information about
individual or micro-level and attempts to derive implications to- a close extension clearly signals a low quality brand. Therefore,
wards buying decisions on the extended brands analyzing the
aggregate relationships. H1: In the domain of close extensions, negative information
is likely to be rated as more diagnostic than positive
Theoretical Motivation information.
The accessibility-diagnosticity model explains that any factor H2: In the domain of far extensions, positive information is
that increases the accessibility of an input is also expected to likely to be rated as more diagnostic than negative infor-
increase the likelihood with which that input will be used for the mation
judgment. Therefore, in the brand extension context, temporal
proximity between information about brand extension and family In view of critically examining some of the existing contribu-
brand evaluation is likely to result in a disproportionate influence of tions made to the literature, the paper addresses as when and why
the activated or accessible cognition (i.e., extension information) feedback effects are likely to vary across different extension cat-
on the judgment (i.e., family brand evaluation) made shortly after egories
its activation. The review of previous literature on brand extension
effects indicates that dilution/enhancement effects generally emerge Findings and Discussion
in the presence of highly accessible extension information (Lane Brand choice models implicitly assume that consumers incor-
and Jacobson 1997; Loken and John 1993; Milberg et al. 1997). porate all relevant marketing information such as price, display, and
Milberg et al. (1997) examined in his study the negative feedback feature for key brands on each purchase occasion. In the context of
effects, subjects rated the family brand immediately after exposure brand extensions, information about the extension will be highly
to information about the extension, making extension information accessible when consumers are asked to report their evaluation of
highly accessible at the time when family brand evaluations were the family brand immediately after reading the extension informa-
assessed. Lane and Jacobson (1997), also focused on negative tion. Under such conditions, a highly accessible negative (positive)
feedback effects, found dilution effects in a study where extension extension is expected to lead to a dilution (enhancement) effect
evaluations took place immediately prior to brand evaluations, regardless of product category as observed by past studies in this
making the extension information more accessible. Loken and John area (Loken and John 1993; Milberg et al. 1997). This is because
(1993) in one of their research studies raised issues about compre- highly accessible information about a new extension is likely to be
hension of target attributes after reading negative information about sufficient for making a judgment about the family brand. It is also
the extension. The negative information analysis often leads to the possible that the accessibility of the information may influence its
strategic non-participation with the brands. Willingness to pay, perceived diagnosticity. Consumers may perceive the extension
which can be computed only in equilibrium, will reflect, besides information to be more diagnostic if it is highly accessible. In any
private valuations, preemptive incentives stemming from the desire case, extension information is likely to affect family brand evalu-
to minimize the negative externalities. ations, regardless of extension category, when it is highly acces-
sible. The information about the extension will not be highly
Study Design accessible or dominant when consumers report their evaluation of
The study was conducted in an empirical design with the the family brand, at a later point in time. In such a situation,
sample of 145 consumers in Mexico City addressing to over 40 extension information will be used in the brand evaluation based on
consumer brands available in different categories of markets. The its diagnosticity.
respondents belonged to the processed food products category and The ANOVA on the diagnosticity index for the process food
cosmetics. Respondents were organized into small groups and were sector brands revealed a significant interaction between informa-
randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (extension category: close, tion and extension category {F(1, 86)=24.07, p<.001}. Consistent
far) x 2 (information: positive, negative) between-subjects design. with Hypothesis 1, the simple-effects test revealed that negative
(vs. positive) information was rated as more diagnostic for close
extensions {M’s=0.63 vs. 0.57; F(1, 86)=7.61 p<.01}. In contrast,
1Author acknowledges the support provided by Ananya Rajagopal, as predicted by Hypothesis 2, positive (vs. negative) information
student of Industrial Systems and Engineering of ITESM, Mexico was rated as more diagnostic for far extensions {M’s=0.69 vs. 0.57;
City Campus in data collection, translation of questionnaires in F(1, 86)=17.42, p<.001}. Similar findings were obtained with the
Spanish language, computing the data and developing Tables in cosmetics products brands. Specifically, an ANOVA on the
this study. I express my sincere thanks to anonymous referees for diagnosticity index yielded a significant information per extension
their comments and guiding the improvements in the paper. category interaction {F(1, 124)=20.03, p<.001}.
Volume 1, © 2006
As expected, the simple-effects test indicated that negative
(vs. positive) information was rated as more diagnostic for close
extensions {M’s=0.63 vs. 0.59; F(1, 124)=6.36, p<.05}, while
subjects rated positive (vs. negative) information as more diagnos-
tic for far extensions {M’s=0.63 vs. 0.57; F(1, 124)=13.13, p<.001}.
The data was analyzed using a 2 (extension category: close vs. far)
x 2 (information : positive vs. negative) between-subjects ANOVA.
The coefficient of correlations for the close brand extensions and
positive information lead to higher degree as compared to any other
relationships. It was expected that, consistent with past research on
the negativity effect, negative (vs positive) information would be
perceived as more diagnostic in the domain of close extensions
(H1); however, positivistic effect (positive perceived as more
diagnostic than negative) would be obtained for far extensions
(H2). The findings of the study in general establish the hypotheses
framed in the paper.
Conclusion
This pattern of results calls for an interaction between exten-
sion category and information. There is likelihood that information
may be used as a basis of response to a subsequently measured
construct and determined by (i) the accessibility of the input in
memory, (ii) the perceived diagnosticity of the input for the judg-
ment, and (iii) the accessibility of other inputs in memory. The
extension information is highly accessible; it will influence family
brand evaluations, irrespective of the brand extension’s diagnosticity.
The analysis reveals that the correlation of brand extension vari-
ables-positive close, positive far, negative close and negative far
with buying decisions on the extended brands showed lower degree
of association. It may be stated in view of the results that the
ambience of market outlet does not have a strong influencing factor
over the information diagnostics for the consumers to make deci-
sions on buying the extended brands.
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Simulations as Possessions and Their Role in Self Extension
Shakeel Siddiqui, Dublin City University, Ireland
Darach Turley, Dublin City University, Ireland
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Books: We note that where in case of real books the reasons for
It has been suggested that contemporary consumption is possessions may be emotional (pleasure, pride, aesthetics, value),
characterized more by an electronically conducted flow than by they were purely functional for e-books (cost, ease of use, updates),
embedded heavy commodities. Widespread experimentation with and find that many connoisseurs of the real continue to seek refuge
consumption of technology has resulted in creation of newer modes in the ink and paper versions.
of consumption and possession. Computer Mediated Environment Collections (Pictures, letters, songs, cards): Self-extension
(CME) technologies have lately become a representative form of through possessions is often manifested in collections. Consistent
technological consumption. It can be argued that every moment with our argument presented earlier that consumers tend to experi-
spent in a mediated environment entails another given up in the real ment with the consumption of technology, we find that many use
world; each act of consumption in a CME replaces an act of CME as a platform for collection, parallel to or in addition to the
consumption in the real world; each simulated consumable replaces other platforms of collection in their lives. Personal letters or
a tangible one. Newspaper clippings with personal ties have always been collect-
As technology is changing forms and modes of consumption, ible, and many of us may have a clip file containing such mementos
objects of possession and collection are being de-materialized of the past. With the advent of new media technologies cyberspace
through simulated replacements. Examples of such replacements has become the publishing house of the ‘newsworthy’. In the
are letters by Email, cards by e-cards, paperbacks by e-books, cyberspace, ‘we are what we post’, (Schau and Gilly 2003),
newspaper by online versions, printed photographs to electronic however, for some of our informants such self-presentation in
format and virtual musical instruments in lieu of the real. While cyberspace had little collectible value.
only some of these simulations can be qualified as virtual posses- Music and its collection have also been established means of
sions on a par with our understanding of material possessions, all creating a profound sense of self. Because of its seamless geo-
are nonetheless replacements of tangible possessions; and as such graphically unbounded interconnectivity, CME has lately become
comport the potential and promise of self-extension. Given that a a potent platform for music collection and consumption. Since the
consumer’s sense of self is in part predicated upon relationships shape of music collections have been changing periodically, we
with possessions of material objects, we ask how the dematerializa- contend that the shape and form an individual’s music collection
tion integral to new technologies such as CME alters this self takes can represent his age.
definition process. This paper seeks to establish parallels and We find that collections in both simulated and tangible forms
connections between Baudrillard’s (1983) prophesy of simulacra act as manifestations of identity, and as a part of one’s environment
becoming reference of the real in an age of hyperreality, and Belk’s (physical as well as CME) act as sources of meanings, helping
(1988a) original formulation of the extended self. create a sense of past. However, we contend that intangible collec-
This ethnographic study, on the enquiry that if and how self- tions–such as pictures, letters, songs and cards on a hard disk–
extension is affected by simulated virtual possessions in a CME, is present a sense of past which is qualitatively different from the
situated in Ireland. Seven simulated replacements of the tangible tangible collections.
represent the main focus of findings. These are e-mail, e-cards, e- Dilemmas of Virtual Possessions: Given their special charac-
books and journals, pictures/photographs, newspapers, audio/video teristics, virtual possessions may become a source of many dilem-
files and musical instruments. mas for the consumer. We find our informants extremely wary of
Findings: Our findings are structured around the premise that the fact that constant changes to the technological environment may
replacement of tangible possession by simulations is indicative of limit continued control and access to their virtual possessions. Their
an ongoing trend rather than a revolutionary upheaval; the fluidity beliefs and assumptions that such changes in technological order
and interchangeability in the way informants make their consump- may necessitate forced and untimely disposition of a virtual posses-
tion choices at different times is attributed to this transitional phase. sion created a constant dilemma. Further, since many self-extend-
The study notes that this context-dependant switching may result in ing possessions operate as social and cultural exhibits, we contend
simultaneous employment of both tangible as well as hyperreal that any dematerialization which alters the visibility of a possession
modes of consumption and possession. We also find that although also affects its role in self-extension. And finally, because simula-
the form, nature and function of the tangible may dictate if it can be tions can be duplicated by electronic means, they appear to com-
replaced by a simulation, the uncertainty as well as doubts on mand lesser degree of authenticity.
longevity of simulation technologies may also act as barriers to this
transition. Conclusion
Images and signs: Although images are easiest to replace with One may argue that dematerialization in terms of consumption
simulations in a CME, we find that even technologically adept and possession indicates gradual abdication of materialistic values
consumers may still want to keep a printout as well as multiple in contemporary societies, but a sizeable body of literature supports
copies of their pictures. We note that concerns with ownership and the contrary view that any self extension through possessions is
security of simulated images perhaps echo the control aspect of almost always materially oriented and external in nature.
possessions. We also argue that simulated possessions lose their Objectification assumes a central role in the whole process of
social visibility, and thus these intangibles, visible to the individual creation and maintenance of the construct of ‘possession’. We find
alone, alter the state of possession, which effectively alters an that even though many of our informants lived and interacted in the
individual’s self definition. disembodied domain of the cyberspace, they were still conditioned

Volume 1, © 2006
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Brazilian Gays: Understanding the Construction of the Homosexual Identity through
Consumption
Bill Nunes Pereira, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Eduardo A. T. Ayrosa, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
Sayuri Ojima Costa, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil1
ABSTRACT development of great metropolitan areas, more open-minded about

The focus of this study is the Brazilian gay (male homosexu- sexuality (Aldrich 2004, Branchik 2002).
als) subculture. Our objective is to explore the changes that occur Kates (2002) investigated how gays use consumption to define
in the way gays interact with the world of products during the the boundaries of their subculture, the product meanings for the
process of “coming out of the closet”. This analysis is important to group, and how their members use consumption practices to be
understand the construction of the homosexual identity. Ten long recognized among themselves and differentiate themselves from
in-depth interviews were carried out with gays residing in Rio de the dominant straight culture. This study has shown that affiliation
Janeiro between October 2004 and January 2005. The results to the gay subculture was associated to a social identity and to
suggest that products and services are actively used by gays in order consumption practices. Other studies confirm the ritual (Haslop
to deny, camouflage, and reinforce their homosexual identity. 1998) or political dimension (Peñaloza 1996) in the use of products
and services. On the other hand, Fugate’s study (1993, p. 51)
INTRODUCTION indicates some unwillingness from the mainstream business to
McCraken (2003) sees culture as ideas and activities through position their products to the gay market, resulting from fear that
which groups socially construct their own realities. The study of brands associate their image to this segment.
how individuals build these meanings through the purchase and Summarizing, the gay market has developed side by side with
ownership of goods has become a crucial point in understanding the the gay community, influenced by gays’ need for identification
consumer, particularly when they constitute cultural subgroups. among themselves. This identification was often based in the use of
Still according to McCraken (2003:11), groups who live at the some specific products and brands, which became associated with
margin of society such as gays are “meaning providers” and become the group. Social movements related to homosexual causes went on
trendsetters for the dominant culture. This is reflected in products, reinforcing the constitution of the gay community.
music, the arts, and most of all, fashion.
These groups have been the target of several academic studies, CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOMOSEXUAL
which intended to investigate the gay market (Branchik 2002, IDENTITY
Fugate 1993; Haslop et. al. 1998, Walters and Moore 2002) and the A crucial point in the life of the homosexual is the process of
gay consumer (Nunan 2003, Kates 2002, 2004). Thus, the object of coming out of the closet and, consequently, the construction of a
this research is to investigate the way gays relate to products andhomosexual identity. It is necessary to raise some issues before
brands. Based on the works of Kates (2002, 2004), we assumed this analyzing the process of construction of a homosexual identity. The
group could be observed and described as a consuming subculture. stigma that involves homosexuality affects both the formation and
Thus, the changes that took place in the consuming habits of gays expression of the homosexual identity, and the formation of the
during the process of “coming out of the closet” (or simply “cominghomosexual identity involves a gradual acceptance of homosexual
out”, i.e., assume a homosexual identity) were observed. We “label” to oneself.
consider that the whole process of coming out as a rite of passage. To Hall (2004), the post-modern subject assumes different
Schouten (1991) argues that, in rites of passage, products and identities in different moments, identities that are dynamic and
services are transformed into ritualistic consuming artifacts, im- constantly moving. So, according to the author, as systems of
pregnated with great symbolic value. cultural significance and representation multiply, we are faced with
Researchers in the consumer behavior area have displayed a different possible identities.
special interest in investigating how brands affect the process of In the present work, we define identity as an organized group
social construction of subcultures. For example, Schouten and of characteristics of an individual representing his self in respect to
McAlexander (1995) investigated the group of Harley-Davidson a specific social situation (imaginary or real). So, identity is about
owners using an ethnographical approach. The term subculture can the insertion of the individual into a social category (as of race or
be understood as the values, symbols and meanings of a group as sexual orientation). When displaced from the social situation that
opposed to a larger culture (Morgan 2000). In this study we will activates the identity, it becomes latent (Cass 1984, Nunan 2003,
follow Kates (1998) and Nunan (2003), who define subculture as an Troiden 1984, 1989).
ideology coherently articulated on an set of meanings, beliefs and Identity is a label which people attach to them, and that
behaviors, in addition to being a complex form of shared social represents the self in a social situation (Nunan 2003, Troiden
interaction and participation. 1984;). An individual who ranks himself in the homosexual cat-
egory activates this homosexual identity in specific social activities
THE GAY MARKET such as a gay parade, and leaves it dormant in other situations such
Some studies argue about the existence (Branchik 2002; as when working in a predominantly straight environment. This
Haslop 1998,Peñaloza 1996; Kates 2002, 2004) or not (Fugate way, the homosexual identity is only one of several identities that
1993) of the gay market. Some works have related the development compose the individual’s self-concept. The homosexual identity
of the gay community to the process of urbanization and the refers to the self-perception of an individual as a homosexual
relatively to a social situation (Cass 1984, Troiden 1984).
Several theories on identity formation have been proposed in
1
The authors would like to thank EBAPE-FGV for the financial the last decades, many of them proposing a model of “stages”
support provided to undertake this study. through which the subject would pass along the construction of the
Volume 1, © 2006
134 / Brazilian Gays: Understanding the Construction of the Homosexual Identity through Consumption
homosexual identity (Cass 1984; Eliason 1996; Troiden, 1984). important to stress that this process reflects the psychological
One of the most influent models in the psychology literature, development of a social identity (the homosexual identity in this
proposed by Cass (1984), states that the formation of a homosexual case), a growing acceptance of the homosexual identity as part of
identity follows five stages: confusion, comparison, tolerance, the individual’s self-opinion and finally as a progressive process of
acceptance, pride and synthesis. revelation of a stigmatized social status (gay) to the various publics:
The model elaborated by Troiden (1989) and adopted by friends, family, other gays and heterosexuals. According to some
Nunan (2003) proposes that the formation of homosexual identity authors, this process is closely related with the change in the
passes through four typical stages: (i) Sensitization: occurs when individual’s pattern of consuming (Kates 2003, Nunan 2003,
the individual starts to feel marginalized and different from the Trevisan 2000, Troiden, 1989).
others; (ii) confusion: the possibility of homosexuality causes Kates (1989, 2002) shows in his study that the act of consum-
internal conflict. In this stage, individuals use strategies of escape, ing presents variations between these stages. That is, the products
camouflage and (partial) acceptance of sexuality. (iii) Identity consumed and the experiences lived in this stage play an important
Assumption: when homosexuality is accepted as identity and re- role in creating and maintaining a homosexual identity.
vealed only to other homosexuals and close friends. This is one of
the first stages of the process of coming out of the closet. Important METHODOLOGY
events occur in this stage, such as the first contact with gay groups We have conducted in-depth long interviews with a semi-
and places. (iv) Commitment: in this final stage, homosexuality is structured script (McCraken 1988) with ten male homosexuals
accepted as a way of life, and the homosexual identity is finally from Rio de Janeiro. Informants were recruited with snowball
perceived as comfortable. sampling technique. This technique was used by Kates (1998) and
As the individual goes from one stage to the next, his self- Troiden (1989) in their studies of homosexual groups.
concept goes from mostly negative to mostly positive. At the end, The interviews were digitally recorded, and later transcribed.
the individual feels at ease with his homosexual identity, adopting The work on the transcriptions and recordings consisted on identi-
behaviors consonant with this new identity (Kates 1998, Nunan fying categories important to the understanding of the structures
2003, Troiden, 1989). underlying the speech. This process led the authors not only to
insights on the discourses, but also to the rereading of the theory. At
COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET: A RITE OF every interview, a new categorization and rereading of the literature
PASSAGE was carried out, in a circular process. This way, one interview
The coming out of the closet can be analyzed as a rite of fueled another, which generated new insights, which fueled the
passage by which the individuals go through the process of con- interviews to come. We discontinued the process the moment the
structing a homosexual identity. It is a critical process in a gay’s life, interviews no longer supplied any new information.
in which he learns about the values and behaviors of the gay culture Even considering the methodological limitations, the insights
and assumes a homosexual identity for himself and others (Cass generated helped in balancing its shortcomings. Even so, it is
1984, Kates 1998, Nunan, 2003, Turner 1974, Troiden 1989). worthwhile to mention the possible methodological flaws in this
According to Trevisan (2000), the individual chooses not only to work. The chosen research method requires that the researcher had
desire homosexually in a private sense, but also to become socially a significant interpretative capacity to approach the contents that
homosexual. Note that while one cannot choose to be or not were observed. In fact, the researcher is never completely naïf in the
homosexual (Cass 1984, Troiden, 1989), the decision of coming out field, and so, his view is inevitably directed towards what he
and adopt a homosexual identity is a matter of choice (Kates 1998, considers relevant. In addition, it became clear in some interviews
Nunan, 2003). that when the informant is very aware of himself, he tends to
The term rite of passage, defined by the anthropologist Van rationalize their answers and, therefore, to mask the object of
Gennep (1969, apud Turner 1974), relates to the incidents that analysis of this research.
happen when an individual passes from one present situation or
structured social position to another situation or position still ANALYSIS OF THE INTERVIEWS
unknown. Throughout this transition, the individual is in a state of The categories presented as follows emerged spontaneously in
communitas, an intermediary and undefined social position, and the interviews. We explored how the subjects used the various
there remains while he does not assimilate his new social condition, cultural meanings of the world of products on the discovery and
i.e., while he does not assume his new identity, behavior and roles acceptance of the homosexuality. Next, we will present the most
inherent to his new social position. striking categories that were identified, organized in accordance
According to Van Gennep (1969, apud Turner, 1974), the rite with the stage in the process of coming out of the closet.
of passage is characterized by three distinct stages, namely: sepa-
ration (the removal from the previous fixed point in the social Discovery
structure); margin or liminarity (the moment characterized by an The first stage in the process of coming out of the closet is what
ambiguity in which the individual remains on a cultural dominion we call discovery. It refers to the moment in the life of an individual
with few attributes from the past and the future); and reaggregation that begins with a feeling of discomfort and ends in becoming aware
(the reinsertion of the individual in a position other, in which of his homosexual condition. Four categories appeared in this stage:
attributes belonging to a certain system are awarded to him). These conflict, denial, search for information and ambivalence.
stages can be compared to the process of coming out as proposed by Conflict: the first point that appears recurrently in the dis-
Troiden (1989) and previously mentioned in this work. Sensitiza- courses is the internal conflicts generated by the discovery of the
tion is analogous to the separation process, confusion is similar to possibility of homosexuality. Almost all informants used similar
the margin stage, and the supposed identity and commitment could terms and expressions to address the conflict that characterizes this
be compared to the reaggregation stage. moment.
In the present study, we consider that the process of coming out
of the closet, as a rite of passage, consists of three stages. It is “I thought that it was not a natural thing, you understand?”
One of the forms used to negotiate internally the conflict “I always sought to understand what was happening, why I
generated by this feeling of displacement was to generalize the was gay. Then I searched in encyclopedias, and then there
homosexual condition to the rest of the people in the world. One of were some magazines about sex life in the newsstands, which
participants even said, “deep down, everyone is always gay”. This I bought and collected, you know. I read a lot. I was reading
tendency to generalization will give place, in the future, to a deep everything with the word ‘homosexuality’ in it just to know
awareness of the difference between the homosexual and hetero- what it was. Because then I began to realize that it is not only
sexual groups. However, observe, what rules this stage is the feeling about making love with another guy, it is a broad range of
of displacement, very often not completely identified. Even before behaviors and tastes and preferences that have nothing to do
the subjects imagined themselves as homosexuals, they already felt with an archetype people hold somehow…”
excluded, different, under pressure to dominate and control their
impulses: Products, therefore, are not only part of the imaginary of this
group and help in the construction of their identity. In some cases,
“I was never very interested in girls (...) I was forced to remain products are direct and literal carriers of the group’s ideals.
calm (...) because the more freely I expressed, more I would
place my position in the family at stake.” Assimilation:
This moment is marked by identification with the group and
Denial: The conflict between a discourse that deals with construction of a homosexual identity still restricted to the gay
genders in a binary fashion (male/female) and that proper to the group, and only revealed to its members. Stories related to this
homosexual condition, considered as deviant by Kates (1998, moment are rich, eventful, and full of insightful information: the
2002), forces the individuals to stumble upon the negative gay first contacts with the gay culture, the assimilation of gay standards,
stereotype. According to this stereotype, “to be gay” would be the sheer valuation of aesthetics, the intensive use of codes for both
related to feminine behaviors or to use products related to the reinforcement and camouflage of the gay identity.
feminine world. See the report below: Between two worlds: Informants vividly describe memories of
the moment when they lived between two worlds. In this manner,
“I heard that to be queer, you had to have unusual manners, they were influenced on one hand by the standards of the hetero-
you had to wear skimpy clothes, you had to have a kind of pre- sexual world they were still part of, and on the other by those of the
established stereotypes and that used to shock me.” gay world they were having the first contact with. According to
Turner (1974), individuals enter a borderline state due to the
As a reaction to this view, the subjects use products, especially absence of a mature identity or a reference of their social position.
fashion as an instrument of dramatization (Miranda 2001) to deny Feelings such as fear of being discovered, curiosity and ambiguity
this possible homosexuality and reinforce masculinity. After all, dominate the reports at this point.
the exposure of deviant behavior can generate punishment (Goode
1990). It is interesting to note that the informants present a negative “In the beginning you are scared stiff of everything. You don’t
aspect of themselves, and frequently use words that mean punish- want anyone to know, you don’t want them to see you on the
ment or prison, “locked”, “imprisoned” and “suffocated”. It is street with a man, you are doing something and it is wrong,
interesting to note that one of the forms of punishment can come then you think everyone is watching.”
from the participant himself, i.e., there is a self-punishment behav-
ior. See the passage below: This feeling of ambivalence and borderline extends to the
social relationships to such an extent that relationships with groups
“I didn’t accept myself. (...) While I did not assume the fact that of friends undergo a clear period of redefinition. With new friends,
I was gay, I was very tacky. So I bought my tacky clothes in the it is natural that the habits of consuming goods and services also
gaudiest store I could find, you know, pleated pants...” change. See the passage below:
The term “tacky”, or “cafona” in Brazilian Portuguese, is used “(...) Then I went out with my straight friends, and later, when
several times during the course of this interview. It is interesting to it was already morning, instead of going home, I’d go to the
note an emic term which emerged in the interviews: all informants door of Le Boy and after a while I started to go only to Le Boy,
refer to the heterosexuals as “gaudy”, or “careta” in Brazilian and I sort of found my new friends.”
Portuguese, and the terms gaudy and tacky (or cafona and careta),
in spite of not being synonyms, are very compatible in Brazil. The At this moment it is possible, in fact, to see the first clear
product that was mentioned, pleated pants, is typically related to the references to the use of products as a significant of the homosexual
heterosexual world, is a strong significant to heterosexuality. That condition, but still mixed with reports of attempts at disguise. The
is, the self-punishment sometimes typical of this stage consisted in strategies of both identification and differentiation are completely
disguising oneself with the clothing of the more socially acceptable based on a syntax attributed by the members of the group to
gender orientation. products: clothes must reveal the body, the cut looks more informal
Search for information: The suspicion of homosexuality and and leisure-like, tennis shoes, jeans. Clothes identified with the
the risk of being characterized accordingly with the gay stereotype straight world are also identified with work, not leisure.
lead the informants to search for information on issues connected to First contacts: According to Haslop et al (1998) the gay venues
homosexuality. Several products such as books, magazines, films such as bars, nightclubs or a gay spots on the beach are proper
and web sites in the Internet are consumed in order to understand locations for expressing the gay subculture. See the following
and overcome this moment’s conflicts. This search for information passage:
is a form of bringing down the aforementioned negative stereotype.
“One day a gay friend called me to go out. He Said: I’m taking “I like to stay in gay hotels when I travel. (...) I like the
you out to a place: (...) Beach, Ipanema, Farme de Amoedo! sensation of having my breakfast with my boyfriend, and if I
(laughter) I found myself, it is my world!” want to kiss him, if I want to touch his hand (...), things we don’t
do anywhere else because they are embarrassing to other
This form of expression also occurs through consumption of people.”
products. As we will see in the discussion of another category
further ahead, several brands were mentioned by the informants as At this stage, we observed an almost exaggerated importance
strong symbols of the gay condition. But, at this moment, the kind given to fashion labels merchandised in the Brazilian market such
of consumption that seems more present is that of space dedicated as Osklen, Triton, Forum, Diesel, Puma, Foche, or Yes Brasil. We
to this group, i.e., a service. also observe that excesses may happen: some of the informants say
they buy clothes to look like gays. Excesses apart, all informants
“The first time I went to a gay party, I felt like I was free, you mention they dress in line with the gay group. See the following
see? I felt like I was in my place, not like in the street where you report:
can’t hug, you can’t kiss. Nowadays, I practically only hang
out on gay spots, 90% are gay spots.” “the gay place is more “fashion”, the trendiest shirt, more
colorful, also a more fashionable pair of tennis shoes, a pair
One of the most relevant moments observed in the interviews of jeans a bit tighter.”
are the first contacts with gay environments. According to Troiden
(1989), these first contacts with gay bars and nightclubs seem to Therefore, it is not only the category of products, brands, or
determine the cultural assimilation and construction of the homo- places that are associated to the gay group. The way these elements
sexual identity. The feeling of identification and freedom to go to are used also gain their own grammar, And which must be known
a gay environment is present in all discourses. This can be clearly not only by members of the group, but also by companies that want
perceived in the report of one of informant who said he felt to reach this group.
“happiness, I think what I felt at the time was this thing with The relationship between quality and price goes way beyond
independence, that I have a space”. the boundaries that are usually expected. Money buys escape from
Imitation: After his first contacts with the gay community, the the conventional, and this provides pleasure. Anti-conventionalism
subjects enter a stage of assimilation of the gay culture standards. is expensive. See next:
This process of cultural assimilation is described by Van Gennep
(1969, apud Turner 1974) as transitional, in which the individual You’ll hardly ever see a gay wearing his shirt tucked in, shoes
passes through experiences that help him finally incorporate a new matching the belt, understand, you’ll see him with the latest
status. According to Kates (2002), the first outings to gay environ- tennis shoes in fashion, a Nike or Puma, an expensive tennis
ments comprise an important rite of passage, so that the gay can shoe, sometimes not even because it looks good, but also
acquire a new status after a period of separation and liminarity. because of the price. An expensive pair of tennis shoes that
During this period, the construction of the homosexual identity gives you pleasure in wearing it, if you have a pair of tennis of
actually begins. R$ 100.00 and another of R$ 500.00, it is much more pleasing
Here, the presence of brands is fundamental. The brands to wear the one costing five hundred. A pair of jeans, bleached
provide a code required to identify the members of the group. See pants, with some detail such as large pockets, a tight T-shirt
the presence of brands and leisure venues on the following passage. that reveals the body, more colorful, red, yellow, pale blue,
understand?
“If you live in the gay world, you end up focusing in the labels
people wear, you want to be accepted, then you end up looking Body and fashion: The aesthetic standard related to the gay
for expensive labels, and you end up doing your worst for you culture, mentioned in all interviews, is very uniform across the
to feel like inside the group, because all the people seek to be informants. This standard stresses a cult to the body, valuing of
on a same standard of consumption, or hang out in the same brands, and dressing styles. The influence of the gay culture in the
place, the best, the hippest. I’ll do my worst to find a way to go, gradual change of consuming habits is quite evident and ubiquitous
or such is the clothes people are wearing, so I’ll buy” on the interviews. Many informants reported that their new compa-
nies motivated them to look for a gym, use cosmetics, and buy
It is not only the brand name that is important, but also the price specific types of clothes.
of this brand. In truth, the high price of these brands is mentioned
in several reports. In one occasion, one informant said he would “I think that griffes, expensive clothes, are gay symbols
never be able to pay more than 800 Reais (US$300) for a pair of because gays usually need to buy expensive clothes, labels and
Diesel jeans. The same informant mentioned the name Diesel more such. I also think the exacerbated cult to the body is a gay
than sixteen times in the space of eighty minutes. The fascination symbol. I’m not saying that straights don’t have such behav-
for the designer brands is enormous. The symbology of products ior, but I think that it is typical of gays, take my word.”
and brands is the subject of the next topic.
Product symbolism: An intense process of assimilation of There is a clear interaction between body and clothing aesthet-
cultural standards, mostly of aesthetical nature, happened in all ics, as if one were the extension of the other. There is some concern
informants’ lives at the beginning of their socialization with the gay in choosing clothes that reveal the body below them, and this affects
group. At this moment, products that have their symbolic meanings the perception of the clothes’ quality. The fact that the gay public
associated to gays are seen by the community as “out of the closet” is more demanding is frequently mentioned, not only concerning
(Kates 2002), and usually become positive references, captivating tangible products, but also services. All this is part of the “vanity”
this public. See the following report: as a personality trace, positively valued in all interviews. See the
passage below:
Clothes for gays are trendy, tighter so as to model the body, of the high-class gay with a plentiful bank account and lavish
and it has something to do with the cult to the body. Vanity consumption habits can even be true, but is an extremely shallow
makes us keep the body in shape to be able to show it off, to look description of the group. Knowledge on structures related to prod-
attractive, (…) The gay likes nice labels, likes to be well uct meanings can be much more illustrative and useful to the
dressed, he is vain. executive interested in investing in this segment. The current work
attempted to interpret some of these structures.
Acceptance: First, we corroborate the conclusion of Kates (1998, 2002,
Some of the informants seem to be in a stage of life where the 2004): the world of goods and services, in fact, offers to the group
gay identity is already fully accepted. Such stage is characterized by an extremely rich code for member identification. This code helps
feelings of tranquility and peace of mind. The analysis seems to members of the group in constructing their homosexual identities,
suggest that, although aesthetic gay standards are still followed and facilitating the access of these members to services, reducing risks
keep the same symbolic strength, they are no longer followed with (mainly psycho-social) related to this identity, and differentiating
such determination. After all, this is an individual with a fully (excluding outsiders).
defined homosexual identity. Gay friends are of utmost importance, The relative loss of the power of seduction of the groups and
for they are all from the community, but the fact of belonging to this services as symbols is a fact already perceived previously in studies
community is no longer incompatible with the presence as a gay in that focused other different cultures, such as in Schouten &
other non-gay communities. This serenity, endorsed by a stable MacAlexander (1995) among the owners of Harley-Davidson.
identity affects consumptions patterns. See the following report: Brands are particularly important in the moment “coming out of the
closet”, but lose part of their fascination later on. It is, therefore,
“(...) I began to feel more confident to close contracts with possible to segment the group in terms of identity construction
clients, to look for better jobs and to bargain for a better salary stage. Stereotypical products or venues might find their public
and everything else, (…) and at the end I was consuming more among neophytes, while brands with a longer commitment to the
of things that I really wanted.” gay community might be more properly directed to mature gays. It
is necessary, nevertheless, to develop instruments to evaluate what
Since the constant reinforcement of the gay identity, or the is a person’s stand in the stages of identity development described
effort of trying to look straight on the work place, are no longer in this text. This remains as a suggestion to further studies.
priorities, the use of giraffes loses a bit of its former meaning. The The use of the gay aesthetics must be very careful, since the
informants in this stage even show an ascetic attitude-even of group members seem to suffer a lot of influence coming from the
rejection-relative to gay spots and products. One could even say that group itself, but not from the media. They consider themselves as
there is a reversal of the prior meaning attributed to these spots and trendsetters: successful labels within the community are usually
products, as they identify the neophytes. Note that this is consistent adopted by heterosexuals later, in a strong movement of interper-
with what Schouten & McAlexander (1995) detected among bik- sonal communication. The group aesthetically closer to the fore-
ers: once group membership is consolidated, members feel free to front in the habits inspires the adoption of new brands, products and
use the symbols of membership when, where and how they want. venues by the groups immediately below in innovation. This way,
Invisibility: Informants recognize that both the gay world and brands adopted by gays can end up being abandoned by the gay
the gay way of life are seen as an invisible reality to the dominating group, which goes out in search of something new. They value this
straight culture. However, they see the gay group and its way of life condition of innovators. This way, it might not be advisable to adopt
as trendsetter. This point seems to be consonant with McCraken the strategies of mass communication when positioning brands for
(2000) when he says that groups responsible for radical changes on gays.
the symbolic meaning of products are those who live at the margin For future works, we suggest that the same relationships that
of society. The report that follows is very revealing: were the targeted in this work be investigated among different
groups of homosexuals. Older men, couples, people from the CDE
(...) to be gay is to be on the edge, but as a complement to economic classes, transsexuals, lesbians, “bears”, the public is
society. I think that the gay is like the swamp in the ecosystem, extremely diversified, and the characteristics from these different
it is there on the outside, but serves as an important channel groups can be very distinct.
for recycling.
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Living with Respect
Carolyn L. Costley, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Lorraine A. Friend, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, The Warehouse, New Zealand
ABSTRACT Both academic and practitioner authors use the term colloqui-
What is respect? Despite its wide usage across disciplines, the ally when they say that respect is important. They do not define
concept of “respect” has received little deliberate attention. This respect or explore what it means. No one has developed respect as
phenomenological study attempts to understand people’s experi- a social-scientific concept, distinguishable from related concepts.
ences of respect in a university service setting. Analyses of the The reported research begins to develop respect conceptually.
meaning of respect reveal multiple interrelated themes. Mutual We studied a few individuals’ experiences of respect in a service
interaction binds together the themes of care, acceptance, respon- setting. With their help, we began to understand what respect means
sibility, equality, and achievement. We suggest that respect may be so that we can better comprehend the concept and its relevance to
foundational to successful relationships. marketer-customer relationships.
INTRODUCTION METHOD
Academic authors tend not to dwell on the concept of respect. We took a phenomenological approach to understand the
Few have bothered to find out what respect means to people and essence and structure of respect in consumers’ everyday lived
whether it might mean different things to the public than it does to experiences of services. The meaning and structure of a phenom-
academic scholars. None has developed its relevance to marketing. enon is never simple and is often multi-dimensional and multi-
We explored specific individuals’ experiences of respect in a layered. This complexity can be examined through phenomenology
service context. Through multiple layers of analysis, we learned (Becker 1992; Thompson, Locander, and Pollio 1989; van Manen
what respect means to them. Analyses, reflection, and discussion 1997).
led to the insight that respect is crucially relevant to marketers Using ‘photoelicitation techniques’ (Belk 1998; Heisley and
because it matters to consumers. We concluded that respect is a Levy 1991) and phenomenological interviewing (Thompson et al.
necessary, but not sufficient, condition for relationships. If market- 1989) we explored how 49 students enrolled in a graduate research
ers want to embrace the relationship-marketing paradigm thor- methodology course constructed respect in a university service
oughly, then we must respect marketplace partners. setting and its relevance to their relationships with the university.
Consumer research is increasingly using photographs as data (Belk
RESPECT IN THE LITERATURE 1998; Holbrook and Kuwahara 1996). From a phenomenological
Although respect is a multi-disciplinary concept, the philoso- viewpoint, photographs taken by individuals elicit experiential,
phy literature has done the most to develop it. Philosophers agree emotional, and artistic perspectives of their experiences (Harper
that there is more than one kind of respect. Recognition respect and 2000). Each student independently took at least 12 pictures that
appraisal respect represent the main distinction (Darwall 1977; depicted or represented their lived experiences of respect and
Dillon 2003). Acting appropriately because an object (person) is disrespect within the university setting. Participants used these
what it is (a human being) constitutes recognition respect. Evaluat- photographs in the phenomenological interviews to achieve deep
ing an object’s merits (a person’s skills) as good represents ap- understanding of the students’ experiences of respect and disre-
praisal respect (Darwall 1977). For an extended review of spect.
multidisciplinary viewpoints on respect, see Costley, Friend, and In small research teams, students interviewed each other on
Babis (2005). their experiences of respect and disrespect. Interviews were un-
Both marketing academic and practitioner authors acknowl- structured with each student being asked, “Tell us [the research
edge the relevance of respect. The marketing literature notes mutual team] about your experience of respect or disrespect” depicted in
respect as critical for delivering high quality service, customer each photo. The group probed to obtain an in-depth description and
loyalty, and satisfaction (Gittell 2002). Mutual respect is also a understanding of each experience of respect and disrespect. Probes
basis for older customers’ selection of financial planners (Pettigrew, revolved on what each person thought, felt and did in each experi-
Mizerski, and Donovan 2003). Both advice (Bitran and Hoech ence, but there were also probes to compare their own and others’
1990) and correlation evidence (Winsted 2000) indicate that re- experiences. Interviewing of each person lasted between one and
spect from service providers enhances customers’ satisfaction. 1.5 hrs. Interviews were taped, and when students were not being
When customers are dissatisfied, courtesy and respect in response interviewed, they took detailed notes.
to their complaints may affect their subsequent word-of-mouth and In this paper, we report and discuss the findings from one
loyal behavior (Blodgett, Wakefield, and Barnes 1995). research team consisting of six students. Phenomenological studies
If anything, practitioners are more emphatic than academic often consist of a small number of participants–six to ten (Morse,
scholars that respect is important in relationships with customers. 1994). These students came from ethnically diverse cultures of the
They say that respect is fundamental to business success (e.g., Far East (Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and Tibet), and
Roberts 2004, Reilly 2002). The only way to keep customers is to ranged in age from 28-39. All six participants were in New Zealand
get their love, which is impossible without respect (Roberts 2004)– (NZ) for the specific purpose of studying Marketing and Interna-
an idea implied by Fournier (1998). Specifically about relationship tional Management at the graduate level, and had been in NZ
marketing, Duncan (1997) said that relationships should be about between 1 1/2 and 4 years. They shared Eastern perspectives and
dialogue not monologue and respect is one of five necessary values, but varied in future goals as noted in an earlier course
conditions for purposeful dialogue. Furthermore, practitioners pro- exercise.
fess that customers who feel disrespected will switch (Berry 1996; In the first of two analysis stages, the six students analyzed
Dobson 2003; Duncan 1997). their interviews during their course work. Due to time constraints,
Volume 1, © 2006
140 / Living with Respect
FIGURE 1
Respect Themes
they each crudely transcribed the audiotape of themselves being had earlier distinguished and furthered their analyses. We con-
interviewed. Reflecting on their own interview data, they wrote firmed and refined their themes and report the integrated results.
captions that portrayed the key meanings of respect or disrespect for
each of their own photos. They used van Manen’s (1997, 92) FINDINGS
wholistic approach, “What sententious phrase may capture the The main themes to emerge were responsibility, care, accep-
fundamental meaning or main significance of the text as a whole?” tance, equality, and achievement. These component themes on
to guide them in this process. Captions help contextualize the respect are not mutually exclusive and seem to build on each other.
images (Bourdieu 1990 as cited in Belk 1998), thus ‘condensing’ For example, responsibility and care overlapped within single
the phenomenological data (Kvale 1996). Group members then experiences, as did responsibility, care, and acceptance. Moreover,
collectively analyzed captions and interview data using van Manen respect and disrespect seem to intertwine. The participants interpret
(1997, 92) selective or highlighting approach, “What statement(s) disrespect from the absence of care, responsibility, acceptance, or
or phrase(s) seem particularly essential or revealing about the equality.
phenomenon or experience being described?” to create themes of The idea of mutual interaction binds the themes together
the meanings of respect and disrespect for each student. They also (please see Figure 1). Mutual interaction reflects the relational
discussed similarities and differences in respectful and disrespect- nature of respect. To feel and exhibit respect, one must consider the
ful experiences to help define their meanings and to structure other’s perspective. Mutual interaction is closely related to reci-
respect. Collective discussion or hermeneutic analysis is helpful in procity–the idea that one receives what one gives and vice versa—
creating deeper insights and understanding (Thompson et al. 1989; sometimes discussed in the literature on relationships. We elaborate
van Manen 1997). Once the group distinguished themes for each on these themes and their relationships.
member, it fitted individual meanings to collectively agreed themes
of the essences and structure of respect. Responsibility
In the second analysis stage, we analyzed both the original For these participants, responsibility meant righteous behav-
interviews and the group members’ analyses. The first research ior, where one considers other people. It means to abide by the
team narrowed their data on respect and disrespect to what they written and unwritten rules of society, which incorporate job duties,
deemed relevant. To get a thorough grasp of this group’s analysis, social norms, and expectations. Participants inferred disrespect in
we went back to the tapes and transcribed them verbatim. We went the actions of students who did not follow rules. For instance, Kama
over their notes as well. We reviewed the themes that the first group got on the squash court ten minutes late because the previous
players did not leave and used up her time. “He disrespected me and ment. “If we don’t throw the rubbish [in the bin], most of the people
all the rules and regulations.” Sunee cited litterbugs as disrespect- do the same thing, and probably it will make disease or flood.” “She
ful. “People who do not follow the rules and regulations that have respects us by throwing rubbish into the bin so it means she’s trying
been set in society. They show disrespect to other people … [they to keep our environment clean, tidy and I think respect is not just to
are] supposed to know how to live with other people but they don’t.” the environment but also to ourselves and others. It will bring an
Participants attributed righteous behavior and civility to impact in the future,” (Arti). The consequences of disrespect may
people’s value for ethics and morality. Kama attributed her squash go beyond individual hurt feelings.
court experience to the previous players’ sexism, racism, and Servicescapes convey responsibility when they show consid-
rudeness. She put words in their mouths, “Oh! You are female, you eration for customers. Participants identified issues of safety,
are Asian.” “ I think that if they disrespect me so it’s very rude and convenience, and care. An talked about her experience with a shop
impolite and there’s no point for me to respect them,” she said that posted a sign warning customers to “mind their step.” When-
reciprocating their disrespect. Similarly, Sunee attributes the in- ever she passes the shop, she thinks, “They stand on customer’s
considerate behavior of other students leaving clothes in the resi- side… customer’s safety… look after customers. For me I feel they
dence hall washing machine to their lack of “ethics and morality and respect customers.” She felt “happiness” from this. The comple-
they don’t have responsibility. They don’t know how to behave ment to this experience was An’s story about the bookshop. She
themselves.” She says, “When we have to live with other people, feels strongly against the policy behind the sign asking her to leave
we have to be considerate to other people. Otherwise, it seems that her bag by the door. She retorts, “I don’t want to go to that shop. …
you don’t respect other people.” If my bag is missing, who will be responsible?” She infers that the
It seems partly about following formal rules, as above, and service provider does not think from the customer’s point of view.
partly about knowing the unwritten social norms. Dawa expresses “We are customers. They should think about our situation. … They
this when talking about someone parking in a disabled car spot. “It’s worry about students maybe stealing their books, but they don’t
about morals and ethics and it boils down to education, where you think about that somebody will steal our bags” (An). Servicescapes
see that the level of education is not very good, not as in right or reflect policies that can erect barriers to relationships.
wrong in law but in terms of the lack of moral behavior in society.” Servicescapes can also build relationships by adding conve-
Arti also expresses duty to unwritten codes about appropriate dress nience. The student health center printed instructions on a form in
when she complains about people who do not wear shoes to class. both Chinese and English, which An thought made the process
“It’s the thing that one is supposed to know already, we don’t have “quite clear and convenient for students.” This practice made her
to tell you.” People who wear shoes to class are being responsible feel that the health center was “thinking of you and they want to
by “not only respect[ing] our friends, but also the lecturer and the make things easier,” (An).
institution.” Conditional conveniences are not respectful, however. As
Secondly, responsibility meant fulfilling job duties. Respon- Kama connected the absence of signs at the lake with respect, An
sibility is to “have respect towards one’s duty, … one’s customers,” associates the presence of signs that restrict conveniences as disre-
(Sunee). The demeanor with which service providers perform their spectful. A sign on a drinking water machine read “Please enjoy a
jobs demonstrates responsibility in collaboration with being effec- cup of water while you wait (no bottles please).” An had mixed
tive, efficient, and communicative. For instance, “She smiled all the feelings about this. The offer of enjoying a cup of water while you
time and talked to me actively,” (Sunee). Sunee felt “impressed and wait is a sign of “politeness,” eliciting positive feelings. However,
respected.” On the other hand, participants felt disrespect when the condition of “no bottles please” perplexed her. It represented
service providers lacked affable demeanor and enthusiasm. When “respect with a condition.” “I feel that I get respect, but still
the checkout counter person ignored her, Sunee thought the woman something [is] missing. [It is] not totally respect.” Generally, Kama
was irresponsible by being “very rude and impolite.” “Her reaction and An perceive that it is disrespectful to signpost rules that people
is like I am not in front of her.” Sunee adds that this “kind of practice should already know–to formalize the unwritten norms of respect.
is not acceptable, shows disrespect to customers, … [and is] In summary, considering others is responsible. Responsibility
discriminatory and racist.” seems to be about putting yourself in the other’s shoes (figuratively)
Service providers can even be responsible in what they wear. and attending to their needs. Those may be physical needs like
Furthermore, this simple demonstration can elicit reciprocal dis- safety. They may be intangible needs like recognition. Part of
plays of respect. A lecturer wearing a suit to class represents “his responsibility is a genuine feeling of care in consideration for
paying respect to the classroom, to the students, and to the univer- others.
sity,” (Kama). She adds, “Respect is a kind of mutual interaction.
If people pay respect to you, you have to pay respect to others.” Her Care
way of showing respect back was by “deciding that I wouldn’t wear Although the theme of care ran through the entire responsibil-
jandals (flip-flops) to class anymore,” (Kama). ity theme, care is more than responsibility. Care for another means
In addition to people, places are important to the responsibility being sincerely concerned about the other’s well-being. Partici-
component of respect. Places include both environmental land- pants felt care from others’ responsible behaviors in the university
marks and servicescapes. The photos represented ways of treating setting. Additional photographs and discussion revealed care inde-
property, landmarks, and the environment that show respect through pendent of responsible behavior.
responsibility. Informants felt dismayed at “profanities on wel- Care came through as personal regard for individuals as good
come signs [and] skateboarding on public property when there are people. The receptionist who smiles at Sunee, talks actively and
signs that say ‘please do not skateboard,’” (Dawa). Similarly, for volunteered information shows “care.” The International Student
Kama, people fishing in university lakes were irresponsible. They Coordinator showed regard for Sunee when she gave information
“don’t pay respect to the place, or to [the] university, even when the about where she would be, what would happen next, and whether
university paid respect to them by not putting any sign” (Kama). she could be contacted by email. Sunee called the coordinator “a
Interestingly, Kama saw respect in not posting signs about rules that good person” because of the care she felt. In contrast, Sunee’s
people should apparently already know. Arti further linked irre- experience with the checkout counter woman distinctly lacked
sponsibility for rubbish disposal to consequences to the environ- personal regard. She grumbles, “I felt insulted. I felt sorry for her.
I think that she is quite pathetic,” and Sunee sensed there would be attributes not receiving the advertisements to being “Asian.” Sunee
no relationship at all from there on. made the same attribution in her experience with the checkout
Sometimes showing care means treating people as special. counter woman. The woman had conversed pleasantly with the
Sunee received a card from a friend in the hall of residence to whom European customer before her and then virtually ignored Sunee.
she had given a present. This was something that Sunee did not These experiences made both participants feel uncomfortable and
expect and she was surprised. She felt “impressed,” “happy,” and unaccepted in their new ‘home.’ Kama feels disrespect and that “I
“touched” by this action, which went beyond her expectations. She don’t belong to that group or their society.” She wants to be
felt cared for and their relationship became “tighter” than ever accepted as a student and to “belong to that group … because as a
before. human …we want to belong to society, to a group.”
Participants also spoke of disregard for others as a lack of care. Furthermore, acceptance may include recognizing and believ-
A student yawning in class makes Arti put herself in her lecturer’s ing that others will act responsibly. Kama pointed out that the
shoes “I would feel very hurt because I try to explain something to university, the service provider, accepted students as responsible
others, but they do not listen to me, so it feels that they try to make adults when it ran an advertising campaign with the catchphrase
me feel ashamed and do not respect me.” Similarly, for Arti, two “More bars per student than any other city.” Initially, Kama was
people from the same culture speaking in their own language makes uncertain about what it meant, but after pondering it, she thought,
her feel like “they don’t care about me and it seems that I don’t exist “I think that it’s a kind of respect that the university gives to student
in that situation.” to make their own choices.”
Furthermore, lack of regard can evoke anger, which can rule These participants associated strong emotions with feelings of
out the possibility of any relationship. In Kama’s story of the being accepted. They felt angry when they felt discriminated
offending squash players who failed to vacate the court on time, she against for being Asian. They felt annoyed when left out. Signs of
said, “I think that for people who don’t care about people, they just acceptance made them feel comfortable and reduced worry. Sunee’s
don’t care about people.” This suggests that she thinks these people joy from the friendly receptionist lingered for a year before she told
will never think of anyone but themselves. She is upset by the the story in this research, suggesting that these emotions may
situation and angry. Her negative emotions peaked and even when endure for a long time.
they apologized, it did not make her feel any better. “Their ‘sorry’ Although it intertwines with care and responsibility, the ac-
meant nothing to me. They’re just like air. Their ‘sorry’ didn’t seem ceptance theme is strong on its own. For one participant, acceptance
sorry to me. … When they said sorry, I didn’t forgive them.” was the only component of respect. Chan viewed acceptance as
Although sometimes showing care means treating people as essential to mutual interaction. Chan expresses a recurrent theme
special, sometimes it means treating people the same as others. Care amongst these Eastern students. He feels respected when he feels
also came through as acceptance, as regard for individuals regard- accepted and he feels disrespected when ignored. Respect comes
less of who they are. Dawa felt that the university recreation from “the feeling of being recognized as the existence of an
center’s willingness to put up his brochure in the gym showed care independent individual,” (Chan). Not to be accepted makes him feel
for all the members of the recreation center irrespective of nation- “deprived as a living subject.” Chan is emphatic that when he
ality or ethnicity. It “shows that the university respects the experi- respects others, they should respect him in return. These experi-
ences that different people bring into the university and are not ences appear to elicit profound sensations amongst international
hesitant in putting it up.” For Dawa, this shows that the recreation students and immigrants. Being accepted gives one a sense of
center cares “not only for” him “but others who want to share belonging. Accepting honors others.
experiences.”
In summary, showing care is being responsible. In addition, Equality
however, care shows concern for individuals that goes beyond duty. Acceptance brings equality. All the experiences of equality
While genuine consideration for others may be part of respect, fall under the theme of acceptance, yet the participants singled it
participants delivered a stronger message that failing to care about out. “Respect means to be treated equally, which makes one have
others is disrespectful. Caring seems to require accepting others as a feeling of belonging” (Dawa). Kama’s story about the bar adver-
valuable for who they are. Thus, acceptance overlaps with care and tisement shows that respect means to be given chances and treated
responsibility. with equality.
The equality theme included the idea of equal access. The
Acceptance university’s disabled ramps impressed Kama, who says, “Respect
Acceptance means to recognize someone’s existence as a is to give chances to everybody to have access to university
valuable entity. In this sense, it is the opposite of uncaring, which education.” Similarly, An comments on a free five-minute phone in
included ignoring others. Acceptance means to respect differences, the student union building, “They put a sign: Five minutes. It’s quite
not discriminate, and allow others a sense of belonging. Dawa good for people. It’s equal, equal to everyone.” Dawa saw equality
viewed that the residence halls make residents feel accepted by in the residence hall displays of national flags and the gym’s
having flags of all the residents’ home countries. The university willingness to display his brochures:
shows “mutual admiration for people, irrespective of caste, creed,
sex and therefore I respect them” (Dawa). The respect that they show for me is a small example, and in
Participants also revealed the acceptance theme in their expe- the bigger picture I feel that they would be open to other
riences of discrimination. Kama told of her experiences of being cultures who have various facets to bring into the university
excluded from receiving advertisements and coupons. Bars com- culture. … If people want to portray their culture, they are very
monly advertise on the university campus by hiring students to hand open towards it.
out flyers and coupons. Kama “is rarely” given these flyers, even
though she tries her best to get them by walking closer to the These participants illustrated equality using what appear to be
students who are distributing them. “I felt annoyed when they didn’t visible signifiers of acceptance. The ramps, phone, and flags may
give it (flyer) to me and it happened again and again and again.” She represent underlying policies of acceptance.
Achievement that although authors tend not to explicitly define respect, they use
The final theme is achievement. Although it was less perva- the term to mean ‘acceptance,’ very much as our participants did.
sive and less entwined with the other themes, achievement seemed Reilly (2002) also says that respect begins with accepting each
a clear part of respect for these participants. Three photographs individual’s innate value. This is much akin to recognition respect
included the achievement theme and associated it with mutual as agreed by philosophers (Darwall 1977). Dillon (1992) uses the
interaction. Participants respect others for their achievements and term care–as did our participants—when speaking of regard for
receive respect for their own achievements. objects’ inherent value. In the education context, scholars have
These participants felt respect for their achievements from a expressed disrespect as rudeness, lack of concern, ignoring stu-
symbolic gesture from the university. During graduation week, dents, and unfair treatment (Buttner 2004), all of which appear in
both the university and the city council put up banners congratulat- our data (care and equality). Others distinguish respect for accom-
ing graduating students. Celebrations are held all over town; the city plishments from respect for moral duties (Frei and Shaver 2002),
blocks the main road for graduates and staff to parade to the which corresponds to our achievement and responsibility themes.
graduation venue. All participants agreed that the banners mark Like the literature, our data highlights the importance of accepting
respect for new graduates and they all experienced feelings of being people for who they are. Thus, our work and others’ ideas support
respected for their achievements. themes of acceptance, care, responsibility, equality, and achieve-
An emeritus professor’s visiting card clearly depicted respect ment.
in achievement. The participant respects the professor for his Mutual interaction binds the themes together. Participants
achievements. Even though the professor is retired, “The politics continually referred to mutual interaction as they analyzed and
department still calls Prof over to give a couple of lectures … very discussed each theme. Mutual interaction seems to incorporate the
knowledgeable and his expertise on religion is overwhelming” notion of reciprocity. If you do not respect me, there is no reason for
(Dawa). Dawa elaborates on his respect for the professor when he me to respect you. This parallels the personal relationship literature
says, “the fact that social organizations, university, and communi- that suggests that respect shown tends to generate respect in return
ties call him to give lectures means that people have great respect (e.g., Frei and Shaver 2002; Lawrence-Lightfoot 2000).
for him.” “I respect him for who he is, for all the experiences that Emotions were a strong part of participants’ explanations of
he has gone through and for the knowledge that he has. … He has their respect experiences. Emotions arose from both the presence
made a great contribution to society.” and the absence of respect. Participants expressed negative emo-
These participants’ respect for experience and age-related tions such as hurt, annoyed, angry, ashamed, and sad when they felt
achievements contrasted with the characteristics of status to which disrespected. When they assessed the other party, they used strong
New Zealanders show respect. To some extent, their experiences of words such as “stupid, pathetic, inconsiderate, and selfish.” They
achievement-oriented respect drew their attention to cultural differ- also expressed positive emotions such as touched, impressed,
ences. Arti illustrated disrespect in a photo of a student failing to happy, joyful, and delighted when they felt accepted and cared
open the door for her lecturer. “Students are supposed to open the about. These observations link to the literatures on service recov-
door for .... [the lecturer], because in East, we have to respect older ery, forgiveness, and satisfaction. Negative emotions often corre-
people and lecturers usually are older and have more experiences spond with customer dissatisfaction, complaints, and exit from
than us.” Over time, she comprehended a cultural difference and service relationships (e.g., McColl-Kennedy and Sparks 2003;
tried to understand the gender perspective. Arti says: Oliver 1997). When treated with respect and genuine concern,
customers tend to respond favorably to service recovery efforts
So, the issues in here are more related to the cultural issues on (e.g., McColl-Kennedy and Sparks 2003; de Ruyter and Wetzels
the way we try to respect and treat others. Maybe in the East, 2000). Although some hypothesize that apologies can help counter
I am trying to show the way I respect others, especially to older the effects of rudeness (e.g., Goodwin and Ross, 1992), our data
people, but in here more related to the gender issues between suggest that may not always be the case. Respect is actually required
women and men. So, sometimes even though there’s an older in initial encounters and not merely left for recovery strategies.
person, people do not try to open the door for them because he This study captured perspectives that may be culturally tinted.
is a man, so he is the one who supposed to open the door for us The participants shared foundations in Eastern religions such as
as women. So, it’s not about age, but gender. Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism that probably affect the ways
they view human relationships. In fact, they pointed out cultural
DISCUSSION differences in how people show respect, especially in terms of
These findings begin to illuminate the concept of respect and ‘achievement.’ They pointed out how they respect their elders for
its relevance to marketer-customer relationships. For these partici- their experience and achievements while Westerners often substi-
pants from Eastern cultures, respect means being responsible, tute gender for age. The Western authors of this report often would
caring about others, accepting for who they are, treating people have interpreted the experiences differently than the participants
equally, and recognizing achievement. These themes are not mutu- themselves did. We had to remind ourselves of our different cultural
ally exclusive, but intertwine and seem to build on each other. For backgrounds. For instance, we would never have interpreted not
these people, responsibility happens when people care for others posting signs as a manifestation of respect. Also, we understood the
and the environment. Only when people care can they accept others water cooler instruction about no bottles and might not have been
for who they are and treat them on equal ground irrespective of offended. The participant interpreted that as a gift with strings
differences. They also recognize that achievements are important attached and was very offended. Frei and Shaver (2002) found no
and give respect for the achievements of an individual. Based on the gender or ethnic differences in what respect means to people. Our
data, we are unable to say whether there is a necessary or even a data do not refute this. However, our data and our interpretations
typical sequence for building respect. lead us to suspect that different cultures may express respect
The meanings provided by these participants at least partly differently. It will be important and fascinating to explore cultural
coincide with meanings expressed elsewhere. The Oxford English norms for respect as well as subculture versus dominant culture
Dictionary (2004) includes notions of connection, relationship, experiences of respect.
consideration, and deferential regard. Frei and Shaver (2002) note
Our secondary objective was to learn about the relevance of understand it in relation to other relational constructs such as trust,
respect to marketing relationships. Although it was secondary, the love, friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, commitment, power, and
implications are crucial. Because marketing is defined as the dependence.
creation of relationships and delivering of value (American Mar-
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ROUNDTABLE
Substantive Issues About Consumer Behavior Research in Latin America: Relevant Topics,
Trends, Methodologies and Empirical Analyses
Discussion Leaders: service in which the customer would feel highly satisfied it may be
Raquel Castaño, Tecnológico de Monterrey needed helping and cooperating behaviors among service employ-
Edgardo Ayala, Tecnológico de Monterrey ees. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB’s) at the group
level in a service context is defined as helping behaviors shared by
Participants: members of a group that help create or support the environment
Carlos Ruy Martínez, EGADE where the service take place. Research has found that, at the group
Mauricio González, EGADE level some forms of OCB such as altruism and courtesy are
César Sepúlveda, Tecnológico de Monterrey modestly related to organizational effectiveness and, specifically,
María Eugenia Pérez, Tecnológico de Monterrey to better service evaluations such as service quality (Paine and
Claudia Quintanilla, Tecnológico de Monterrey Organ, 2000). It is possible that the cultural context itself may
Rogelio Garza, Tecnológico de Monterrey encourage or discourage certain OCBs. Collectivistic cultures,
Edgardo Ayala, Tecnológico de Monterrey such as the Mexican, may encourage behaviors that benefit the
Raquel Castaño, Tecnológico de Monterrey group, such that helping behaviors may be expected among mem-
bers of the group. Future research may be directed to organizational
SUMMARY effectiveness with service technologies in comparison to service
This roundtable discussed relevant current streams of con- delivered by employees.
sumer behavior research in Mexico and Latin America and ex- In addition, consumers´ satisfaction with a service or product
plored avenues for new research. Research topics discussed in- is his evaluation of what he gets in terms of what he expected.
cluded: Distance collaboration groups; satisfaction and services; Almost all researchers in the consumer satisfaction field agree that
and counterfeits. this evaluation is the response of the consumer to the discrepancy
between the perceived performance of the product or service and
(a) Distance Collaboration Groups some predefined reference point or expectation (Oliver, 1980).
The emergence of Internet, videoconferencing and other means However, in extended service transactions, expectations are not
of distance communication allows companies and organizations to fixed in their pre-purchase state. Instead, they are constructed as
have groups developing projects without the need of bringing them consumers proceed through the service process. Therefore, the
together. However, people behave differently when working face to traditional paradigms on customer satisfaction are inadequate to
face (in a traditional manner) compared to working without close explain services when these are viewed as the conjoint participation
personal interaction. The understanding of variables that drive of service provider and consumer. Thus, an interesting area of study
distance collaboration groups to high effectiveness and perfor- would be the incorporation of consumer performance as a determi-
mance is very important to develop interventions to enhance the nant of consumer satisfaction for extended service transactions.
performance of these groups. Research demonstrates that groups
whose members develop personal bindings with their peers (groups (c) Counterfeits
cohesiveness) and that are committed to the task (task cohesion) Piracy of a wide range of products has been growing in
develop shared belief in that the group together can highly perform countries like Mexico, where government control of the manufac-
the tasks they are required to do (collective efficacy) which in turn turing and import of these goods is not pursued in a rigorous and
triggers the effectiveness of the group resulting on high perfor- efficient manner. According to the Mexican Association of Video
mance (Guzzo and Dickson, 1996). In addition, the “natural” and Audio Producers, 90 million pirate CDs were sold in the
diversity present in virtual groups may represent an opportunity to country in 2004 (El Norte, October 10th, 2005). Pressure from the
share different information and to apply a wide range of perspec- Mexican and transnational companies that legally manufacture and
tives when analyzing a specific problem (Maznevski and Chudoba, sell their brands should push for adequate legislation and legal
2000). The study of group’s effectiveness and efficiency has been actions to protect their brand equity.
conducted mainly in the United States and in Europe. This research The market for illegal copies of luxury products has grown so
can hardly be generalized to other cultures as those in Latin much as to represent a world-wide serious threat to the legal
America where the concept of group work and social behavior marketers of these brands. According to Belk’s (1988) concept of
differs from that in those countries with lower collectivism. Latin- extended self, possessions constitute an integral part of a person’s
American countries are now into the knowledge economy which identity. Material objects become clues for definition, to be used by
implies information technology and knowledge dissemination not the person, and by others through interaction. .
just as outputs but as sources of value creation. As copies are highly conspicuous products displayed to signal
affiliation or differentiation, it is conceivable that the purchasers
(b) Satisfaction and Services expect a social reaction towards them as possessors and users of the
Many Latin American economies are base in the service area. product. Whether this social reaction occurs according or
For instance, the GNP from Mexico, Argentina and Chile depend disaccording to their expectations will be related to the resulting
more than 50% in the service area and most probably will continue emotions and their future actions. This topic provides an interesting
growing. Nowadays, the service delivery in Latin America still may area of research, specifically with the objective of developing a
depend upon the role of the service employee both, front and back scale for identifying the propensity level of consumers towards
stage in comparison to service delivery technologies. To deliver a buying counterfeits. From a managerial point of view, the market-

Volume 1, © 2006
ers of original luxury products could benefit by understanding the
needs, goals and the resulting emotions of purchasers of their
products, and of illegal copies.
References
Belk, R.W. (1988), “Possessions and the Extended Self”,
Journal of Consumer Research, 15 : 139-168.
Guzzo, R. A., & Dickson, M. W. 1996. Teams effectiveness in
organizations: Recent research on performance and effective-
ness. Annual Review of Psychology, 47: 307-338.
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virtual team dynamics and effectiveness. Organization
Science, 11.
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consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing
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Management Review, 10: 45-59.
The Paradox of Consumption
Scarcity and Affluence in the Swedish Welfare State
Torbjörn Hjort, Växjö University, Sweden
Karin M. Ekström, Göteborg University, Sweden
ABSTRACT credit and leasing, more intense and different forms of marketing
The aim of this paper is to increase the understanding of how are just a few examples of different aspects that have changed the
Swedish low-income families get by in a society characterized by landscape of consumption. The Western society can be seen as a
affluence but with restricted possibilities to take part of it. The consumer culture, a spinning wheel that spins faster and faster,
findings imply that consumers with low and insecure income tend irrespective of you are well-off or poor. Everyone is participating
to develop different coping strategies to consumption in order to get in the catwalk of consumption, exposed and judged based on
by in their everyday life. The paper aims also to highlight the need consumption. It is through our consumption that we show our
for more interdisciplinary research on consumers who are identity, who we are or who we would like to be. To not be able to
marginalized, and emphasizes the benefits of integrating theories afford involves social and psychological risk taking, to be per-
on consumption and welfare. ceived as deviant or poor, a stigmatisation that most people wants
to avoid. Whether the basic meaning of consumption has changed
INTRODUCTION from a material or functional meaning to a more symbolic one is
Swedish society has during the last decades undergone signifi- subject for discussion (Aldridge 2003; Edwards 2000). Aldridge
cant changes. We are witnessing consumers who live in wealth, (2003) questions this and means that a lot of consumer activities are
consuming luxurious products and services and buying expensive still often based on functionality, for example, a car is bought as a
cars and lavish handbags. At the same time, we can also observe means of transport and not merely as an expression of identity. He
consumers who cannot afford to consume, but live a more frugal emphasizes that a lot of consumer activities are built on routine and
life. The opportunities to consume seem endless by just looking at rationality rather than the wish to express oneself through symbols
the abundance of goods for sale. The fact is, however, that free and signs to others.
choice does not always exist (e.g., Gabriel and Lang 1995). This is Whether or to what extent consumption can be understood as
illustrated in the old Swedish proverb “When manna (i.e. semolina) a dimension of exclusion or inclusion and in which ways consump-
falls from the sky, the poor has no spoon.” Some consumers are not tion creates processes of marginalization in society deserves more
able to take advantage of possibilities when they are offered to attention in research. Research on welfare has not highlighted
them; they lack the necessary resources to be able to take advantage consumption as an important issue in studies on poverty or social
of the offer. Caplowitz (1963) wrote during the 1960s that the poor exclusion. Neither has research on consumption in consumer be-
pay more and shed light on the conditions that the poor had to accept haviour, sociology, anthropology nor cultural studies sufficiently
as consumers in the United States. Poverty was common in the discussed the meaning of scarce financial resources in relation to
Swedish society about 100-150 years ago, but has since then consumption or the consumer society. Lodziak (2002) states that
become less prevalent as Sweden has developed into a welfare cultural studies if anything, has misinterpreted the new consumer
economy during the 20th century. What is relatively new, however, society when it comes to inequality. While cultural studies often
is that poverty has recently started to increase in Sweden at the same interprets the new consumption society as a way towards equality
time as affluence is also increasing. This growing polarization in that everyone can choose the style and identity they want,
between the rich and poor is a world-wide phenomenon, even Lodziak emphasizes that this is not the case, but that inequalities
though the gaps in Sweden are less than in most parts of the world. instead creates new forms of stratification and marginalization. It
The most significant change concerning the distribution of income needs to be recognized that consumers live under different condi-
in Sweden during the recent years is, however, not between rich and tions. While research on poverty has mainly focused on poor
poor, but the widening gap between the average income level and consumers in poor countries, we know very little about what it
the poor (SCB 2003). It is a situation where some consumers live in means to live in an affluent consumer society having less financial
a society characterized by consumption and affluence without resources than the majority of the consumers. There is a need for
being able to take part of it. They are not able to consume the goods more research on this.
and services which a majority of the population see as something
naturally to afford. THEORIES ON WELFARE AND CONSUMPTION
Considering this development, the lack of consumer research We believe that it would be beneficial to integrate theories on
focusing on consumers living with limited resources, is somewhat welfare with theories on consumption, something that is easier said
surprising with the exception of for example, work on homeless than done. As a starting point, we would like to identify three
(e.g., Hill 1990; Hill & Stamey 1991). Little is known about how theoretical fields dealing with poverty, welfare and consumption.
poor consumers cope in a society where consumption seems to play The first field deals with how low-income consumers in a structural
a larger role in people’s life. The aim of this paper is to increase the meaning are discriminated against in different ways (e.g., Allwitt
understanding of how Swedish low-income families get by in their and Donley 1996; Anderasen 1975; Caplovitz 1963; Hill 2002;
every-day life. The intention is also to highlight the need for more Kempson 1996; Kempson et al. 2000). Maybe it is difficult to call
interdisciplinary research on consumers who are marginalized, this a theoretical field, it is more like a research area that focuses on
emphasizing the benefits of integrating theories on consumption market relations and has its disciplinary home in economics,
and welfare. marketing and sociology. The theories imply that consumers with
scarce financial resources meet specific hindrances and barriers
THE CATWALK OF CONSUMPTION that seem to depend on the “laws of the market”. Examples of
The possibilities to consume have changed dramatically dur- hindrances and barriers are aspects like access and price. To live in
ing the last decades. An abundance of goods, Internet, new forms of a poor area often means fewer opportunities to buy cheap and
Volume 1, © 2006
poorer conditions when it comes to credits etc. This implies that be marginalized in society, groups which do not have the financial
poor consumers are being ignored; they are not seen as interesting resources to be part of the consumer society to the same degree as
“segments” of customers. This means that poor consumers have to others. An understanding of the consumer society of today requires
play by the same rules as groups having more established financial us to deal with processes such as marginalization and exclusion. We
situations, for example, a buffer and advantageous credit condi- argue that without these perspectives the picture of society tends to
tions. The poor consumers are not able to take advantage of all the be limited and covers only some parts of it.
consumption-related offers that other groups frequently use, for
example, special offers or bonus for purchasing large quantities. THE WELFARE DEVELOPMENT IN SWEDEN
Also, actors on the market of goods and services take advantage of In Sweden, a welfare crisis in the 1990s originating from
the poor consumers, for example by offering instalment plans or decreased output in the manufacturing industry in combination
credits with high costs. with high costs to maintain the welfare state institutions, resulted in
The second theoretical field, theories dealing with welfare, high unemployment rates and cuts in the social services. This
involves concepts such as exclusion, inclusion and marginalization problematic period was a new experience to the Swedish govern-
(e.g., Bowring 2000; Gough, Eisenschitz and McCulloch 2006; ment, since the economic growth and the political reforms (for
Kronauer 1998; Lister 2004). They usually have the question of example, enlarging the state financed social security system in
inequality as a main issue. In general, the theories on welfare try to different ways) in the preceding years looked like a never-ending
explain how the welfare of different groups is changing in response story. In the middle of the 1990s, the financial situation started to
to changes on, for example, the labour market. Researchers dealing recover and the unemployment levels decreased. The following
with welfare theories also focus on the relation between institu- years showed a growing economy and positive development in the
tions/security systems of welfare and vulnerable groups (e.g., labour market. However, in the end of the 20th century it seemed as
Pierson 2001). A main issue here is vulnerable groups and their some group had fallen behind and had not been able to take part in
relation to the established society. the economic progress made. These groups consisted mainly of
The third theoretical field has been developed in disciplines immigrants, youths and single parent families. They had problems
such as sociology, anthropology, cultural theory, and marketing in getting established on the labour market, facing more temporary
(e.g., Bauman 1998; Douglas & Isherwood 1996; Featherstone and insecure forms of employment, rather often in combination
1991; Firat and Venkatesh 1995; Slater 1997). These theories with social assistance (SOU 2001). It was also noticeable that the
discuss consumption from several perspectives but we have in this word poverty was now more frequently used in the political, media
paper mainly concentrated on two issues. One issue deals with the as well as science debates (e.g., Halleröd 1991). The meaning of
increased significance of consumption in society. Consumption is poverty is relative: it means that the income level has to be
from this point of view seen as something that is one of the most compared to the majority of the citizens, and that this level is so low
important activities that individuals use in order to display how they that you can not live a life that can be characterized by others as
want to be understood by people in their surroundings. Bauman normal. Sweden is a country which during the 20th century devel-
(1998), for example, consider consumption as something more oped equality in income distribution. The development of the
significant than work, as a socioeconomic criterion. A related welfare state in Sweden has almost reached the level that it is, in
second issue is the symbolic meaning of consumption. For exam- general, considered strange if you can not buy things that are taken
ple, the issue is not merely whether a teenager should have a mobile for granted by a majority. This is comparable to Townsend’s
phone or pair of sneakers, but which mobile phone brand or (1979:31) definition of poverty:
sneakers brand he/she should have. To view goods and services as
something symbolic is of course nothing new, already Veblen “…individuals, families and groups in the population can be
(2000/1925) and Simmel (1990) discussed consumption in these said to be in poverty when they lack the resources necessary to
terms. A new aspect discussed by the post-modern theories (e.g., obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the
Baudrillard 1998; Featherstone 1991) is that the functional or living conditions which are customary, or at least widely
material meaning of consumption has lost its importance. By this encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong.
they mean that consumption, in the western world, no more is Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by
questions of needs and function, all that matters are symbols and the average individual or family that they, are in effect,
wants. Some researchers (e.g., Lodziak 2002; Löfgren 1996; Miller excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activi-
1998) have criticized this perspective in that they mean that the ties.”
postmodern view on consumption neglects the everyday- and
routine consumption. Post-modern consumer theory also suggests Other words than poverty, such as social exclusion and
that consumption gives everybody the ability to choose their marginalization, have also been used more frequently in Sweden
identity and be, or at least appear, as anybody they want to be. It since the end of the 20th century. These words have previously been
might be interpreted as if consumption can take us away from the used in Europe and imply a new form of inequality in that some
class society or inequality, a view we would like to warn against. groups not only have much lower income than the majority, but they
Consumption opportunities are not offered to everyone, but limited tend also to be excluded regarding possibilities in the labour market,
to people having the resources. A critique of post-modern theories housing market, education, and health. This concerns also demo-
is that they do not treat aspects like inequality or the significance of cratic and political issues in that these groups vote and engage
economic resources as an important issue in the consumption themselves politically in a much lesser degree than other groups
society. On the contrary, they tend to consider consumption and the (e.g., Bowring 2000; Gough, Eisenschitz & McCulloch 2006;
consumer driven society as a solution to the problems of inequality Kronauer 1998; Lister 2004).
(e.g., Lodziak 2002). Even though consumption offers opportuni-
ties to consume, it needs to be recognized, that these opportunities DESIGN AND METHOD OF THE STUDY
are limited based on the resources available. In total, 26 Swedish families with children were interviewed.
In summary, neither postmodern theories nor other theories In addition a focus group interview was conducted with four
on consumption have paid enough attention to groups that tend to families. The study is based on a non-random judgmental sample.
150 / The Paradox of Consumption
All the families had in common that they have a scarce financial viewed use certain strategies for managing their consumption, in
situation. About half of the families were single mothers with a other words how they cope with scarce financial resources in
limited establishment on the labour market (for example unemploy- comparison to other groups of households in a consumer society.
ment, part time or casual employment). The other half was immi- However, strategy is a complex and problematic concept. In a study
grant families who arrived to Sweden in the end of 1980s or in the on Russian households, Ekström et al. (2003) found that different
beginning of the 1990s.This means that they arrived just before the coping devices were used to deal with changes in food provision
increased unemployment and have had problems integrating into and consumption related to economic reforms. A prevalent coping
the Swedish society, both regarding establishment on the labour-, device among those households was to make use of and develop
housing- and education market. Also, their income levels were immaterial resources such as knowledge skills and the use of
lower than appropriate considering their families previous educa- technology. Other coping devices were increase in self-production
tion and work experience. 20 of the families were chosen from the of, for example, potatoes and vegetables, trying to keep food costs
fact that they during the last ten years had received accommodation down by changing diet or bartering, and trying to increase income
allowance. Six were chosen because they had asked for economic by having additional employment or producing food or other items
help from a church based organization. Finally the four families for selling. Coping is, however, different from strategy. The later
who participated in the focus group were chosen from an organiza- implies imply a more goal-oriented behavior (Pennartz and Niehof,
tion for single parents. 1999). We choose the concept coping strategy even if we think it is
It was problematic to get access to the interviewed families. To problematic. Strategy overemphasizes dimensions as planning and
talk about consumption in relation to money is already a moral coping focuses too much on a passive behavior. Even the poor can
sensitive issue in Sweden and it is getting far more sensitive when be a very active consumer. The processes that we try to understand
it comes to a scarce financial situation. The fact that a family, by are too complex to be included in one concept and it seems like we,
being a part of the study, is categorized as “poor” can also be a as so many others, were captured in the field between agency and
reason to say no. Also, maybe they do not see themselves as poor. structure.
Another reason is that most of the households where recipients of
means tested allowances. This is a sensitive issue and could be a Structural factors
reason to say no. Some could have considered it as a risk to talk to There are certain structural factors that create specific condi-
someone, even a researcher, about their financial situation, and give tions for low-income consumers. The results indicate that the
information that could possibly reach local or federal authorities. interviewed household’s position on the labor, housing and educa-
The first author conducted the interviews in the homes of the tion markets, as well as their possibility to have access to the welfare
interviewed families. The parents of the families were interviewed, security system, is crucial for their possibilities as consumers. A
in most cases the mother and in some families both parents. The marginalized or excluded position in these fields tends to hinder and
interviews took between one to two hours and were later transcribed raise barriers for consumption. For example, unemployment can be
word by word. The interviewed families were in the beginning of seen as a marginalized position in the labor market that also hinders
the interview asked to give a picture of their income situation during consumption. It is therefore of importance to study the mechanisms
the last ten years to give the interviewer an idea of their nearest in the field of consumption as interrelated to those which create
income history. The interview guide was a combination of quanti- processes of inclusion or exclusion in other fields. The study shows
tative questions taken from a national survey about living condi- for example how unemployment or overdebtness (which is rather
tions and qualitative questions about consumption, scarcity, house- usual among low-income households) exclude some families from
hold budget and the situation for the children. The quantitative part signing contracts or credit arrangements.
included questions about certain goods, services and budgetary
strategies and gave a good background picture of the households’ Mechanisms restricting consumption
regarding resources and consumption. Most of the families gave The field of consumption has also its own mechanisms that
quite rich descriptions of how they, for example, bought their TV create various possibilities for different groups. The study shows
or how they tried to get information about discounts also for the that households with scarce financial resources mainly face three
quantitative questions. They could answer with a short yes or no but mechanisms that in different ways restrict their possibilities as
chose often to give a more elaborated answer. In the qualitative part, consumers. First of all, there are mechanisms excluding households
the parents gave a deeper and more complex picture of problems with scarce financial resources from different types of consump-
linked to consumption and scarce resources. The parents where tion. These mechanisms rule the possibilities of admission. If you
asked to give examples and illustrate with episodes. Thereafter do not have certain qualifications, for example, if you are unem-
followed several questions in order to get a deeper understanding of ployed, you are not allowed access to different types of contracts
what these examples and episodes meant to the parents and how and credit arrangements. Second, there are mechanisms making
they interpreted them. In the analysis process, we searched for consumption more difficult for households with scarce financial
patterns in the interview material. First, we tried to identify hin- resources. These mechanisms govern access to certain kinds of
drances and barriers regarding consumption and scarcity. Second, consumption. The possibility of buying goods or services at lower
we looked for patterns regarding ways to cope with different prices can be more difficult if, for example, households do not have
situations regarding consumption, parenthood and scarcity. access to a car or the Internet. The third mechanism has to do with
price. Households with scarce financial resources often have no
FINDINGS buffer that they can use in their consumption to save money.
The result shows structural factors that create specific condi- Therefore, their consumption is often more expensive than that of
tions for low-income consumers as well as different mechanisms other households in that they cannot take advantage of quantity
restricting these families consumption. Also, prevailing societal discounts, sales, good quality (for example clothes, shoes and
norms and codes regarding how households in general and in goods of better durability), and are often forced to make expensive
particular households with scarce financial resources should con- credit arrangements when buying durable goods.
sume. Furthermore, the results indicate that the families inter-
Dominating norms The parents bought their children branded clothes, toys, TV-
Another issue related to norms and codes in the field of and computer games or let their children attend the cinema or
consumption is the dominating societal perceptions of how house- McDonalds etc. These are things that do not fit into their budget, and
holds in general, and those with scarce financial resources in the parents had to cut down on something else for themselves that
particular, should consume. This has to do with how to be rational they see as a basic necessity, for example, the dentist or home
and economical (e.g., Aléx 2003; Horowitz 1985; Löfgren 1996). insurance. Another way was to buy goods on instalment rather than
It has also to do with being an active consumer of goods and services paying for it all at once. In general, the parents did not see the goods
in order to be like everybody else and not deviate (e.g., Dellgran & or activities they compensated their children with, as luxuries.
Karlsson 2001). An informant expressed: Instead, it was regarded more as a question of the children having
the opportunities to have or do the same things as other children.
“They (the furniture) have been given to me or I have bought If compensation is a coping strategy directed towards the
them second hand. The sofa I have, it is very torn, yes, it looks children in the family, the second one, keeping up the facade, is
like hell. You do not really dare to invite people spontane- concerned with covering up a scarce financial situation from those
ously. I feel embarrassed if I should invite my neighbours over close to the family such as peers, staff in school etc. Besides buying
for a cup of coffee. The society has become much more… you goods and activities, as mentioned above, this strategy can also
are judged or greeted based on income. If you have an income include arrangements in schools or pre-schools etc. that parents
which is below, yes, if you are poor, then you have to fight have to pay for, such as school-trips. The parents wanted their
much more to show who you really are if you are poor. And it children to take part in these activities and the children were
is therefore you do not want to invite anybody when you do not important for representing the family to the “outside” world. A
have it nice-looking. If you see what I mean, you do not want mother said:
to show… even though I am a good person after all.”
“Sure, I feel the pressure to maintain a certain standard, mostly
Another example is the prevailing norms made visible regard- because I have children. That is very obvious regarding a
ing appearance in different situations. A single mother expressed: computer and a mobile phone and these things. I really feel the
pressure. I bought a mobile phone, I rarely use it. It is
“And then when entering a bank, you may not be as well expensive to use, but such things are so incredible important,
dressed, you may not have the nice-looking clothes. You have to be like everybody else, I really feel that. “
an old pair of jeans which you have had for a couple of years,
still without holes and clean and everything, but still. And then The parents did not seem to run the same risk to be pointed out
you may be judged by that ‘nice’ person. Just that part can as deviant or poor. They described the children and the teenagers as
probably stop a lot of people.” being more exposed to social judgement in relation to consumption.
However, the parents also expressed concerns for being judged by
The households in this study talked about shame and the other people in that scarce financial resources sometimes is associ-
internal and external expectations that often lead to that they as ated with bad parenthood.
parents experience a feeling of being trapped. On one hand, they are The third coping strategy, privation, involves being without
supposed be economical, rational and not buy anything that could goods and activities that everybody else seems to have or do.
be understood as unnecessary. On the other hand, they are supposed Privation entails being extremely economical, to have a carefully
to have a consumer pattern so that their children can have the same calculated shopping list which is often the same week after week.
goods as their peers and take part in activities arranged by schools Privation also involves buying second-hand clothes, mending clothes
or pre-schools or in leisure time. These external expectations can be and using hand-me-downs. This disposition might indicate that a
perceived as paradoxical. family can save a small sum of money to cover unforeseen ex-
penses. Privation also means that the family expose themselves to
Coping strategies to consumption the risk of being seen as poor and deviant. A single mother
The families interviewed used different coping strategies to expressed:
handle the needs of basic necessities and at the same time attempt-
ing to keep up with social necessities, being able to consume like “… because I never buy anything. If I had been such a person
everybody else. The strategies should not be seen as a description who had lived a normal life like most people do, I think it
of how the families managed their consumption, instead they would have been very difficult. But I do not think like that, I
should be considered ideal types (Weber 1977) in order to catego- always think economically. I get by because I save and scrape,
rize a complex picture of different actions. otherwise I had not managed, I don’t think. Because I have
The first coping strategy, compensation, consists of using three children and I am single. A lot of things suffers…”
consumption as a compensation for a situation characterized by
scarcity and privation. The parents talked about their children as Several parents talked about how they tried to keep their
innocent victims of the bad financial situation and that the children children outside the discussions about money, to protect their
should be sheltered as much as possible from the financial difficul- children from the scarce situation so they do not need to worry.
ties. However, this protecting strategy often seemed to be in vain
because the children and teenagers seemed to be aware of the
“Maybe you buy them the little extra that you actually can’t situation. Instead of just asking for things for themselves they asked
afford, because you feel that it is not their fault that the if the parent(s) could afford, for example, renting a movie on a
situation is like it is. Sometimes I can feel that I buy things to Friday evening.
the children that are too expensive in relation to my income The fourth coping strategy, acute solutions, is about not
because I know that they can never get as much as their friends. paying or buying anything before it is absolutely necessary. This
And also because you see yourself as insufficient, you want to last minute strategy is a way to control money, to have it in the purse
compensate for it.” or in the bank as long as possible, or not paying for something
152 / The Paradox of Consumption
without a specific reason. It often tends to be more expensive since First of all, the prevailing idea of the market of goods and
it does not allow planning of purchases including possibilities to services as a free market, offering equal opportunities, regardless of
take advantage of opportunities. This should be seen in the light of socioeconomic position, is problematic. The study has shown an
that these families seldom have an economical buffer and that they interrelationship between the field of consumption and other sig-
do not only have low but also an insecure income. If they receive nificant fields such as labour, housing, education markets and the
social assistance, they can not be sure of how much money they will welfare systems. There are credit arrangements that give low-
get the next time. Several families said that they have to choose income groups access to more expensive and durable goods, but on
between which bills to pay, since they can not afford them all. To the whole there seems to be a lot of barriers. Lack of access and too
pay bills were moments of worries: should there be enough money high price make the consumption more difficult for households
or how much money will there be left when the bills are paid. A with scarce financial resources. The ideal consumer is the one who
mother talked about the current bills: either has a high income or lives in a household with two salaries.
He/she has a car, own their home, and have a buffer to meet
“No, it is very difficult. It is so bad that I put the envelope with unforeseen expenses, as well as purchase bargains when the oppor-
the bills on the desk a few days before they have to be paid. tunity occurs. The families in this study are not ideal consumers, but
Then I go around this table two or three days before I can they have to act in a market of goods and services that seems to
manage to sit down and start with it. I get pain in my stomach favour the ideal consumer. The processes of marginalization that
when I shall add the sums of the bills. I have to look at them a function in the fields of labour market and welfare systems are
few days before I have the guts to deal with them, it is too bad.” linked to the processes in the field of consumption.
Secondly, there is the gap between material and social neces-
The fifth coping strategy, avoidance, is linked to the second sities. If we assume that households with a median income set the
one that involved trying to cover up the financial scarcity by buying standard for what is seen as social necessities, it ought to be more
goods that the parents see as social necessities. However, it means problematic for low-income households to manage the gap in times
covering up in another way: to avoid situations where either the when inequality in incomes increases. In this study, we have found
children or the parents (or both) can appear as poor or deviant. This that the households struggle to consume the material necessities and
can mean saying no to invitations such as birthday parties when to some point keep up with the social ones. The income gap in
there is no money to buy a present or avoiding to invite people over. Sweden between the median and the low-income families with
One single mother expressed: children has increased between 1993 and 2001 (SCB 2003). The
question is if the gap between material and social necessities has
“The social life suffers when there is a lack of money. I can not also increased. If the gap continues to increase in the future, it will
invite people over coffee or dinner, for example. I do not want be more difficult for some households to manage the gap. For
to reveal my situation to other people. You feel a sort of example, it can lead to an increase in debts if low-income house-
shame.” holds have to use more and more credit-arrangements to keep up
with the standard for social necessities. Another possibility is that
An example was to report the child as sick when there was a school the households cut down on what is seen as material necessities.
trip that the parents could not afford to pay for. A mother expressed The third issue concerns the children, but also the parents. In
the difficulties involved when going on a school trip: this study the children have been discussed as victims but also as
being given high priority by their parents. Of course, it can be tough
“He is 13 years old. Now he probably starts to become aware to grow up in a family with scarce financial resources, but parents
of… yes there are more pupils in the class who have single do at the same time shelter their children against scarcity. In the
mothers, so they probably talk… but of course he sometimes study, some parents even talked about their children almost as if
becomes sad when he can not get things like the others, cool they were princes and princesses. Another possible interpretation is
shoes or go to camps or such things like the others do. There that the parents are the real victims, not allowing themselves to
will also be less (money) for him to bring than the others if they consume, but making sacrifices in their basic consumption for their
are going on a school trip.“ children’s symbolic consumption.
Future research need to take a closer look at what is really
These five coping strategies can be something that families in going on inside marginalized families when it comes to consump-
general use from time to time or in a temporary financial down- tion and in what ways a scarce financial situation influences the
swing. However, in regard to the families in this study, it is more of interaction between the family members regarding consumption.
a permanent situation. The financial scarcity has been going on for There is also a need to develop a broader theoretical framework
a long time, for most of the families at least eight to ten years. These when it comes to understanding different group’s position in and
coping strategies are not exceptions for the interviewed families: on relation to the consumer society. It is important to highlight ques-
the contrary it is something that characterizes their everyday life. tions about inequality and different access to goods and services.
We therefore stress the need for more interdisciplinary research on
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION consumption and welfare. This highlights the importance of iden-
It is puzzling that some consumers, in spite of a well-devel- tifying and studying the forms of exclusion and inclusion which the
oped welfare state, can not afford necessities required in the society. consumer society creates. If Western societies are considered as
The context of this paper is Sweden, which is a society character- societies driven by consumption, then there is a need to understand
ized as a society with lesser gaps regarding the income levels processes that create differentiation and stratification. There exists
between different groups than most parts of the world. But the gap a considerable bulk of knowledge regarding exclusion and inclu-
is widening and this development has an impact on the conditions sion in relation to the labour market and the welfare state: it is now
for consumption for the poorer groups. This study has pointed to time to direct the searchlight towards the consumer society. We
three important issues regarding marginalized consumers. need to develop new theoretical tools and concepts to get a deeper
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society. Roundtree Foundation.
Kempson, Elaine, Claire Whyley, John Caskey and Sharon
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Consumer Perceptions of Value in a Developing Country: A Model and Empirical Test
Md. Humayun Kabir Chowdhury, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh
Shuzo Abe, Yokohama National University, Japan
ABSTRACT advancement of multinational companies in the Bangladesh market

Consumer perceptions of value have been well documented during recent years, research on Bangladeshi consumers has been
and researched by scholars in different areas. Most past studies in scarce in the marketing literature. It can be argued that a good
this paradigm, however, are undertaken in industrialized countries; starting point to gain an initial understanding of Bangladeshi
hence their findings cannot be extrapolated to the developing consumers is to examine their mechanism of perceived value with
countries that offer tremendous market potential for global prod- regard to a product.
ucts. In this study, consumer perceived value is hypothesized to be The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of
formed with the interactions between/among consumer perceptions various types of cognitive associations that consumers in Bangladesh
of product quality, risk, and Sacrifice. Perceptions of product as a developing country can hold for the offerings of a manufacturer
quality, risk, and sacrifice are hypothesized to be dependent upon on consumer value assessment. The primary goal of this study is to
corporate image, country of origin, and price. The major findings analyze the consumers’ perception of value in relation to the
are discussed and directions for future research are suggested. underlying cognitive structure. The literature on country of origin,
corporate image, perceived price, perceived quality, perceived
INTRODUCTION sacrifice, and perceived risk are not yet rich enough to provide a
Researchers have developed models of consumer perceptions sound conceptual foundation for investigating the process of con-
of value emphasizing on consumers’ use of extrinsic cues as sumer value judgment in the developing economies. First, an
indicators of value (Dodds and Monroe 1985; Erickson and exploratory qualitative study will be undertaken to investigate the
Johansson 1985; Teas and Agarwal 2000). It is still unknown about concepts and develop the constructs under study that deemed
which of the extrinsic cues are chosen by consumers in forming necessary for Bangladesh. Then, the study will investigate the roles
their value in a deal, and why some cues are chosen while others are of the theoretical constructs to find out the basic components and
not. However, it is assumed that there are two general ways to will especially concentrate on those aspects that can be generalized.
understand how consumers usually form perceived value and how It is hoped that this study will clarify the important constructs and
they interact with a company’s product. When a consumer con- will determine and open the way for the construction of an all-
fronts with a new product, s/he will consider salient attributes of the inclusive value assessment theory appropriate for the developing
product and will form an opinion. In addition to this evaluation nations.
process, extrinsic cues might influence consumers’ product evalu-
ations in a more global manner by serving as an evaluative context MODEL SUMMARY
of liking or disliking for the new product (Zeithaml 1988). It is quite It is predicted that extrinsic cues (corporate image, perceived
natural to surmise that a product that maximizes perceived satisfac- country of origin, and perceived price) directly influence the
tion would certainly be preferred to one that fulfills fewer needs. perception of benefit and costs (perceived quality, perceived sacri-
But the question becomes important while one brand is preferred fice, and perceived risk in this study), and that benefit and cost
over another although they contain the same attributes. That is the variables influence perceived value. It has been expected that the
reason why the concept enforced consumer behavior researchers to perceived benefit and costs will mediate extrinsic cues and per-
perceive the construct differently from those of the economists as ceived value.
well as the scholars from other disciplines. A number of hypotheses concerning consumer value judg-
Most studies investigating consumer perceptions of value are ment have been proposed. First, the underlying assumptions of the
done in the industrialized countries (Dodds and Monroe 1985; proposed research are discussed, and then hypotheses are devel-
Dodds, Monroe and Grewal 1991; Teas and Agarwal 2000; Zeithaml oped to test the direct and mediating effects of the variables on
1988). No study has found that tried to find out consumer value consumer value perceptions. It is noteworthy to mention that in this
formation in the developing countries. From the perspective of broadened general model, some hypotheses are truly new and some
multinational companies, an understanding of how consumers in have been developed based on the past research.
developing countries form value is very important. Consumer
markets in the west are saturated. The growth of consumer markets Antecedents of Perceived Quality
in the coming years will occur mostly in developing countries in In the times past, quality has been defined as the conformance
Asia and South America. Andaleeb (1994) notes, “the developing of requirements. Rapid technological change, for instance, has led
countries can be characterized as sellers’ markets while the devel- to multitudes of new products and decreased product lifetimes.
oped countries can be referred to as buyers’ markets”. It is impera- Most of the previous research agree on the argument that the high
tive that consumer value perceptions in developing country may be quality perception often depends on certain assumptions about
quite different from those of their developed country counterparts. consumer behavior: (1) consumers hold some positive impression
Thus, marketing strategies that are suitable for North American and in memory toward the company that produces the product; (2)
West European consumers are likely to fail if applied blindly to consumers hold a positive impression toward the country from
developing countries. Unfortunately, academic research in interna- which the product was originated; and, (3) the price of the product
tional consumer behavior is severely lacking. This paper will try to conveys some favorable information.
fill this important void in the consumer behavior literature.
With a population of 130 million, Bangladesh represents a Influence of corporate image
huge potential market for multinational companies. With economic It is assumed that when a consumer initially encounters a new
growth averaging 5% per year and per capita income increasing product, important information about the product is often missing.
36% during the 1990s, the national poverty level declined from In this case, consumers may form inferences about missing infor-
59% in 1991 to 50% in 2000. However, in spite of the impressive mation by drawing a connection between available pieces of
Volume 1, © 2006
information (one of which is corporate image). When a consumer product’s performance, its reliability, and its social acceptance,
identifies a product with a company, an opportunity arises for the they consciously or unconsciously will try to depend on the extrin-
overall evaluation of the product. When the evaluation of the new sic quality or invisible excellence of that product. Choice situation
product occurs in the presence of corporate information, the corpo- always involves two aspects of risk: uncertainty about the outcome
rate associations can create a context for the evaluation of the and uncertainty about the consequences (Bettman 1973). Acquiring
product. Upon facing a brand, consumers’ cognitive responses will required information could reduce uncertainty about the outcome.
focus on question such as “Does the manufacturer have the neces- Uncertainty about the consequences can be dealt with by reducing
sary skills, expertise, and technology to produce a quality product?” the consequences through putting off the choice.
The positive responses will develop into favorable evaluations
toward the brand. The opposite will be observed in case of negative Influence of corporate image
response. Thus, corporate image that is relevant to the company’s As aforementioned, as long as attribute comparison is con-
ability to produce output, is one likely source for consumers’ cerned, nowadays there is no difference between the televisions
quality perceptions. produced by “Sony” or “Rangs”. Then, the interesting question is–
why Sony is preferred over Rangs? One important reason might be
Influence of country of origin the perceived differences of the corporate images between these
Providing country information may become a powerful strat- two producers. If a favorable company produces a brand, the
egy tools for those countries which have already established a consumer’s memory rehearsal about the brand will center on
positive reputation for their products. Research on evaluations of pleasant thoughts in relation with his or her expected satisfaction
foreign products infers that the producing country affects percep- that the product can be used without any unpleasant consequences.
tions of a product’s attributes and consumer judgments of product Thus, manufacturer related quality perceptions, which are relevant
quality (Andaleeb 1995; Gurhan-Canli and Maheshwaran 2000). to the company’s ability to produce output, are one likely source for
For example, a country’s image regarding workmanship, innova- inferences about the anticipated standing of the product. Conse-
tion, and technological advancement, logically, will be projected quently, perceived risk will tend to be diminished if the product is
onto the features of products produced by that country. This can produced and marketed by the company with higher image.
better be described by the categorization theory where it is supposed
that attitude toward a stimulus is directly related to attitude associ- Influence of country of origin
ated with the activated category (Alba and Hutchinson 1987). If a There are two types of studies on country image: (1) Studies
country name stimulates consumer’s retrieval of information from investigating consumers’ perceptions about various countries, and
memory, consumers will retrieve general information about the (2) studies examining the impact of country image on consumers’
country first and specific quality related information later. When a product evaluations and purchases (Gurhan-Canli and Maheswaran
consumer retrieves positive country image, it will affect positively 2000). Studies on country image perceptions have consistently
to the development of specific quality perception of the product. demonstrated that consumers hold different perceptions about
various countries. However, the results of studies on the impact of
Influence of perceived price country image have been mixed: some studies have shown minor
Research has shown that consumers are more likely to rely on impact of country image (Johansson and Nebenzahl 1986), while
price information as a quality cue in situations where other cues are others have concluded that country image is very influential (Jacoby
absent (Dodds and Monroe 1985; Teas and Agarwal 2000). A and Kaplan 1972). Moreover, studies found that consumers per-
frequent criticism of P–Q research has been the unrealistic nature of ceive a product from a developed country as being reliable and with
single cue studies, but only a small number of studies have exam- the concept that the product will perform better. The more the
ined the effects of price in multi-cue contexts. The conclusion is that product is perceived to be from a country with good image, the more
consumers infer high quality when both positive brand name and the likelihood that the perceived risk with regard to that product will
high price are present (Dodds et al. 1991; Erickson and Johansson be diminished (Lee 1999).
1985). The importance of price as a function of quality has been
extensively studied more than any other factors to measure per- Influence of perceived price
ceived quality. In spite of conflicting findings, most researchers Price is clearly an important information cue in making a
generally agree that price influences perceived quality regardless of decision about what to buy in a store. However, as far the price
its magnitude. The following hypotheses are drawn based on the research on consumer behavior, main concern has been put on the
above reasoning: relationship of perceived price and quality, and the focus has been
put on the possibility whether the consumer accepts the price of the
H1a: Perceived corporate image has a direct positive effect product. However, the process and mechanism between price and
on the evaluation of perceived quality. consumer’s response have not been well considered in stimulus-
H1b: Perceived country of origin image of a product has a response paradigms. Among the little number of articles on price-
direct positive effect on the evaluation of perceived perceived risk, some scholars have argued that price, in general,
quality. increases perceived risk, i.e., the higher the price of a product, the
H1c: Perceived price has a positive direct effect on the higher will be the perceived risk (Bearden and Shimp 1982)).
evaluation of perceived quality. Contrariwise, the same scholars in a different research settings have
denoted that price reduces performance risk and increases financial
Antecedents of Perceived Risk risk, i.e., the higher the price, the less the performance risk, and the
Perception of risk is one pivotal aspect of consumer behavior greater the financial risk (Shimp and Bearden 1982). These above
because it is often perceived to be painful in that it may produce arguments are summarized as follows:
anxiety. It is evidenced in the previous research that consumers are
inherently risk averse, means that a deal is always related inversely H2a: Perceived high corporate image has a direct negative
to the amount of perceived risk. When consumers fail to predict a effect on the evaluation of perceived risk.
156 / Consumer Perceptions of Value in a Developing Country: A Model and Empirical Test
H2b: Perceived high country of origin image of a product has expected positive and negative utility (i.e., net perceived value).
a direct negative effect on the evaluation of perceived Since the outcome of a choice (value) can only be known in the
risk. future, the consumer is forced to deal with risk. It is hypothesized
H2c: Perceived high price has a direct negative effect on the that perceived risk will affect negatively to perceived value, that is,
evaluation of perceived risk. the greater the risk associated with a product, the less the consumers
will perceive the value of that product. The opposite will be
Antecedent of Perceived Sacrifice observed in the cases of smaller risk conditions.
A large number of articles, in the past couple of decades,
convey information of price as the indicator of quality (Peter and Influence of sacrifice on perceived value
Olson 1993). At the same time, sacrifice is also inherently related Wood and Scheer (1996) have shown how expected benefits,
with the price as the amount of money consumers pay to obtain a monetary factors, and risk factors affect consumer evaluation of a
product reduces their wealth (Dodds et al. 1991). Thus, price deal and likelihood of purchasing a product. They considered
becomes a sacrifice, the consumer makes, to obtain the benefits perceived quality as a potential benefit factor, and potential costs
generated by the attributes that constitutes the product. However, considering both tangible and intangible costs. They considered
monetary sacrifice is not the only sacrifice, as operationalized in the monetary sacrifice, that is required to acquire a product, as a form
previous research, consumers usually incur to acquire a product. At of tangible cost, and perceived risk, which represents an uncertainty
the same context, consumers may also incur non-monetary sacrifice and probabilistic future financial or psychological costs, as intan-
such as time, effort, and search costs (Zeithaml 1988). As long as gible cost. However, “Adaptation-Level Theory” and “Range
the sacrifice is concerned, research should incorporate sacrifices Theory” explain how consumers consider the sacrifice as accept-
made with regard to time, effort and search in addition to price able or unacceptable.
consumers employ in a deal. However, it is a valid assumption that In the Adaptation-level theory the assumption is that price
as price increases from a low priced model to a higher priced model, judgments depend on a comparison of a market price to an internal
consumers’ perceived sacrifice also increases. Thus the hypothesis reference price. It relies on a comparison of current sensation to the
is- adaptation level of recent sensory experiences (Lichtenstein et al.
1988). A \1500 price for a dinner may be considered as “high” by
H3: Perceived price has a direct positive effect on the one consumer because he usually spends \1000 for it, and the other
evaluation of perceived sacrifice. may consider it as “cheap” because he spends \2000 normally.
Notable here, perceived price will be encoded in this study based on
Antecedents of Perceived Value Adaptation-level theory. Another view of how people make sen-
Consumers’ perceptions of value are generally formed on the sory judgments is “Range theory”. It suggests that consumers use
basis of “an array of cues”. The consumer’s task in evaluating any the range of remembered price experiences to set a lower and upper
given product is to use cues from this array for making evaluative bound of price expectations, and that the attractiveness of a market
judgments about that product. Extrinsic cues are attributes that are price is a function of its relative location within this range. For
not part of the physical product but consumers take into consider- example, a consumer usually spends \900 to \1200 for a dinner. In
ation during the evaluation of a product. In consumer behavior this case, according to the Range theory, \800 will be “cheap” and
literature, taking altogether, it is argued that the value of a good is 1300 will be a high price for him. In both of these cases, the product
not only inherently related with the attributes in the good but also will bring a lower value for that consumer. So, perceptions of the
the psychological outcome a person or people have for it. same price may have different affects across consumers. A higher
price obviously may boost up the perception of a product’s quality,
Influence of quality on perceived value but at the same time the sacrifice required to purchase the product
Perceived quality is a variable which works as summary leads to a reduced value for that consumer. The above discussion
statistics in consumer value formation (Hauser and Urban 1986). leads to the following hypotheses:
As an image variable, perceived quality is commonly utilized as
overall evaluations of a product whenever consumers do not have H4a: Perceived quality of a product has a direct positive
any specific ideas about the product (Teas and Agarwal (2000; effect on the evaluation of perceived value.
Wood and Scheer 1996). According to categorization theory, H4b: Perceived risk has a direct negative effect on the evalu-
attitudes toward a stimulus are directly related to attitudes association of perceived value.
ated with the activated category (Alba and Hutchinson 1987). H4c: Perceived sacrifice has a direct negative effect on the
When consumers face a brand name associated with high quality, evaluation of perceived value.
consumers will infer positive value toward the brand. Therefore,
when the quality perception of a brand is good, consumer perceived RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
value of that brand will be favorable. When the quality perception
is bad, consumer value perception will be unfavorable. Measurement of Variables and Manipulation
Consumers’ value perceptions were measured using thirteen
Influence of risk on perceived value Likert statements developed by Chowdhury and Abe (2002). Con-
Perception of risk is very important aspect of consumer sumer quality perception was assessed using thirteen measure
behavior because it is often perceived to be painful in that it may scales developed by Lee (1994) and these were again validated for
produce anxiety. Consumers perceive products as having both this study. On the basis of the research by Teas and Agarwal (2000)
desirable (positive valence) and undesirable attributes (negative we measured perceived sacrifice using five Likert statements. Nine
valence) (Dowling and Stealin 1998; Engel, Kollot, and Blackwell country of origin measure scales were borrowed from Chowdhury
1973; Jacoby and Kaplan 1972; Shimp and Bearden 1982). The (2001). Consumer perceptions of risk were measured using four
findings of these research are that individuals attempt to maximize Likert statements that assessed financial risk, social risk, perfor-
the “net valence” which is the arithmetic difference between mance risk, and psychological risk. Scales to measure perceived
corporate image was constructed considering the studies by Keller Estimation of Measurement model for the eight constructs of
and Aaker (1992) and Brown and Dacin (1997). Perceived product interest was performed using Amos 4.01. The first step was an
price was based on the three items developed by Bearden and Shimp evaluation of the overall fit of the structural model as indicated by
(1982). the chi-square statistic, which was a bad fit (χ2=508.2; df=306;
The automatic camera and the color television set were chosen p=0.0001). The statistic is computed under the null hypothesis that
as product categories based on their country of origin. These were the observed covariances among the answers came from a popula-
selected on the criteria of being relevant to Bangladeshi consumers. tion that fits the model. A statistically significant value in the
Most urban Bangladeshi consumers are familiar with both the goodness of fit test would suggest that the data do not fit the
products. Thus, the lack of product familiarity is not expected to proposed model, i.e., that the observed covariance matrix is statis-
influence product evaluation greatly. They comprised a Japanese tically different than the hypothesized matrix. J reskog and S rbom
brand (Sony) and a brand from Bangladesh (Rangs). Information (1986, p. 38-39) state,
with regard to each brand was manipulated by providing subjects
with some formatted information. One page of information relevant “the statistical problem is not one of testing a given hypothesis
to the features of each product was attached to each questionnaire. —— but one of fitting the model to the data and to decide
whether the fit is adequate or not — instead of regarding χ2 as
Subjects and Data Collection Procedure a test statistic one should regard it as a goodness (or badness)
Data was collected from a convenient sample of residents in of fit measure in the sense that large χ2 value correspond to bad
Rajshahi, a city in the northern Bangladesh, and Khulna, a city in the fit and small χ2 values correspond to good fit.”
southern Bangladesh. Eighty subjects were selected for the product
of each country. Thus, a total sample size for the study was 320. Bagozzi and Yi (1988, p. 76) have pointed out that “one of the
Nine observations were later found to be incomplete. Hence, the first things that should be done before examination of the global
usable sample size was reduced to 311. Data were collected from criteria is to see if any anomalies exists in the output”. Examples of
the principal dwellers (either husband or wife) of each household. anomalies exist in the output are: (1) negative estimates for the
Each subject was provided with a one-page product profile that variances, (2) correlation estimates greater than 1, and (3) ex-
included product producer, price and country-of-origin informa- tremely large estimates for the parameters. None of these anomalies
tion. The exact prices used were: Tk. 10000 and Tk. 5000 for the were present in the output of the analysis.
cameras, and Tk. 22000 and Tk. 11000 for the color television sets
(US$ 1= Tk. 65). The levels of high and low prices for each category At this stage, an examination of data was initiated that revealed
were ascertained through a pretest with a group of 30 participants. eight outliners. Elimination of these eight cases thus resulted a total
The subjects were asked to indicate the typical high and low prices of 303 samples. Bagozzi (1977) have proposed two options to
for each product category. consider when a proposed model has to be rejected on statistical
Four versions of the questionnaire have been used, a version grounds:
corresponding to each of the automatic camera/TV brands (Sony
automatic camera, Sony TV, Rangs automatic camera, and Rangs (1) One can try to modify the rejected model in small ways to
TV) in consideration. All instructions regarding the brands under improve its fit to the data.
evaluation were of similar length and paragraph construction. (2) One can start form scratch to devise another model to
When the subject had formed an impression of the brand, he or she replace the rejected one.
was asked to mark the evaluation on a number of seven-point scales.
Measures for evaluating perceived risk (PR), perceived quality Modification indices (M. I) suggest ways of improving a
(PQ), and perceived sacrifice (PS) appeared after the perceived model by increasing the number of decreases faster than the degrees
value (PV) measures. Evaluations of the extrinsic cues, i.e., per- of freedom (Bentler and Bonett 1980). Furthermore, an acceptable
ceived country of origin (PCO), perceived corporate image (PCI), chi-square value can be achieved by introducing additional con-
and perceived product price (PPP) followed PR, PQ, and PS. strains that produce a relative large increase in degrees of freedom
Finally, the demographic questions were given at the last page of the with only a small increase in the chi-square statistic. These modi-
questionnaire. Most subjects spent between 10 and 12 minutes fications can be roughly evaluated by looking at the critical ratios
filling out the entire questionnaire. (C.R). Alternative analysis were performed by modifying the
variables (by correlating and imposing constraints) that deemed
RESULTS logical to improve the model fit but failed to affect the chi-square
value significantly.
Overall Model Fit For the CFA analysis, most factor loadings were acceptable
The first step of the data analysis was a test of the measure- except loadings for observed measures of a dimension named–
ment model before entering into structural model testing. Objec- performance1 on perceived quality (PQ) and one item2 on per-
tives of this test were: (1) to contain the validity and reliability of ceived corporate image (PCI). Because of such statistically insig-
measures developed and tested in previous phases of the study; and nificant scores in loadings, PER and the item of PCI were discarded
(2) to select the best subset of observed measure for use in testing for use in testing the structural model. All the other measures were
the structural model. The data approximated a normal distribution retained for consideration because, the loadings were significant at
with acceptable skewness and kurtosis values. Coefficient alpha 0.05 levels regardless of the magnitude of their factor loadings.
was computed for each set of observed measures associated with a
given latent variable, and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was 1It consisted of two measure items, i.e., (1) this brand will not do its
conducted. Because of the large number of items used to measure basic job very consistently; and, (2) you will get good results from
the dimensionality of most of the constructs, responses of these using products of this brand, on 7-point scales (1=strongly dis-
items were averaged to form a single measure for each of the agree, 7=strongly agree).
dimension. Alpha values of each item in each dimension were 2A 7-point scale measured that “this product contributes something
performed separately and were within an acceptable range. to society” (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree).
FIGURE 1
A Model of Consumer Perceived Value
Finally, the model fit the data well, i.e., χ2=134.54; df=122; esis 1a (H1a) states that the evaluation of perceived quality will be
p=0.21, a goodness-of-fit (GFI) index of 0.959, adjusted goodness- positively affected by the perception of favorable corporate image.
of-fit index of 0.942, Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) of 0.055, That is, if consumers perceive a corporation of having a good
Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) of 263.59. ability, then it will boost up consumers’ perceptions of the product’s
overall quality. The structural equation results support this hypoth-
Tests of Hypotheses esis: the direct effect of perceived corporate image (PCI) on
Seven of the ten path coefficients are significant and all are perceived quality is positive and significant (γ= 0.40, p=0.05).
consistent with the hypothesized direction (see Table 1). Hypoth- Hypothesis 1b (H1b) states that the evaluation of perceived quality
TABLE 1
Structural Model Estimation Results
Hypotheses Parameter (From-To) Estimate Fit Indices:

(Significant at)
Exogenous to endogenous
Chi Square: 134.54
H1a: PCI to PQ γ = 0.40**
H1b: PCO to PQ γ = 0.18*
H1c: PPP to PQ γ = 0.01 (n.s.) df=122
H2a: PCI to PR γ =-0.27*
H2b: PCO to PR γ = -0.03 (n.s.) P=0.21
H2c: PPP to PR γ = -0.01 (n.s.)

GFI: 0.959
H3: PPP to PS γ = 0.15**
Endogenous to endogenous:
AGFI: 0.942
H4a: PQ to P β = 0.44***
H4b: PR to PV β = -0.15**
H4c: PS to PV β = -0.18** RMR: 0.055
*Significant at 0.1. **Significant at 0.05. ***Significant at 0.01. n.s.=Not Significant
will be positively affected by the perception of country image. esis. That is, the direct effect of perceived product price (PPP) on
Specifically, when consumers face a product associated with a perception of risk of buying a product is not significant (γ= -0.01,
positive country image, they will infer positive impression toward p=0.70).
that product. The direct effect of perceived country of origin on In hypothesis 3 (H3) we predicted that perceived product price
perceived value is positive and significant (γ= 0.18, p=0.06). Based has a direct positive effect on perceived sacrifice (PS). It assumes
on previous research, we predicted in hypothesis 1c (H1c) that that as price increases from a low priced model to a higher priced
perception of price (higher price compared to lower price) would be model, consumers’ perceived sacrifice also increases. The results
positively associated with consumer perception of product quality. show that the direct effect of perceived product price on consumer
Recall that although there are so many arguments in favor and perception of sacrifice is positive and significant (β= 0.15, p=0.05)
against the effect of price as an indicator of quality, in this study the Hypothesis 4a states that perceived quality of a product has a
idea of positive relationship between price and perceived quality direct positive effect on the evaluation of perceived value. That is,
was adopted. The results, however, do not support this hypothesis as one’s perceptions of quality toward the brand increases, his trust
as the path between perceived product price (PPP) and perceived of the brand as a satisfaction supplier and thus a fulfiller of value
quality (PQ) is not significant (γ= 0.01, p=0.72). will also increase. This hypothesis was supported that provides
In hypothesis 2a (H2a), the prediction was that perception of positive and significant values (β= 0.44, p=0.01). In hypothesis 4b
corporate image would be negatively associated with consumer (H4b), we hypothesized that perception of risk of purchasing a
perception of risk. Specifically, consumers, in order to escape from product would have direct negative effect on the evaluation of
the possible regret, are expected to buy the product with an perceived value. It means that the greater the risk associated with a
additional attribute. This hypothesis was supported. Perception of product, the less the consumers will perceive the value of that
corporate image (PCI) negatively affected perception of risk (PR) product. The results do support this hypothesis as the path between
and was significant (γ= -0.27, p=0.07). Hypothesis 2b (H2b) states perceived risk (PR) and perceived value (PV) is negative and
that perceived high country of origin image has a direct negative significant (β= -0.15, p=0.05). In hypothesis 4c, we predicted that
effect on perception of risk of buying a product. That is, the more perceived sacrifice would effect perception of value negatively.
the product is perceived to be from a country with good image, the That is, the more a consumer sacrifices to purchase a product, the
more the likelihood that the perceived risk with regard to that less the product would be valuable to that consumer. This hypoth-
product would be diminished. The direct effect of perceived coun- esis was supported in the structural equation model that provides
try of origin (PCO) on perceived risk (PR) is negative but not negative estimates and significant value (β= -0.18, p=0.05).
significant (γ= -0.05, p=0.30). In hypothesis 2c (H2c) we predicted
that perceived high price would have a direct negative effect on CONCLUSION
perception of risk of buying a product. It means that the higher the Consumer perceptions of value have been investigated exten-
price of a product, the lower would be the possibility of purchase sively over the years. Marketing researchers continue to show great
failure. The structural equation results do not support this hypoth- interest in this research paradigm. This is because researchers
realize the importance of the consumer perceptions of value effect sider joint venture or licensing arrangements with well-known
to predict consumer attitude and choice behavior. As a result, both foreign manufacturers. Since corporate image is also important to
empirical and conceptual research on the consumer perceptions of Bangladeshi consumers, well-known corporate association may
value effect have benefited from their sustained enquiry. Unfortu- improve consumer evaluation of the product even though it is
nately, most of these studies are undertaken in the industrialized produced locally.
countries (Teas and Agarwal 2000; Wheatley and Chiu 1977; There are some limitations in this study and thus future
Zeithaml 1988). Hence, neither the empirical findings not the research should continue to test and to refine relationships investi-
conceptual frameworks of these studies can be directly extrapolated gated in the present study and variables that moderate them. Only
to the domain of developing countries. This study is one of the first electronic product class was considered for evaluation in this study.
attempts in filling this gap in consumer value formation literature. Future studies must explore how the underlying model works for a
Results of the structural analysis of this study provide a basis wider range of products, situations, settings, and populations. A
for making inferences about theoretical relationships among the finding’s failure to replicate is evidence of a limit to the
study constructs. The design of the experiment allowed analysis of generalizability of the relation. The study was supposed to tap and
both direct and indirect influence of extrinsic cues on perceived test a theory of consumer value perception, and considerations of
value. Hence, the direct effects of the extrinsic cues on perceived internal validity were paramount. However, when a finding does
value and the indirect effects through the mediating variables replicate, the scope of relation is extended. Further research should
(perceived quality, perceived risk, and perceived sacrifice) on offer enough variety in addition to the product class used here.
perceived value were tested. No direct effect of perceived corporate
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(2), 278-290
Consumer Attitudes Toward Genetically Modified Foods in the Brazilian Market: Which
Benefits Can Reduce the Negativism?
Celso Augusto de Matos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
ABSTRACT Even though there are suggestions that the negative attitude
Despite the benefits attributed to genetically modified foods, toward GMOs can be attenuated by the presence of an additional
there is still a negative consumer attitude toward them in many benefit (Bredahl et al. 1998), the specific benefits that may make the
countries. Two experiments were conducted in order to test the GMOs more accepted are still to be investigated. Thus, the present
effects of genetic modification and product benefits on consumer research aims (i) to investigate consumer attitudes and behavioral
attitudes and behavioral intentions. Results indicated that the pres- intentions toward GMOs, (ii) to test whether the existence of an
ence of the genetic modification in the product led to negative additional benefit has an influence on these variables, and, if so, (iii)
evaluations of the consumer attitudes and the behavioral intentions, to discover which benefit would create a higher level of consumer
the benefits were not enough to attenuate the negative attitudes, acceptance of GMOs. Following recommendations by Frewer et al.
consumers with high involvement with GM food presented a more (1995), three benefits were tested, being associated with: the health
favorable evaluation of the product and demographic variables also of the consumer, the reduction in product price and the increase in
influenced the attitudes. shelf life.
INTRODUCTION ATTITUDES TOWARD GM FOOD

An organism that has been modified, or transformed, using The estimated global area for GM crop for 2003 was 67.7
modern techniques of genetic exchange is commonly referred to as million hectares by 7 million farmers in 18 countries, an increasing
a Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) (Tsay 2003). The intro- of 15% compared to 2002 (ISAAA 2004). Products cultivated
duction of such products, also known as transgenics or GM foods, include soybean, maize, cotton, oilseed, potatoes, and corn, de-
in the marketplace has produced a lot of discussion in many pending on the country. In 2004 only 17 other countries grew
countries. They may offer benefits to the producers, the consumers genetically modified crops. The United States accounted for 59% of
and the environment, by means of an increase in productivity, a the 81 million hectares employed for GM agriculture, followed by
reduction in final price and a decrease in pesticide use (Tsay 2003). Argentina (20% of total area), Canada and Brazil (6% each)
However, the consumer acceptance level of GMOs is low in many (Zarrilli, 2005).
countries, mainly due to the risks associated to health and the GMOs are still not completely regulated in Brazil, and this
environment. Other reasons, such as a lack of confidence in the delay could have produced a source of competitive advantage for
regulatory institutions as well as social and ethical concerns, have Brazilian farmers in their relationship with European countries
also affected the attitudes toward GMOs (Tsay 2003). (MacDemort 1999, Goddard 2002), especially because European
Studies in the United States have shown that American con- consumers have been skeptical about GMOs. However, there has
sumers are not decidedly opposed to GM foods, while the concern been a heat discussion concerning the soybean plantation because,
with its risks, benefits and safety seems to be a more important as there are farmers cultivating GM crops of this product in the
aspect of the subject (Hossain and Onyango 2004). In Europe southwest state of Rio Grande do Sul, there is the risk of contami-
consumers are skeptical towards GMOs in food production, and nation. The government had allowed GM crops in Brazil in 2003 but
their willingness to buy these products is low, with the perceptions it decided to prohibit GM crops again. However a new regulation,
of risks and benefits of the GMOs being also the main issue named Law of Biosecurity, has been approved recently and now it
(Bredahl 2001, Grunert et al. 2004). In the study of Subrahmanyan is allowed to cultivate GM food again (Laws 2005).
and Cheng (2000), the issues related to health, ethics, and perceived Despite the arguments to defend GMOs, such as increased
benefits were among the major concerns of consumers in Singapore. yields, disease resistance, herbicide resistance and enhanced food
Another study from Nishiura et al. (2002) found that Japanese quality, consumers’ resistance toward this kind of food is still high
consumers are worried about the potential health risks of GM food, in many countries (Renton and Fortin 2002, Tsay 2003). For this
despite the efforts of experts in dismissing the possibility of risks. reason, we hypothesize that:
A study conducted by Kim and Kim (2003) in Korea revealed that
consumers concerns about GMOs were high, even though recogni- H1: the presence (absence) of genetic modification in the
tion was low, with consumers manifesting a need to be informed product will result in unfavorable (favorable) consumer
about the safety of GMOs. Tsay (2003) found a similar result in a attitudes toward the product.
study conducted in Taiwan in 2002. In Latin America, a study in
Brazil, the biggest agricultural producer in the region, found that Renton and Fortin (2002) investigated the effects of the
71% of consumers would prefer a product not genetically modified presence of genetic modification and an additional benefit have on
when deciding to purchase food for their home (Ibope 2002). consumer attitudes toward GMOs. Using bread and milk, they
Despite the relative innovation of this research subject, previ- found that genetic modification had a negative influence on con-
ous studies have already investigated consumer attitudes toward sumer attitudes and, contrary to expectations, the additional benefit
GMOs (Frewer et al. 1995, Bredahl et al. 1998, Bredahl 2001, Cook tested (normal x high longevity of the product) was not enough to
et al. 2002). In this context, an important question deals with the offset the negativism produced by genetic modification. In a
reactions consumers will have when confronted with GMOs among previous study, Frewer et al. (1995) had already pointed out the
their choice options, especially those made of soybean and corner, need to study whether benefits to health and the environment would
but also others such as milk, bread, meat, and fruits. be perceived as more acceptable for the genetic modification of

Volume 1, © 2006
products, especially when compared to the benefits of low cost and 206 (68%) were less than 25 years of age, 55 (18%) were between
increased shelf life. 26 and 30 years of age and 40 (14%) were 31 years of age or more.
In this way, Bredahl et al. (1998) predicted that the presence Of the total, 171 (69%) marked 4 or above when asked about the
of an additional benefit and its association to the genetic modifica- responsibility for the purchase of food in the household (mean=4.55;
tion in a product could compensate the negative attitude consumers SD=1.96).
usually have toward GMOs. What is still unknown is which benefit Manipulation Checks. From those 144 that received a message
will be more accepted by consumers in different countries. There- announcing a product with genetic modification, 128 (88,9%)
fore, that the second hypothesis is: chose the option stating that the product had been modified. In
contrast, from those 159 that received a message asserting that the
H2: the presence (absence) of an additional benefit in the product was free from genetic modification, 141 (88,7 %) marked
GMO will (will not) compensate the negative attitudes the option alleging that the product had not been modified (chi-
toward the GMO. square=193.12, p<.000).
The additional benefit stimuli were also checked and the rates
EXPERIMENT 1 of correct processing were: 74/75 (99%) in the health condition, 57/
74 (77%) in the price condition, and 64/75 (85%) in the increased
Method shelf life condition. Those participants who did not answer the
A between-subjects factorial experiment was conducted, ma- manipulation checks questions in the expected manner were ex-
nipulating genetic modification at two levels (present x absent) and cluded and the final sample was reduced to 248 respondents
additional benefit at four levels (no benefit, health benefit, low cost distributed in 8 groups, with cell sizes varying from 24 to 39.
and increased shelf life). Dependent variables were measured only Dependent Variables. Reliability of the scales, measured by
after the stimuli had been administered. Cronbach’s alpha, was at acceptable levels (Nunnally 1967): in-
The product used in the stimulus message was a fictitious volvement with milk (.824); involvement with GMOs (.906);
brand of milk, named New Life. It was presented to the respondents consumer attitudes (.806) and behavioral intentions (.917).
as a real brand that was being introduced into the marketplace. Milk The dimensionality of the scales was also assessed, by means
was chosen because, as it is widely used, it could ease the sampling of the principal component analysis. The results indicated that all
procedures. In addition, milk can be genetically modified and has scales were unidimensional, with the following variances ex-
already been used in previous research (Renton and Fortin 2002), plained: involvement with milk (67.8%), involvement with GMOs
thus allowing for some level of comparison of results. (78.2%), consumer attitudes (57.4%) and behavioral intentions
A non-probabilistic sample was used, composed of under- (80.2%). For this reason, the factor scores were computed for each
graduate students, which represented a ‘non-traditional’ student scale and used in the subsequent analysis.
sample (James and Sonner 2001) because of their experience with Test of the hypotheses. Univariate and multivariate analysis of
the target product. Each participant was randomly assigned to one variance were used to analyze the data. The general correlation
of the eight groups. between consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions was r=.491
Materials and procedures. After being assigned to one group (p< .000). The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is
and before reading the stimulus, respondents answered some ques- more suitable to compare groups in more than one correlated
tions regarding their involvement with the target product (milk), dependent variable because it considers the dependent variables
their involvement with GMOs, and their level of responsibility in together (Hair et al. 1998).
the decision-making process regarding purchases in their home. H1. This hypothesis asserts that the presence (absence) of
The items for involvement were adapted from Zaichkowsky (1985) genetic modification in the product will result in unfavorable
using a Likert like scale (1 to 7), while those for measuring (favorable) consumer attitudes toward the product. In the consumer
responsibility in the purchase of food were adapted from Renton attitudes variable, the comparison of the means indicated a higher
and Fortin (2002) using a semantic differential scale, varying from mean in the group without genetic modification (Mean GM=-.272;
1 (never) to 7 (always). These questions were included in order to Mean NO GM=.272; F (1,230)=18.344; p< .000). The same pattern
be controlled as covariates. was found for the behavioral intentions: MeanGM=-.368; MeanNO
The stimuli were composed of eight messages simulating a GM=.371; F (1,241)=38.039; p< .000.
fictitious brand (New Life) being launched into the market. Partici- Consumer involvement with milk was not different between
pants received one of the messages as if it were being used in the the two groups, F (1,247)=2.628; p<.106. This result was as
company’s advertisement. The eight messages were the result of predicted because this variable was not manipulated and respon-
the combination of genetic modification (present x absent) and dents were randomly assigned to the groups. The same result was
additional benefit (none, health, low cost and increased shelf life). found for the involvement with GMOs, F (1,245)=.496; p<.482.
Two manipulation checks were included just after the stimulus to H2. This hypothesis affirms that the presence (absence) of an
check if stimuli were perceived as expected. additional benefit in the GMO will (will not) compensate the
Dependent Variables. Attitudes were assessed through a se- negative attitudes toward the GMO. The means for consumer
mantic differential scale with five items, adapted from Maheswaran attitudes and behavioral intentions in the four groups with genetic
and Sternthal (1990), and behavioral intentions were measured by modification were negative (figure 1).
a Likert scale with four items, adapted from Zeithaml et al. (1996). The comparison of these means in the Scheffe post hoc test
Demographic questions (i.e. gender, age and education) were (Kirk 1968) indicates that significant differences arise only in the
also included at the end of the questionnaire since previous studies consumer attitudes variable, when comparing low price versus no
have suggested an effect of these variables on the attitude toward benefit (p<.036), low price versus health (p<.006), and low price
GMOs (Subrahmanyan and Cheng 2000). versus shelf life (p<.009). These results suggest that low price is not
perceived as a good additional benefit when announcing a geneti-
Results cally modified product. This discussion will be renewed in the final
The final sample was composed of 303 participants. Of this section.
total, 164 (54%) were male and 139 (46%) female. In terms of age:
164 / Consumer Attitudes Toward Genetically Modified Foods in the Brazilian Market
FIGURE 1
Means for Consumer Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions in the Groups with GM
1.5 no benefit
health
1
low price
0.5 shelf life
Score
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
Attitudes Behavioral Intentions
Another way to test this hypothesis is by using MANOVA, Demographic variables. Even though there were no hypoth-
when the effects of the experimental factors (genetic modification eses for those variables, it was tested whether the dependent
and additional benefits) on the dependent variables (consumer variables differed among demographic groups. A difference was
attitudes and behavioral intentions) can be assessed, considering found in the consumer attitudes when comparing men and women
the covariates (involvement with milk, involvement with GMOs, in the sample: Mwomen=.157; Mmen=-.125 ; F (1,228)=4.572;
and responsibility for the decisions to purchase food). p<.034.
Results from this multivariate analysis showed a significant
interaction between genetic modification and additional benefits: EXPERIMENT 2
Wilk’s lambda=.941; F (6,434)=3.245; p<.038. The individual
effects were also significant for genetic modification, with Wilk’s Method
lambda=.840; F (2,217)=20.692; p<.000, and for additional ben- To enhance the external validity of the results found in the first
efits, with Wilk’s lambda=.931; F (6,434)=2.617; p<.017. experiment (Winner 1999), a replication was conducted. Sampling
The univariate version of analysis of variance reveals that this was non-probabilistic by convenience, with consumers voluntarily
interaction is significant in the consumer attitudes variable (F=3.621; participating in the study. Undergraduate students attending the
p<.014), but not in the behavioral intentions (F=.814; p<.487). market research subject were trained to recruit relatives, neighbors
These interactions, depicted in figure 2, are a result of this pattern: and co-workers for joining the experiment.
(i) For the consumer attitudes, there is no difference in the Results

benefits when the product was not genetically modified, with A total of 376 questionnaires were returned and 276 (73.4%)
F (3,111)=2.596, p<.056 and the contrast health versus no were considered valid after checking for missing data and the
benefit with the highest mean difference (p<.060). However, questions testing the stimuli manipulations. Of this total, 142 (51%)
when the product is genetically modified, there is a significant were male, 147 (53%) had bachelor degree, 105 (38%) had up to a
difference among the groups, with F (3,111)=5.568; p<.001. high school level education and 24 (9%) had completed a graduate
The groups with a low price benefit presented a lower mean course. In terms of age: 86 (31%) were up to 25 years of age, 63
when compared to no benefit (p< .036), to health (p<.006) and (23%) were between 26 and 30 years of age, 77 (28%) were between
to increased shelf life (p<.009). This indicates that the price 31 and 40 years of age and 50 (18%) were more than 41 years of age.
benefit affects consumer attitudes in a significantly negative Of the total, 219 (79%) gave marked 4 or above when asked about
fashion. the responsibility of purchasing food for household (mean=5.08;
SD=1.91). Cell size varied from 20 to 49 in each group.
(ii) For the behavioral intentions variable, benefits were not As in the first study, reliability and dimensionality analyses
significantly different when compared to each other, when were conducted before the test of the hypotheses. Reliability in each
considering the product with genetic modification [F scale, measured by Cronbach’s alpha, was at acceptable level: .826
(3,117)=1.346; p<.263], or without any modification [F (involvement with milk), .937 (involvement with GMOs), .854
(3,116)=1.726; p<.165]. In general, however, it was found that (consumer attitudes) and .943 (behavioral intentions). Dimension-
the groups with genetic modification presented a significantly ality was assessed by factorial analysis and all of the scales were
lower score for behavioral intentions when compared to the found to be unidimensional with the following variances extracted:
groups without modification (already presented in the first 67.87% (involvement with milk), 84.23% (involvement with
hypothesis). GMOs), 64.28% (consumer attitudes) and 85,61% (behavioral
FIGURE 2
Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions as a Function of GM and Benefits
1.00 1.00
no benefit no benefit
health health
low price low price
0.50 0.50
Behavioral Intentions
shelf life shelf life
Attitudes
0.00 0.00
-0.50 -0.50
-1.00 -1.00
NO genetic modification YES NO genetic modification YES
intentions). Based on these results, the factor scores were computed It can be noticed that the genetic modification factor was
as a new variable for each scale and used in the test of hypotheses. significant in all models, irrespective of the inclusion of any
Test of hypotheses. Univariate and multivariate versions of covariates. On the other hand, additional benefits were not signifi-
analysis of variance were used. As in the first study, consumer cant in any of the models. A significant interaction between genetic
attitudes and behavioral intentions were correlated (r=.628, p<.000). modification and additional benefit was found in the consumer
H1. This hypothesis states that the presence (absence) of attitudes variable (p<.044) in the second model. This interaction is
genetic modification in the product will result in unfavorable the result of this pattern: when there is no genetic modification,
(favorable) consumer attitudes toward the product. In the consumer there is no difference between the groups, with F (3,119)=1.547;
attitudes variable, the comparison of the means indicated a higher p<.206; but, when there is genetic modification in the product, the
mean in the group without genetic modification: Mean GM=-.210; groups are different, F (3,136)=2.906; p<.037, with the lowest
Mean NO GM=.239; F (1,263)=13.815; p< .000. The same pattern means occurring in the groups of low price and increased shelf life
was found for the behavioral intentions variable: Mean GM=-.286; (see figure 4).
Mean NO GM=.318; F (1,270)=26.933; p< .000. Demographic Variables. As in the experiment 1, it was found
These results indicate that the presence of a genetic modifica- that men showed a lower mean than women in the attitudes variable,
tion in the target product affected consumer perception, considering but with no significant difference: F (1,261)=1.253; p<.264. Age
the consumer attitudes and the behavioral intentions toward this did affect the involvement with GMOs: as age increased, involve-
product. ment with GMOs decreased, with F (3,270)=4.606; p<.004. In a
H2. This hypothesis predicts that the presence (absence) of an similar fashion, education affected the behavioral intentions: those
additional benefit in the GMO will (will not) compensate the with higher education (college graduates) manifested lower scores
negative attitudes toward the GMO. The means for behavioral when compared to the group with a lower education level: F
intentions were negative in the four groups with genetic modifica- (4,265)=2.722; p<.030.
tion but only in two of these groups the consumer attitudes variable
was negative (Figure 3). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
In the consumer attitudes variable, it can be noticed that the The possibility of the introduction of genetically modified
means were negative in the groups with the benefits of low price and organisms (GMOs or GM food) in the marketplace has created
increased shelf life, while positive in the groups with no benefit and heated discussions among scientists, governments, producers, me-
benefit for health. However, these differences were not statistically dia and consumer agencies. Despite the benefits attributed to the
significant. GMOs, consumer perceptions are still associated with risks to the
The means for behavioral intentions were negative in all four health and the environment. A common result in previous research
groups with genetic modification, but they were not statistically has been the negativism toward GM food in many countries
different among each other. Thus, the presence of an additional (Bredahl et al. 1998, Renton and Fortin 2002).
benefit did not change the negative perceptions of the respondents. In this way, scientific inquiries in the context of consumer
Multivariate analysis of variance was also conducted in order behavior theory have more specifically investigated which factors
to test the effects of the factors (genetic modification and additional contribute to the formation of consumer attitudes toward GMOs
benefits) on the dependent variables (consumer attitudes and be- (Bredahl et al. 1998) and which characteristics and benefits of the
havioral intentions), controlled for the effects of the covariates GM food can compensate for the initial negative perception (Frewer
(involvement with milk, involvement with GMOs, and responsibil- et al. 1995).
ity for the decision of purchasing food for the home). Using this The experiments presented here had the objective of assessing
approach, 4 models were estimated depending on the presence and consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions toward GMOs in
number of covariates (see table 1). the Brazilian market. In addition, they tested whether the presence
FIGURE 3
Means for Consumer Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions in the Groups with GM
no benefit
1.5
health
1
low price
0.5 shelf life
Score
-0.5
-1
-1.5
Attitudes Behavioral Intentions
TABLE 1
Significance of the Factors GM and ADDITIONAL BENEFIT in Four Models
Source Dependent Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

(sig) (sig) (sig) (sig)
Genetic Modification Attitudes .003 .004 .000 .000

Behavioral Intentions .000 .000 .000 .000
Additional Benefit Attitudes .140 .152 .073 .074

Modification x Benefit Attitudes .064 .044 .119 .135

Note. Model 1: no covariates; Model 2: involvement with milk as covariate; Model 3: involvement with milk and involvement
with GMOs as covariates; Model 4: involvement with milk, involvement with GMOs, and responsibility of purchasing food for the
home as covariates.
of an additional benefit would have any influence, and if so, in what The second hypothesis predicted that the presence (absence)
way. Based on previous studies and the concepts of attitudes and of an additional benefit in the GMO would (would not) compensate
involvement, two hypotheses were proposed. Two experiments the negative attitudes toward the GMO. In the first experiment, all
were conducted to test them, both based in non-probabilistic three groups with genetic modification and some benefits presented
samples, but with random assignment of subjects. In the first, means that were lower when compared to the group with genetic
undergraduates were used as research subjects, while in the second modification but without any benefits. It was found that the group
consumers with a wide range of age and education participated in with the low price benefit had the lowest mean and that it was
the study. significantly different when compared to the other groups. This
The first hypothesis predicted that the presence (absence) of pattern was similar in the second experiment, even though the
genetic modification in the product would result in unfavorable differences were not statistically significant. A possible explana-
(favorable) consumer attitudes toward the product. Indeed, those tion for these results could be associated with the high income of the
who received a message claiming that the product had been geneti- participants as well as the minimal influence of the target product
cally modified presented means for consumer attitudes and behav- (milk) in the total food products they usually buy. Nevertheless,
ioral intentions that were significantly lower when compared to these results also suggest the importance of considering consumer
those receiving a message asserting that the product had not been income when trying to measure the attitudes toward GMOs, mainly
genetically modified. This result was convergent in both experi- because low-income consumers tend to be more influenced by the
ments. price of food. In the second hypothesis, behavioral intentions also
FIGURE 4
Consumer Attitudes as a Function of GM and Additional Benefit
1.0
no benefit
health
low price
0.5
shelf life
Attitudes
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
NO Genetic Modification YES
followed the pattern of the consumer attitudes even though there and responsibility of purchasing foods for the home) and also by
were no statistically significant differences. These results are simi- replicating the study in a different, more heterogeneous sample.
lar to the ones found by Renton and Fortin (2002), in which the Some limitations should also be considered: only one category
benefit tested (i.e. increased shelf life) was not able to offset the of food product was considered for the manipulations and the
negative perception toward the genetically modified product. sampling process was not probabilistic. Thus, new studies should
It is interesting to note the effect of some demographic include new products as targets of genetic modification, such as
variables in the attitudes toward GM food. For instance, in both those made of soybean, and consider a more heterogeneous sample,
experiments men presented lower attitudes than women, indicating especially in terms of education and income, which affect the level
that the women perceived the new brand (New Life) as more of knowledge about the subject and the possibility of adopting
favorable. This result is contrary to some previous studies (e.g. products not genetically modified as substitutes.
Moerbeek and Casimir 2005, Subrahmanyan and Cheng 2000), To extend the findings presented here, future studies could
which found that women are usually more concerned than men also investigate: (i) the fact that “genetic modification” as a fashion-
about the health and ethical aspects related to GMOs. However, as able issue might affect consumer attitudes; (ii) the extension con-
the experiments conducted here did not investigate consumer sumer culture influences such attitudes (e.g. acceptance of GMOs
perception toward health and ethical questions when dealing with tends to be higher in the US than it is in Brazil); and (iii) specific
GM food, these results cannot be directly compared. benefits of GMOs (e.g. low cholesterol) as affecting attitudes
In the second experiment, it could also be noted that: (i) higher toward GMOs.
education was associated with a lower level of behavioral inten-
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Nishiura, H., H. Imai, H. Nakao, H. Tsukino, Y. Kuroda, and T.
Katoh (2002), “Genetically Modified Crops: Consumer
Attitudes and Trends in Plant Research in Japan,” Food
Service Technology, 2, 183-189.
Nunnally, J.C. (1967), Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill, New
York, USA.
Perdue, B.C. and J.O. Summers (1986), “Checking the Success
of Manipulations in Marketing Experiments,” Journal of
Marketing Research, 23, 317-26.
Renton, M. and D.R. Fortin (2002), An Experimental Investiga-
tion on Consumer Acceptance of/Resistance to Genetically
Modified Products. Paper presented at the 2002 Academy of
Marketing Science Annual Conference, Florida, USA.
Subrahmanyan, S. and P.S. Cheng (2000), “Perceptions and
Attitudes of Singaporeans Towards Genetically Modified
Food,” Journal of Consumer Affairs, 34 (2), 269-290.
Customers’ Preferred Service Behaviors in the Medical and Restaurant Industries: The Case
of the Mexican Consumers
Laura Serviere, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Anshu Saran, University of Texas-Pan American, USA
Jose N. Barragan, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico
EXTENDED ABSTRACT H3: Friendliness will have a greater importance for the Mexi-
The interaction that occurs between a service provider and a can consumers in interactions with waiters than in inter-
customer has received a significant amount of attention in the actions with doctors.
services research stream. However, there is still little knowledge H4: Promptness will have a greater importance for the Mexi-
with regards to how consumers assess service encounters, and even can consumers in interactions with waiters than in inter-
less about what is important to consumers in different countries actions with doctors.
other than the U.S. Additional research in different cultures is H5: The service behaviors of caring, courtesy, friendliness,
needed to expand the knowledge about preferred service behaviors and promptness will have a direct relationship with
among consumers. satisfaction in interactions with waiters and doctors for
This research investigated a group of behaviors (caring, cour- the Mexican consumers.
tesy, friendliness, and promptness) to determine their relative
importance in interactions with medical and restaurant service The statistical analysis aimed to determine in which industry
encounters and their impact on satisfaction among Mexican con- the selected behavior had a greater relative importance and to
sumers. Mexico is worthwhile to examine because it offers a further establish the relative influence of the service behaviors per
different cultural environment than the previously researched coun- industry. A structural equation model per industry was reproduced
tries (U.S. and Japan). Furthermore, 39.3% of the labor force in where the proposed four service behaviors (caring, courtesy, friend-
Mexico takes place in service sectors, where the technical, profes- liness, and promptness) led to satisfaction with the service provider.
sional, personal, and social services employ 3, 799, 157 workers Because a model per industry was reproduced, it allowed us to
(INEGI 1999). determine in which industry the selected behavior had a greater
This research had the following objectives: First, the identifi- relative importance, and to further establish the relative influence of
cation of the service behaviors that had greater significance for the service behaviors per industry. Due to an insignificant critical
Mexican consumers when interacting in medical and restaurant ratio, the service behavior of promptness was removed in both
encounters. Second, the cross-industry comparison to determine models. The results were: H1= supported, H2= not supported, H3=
whether Mexican consumers have a preference in the behaviors not supported, H4= not supported, H5= partially supported.
displayed by service providers. Third, the determination of whether The results imply that the service behaviors of friendliness,
these service behaviors had an impact on the satisfaction of Mexi- courtesy, and caring are in fact important behaviors that the Mexi-
can consumers within these specific industries. The service encoun- can consumers prefer in both interactions, waiters and doctors, and
ter dimensions chosen for this cross-industry study were caring, that lead to a higher satisfaction with the service providers within
courtesy, friendliness, and promptness. these industries. The results present some implications that service
The medical and restaurant industries are commonly and providers in the medical and restaurant industry need to address
frequently used by consumers anywhere in the world, allowing the when providing their services in Mexico and possibly Latin America.
study of differences between them due to their highly interactive Friendliness is the service behavior that exerts the most influence on
nature but still potential variance on several dimensions (Winsted satisfaction with the service provider among the Mexican consum-
1999). The medical industry is represented by interactions of ers when interacting with the restaurant and medical industries.
customer with their doctors, and the restaurant industry is repre- After friendly behaviors, the restaurant and medical settings
sented by sit-down encounters. Professional service encounters, should aim to offer a service that includes employees displaying
such as the medical, have unique characteristics as the service courteous and caring attitudes. Employers in these industries can
person usually has an advanced degree and typically the encounter assess whether their offering includes these service behaviors that
requires a high level of interaction between the parties involved demonstrated an impact on customer satisfaction. Restaurant and
(Brown and Swartz 1989). These requirements and situations are medical services with friendly, courteous, and caring staff will have
not mandatory in the restaurant industry, where it is not necessary a positive impact in the satisfaction of these customers. Regardless
to have an advanced degree and where the levels of interaction can of the industry, Mexican consumers, and possibly Latin American
vary based on the type of restaurant (fast food vs. sit-down). consumers as well, value friendly behaviors.
The following hypotheses were tested to determine in which Interestingly, Mexican consumers did not show a significant
industry the selected behaviors had a greater relative importance need for promptness. Promptness was not a factor preferred by the
and to further establish the relative influence of the service behav- consumers, nor had a significant effect on satisfaction with the
iors on customer satisfaction per industry: service providers. This could be interpreted as showing a society
that prefers the service behaviors that are oriented to the person
H1: Caring will have a greater importance for the Mexican rather than to the time factor. Service providers should focus on
consumers in interactions with doctors than in interac- ensuring that their employees, especially those with a direct cus-
tions with waiters. tomer interaction, display behaviors of friendliness, courtesy, and
H2: Courtesy will have a greater importance for the Mexican caring, which will ultimately please the Mexican consumer. Mexi-
consumers in interactions with waiters than in interac- can consumers should not be treated with an impersonal fast
tions with doctors. service.

Volume 1, © 2006
170 / Customers’ Preferred Service Behaviors in the Medical and Restaurant Industries: The Case of the Mexican Consumers
Once these behaviors are included as part of the service
strategy, service providers will certainly deliver a satisfactory
service experience for their customers. This will lead to achieving
service success where the link between the service provider and the
customer will be strengthened through preferred service behaviors.
Future research that addresses additional service behaviors and
other industries would be appropriate and necessary to expand the
knowledge about which behaviors have a greater impact in service
encounters.
REFERENCES
INEGI (1999), “Censos Economicos en Mexico” (Economic
Census in Mexico), http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/
espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=econ04&c=1808.
Winsted, Kathryn F. (1999), “Evaluating Service Encounters: A
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Industry Exploration,” Journal of
Marketing Theory and Practice, 7 (Spring), 106-122.
Brown, Stephen W. and Teresa A. Swartz (1989), “A Gap
Analysis of Professional Service Quality,” Journal of
Marketing, 53 (April), 92-98.
Longitudinal Study of Customer Loyalty and its Antecedents
Lelis Balestrin Espartel, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
EXTENDED ABSTRACT process (first wave) and during its development, showing that there
This research serves two purposes: first, to validate and are other factors, which were not studied, influencing customer
confirm the relationship between loyalty and its antecedents, as loyalty and behavior through the relationship between the customer
well as the measures used in study constructs, using and adapting and the brand. Therefore, there is margin for new investigations
models that have already been tested; secondly, and most impor- aiming at deepening the knowledge on customer loyalty over time.
tantly, to evaluate the evolution of these relationships in a longer Concerning possible developments of the research, an initial
period of time, contributing to the understanding of loyalty over suggestion would be to evaluate other models longitudinally,
time, serving as a way to direct future academic research efforts testing other relationships among constructs, thus enriching inter-
(e.g., how customer loyalty is formed). pretation and widening the validity of results.
Among the possible models that would serve this purpose, the Another suggestion would be to search new conformations for
model proposed by Agustin and Singh (2002) was chosen. It shows the same model (loyalty determinants), considering other con-
satisfaction, trust, and value as antecedents of loyalty. structs (e.g., perceived quality, commitment, cultural aspects, etc.)
A longitudinal study was conducted. A survey revealed that or exploring other conformations in the relationships among the
products mostly indicated for evaluation were supermarkets, gas same constructs, such as the inclusion of value as an antecedent of
stations, and beers. In order to do so, the research design was customer satisfaction, as proposed by Jones and Sasser (1995) and
divided into two stages: initially, an exploratory stage was carried Lee and Overby (2004).
out, presenting a qualitative character, responsible for subsidizing Considering that the formation of loyalty involves, besides the
the following stage; then, a descriptive stage was performed, buying behavior, an attitudinal dimension of the customer towards
having quantitative characteristics, responsible for the research the brand (Day 1969; Dick and Basu 1994), it is easy to imagine this
conclusions. In short, the longitudinal study was conducted through process to be slow and gradual. Longer longitudinal studies to
four waves, with intervals ranging among themselves (seven, evaluate loyalty are highly recommended.
seven, and 17 weeks, respectively), with total time of approxi- Still referring to loyalty, construct measurement should be
mately 31 weeks. addressed again. It is recommended to measure loyalty intensity
The population of the research was composed of undergradu- appropriately. The behavior of models like the one tested in this
ate students of Business at a private Brazilian university. study is likely to be different in cases in which there is, in fact,
Results found in the first wave show that satisfaction, trust, loyalty similar to the “ultimate loyalty” (Oliver 1999).
value, and loyalty are differently related, according to the product. Another possible focus of future study is to evaluate the
Another highlight is the strength of customer satisfaction in the formation of loyalty in different customer groups. It can be sup-
formation of value, trust, and specially loyalty. posed that, in a one-year longitudinal study, for instance, such
Particularly regarding trust, a shift in focus can also occur: for period would have a higher impact on customers who have been
supermarkets, there may be a higher trust on brands for sale than on using a supermarket or gas station for one year than for those who
the supermarket itself; for gas stations, there may be a higher trust have been customers for five years. Analyzing this issue in depth
on the location than on the brand; for beers (even being a tangible was limited in this study due to sample matters.
good), there may be a shift in trust for the restaurant or bar (which
are responsible for serving them cold, a preference of the Brazilian REFERENCES
consumer). Agustin, Clara and Jagdip Singh (2002), “Satisfaction, Trust,
The longitudinal stability of relationships among the proposed Value and Consumer Loyalty: Curvilinearities in Relation-
constructs for supermarkets and beers encourages the use of longi- ship Dynamics,” in Proceedings of 31st Conference of
tudinal studies for understanding these casual relationships. For European Marketing Academy, ed. Minoo Farhangmeher,
both cases it is possible to affirm that, for instance, trust has no Braga, Portugal: EMAC.
significant impact on loyalty, remaining unaltered over time. Nev- Day, George S. (1969), “A Two-Dimensional Concept of Brand
ertheless, since this stability is not present in gas stations, a correct Loyalty,” Journal of Advertising Research, 9 (3), 29-35.
specification of the model at the initial moment of the survey should Dick, Alan S. and Kunal Basu (1994), “Customer loyalty:
be made. Toward an integrated conceptual framework,” Journal of
Considering the results achieved, this article offers some Academy of Marketing Science, 22 (2), 99-113.
contributions to the theoretical and methodological discussion of Jones, Thomas O. and W. Earl Sasser Jr (1995), “Why Satisfied
consumers’ loyalty, both as a cross sectional evaluation, at a Customers Defect,” Harvard Business Review, 73 (8), 88-99.
specific moment, when the behavior of the proposed model for each Lee, Eun-Ju and Jeffrey W. Overby (2004), “Creating Value for
product can be evaluated, and as a longitudinal evaluation, main Online Shoppers: Implications for Satisfaction and Loyalty,”
focus of this article, considering the four data collection waves Journal of Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining
through a 31-week research period. Behavior, 17, 54-67.
Moreover, this article contributes to the marketing literature as Oliver, Richard L. (1999), “Whence Consumer Loyalty,”
it proposes an evaluation of the formation of loyalty, but conforms Journal of Marketing, 63 (Special Issue), 33-44.
this evaluation using the longitudinal approach, trying to under-
stand how the loyalty determinants act on it over time.
Results showed different behaviors of the proposed model for
surveyed products, both at the beginning of the data collection

Volume 1, © 2006
What Influences Satisfaction in Purchasing High-Value Goods?
An Empirical Analysis from the Brazilian Real Estate Industry
Alda Rosana Duarte de Almeida, EBAPE-FGV, Brazil
ABSTRACT Because our analysis is restricted to pre-construction real

This research examines customer trust in the salesperson and estate sales (as-yet-intangible products), service-marketing litera-
company as well as customer perception of product value and ture proved valuable as services are essentially intangible. The
quality as factors that affect purchase satisfaction in the pre- material/physical reality of a product such as “pre-construction” or
construction real estate industry. We developed a theoretical model “under-construction” real estate may not be appreciated until long
and tested it empirically using Structural Equation Modeling. The after the purchase is made. However, such intangibles, when
results suggest that trust in the real estate broker influences cus- supported by models, blueprints and construction-site visits, may
tomer satisfaction. Furthermore, perceived product value and trust boost the trust of the potential clients in their purchase evaluation
in the homebuilder influence satisfaction with the purchase whereas thereby reducing the influence of word-of-mouth communication,
perceptions of product quality had no influence. Based on our which complicates consumer evaluation in such purchases (Berry
findings, we discuss implications for marketing researchers and and Parasuraman 1995). The theoretical definitions and hypotheses
practitioners. of this research are presented below.
Trust. Many authors have studied trust as an important con-
INTRODUCTION struct in client relationships, generating a large array of definitions
Over the past two decades, many changes have occurred in (Bigne and Blesa 2003; Doney and Cannon 1997; Santos 2001).
Brazilian organizations, laws and information access as a result of Santos (2001) defines trust as “a psychological state involving an
the globalization of capital. This new phase of development in intention to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations
world capitalism has stimulated people to change their way of about the intentions and behavior of a third party”, and concludes
thinking, analyzing and perceiving products and service providers. that trust has a direct impact on loyalty and is fundamental to the
Marketing studies in different countries have followed this ten- development of strong and lasting relationships between consum-
dency and several previously neglected variables such as trust, ers and organizations.
satisfaction, loyalty and quality have now been extensively studied. According to Santos and Rossi (2002), consumer trust in the
Both international research (Doney and Cannon 1997; Oliver 1999; service context is a two-faceted construct–trust in the employees
Sirdeshmukh et al. 2002) and that in Brazil (Brei and Rossi 2002; and trust in managerial practices. As a counterpoint, this paper
Santos 2001) confirm this tendency. focuses only on trust in the person who is in contact with the client
This article proposes and tests a conceptual model of trust, regarding the sale of the property, in other words in the real estate
both in the salesperson and in the company, and of the client’s broker, and does not analyze the influence of managerial practices
perception of the value and quality of the product, as antecedents of of the companies involved in the sale. Santos and Rossi (2002) also
customer satisfaction with high-value purchases of residential indicate that in any long-term relationship trust is associated with
properties (either pre-construction or during construction). We qualities such as consistency, honesty, integrity, responsibility and
have observed an absence of research on trust and satisfaction in benevolence, and plays a central role in promoting cooperation
high-value purchases, and on the need to examine the importance between the parties. However, for Garbarino and Johnson (1999),
of customer perceptions of products and salespersons in the real the psychological benefit of trust is more important than any special
estate market, mainly in the Latin American context. Thus we treatment given or the social benefits involved in the relationship
investigate the following problem: Are customer perceptions of between consumers and service companies.
trust, value and quality antecedents to customer satisfaction with Trust in the Real State Broker. When the potential client goes
purchases of residential real estate in the pre-construction stage? to the homebuilder’s sales stand, she/he has acknowledged a need
The article is structured in the following manner: This intro- and is in the follow-up stage of the purchasing process. At this stage,
ductory section presents the justifications for the research and the the broker plays an important role in providing information about
objectives involved. The second section contains the theoretical the property such as location, layout, quality, leisure options, price,
basis for the model. The third section presents the research method- delivery schedule and financing. Nearly half of prospective cus-
ology, including operationalization of variables, as well as the tomers fail to decide on the purchase of an apartment during a visit
procedures for collecting and analyzing data. The fourth section to the stand, even though they have all the necessary information.
shows the results and analysis thereof. The closing section lists the For this reason, the relationship between the broker and the client
main conclusions, implications for management and marketing may intensify with the passing of time (Mutran 2003). Crosby et al.
research, and suggestions for future research. (1990) show that trust in the salesperson is a dimension of the
quality of the relationship and understand that trust is essentially the
THEORY AND HYPOTHESES client’s belief in the honesty and integrity of the salesperson.
A high-value purchase is characterized by detailed purchase Additionally, Doney and Cannon (1997) define trust as the
planning, the participation of all interested parties in the purchase client’s perception of the credibility and benevolence of the sales-
decision, and further research into the prices and brands to be person and report that this trust is not related to the choice of
acquired (Dias 2003). In the case of real state, along with the price purchase. Similarly, Suh and Han (2003) understand that trust has
of the property, other factors such as tying up income, financing, three characteristics: (1) competence: client belief that the salesper-
type of construction, savings expenditures, property location and son has the ability to do what needs to be done; (2) benevolence:
quality of construction often add a psychological cost to the client belief that the salesperson wants to do the best for her/him;
purchase and create a far greater perception of risk than that and, (3) integrity: client belief that the salesperson is honest, ethical,
associated with the value of the product. and reliable.
Volume 1, © 2006
The definitions of trust by the authors cited above generally satisfaction is a positive evaluation, surpassing expectations, based
show that it is linked to conditions of quality, rather to than on the purchase and the consumption experience.
economic considerations. However, this does not invalidate the fact Oliver (1999) established that satisfaction with the purchase is
that lack of trust may render the completion of the negotiation a temporal post-usage state resulting from a unique consumption
unviable. Consequently, in this article, trust in the broker is seen as situation or of repeated experiences that reflect how a product
the psychological benefit constructed on the basis of the integrity, achieved its desired result. Satisfaction with the purchase of a
credibility, benevolence, dignity and sincerity perceived by the property is defined here as a psychological state constructed on the
client (Doney and Cannon 1997; Garbarino and Johnson 1999; Suh basis of anticipated, perceived and sustained trust during the
and Han 2003). purchase and in accordance with the client’s perceptions regarding
Trust in the Homebuilder. A purchase that generates anguish the quality and value of the product. (Day 1984 apud Westbrook and
for the buyer reflects negatively on the image of the product or of Oliver 1991).
the company. A corporate or brand image is the combined set of Characteristics of the Real Estate Broker. In Doney and
perceptions and associations that the consumer develops vis-à-vis Cannon’s (1997) study, the building of trust is also affected by the
the product (Dias 2003). This market image is an indication of the characteristics of the salesperson. According to purchaser evalua-
credibility of the company or of the product. tions, a good salesperson is friendly, pleasant and agreeable.
Morgan and Hunt (1994) suggest that trust exists when one Salespeople affirm that in order to gain the client’s trust, the latter
party, in this case the client, believes in the trustworthiness and must identify them as a person worthy of respect or even as a friend
integrity of the partner involved in the negotiation, namely the (Swan et al. 1985). Here, the characteristics of the real estate broker
company. Similarly, Andaleeb (1996) defines trust in the company include: (a) the client’s perception of the broker’s knowledge of the
as the readiness of one party to trust in the behavior of the other party product; and, (b) the amiability that exists between the broker and
involved in the negotiation, especially when this behavior has the client.
implications in the results for the party that extended such trust. The Previous Experiences and Relationships with Real Estate
act of bestowing trust by the client is preceded by the belief that the Brokers in General. Doney and Cannon (1997) consider that trust
company will negotiate fairly to achieve favorable results for both may be affected when consumers interact with the salesperson in
parties. several situations, such as in previous purchases, informal research
In Brazil, trust in homebuilders was adversely affected by contacts or even through the evaluation of friends and the media.
bankruptcies such as that of ENCOL S.A., which had been the The frequency with which salespeople and clients communicate
largest company in the civil construction sector during the 1980s. about business or for social reasons has proven to be the key
Since this bankruptcy, consumers have become more watchful and determinant for the maintenance of relationships involving trust
aware of the performance of construction companies (Neder 2004). (Crosby et al. 1990). Therefore, previous experiences with real
We therefore define trust in the homebuilder as the client’s percep- estate brokers are taken here to include the variety of situations that
tion of the integrity, honesty and credibility of the company. clients have experienced and from which they have perceived the
Satisfaction. According to Chauvel (2000), satisfaction is a capacity, availability and ability of real estate brokers in general.
psychological state resulting from an evaluation process that com- Perceived Value of the Product. From the client’s perspective,
pares a pre-existing internal reference with the real effects of the the price represents the amount that she/he is prepared to pay to
purchase. For Chauvel, any human behavior is a “symbolic action” obtain the product (Rocha and Christensen 1987, 134). However,
which is situated within the context of a given relationship. Never- the perceived value is the “summary evaluation of a product by a
theless, Crosby and Stephens (1987) establish that the satisfaction client, taking into consideration the benefits and the price, whereby
of the consumer has three facets: satisfaction with personal contact, the total perceived value is equal to the perceived benefits plus the
with the services rendered and with the company. perceived price” (Valle 2003, 110). The definition most frequently
Satisfaction with the Real Estate Broker. Here, it is an anteced- used in marketing literature is that proposed by Zeithaml (1988,
ent construct to “trust in the salesperson”. Client satisfaction with 14): perceived value is the consumer’s general evaluation of the
the salesperson reflects an “emotional state that occurs in response utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and
to the evaluation of this interaction of experiences” (Westbrook and what is given.
Oliver 1991). Ganesan (1994) analyzes satisfaction as a precursor Perceived Quality of a Product. The perceived quality of a
to trust, and contends that customer satisfaction with the retailer product comprises the attributes to which the client confers relative
over preliminary results will increase if the supplier is perceived to importance and which satisfy needs or expectations (Valle 2003,
possess benevolence and credibility. Similarly, Bigne and Blesa 105). Attributes are characteristics pertaining to the product, in this
(2003), who focus on the social rather than the economic standpoint case the property, which are perceived as benefits by the consumer,
in relation to satisfaction, argue that trust and satisfaction are such as the layout or location. Similarly, Leitão and Formoso (2000)
correlated and could equally be prior or subsequent, proving that the note that clients analyze the property in a broader manner, by
relationship of satisfaction with trust is positive and significant. including in their perception of satisfaction not only the physical
Therefore, satisfaction with the real estate broker who closed the object itself, but also the services that it has to offer.
sale is understood as an emotional state that occurs in response to Urbany et al. (1997) suggest that perceptions of quality based
the evaluation of the relationship as perceived by the client. on differences in price is more likely to be a factor during the
Satisfaction with the purchase of the property. This is a decision-making phase when the client is evaluating information.
construct derived from trust in the salesperson (broker) and in the Using measured language, salespeople can therefore create legiti-
supplier (homebuilder), as presented in studies by Mückenberger macy in both quality and price for clients in pre-purchase situations
(2001) and Garbarino and Johnson (1999). The property purchase when quality is difficult to evaluate. In our study we noticed during
decision is usually accompanied by a phase of insecurity and the exploratory phase of the research that the perceived quality of
anxiety. Mückenberger (2001) ascertained that the link between the the product is linked in the majority of cases to four attributes,
intention and satisfaction with the purchase is regulated by trust. namely: (1) the quality of construction, perceived through the
Likewise, Garbarino and Johnson (1999) demonstrate that total specifications for fixtures and fittings, prior knowledge of works by
174 / What Influences Satisfaction in Purchasing High-Value Goods?
the same company or by following the work during the construction Many marketing studies support the positive relationship
phase; (2) the layout of the apartment, perceived through practical between trust and satisfaction [for example, Crosby et al. (1990)
assessment and whether it matches the interests of the purchaser; (3) and Bigne and Blesa (2003)]. Building trust in the homebuilder is
the location, perceived in terms of the proximity of the building in associated not only with previous relationships with the company,
relation to the workplace, homes of family members, shopping but more importantly, with the credibility the latter has in the
facilities, etc.; and, (4) the services offered in the building, such as marketplace. Hence we propose that:
leisure areas, security, etc. Therefore, perceived product quality is
defined as comprising the foregoing attributes, to which the client H5: Client trust in the homebuilder has a direct influence on
confers relative importance and which satisfy her/his needs and satisfaction with the property purchase.
expectations.
Definition of the Research Hypotheses. In order to address the The evaluation of the perceived value of the product by the
research problem, seven hypotheses were tested. These are pre- client is normally analyzed in routine and sporadic purchasing
sented below. relationships, as in the work conducted by Sirdeshmukh et al.
The purchase of a property is normally well planned and is (2002), in which value is perceived positively through the trust
charged with sentiments such as stress, the “dream of owning one’s shown by front-line employees. For Crosby and Stephens (1987),
own home” and many others that are all part of high-value purchas- buyers have the information they require to evaluate the price in
ing. Therefore, trust is an important construct because the percep- relation to the value of the overall service package, including the
tion of trust by the client may affect satisfaction with the purchase peripheral services and the principal. Therefore, the perceived
of the property. Bigne and Blesa (2003) concluded that the greater value is associated not only with the price stipulated for the sale, but
the trust, the greater the satisfaction. In this paper, it is understood also with the effort involved in the acquisition of the property, as
that trust in the real estate broker is a construct that influences the well as the perception of benefit in relation to the amount paid. Also,
client’s perception of satisfaction with the purchase of the product, there are attributes perceived by clients which influence the choice
which refers to the first hypothesis: of property and consequently the satisfaction with their purchase.
We therefore propose the following hypotheses:
H1: Customer trust in the real estate broker has a positive
correlation to satisfaction with the purchase of the prop- H6: The perceived value of the product by the client has a
erty. direct influence on satisfaction with the property pur-
chase.
Nevertheless, trust in the real estate broker might also be H7: The perceived quality of the product by the client has a
influenced by other constructs, such as: (1) satisfaction with the real direct influence on the satisfaction with the property
estate broker; (2) characteristics of the real estate broker; and, (3) purchase.
previous experiences and commercial relationships with real estate
brokers in general. The first construct involves satisfaction, such as Starting with the studies carried out by Doney and Cannon
the client’s perception of the level of service and the style of (1997), Bigne and Blesa (2003) and Ganesan (1994), the proposed
negotiation. For Ramsey and Sohi (1997), trust and satisfaction research model is presented in Figure 1.
with the salesperson are important in the initial stages of the
relationship and are fundamental for establishing more lasting METHODOLOGY
relationships. With respect to the second construct, namely the Measures. In order to measure the latent variables, scales were
characteristics of the broker, profile, knowledge and credibility are adapted from existing models available in the literature. All ques-
considered essential factors in building trust (Doney and Cannon tions were legitimized through exploratory research with a pilot
1997). Similarly, Ganesan (1994) asserts that retailers who per- group and through extensive pre-testing of the questionnaire. Table
ceive that suppliers have a reputation for integrity tend to trust them. 1 provides a summary of the indicators of the variables and the
The other construct involves the previous experiences that the client original scales.
has had with real estate brokers in general. Crosby and Stephens Sample and Data Collection. The sample population consists
(1987) believe that the frequency of personal contact between the of all the people who purchased an apartment built by one selected
parties involved in the negotiation has a strong influence on total development company over the years 2000 -2004 in the city of São
satisfaction. In this paper, personal experiences with brokers were Paulo, Brazil. Structured data collection was made from the data-
based on the perceptions of clients with prior broker contact through base of several construction projects by a single developer and a
the purchase of previous apartments, recommendations of friends, single real estate brokerage. It was therefore conditioned by limita-
or even an extended property search. Broker attributes such as tions in data collection and by the willingness of the company to
knowledge, experience and level of interest may have an influence participate in the research.
on the perceived trust of clients. The preceding discussion suggests The primary data were obtained through structured question-
the following hypotheses: H2, H3 and H4. naires containing multiple-choice questions, applied through tele-
phone interviews. Likert scales (ranging from “strongly disagree”
H2: Satisfaction with the real estate broker directly affects the to “strongly agree) and semantic differential scales (extremes
perceived trust of the client in the real estate broker; associated with bipolar labels) were used with five response catego-
H3: The characteristics of the real estate broker have a posi- ries.
tive effect on the perceived trust of the client in the real For pre-testing the questionnaire, a pilot convenience group of
estate broker; and, twenty people was chosen from the population. Employees in the
H4: Prior experiences and relationships of clients with real homebuilder/real estate company’s call center applied the final
estate brokers have a positive effect on the perceived trust questionnaires during the months of April and May 2004, with a
of the client in the real estate broker. sample of 270 respondents who purchased apartments for their own
residential use. Table 2 presents the characterization of the sample.
FIGURE 1
Proposed Model
Verification of Measures and Analysis of Data. The internal and x6 had already been noted, thus corroborating the decision to
consistency of each construct was evaluated using Cronbach’s remove these variables from the model. The model with the best
Alpha. The values found varied from 0.51 to 0.87, though for the adjustment was model 4, referred to here as the final model.
variables x2 (characteristics of the real estate broker) and x6 By analyzing the measurement and structural models sepa-
(perceived quality of the product), values of 0.51 and 0.53, respec- rately, it was found that the R2 values (multiple correlation coeffi-
tively, were found. The remaining constructs scored values above cient) of the indicators are high, proving that the variance propor-
0.73 after removal of some indicators. The results obtained are in tion of the indicator that is explained by its latent variable is high,
Table 3. Furthermore, after the removal of those indicators an which would suggest reliability of indicators with values above
exploratory factorial analysis was conducted to evaluate the dimen- 0.50 (Byrne 1998,107). Table 4 presents the t values between the
sionality of the constructs. All the constructs were found to be indicators and the constructs in the final model.
unidimensional. Subsequently, a confirmatory factorial analysis In the evaluation of the structural model, an attempt was made
was conducted in the measurement models. The values obtained for to establish whether these relationships are supported by the data.
the factorial weights were significant, with the exception of x6 . Consequently, three aspects were considered: (1) the signs of the
Finally, analysis of the data of the full model was conducted parameters of γ and β; (2) the magnitude and significance of γ and
using the Polychoric Correlation Matrix (PM), based on Structural β; and (3) the values of R2 for the structural equations (Byrne 1998,
Equation Modeling (SEM). We ran the structural and measurement 107). In terms of hypothesized relationships, the results support
models simultaneously using Lisrel 8 software. hypotheses 1, 2, 5 and 6 and reject hypotheses 3, 4 and 7, as
presented in Table 5.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS From Figure 2, one detects marked improvement in some
In general the goodness-of-fit indices demonstrated that the indices of adjustment in the final model, indicating that the modi-
proposed model did not fit the data properly. Therefore, in light of fications made were adequate. The RMSEA values indicate good
the evaluation of estimated factorial weighting, modification indi- fit, and both values found for GFI and CFI in the final model are
ces and t values, the model was altered in an attempt to achieve closer to 1, indicating better matching of the latter in relation to the
better fit. This modification was achieved through deletion of initial model. The final model is presented in Figure 2.
variables and no other path between the variables or linking of
indicators with different latent variables from the original model CONCLUSIONS
was added, since there was no theoretical or practical justification The focus of this research was to propose a model to assess
for doing so. The comparisons of the results obtained after the main customer trust and satisfaction in the real estate sector, thereby
modification are described in Table 3. indicating that trust is present not only in long-term relationships
The criterion for deletion of variables from the model was with clients and salespeople or organizations, but also in high-value
based on the low values obtained in the estimates of the parameters purchases.
and the t values of x6 , (1.59), x2 (0.16) and x3 (0.65) in the initial The non-rejection of hypotheses H1, H5 and H6 leads us to the
model (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the low internal consistency of x2 conclusion that, in the sample analyzed, trust in the real state broker,
TABLE 1
Indicators of the Variables
Model Variables Indicators Original Scale
1. Approachability of the broker

Ramsey and Sohi (1997)– degree of
2. Sincerity of the broker
credibility.
Trust in the Real Estate Broker 3. Risk involved in the negotiation
(Cc)-η1
4. Honesty of the broker Doney and Cannon (1997)– credibility
and concern with the interests of
5. Concern with the interests of clients clients. (benevolence)
1. Tranquility of negotiation
Ramsey and Sohi (1997)– degree of
Satisfaction with the Real
2. Level of service rendered satisfaction of client with experience
Estate Broker (Sa) - ξ1
of interaction with salesperson.
3. Satisfaction with the negotiation
1. Friendliness of the broker

Doney and Cannon (1997)– cordiality,
Characteristics of the Real
2. Knowledge of the broker friendliness and similarity of the
Estate Broker (PF) - ξ2
salesperson.
3. Similarity of the broker
1. Approachability of the broker
Previous Experiences and Doney and Cannon (1997)– expertise
Relationships with Brokers in 2. Sincerity of the broker of the salespeople and the frequency
General (ER) - ξ3 of their contact with clients
3. Risk involved in the negotiation
1. Security, trust in homebuilder

Andaleeb (1996)– trust due to
Trust in the Homebuilder (CC)
2. Sincerity of Homebuilder security, sincerity and support of
- ξ5
manufacturer perceived by client.
3. Support of Homebuilder
1. Price paid Sirdeshmukh et al. (2002)– value

Perceived Value of the Product
perceived through price paid and effort
(VP) - ξ6
2. Effort involved in the purchase involved in purchase.
1. Quality of construction Urbany et al. (1997)– quality of the
2. Quality of apartment layout apartment announced for sale.
Perceived Quality of the
Product (QP) - ξ7 3. Layout of property Based on the perceived quality of the
4. Services offered product by the pilot group.
1. Satisfaction of need
Oliver (1999) and Westbrook and
Satisfaction with the Property
2. Satisfaction with decision Oliver (1991)– satisfaction with the
Purchase (SaI) - η2
purchase of the property.
3. Satisfaction with choice
as well as in the homebuilder, and the perceived value of the product by Doney and Cannon (1997), as some dimensions of the character-
are antecedents to satisfaction with the purchase of an apartment. It istics of the salesperson, such as ability, prior experiences and
was also seen that the perceived quality of the product does not relationships such as social interaction with the salesperson, were
influence this satisfaction. Therefore, trust, which is an important not linked to trust in the latter. Furthermore, recommendations of
construct in relationship marketing, would seem to be a relevant the aforementioned authors emphasize that the evaluation of the
variable in satisfaction with the property purchase, with direct trust-building process may be better applied to salespeople as
managerial implications for professionals working in the real estate company representatives. This would seem to indicate that the
sector. inclusion of managerial practices of the real estate company or even
With the rejection of hypotheses H3 and H4, it was evident that the homebuilder in future research may contribute to validation of
characteristics of the real estate broker, as well as prior experiences the results of this paper, as these were not considered here. Never-
and relationships of the client with brokers in general do not theless, the non-rejection of H2 leads one to conclude that satisfac-
influence trust in the broker. The results are similar to those found tion with the real estate broker has a positive impact on the client’s
TABLE 2
Characterization of the Sample
Received the Property Sex Marital Status
Yes 3.70% Female 42.22% Single 57.41%
No 96.30% Male 57.78% Married 32.59%
Divorced 6.30%
Other 3.70%
Age Bracket Family Income Education
Under 25 12.59% Less than R$ 1,500.00/mo 0.74% High School incomplete 1.85%
26– 35 60.00% R$ 1,500.00– R$ 3,000.00 32.22% High School completed or University 29.63%
36– 45 16.67% R$ 3,001.00– R$ 5,000.00 30.37% University graduate 58.52%
46– 55 4.44% R$ 5,001.00– R$ 10.000.00 8.15% Post-Graduate Studies 9.63%
Over 56 5.93% More than R$ 10,001.00 12.22% Not Answered 0.37%
Not Answered 0.37% Not Answered 16.30%
TABLE 3
Comparison of the Results of the Models Tested
Sub Parameters Modified χ2 ∆χ2 Degrees of RMSEA ECVI RMR GFI PNFI CFI
– Models Freedom
1 Initial 849,55 168 0,00 3,13 0,13 0,80 0,63 0,82
2 Deleted one variable- ξ6 456,41 393,14 119 0,00 1,94 0,07 0,85 0,68 0,90
3 Deleted two variables- ξ2 e ξ6 , 338,10 118,31 93 0,00 1,42 0,07 0,88 0,69 0,92
4 Final Deleted three variables-ξ2, ξ3 e ξ6 . 298,82 39,28 70 0,00 1,20 0,07 0,88 0,69 0,92
RMSEA– Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, ECVI– Expected Cross-Validation Index, RMR Standardized– Root Mean
Square Residual, GFI– Goodness-of-Fit Index, PNFI– Parsimony Normed Fit Index, CFI– Comparative Fit Index.
TABLE 4
Statistical Values of the Measurement Models (Final Model)
Trust in the Satisfaction with Satisfaction with Trust in Perceived Value of
Broker the Purchase the Broker Homebuilder the Product
∝=0,81)
(∝ ∝=0,88)
(∝ ∝=0,92)
(∝ ∝=0,85)
(∝ ∝=0,73)
(∝
Cc2b (19,01)a
Cc4 (18,85)
Cc5 (14,44)
SaI2 (21,59)
Sa2 (19,52)
Sa3 (19,43)
CC2 (18,62)
CC3 (18,99)
VP2 (10,36)
a t values between parentheses b Indicators missing are value 1.0 for factor loading parameter.
TABLE 5
Analysis of the Hypotheses Tested in the Research
Hypothesis t Values Result
H1 Trust in the broker affects purchase satisfaction positively. + 6.66 Not Rejected
H2 Satisfaction with the broker affects trust in the latter positively. + 14.18 Not Rejected
H3 Characteristics of the broker affect trust in the latter positively. + 0.16 Rejected
H4 Prior experiences affect trust in the broker positively. + 0.65 Rejected
H5 Trust in the homebuilder influences purchase satisfaction positively. + 4.42 Not Rejected
H6 Perceived value impacts purchase satisfaction positively. + 6.68 Not Rejected
H7 Perceived product quality affects purchase satisfaction positively. + 1.59 Rejected
FIGURE 2
Final Model
a Values of estimates. t values between parentheses.

b ζ (Zeta) values
perceived trust in the brokerage firm, that is in line with literature research may identify and develop specific areas of interest to
on the subject, which indicates that satisfaction influences trust, and companies in the sector, for example interviewing clients who did
vice versa. not purchase a property after a visit to the sales stand. Comparative
With respect to the perceived quality of the product, the research of the final model obtained with samples collected from
rejection of H7 indicates that this does not influence satisfaction other countries in Latin America is also recommended.
with the purchase. It is assumed here that the fact that the majority
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Food Symbolism and Consumer Choice in Brazil
Michael W. Allen, University of Sydney, Australia
Claudio V. Torres, University of Brasilia, Brazil
ABSTRACT utilitarian meaning represents the tangible and functional aspects of

The present study investigated the symbolic meaning of meat the product that allow the individual to control the environment. In
in Brazil, by exploring the values endorsed by meat buyers and how this category, the meaning is derived from the practical utility of the
these values influence food choice. A survey of 378 Brazilians product, and is intrinsically linked to the product’s efficiency and
found that vertical values predicted red meat consumption beyond performance. An example the utilitarian meaning of red meat is its
that accounted by attribute importances, implying that social hier- nutritional benefits, such as its high-protein content (i.e., the meat’s
archy is one cultural association of red meat in Brazil. This finding tangible attributes).
calls to mind the intriguing proposal of some sociologists and Attributes that are intangible and culturally shared are the
anthropologists that red meat symbolizes hierarchy in cultures that image or symbolism of the product. Thus, symbolic meaning is
have hierarchical social relations. connected to the culture of a group (Dittmar, 1992). However, as
Kilbourne (1991) alerts, the term symbolic does not imply the lack
INTRODUCTION of utilitarian meaning. Rather, the term “refers to an object which
In a series of studies, Allen and his colleagues (i.e., Allen & symbolic meaning takes precedence over the functional” (p. 405).
Baines, 2002; Allen & Ng, 2003; Allen, Wilson, Ng, & Dunne, As an example of symbolic meaning we can observe the social
2000) found that individuals make dietary choices by examining the “status” associated with premium cuts of red meat, in part because
cultural and symbolic meanings of a food. For instance, Allen and of the luxury that these cuts might represent in some societies.
Ng (2003) found that red meat symbolizes the endorsement of Based on this distinction between utilitarian and symbolic
social hierarchy more than other food groups, and that individuals product meanings, Allen and colleagues (e.g., Allen, 2000; Allen,
compare this meaning to their self-concept. The more an individual 2001; Allen & Ng, 1999) proposed a “two-route” model to describe
personally supports hierarchy, the more favourably he or she the influence of human values on consumer choice. Previous
evaluates the symbolic meaning of red meat and, by extension, red models (e.g., Gutman, 1982; Lindberg, Garling & Montgomery,
meat itself. However, that research is limited in that Allen’s studies 1989; Scott & Lamont, 1973), based partly on the multi-attribute
were carried out in two nations (i.e., Australia and New Zealand) model (Fishbein, 1967), suggest that the human values would
that are from the same cultural group, i.e., what Huntington (1996) influence consumer choice through only one route: by influencing
terms “Historically Protestant.” This limitation is important be- the product attribute importances. So, a calculative and rational
cause some sociologists and anthropologists from the US, UK, and product evaluation would be the responsible for the product choice.
other Historically Protestant nations qualify their claim that red In contrast, Allen suggests that human values will shape product
meat symbolizes hierarchy to their own cultural group (e.g., Heisley, choice through two routes. First, when consumers are evaluating
1990; Twigg, 1983). Thus, we might expect that Allen’s finding the utilitarian meaning of the product and, thus, making a piece-
that the endorsement of hierarchy guides red meat attitudes is meal, attribute-by-attribute judgment, human values influence the
restricted to Historically Protestant nations. importance given to tangible product attributes, which would then
On the other hand, other sociologists and anthropologists sway the product preference. For example, the human value “a life
suggest that red meat symbolizes hierarchy in some cultures that are of excitement” might lead an individual to place higher importance
not Historically Protestant (e.g., Barthes, 1957). One interesting on a tangible attribute such as “fast engine”, which in turn leads the
proposal by some theorists is that red meat symbolizes hierarchy in individual to form a positive attitude toward Ford Mustangs.
cultures that have hierarchical social relations (e.g., Adams, 1990; However, when consumers are evaluating the product’s symbolic
Douglas, 1973; Fiddes, 1991; Sanday, 1981). Thus, the key issue is meaning and making an intuitive and affective judgment about it,
not whether a nation is Historically Protestant but the extent to human values would influence the product preference directly. In
which the culture is hierarchical. We would expect that in nations particular, Allen (2002) showed that individuals examine the hu-
that have greater social hierarchy, individuals within the nation man value content of a product’s image: the more they support the
form red meat attitudes by comparing the hierarchy symbolism of value, the more they like the product.
red meat to their own human values. As a starting point on this Allen’s “two-route” model has been tested with several prod-
claim, we sought to examine food choice in a nation that endorses ucts and services, such as holiday destinations, cars, eyeglasses, and
social hierarchy but is a different cultural group than Australia and food items (e.g., Allen, 2000; Allen & Ng, 1999). While studying
New Zealand. Hence, we selected Brazil, which is “Historically a basic food item, i.e., red meat, Allen and Ng (2003) acknowledged
Catholic” (Huntington, 1996) and where social hierarchy is sup- its important position in the food system, and also recognized the
ported and endorsed by its members (Torres & Dessen, 2003). The human value symbolism attached to this product. It has been
World Bank (2002) reports that Brazil has greater income inequal- suggested that red meat is one of the most culturally valued foods
ity than Australia and New Zealand. Thus, we predict that the in Western society (Douglas, 1973), that it depicts a “power”
endorsement of social hierarchy will form the basis to Brazilians’ symbolism (Fiddes, 1991; Twigg, 1983), being associated with the
red meat attitudes and consumption. qualities of aggression and strength, and symbolizing environmen-
In psychology, explanations with a social-cognitive orienta- tal control more than other foods. In essence, red meat appears to
tion have prevailed in the consumer behaviour field, as with other symbolize the endorsement of hierarchy and inequality within the
areas of psychology. Some traditional economic theories envisage society. As a result, people from those societies might choose to
the value of a product as solely its exchange value in the market. On consume meat because they personally endorse the values symbol-
the contrary of those, other researchers (e.g., Dittmar, 1992; Richins, ized by red meat. Allen and Ng (2003) provided evidence for this
1994) suggest that what gives a product value is what the product relationship. They observed that the Australian public perceives red
means to consumers. The meaning attributed to the product may meat as symbolizing the endorsement of hierarchy values more than
encompass two broad categories: utilitarian and symbolic. The other food groups, and symbolizing hierarchical power more than
Volume 1, © 2006
other values. Also, they found that individuals who endorse hierar- that people have different intentions, give different attributions, and
chy and inequality values had more favourable red meat attitudes. behave differently in their cultural group. A good deal of evidence
Allen et al. (2000) also found, as expected, that omnivores more has been found supporting the variations associated with Hofstede’s
strongly supported social dominance orientation, a value closed dimensions (e.g., Smith et al., 1994). This suggests that consumer
associated with hierarchy. Allen and Baines (2002) found that behaviours and perceptions will also vary as a result of this
making the hierarchy symbolic meaning salient to participants difference in cultural values. Some scholars (e.g., Triandis, 1994)
strengthened the relationship between hierarchy endorsement and suggest that the individualism-collectivism value is essential for the
red meat attitude. analysis of a culture, since several studies (e.g., Ashmos & McDaniel,
The concept of verticality (Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk, & 1996; Campbell, Bommer, & Yeo, 1993; Smith & Bond, 1999;
Gelfand, 1995) brings the recognition that inequalities between Triandis, McCusker, & Hui, 1990) have demonstrated the influence
people necessitate a certain amount of conformity in the service of of this dimension in the behaviour of members of a social group,
hierarchy, while horizontalness increases the sense that individuals including consumption-related behaviours (Kahle, 1996). Also,
should be free from others’ influences. There is some scientific and more importantly for the present research , a limitation of Allen
evidence (e.g., Triandis & Gelfand, 1998; Triandis, Chen, & Chan, and Ng’s (2003) and Allen et al.’s (2000) studies is that only
1998) demonstrating the importance of knowing whether a culture predominantly individualist cultures, that is, Australia and New
is more vertical or horizontal. Zealand respectively, were tested. Despite their geographical loca-
We could assume that Brazilian culture is as an example of a tion, collectivist Latin American cultures have not been treated in
culture where verticalism is the preferred cultural pattern. Tradi- the literature as “Western” cultures, a term that has been tradition-
tionally, Brazil has been categorized as a collectivist culture (e.g., ally associated with Anglo-Saxon tradition, and some European
Hofstede, 1980; Van Horn & Marques, 1999). So, as members of a countries (e.g. Sweden). Although it is believed (Hofstede, 1980)
collectivist society (Hofstede, 1980), Brazilians see themselves as that Brazil is more collectivist than Australia or New Zealand, there
belonging to an in-group. Yet, Brazilians see the members of their is little evidence that the individualism-collectivism of a culture is
in-group as different from each other (Dessen & Torres, 2002), related to meat symbolism, so we do not make any predictions
some having more status than others. Furthermore, it was suggested involving this dimension.
that Brazilians recognize and accept inequality and differences in To sum, Allen’s two-route model suggests that a human value
status (Pearson & Stephan, 1998). has a direct influence on product choice when the individual
Candido (1972), using a metaphor to discuss the Brazilian examines the symbolic meaning of the product, and has an indirect
national culture, suggested that Brazil could be represented by a influence (via attribute importances) when a consumer assesses the
picture of a large family, in which there are few formal rules but a product’s utilitarian meaning. Further, if red meat symbolises
consensus towards the authority of the father. Candido’s interpre- hierarchy in cultures that have hierarchical social relations, such as
tation of Brazil is supported by evidence from some empirical Brazil, and if Brazilian consumers evaluate the symbolic meaning
findings. Schwartz (1992) observed that Brazilians scored low in of a food when forming attitudes toward the food, then;
intellectual and emotional autonomy (which is related to Hofstede’s
dimension of individualism) and high on conservatism and hierar- Proposition: Vertical values should influence red meat con-
chy (correlating with Singelis et al.’s notion of verticalism). Simi- sumption via the direct route.
larly, Friedlmeier (1995), comparing implicit theories of educators,
found that Brazilians stressed conformity and adaptation. In their Allen’s model recognizes that culture has an impact in con-
research, Strohschneider and Güss (1998) found that Brazilian sumer choice and behaviour (Allen, Ng, & Wilson, 2002), however
college students have a high tendency to accept any situation as this does not mean that it can already been generalized to different
given, and not to inquire about its causes, when an ill-defined cultural groups (Triandis, 1995). As noted elsewhere (Smith &
ambiguous situation is presented to them. Bond, 1999), some social behaviours may not have the same
Related to these results, Droogers (1988) suggested that an representation in other cultures. Thus, there is a need to test the
important concept to understand the Brazilian’s worldview is the model for contexts where the self is interdependent and the social
one of the jeitinho. Jeitinho is a Brazilian term that is difficult to organization follows a hierarchy, up to a certain point, quite rigid.
translate, but that carries the meaning that when a problem is
presented, even without a real possibility of being solved, the social METHOD
group will come up with a way to solve it. When we observe the
country as a whole, research has demonstrated that the Brazilian Participants
culture is significantly more collectivist and vertical than the University students and the population in general were in-
culture in other countries, especially those from an Anglo-Saxon cluded. College students were recruited in class in a large university
origin (Pérez-Nebra & Torres, 2002). For instance, Pearson and of Brazil. Copies of the questionnaires were given to students in
Stephan (1998) found that the negotiation style in Brazil is more class, and they were encouraged to return the completed survey in
collectivist than the one in Australia, and also that in that former one week. When the completed surveys were returned to research-
country, social hierarchy is highly valued. Other evidence (e.g., ers, three more copies were given to the students who, then, were
Ettorre, 1998; Santos, 199l; Torres, 1999), also suggest that the asked to pass them on to general population participants, such as
Brazilian culture is highly collectivist. their parents and friends. General population respondents also had
When demonstrating the relationship between human values one week to respond to the survey, hand them in to students, who
and red meat attitude, Allen and Ng (2003) measured hierarchy and would then pass them on to researchers. With this procedure, from
inequality, but not individualism and collectivism. Individualism- the 650 surveys sent out, 378 were satisfactory returned, yielding an
collectivism refers to a cultural dimension, or an aggregation of effective response rate of 58%. The sample comprised of 49% male
cultural and human values, which was first identified by Hofstede and 51% female , age range of 17 to 54 (median=23), and median
(1980; 1983; 1984; 1991). It reflects the extent to which people education level of High School.
emphasize personal or group goals. Hofstede’s research showed
182 / Food Symbolism and Consumer Choice in Brazil
Instruments chicken, pork, etc.); Fruit; Cereals; Dairy products (e.g., milk,
A 6-page, self-administered questionnaire was given to par- cheese, etc.); Vegetables; Seafood/Fish?” was asked. Only
ticipants. The questionnaire contains, in the following order, a participant’s red meat consumption was analysed in the present
Portuguese version of the Singelis et al.’s (1995) Values Scale (44 study.
items), Allen and Ng’s (1999) Meaning and Judgment Scale (19
items), and a Food Attribute Importance Questionnaire (25 items), RESULTS
the Consumption Behaviour measure, and a small questionnaire on The main proposition was that vertical values should influence
demographic data. Participants took 20 to 25 minutes to answer to red meat consumption via the direct route. To test the proposition,
entire survey. With all instruments, the translation-retranslation we used the analytical process outlined in Allen (2001). This
technique (Brislin, 1980; Brislin, Lonner, & Thorndike, 1973) was procedure is advantageous over other methods because it reveals
used to make sure the survey had language equivalence in Portu- the overall strengths of the direct and indirect routes, as well as the
guese. specific relationships. This method involves several steps.
Values Measure. With the objective of measuring Brazilian First, correlations were calculated between human values and
cultural patterns, Singelis et al.’s (1995) Values Scale was em- food attribute importances, revealing that Verticalism (+) vs.
ployed. The original English version of the scale has 32 items, and Horizontalism (-) significantly correlates with Quality (r=.11,
was designed to measure the individualist-collectivist vertical and df=389, p<.05), Simple and Popular (r=.20, df=389, p<.001), and
horizontal values at the individual-level. A version of the scale Easy Preparation (r=-.25, df=389, p<.001), whereas Individualism
validated in Brazil has 44 items that individuals rate on a 1– 9 (+) vs. Collectivism (-) correlates with Nutritious (r=-.14, df=389,
‘Strongly Disagree’ to ‘Strongly Agree’ scale. To validate this p<.01), Pleasant to Senses (r=17, df=389, p<.001), and Easy
version, focus groups with Brazilian college students were used to Preparation (r=.33, df=389, p<.001). Second, human values were
add items with content and language structure relevant to the regressed onto red meat consumption, resulting in a significant
Brazilian culture. The version was then translated and back trans- prediction (Multiple R=.24, F(2,357)=10.4, p<.001). In particular,
lated, and was first presented elsewhere (Torres & Pérez-Nebra, Verticalism (+) vs. Horizontalism (-) was positively associated
2002). To test our hypotheses, scores for 4 subscales were first with red meat consumption (beta=.20, t=3.7, p<.001), as was
obtained: Verticalism (reliability coefficient=0.82), Horizontalism Individualism (+) vs. Collectivism (-)(beta=.19, t=3.5, p<.001).
(Cronbach’s alpha=0.79), Collectivism (alpha=0.81), and Indi- Finally, a two-block regression was carried out in which the food
vidualism (alpha=0.72). Then, we calculated an Individualism vs. attribute importances were regressed onto red meat consumption in
Collectivism score for each participant (which was Individualism Block 1, and human values in Block 2. Block 1 achieved a
minus Collectivism), and a Verticalism vs. Horizontalism significant prediction of red meat consumption (Multiple R=.38,
(Verticalism minus Horizontalism). F(6,358)=10.0, p<.001), produced by three significant predictors:
Meaning and Judgment Measure. Allen’s (2001) Meaning and Nutritious (beta=-.11, t=-1.9, p<.05), Simple and Popular (beta=.14,
Judgment scale comprises 19 items and measures the preference for t=2.5, p<.01), and Easy to Prepare (beta=.32, t=6.5, p<.001). Block
judgment type (piecemeal or affective) and importance of product 2 significantly added to the prediction of red meat consumption
meaning (utilitarian or symbolic). Participants responded each item beyond that accounted by food attribute importances (Multiple R
on a 1– 7 ‘Strongly Disagree’ to ‘Strongly Agree’ scale. To test the change =.03, F(2,356)=5.0, p<.01). Verticalism (+) vs. Horizontalism
scale, and the associations between preference for judgment and (-) was positively and directly associated with red meat consump-
product meaning, a factor analysis with varimax rotation was tion (beta=.17, t=3.1, p<.001). Both Blocks combined strongly
executed with the Brazilian data (KMO=0.87; Bartlett’s Chi- predicted red meat consumption (Multiple R=.42, F(8,356)=9.0,
square=1715.29; p<0.0001). From this, two factors or subscales p<.001).
were obtained and the sample’s scores calculated. The first factor Figure 1 summarises the relationships uncovered in the above
included 9 items (alpha=0.75), which measure Piecemeal Judg- three steps (signs indicate the direction of the relationship). Indi-
ment and Utilitarian Meaning Tendency. The other factor, with 10 vidualism (+) vs. Collectivism (-) has an indirect influence on red
items (alpha=0.69) measures Affective Judgment and Symbolic meat consumption in two ways. First, individuals who value indi-
Meaning Tendency. Only the latter subscale was used for the vidualism over collectivism do not want a food that is nutritious,
present study (sample items: “The image a product portrays is an and people who do not want a nutritious food consume more red
important part of my decision whether or not to buy it” and “The meat. Second, people who value individualism (over collectivism)
instant I see a product I know if I like it”). want a food that is easy to prepare, and this leads to greater
Food Attribute Importance Measure. Using a 1– 10 ‘Not at all consumption of red meat. Verticalism (+) vs. Horizontalism (-)
important’ to ‘Very important’ scale, respondents rated the impor- values have a direct influence on red meat consumption, indicating
tance of 25 food attributes. The 25 attributes were then reduced with that the more an individual supports verticalism (over horizontalism)
a factor analysis, varimax rotation (KMO=0.76; Bartlett’s Chi- the more they consume red meat.
square=3241.25; p<0.0001), which yielded 6 factors, corroborat- Finally, Symbolic Meaning and Affective Judgement Ten-
ing partially with the food attributes found by Allen and Ng (2003). dency positively correlates with red meat consumption (r=.15,
The first factor refers to Quality attributes of foods (e.g., light food, df=350, p<.01). Also, it should be noted that all the regressions
tasty, prepared with high-quality ingredients), with an alpha of described in this section were recalculated to control for demo-
0.76. The other factors include Nutrition (e.g., natural food, nutri- graphic data (gender, age, and education). In those regressions,
tious, rich in minerals and vitamins), alpha=0.72; Exotic Food (e.g., demographic characteristics were entered in a first block, then food
unusual food, exotic, food from another country), alpha=0.71; attribute importances (Block 2), followed by values (Block 3). The
Pleasant To The Senses, with an alpha of 0.66 (e.g., tasty, sweet, results of these regressions paralleled the original regressions,
salty); Popular Food, alpha=0.64 (e.g., inexpensive, popular); and demonstrating that demographics do not account for the findings.
Easy to Prepare (e.g., easy to obtain, easy to prepare), alpha=0.66.
Consumption Behaviour Measure. In the survey, “Consider- DISCUSSION
ing the past 3 days, how many servings did you eat of each of the Consistent with the main proposition, the study found that
following food types? Red meat (e.g., beef); White meat (e.g., verticalism (over horizontalism) influenced red meat consumption
FIGURE 1
via the direct route. Given that the direct route occurs when relationship between vertical values and red meat consumption is
consumers are evaluating the symbolic meaning of a product (e.g., present in the vertical, collectivist Brazilian culture. Triandis and
Allen and Ng, 1999), this finding implies that 1) red meat symbolises Gelfand (1998) suggested that the discrepancy between incomes
social hierarchy in Brazil, and 2) Brazilian consumers are evaluat- within a country could be used as a measure of verticality. This
ing that meaning when forming attitudes toward red meat and measure would be “the ratio of the incomes of the top 20% to the
related behaviour outcomes. Consistent with the latter, the study bottom 20% of the population of the country” (p. 126). Triandis and
found that red meat consumption and the Symbolic Meaning and Gelfand observed that in 1993 this ratio in Brazil was about 35, and
Affective Judgement Tendency scale were positively correlated, there are reasons to believe that the ratio has increased since then
signifying that individuals who have a predisposition to examine (Santos, 199l; Ettorre, 1998; Torres, 1999). Although we can often
the image of a product consume more red meat. These findings find larger differences among the sub-cultures within a country than
confirm those of Allen and Ng (2003), and partially the results between cultures across countries, if the argument about the etic
found by Allen et al. (2000), and Allen and Baines (2002). Red meat validity of the Model is correct, then we can assume that choice
consumption is positively associated verticalism, which in turn between the routes for product preference and the symbolism
relates to support for inequality and power values (Singelis et al., attached to the product is universal. Again, more samples for
1995), as predicted by Allen and Ng. Yet, and more importantly, different countries must be included in order to provide a strong
this also holds true for Brazilians. basis for this argument.
When considering human values, the present research inves- It is important to note that meat was chosen because many
tigates one aspect of the subjective culture. For Triandis (1996), the people tend to consume more meat when compared to other foods
analysis of the subjective culture leads to the understanding of how (e.g., National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 1998), meat appears to be
people perceive, categorize, develop their beliefs, and give value to the central food in Western culture (e.g., Douglas, 1973), and there
their environment, which was demonstrated by our results. But also appears to be a consensus among sociologists and anthropologists
important is that the present research provided evidence for the etic about the human values that red meat symbolize (i.e., hierarchy and
validity of Allen’s two-route model in collectivist cultures. In other inequality, or simply stated, verticality)(e.g., Adams, 1990; Dou-
words, the two routes by which human values influence product glas, 1973; Fiddes, 1991; Heisley, 1990; Sanday, 1981; Twigg,
preference appear to be of universal equivalence. Furthermore, the 1983). As a result, our findings suggested that Brazilian consumers
more individuals endorse vertical values, the higher the preference use their vertical values to evaluate the hierarchy and inequality
for red meat consumption, independent of their culture. And what values symbolized by red meat. Establishing the extent to which
is arguably more important, this relationship follows a direct route. human values have an impact in the consumption of food items
Moreover, what has been demonstrated by this finding is that the would have important implications for models of food choice.
184 / Food Symbolism and Consumer Choice in Brazil
Psychological theories suggest that food evaluation stems from Allen, M. W., & Ng, S. H. (2003). Human values, utilitarian
previous positive or negative experiences with a food (e.g., Garcia, benefits and identification: The case of meat. European
McGowan, & Green, 1972). Less understood is how the culturally Journal of Social Psychology, 33 (1), 37-56.
constructed meanings of food and aspects of the individual’s self- Allen, M. W., Wilson, M., Ng, S. H., & Dunne, M. (2000).
construct, such as their human values, influence the food evaluation Values and beliefs of vegetarians and omnivores. Journal of
and choice of food. Research about this topic may give important Social Psychology, 140 (4), 405-422.
contributions to theories of food choices, and consequently, to Ashmos, D. P., & McDaniel, R. R. (1996). Understanding the
health promotion programs. participation of critical task specialists in strategic decision
It could be argued that the image of red meat itself was not making. Decision Sciences, 27 (1), 103-113.
measured in the present research. However, as described in the two- Barthes, R. (1957). Mythologies. Paris: Le Seuil.
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the direct route reveal the image of the product. When the individual and written materials. In H. C. Triandis & J. W. Berry (Eds.),
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individual, red meat may symbolize a lot of things other than across two cultures. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 10,
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“Smoking Can’t Hurt Me!!” and Other Death-Related Thoughts: A Test of Terror
Management Theory
Ingrid M. Martin, California State University–Long Beach, USA1
EXTENDED ABSTRACT compared to advocating health risk messages for both short run and
Consumer behavior researchers and public policy makers long run smoking behaviors. We also find that in the short run,
continue to be plagued with the problem of creating communication focusing on the interaction between self-worth and different the-
that can increase the probability of complying with important risk matic approaches has an impact on whether smokers will consider
information both in the short run and in the long run. In this research, reducing their smoking behavior. The implications of these find-
we investigate the impact of thematic approaches and self-esteem ings are that attention should be paid to the manner in which anti-
on whether college-age smokers will comply with anti-smoking smoking messages are positioned to increase the probability of
messages in the short run and in the long run. Terror management compliance with these types of messages. In both the short run and
theory (TMT) predicts that when an individual’s fear or anxiety the long run, we also see that by using a health risk message public
associated with death is triggered by making their mortality salient, policy and consumer behavior researchers are actually increasing
the process of reducing that anxiety results in either one’s self- the probability of noncompliance among college-age smokers. This
esteem or cultural worldview rising to protect them from this research provides an extension of TMT research into the arena of
extreme terror (Maheshwaran & Agrawal 2004; Arndt, et al. 2004; using actual death-related visual images such as anti-smoking
Jonas, et al. 2003). Generally, people are motivated to maintain high messages. In this study, actual PSAs were used to test the impact of
levels of self-esteem and defend their cultural worldview when it mortality salient messages compared to esteem-enhancing mes-
comes under threat in an effort to sustain one’s psychological well- sages as a means to communicate risks concerning smoking. We
being. In this research, we test the concept of making mortality also extend the findings in this field to look at not only short run but
salient for college-age smokers through the thematic approach of also long run behavioral change intentions guided by the conflict
health risk anti-smoking messages. This is based on research that arises between smokers’ self-esteem and their cultural worldview
conducted by Pechmann, et al. (2003) on the differential impact of related to the smoking taboos that we face in our society.
various thematic approaches to communicating risk. In their re-
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(making mortality salient for participants) had a significant impact
on long run smoking intent.
Overall, we found that advocating social norms is more
effective both in the short run and long run on compliance as

Volume 1, © 2006
The Impact of Country of Manufacture and Brand on Consumers’ Attributions of Blame in a
Product-Harm Crisis
Daniel Laufer, Yeshiva University, USA
Kate Gillespie, University of Texas at Austin, USA
David H. Silvera, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Recent research on multiple category membership can help us

Previous research on product-harm crises has examined how understand why brand information may have a greater impact than
the characteristics of the observers of the crisis, such as gender or country-of-manufacture information in a product-harm crisis.
nationality, can influence blame attributions (see Laufer et al, 2005; Bodenhausen & Macrae (1998) found that category salience, chronic
Laufer and Gillespie, 2004; Laufer, 2002). This study enhances our accessibility, and goal relevance are factors that influence which
understanding of the impact of product-harm crises on consumers stereotype will command the most influence. Brand information is
by examining how situational factors impact consumer blame more likely to be chronically accessible to consumers than country
attributions. Three experiments were conducted involving three of manufacture because of the dominance of brand information in
different product-harm crises to examine how two extrinsic cues, both advertisements and product packaging: Advertisers focus on
brand and country of manufacture, impact the assessment of blame the brand name much more than country of manufacture in their
by observers to a product-harm crisis where ambiguity is present. advertising campaigns, and brand information is displayed more
This paper contributes to the existing literature on extrinsic prominently on a product’s packaging than country-of-manufac-
cues in three ways. First, extrinsic cues rarely have been examined ture information. As a result, brand information should be much
in the context of blame assessments. To the best of our knowledge, more accessible to consumers than country of manufacture during
country of manufacture has never been examined in this context. a product-harm crisis.
The country-of-origin literature has focused almost exclusively on Our study also demonstrated that extrinsic cues impact not
the impact of the country-of-manufacture cue on pre-purchase only overall assessments of blame directly, but also indirectly
decision-making, particularly in the context of quality assessments through the assessment of evidence associated with company
and purchase intentions. Second, our study examines the issue of culpability An unknown brand caused observers’ to assess evi-
which of the two extrinsic cues, country of manufacture or brand, dence associated with company blame as more important, when
plays a greater role in influencing consumers’ assessment of blame. compared with a well-known brand. We did not find a similar effect
Previous studies in the context of pre-purchase decision-making for country of manufacture, which perhaps can be explained by the
have found conflicting results regarding which of these two extrin- strong brand effect in the experiment. Future research should
sic cues plays a greater role in influencing consumers (Gaedeke, examine whether country of manufacture can impact the assess-
1973; Cordell, 1992 and Jo, Nakamoto, and Nelson, 2003). Our ment of evidence associated with company culpability in other
study examines this question in a new context and adds to this contexts.
debate. Finally, this study investigates the mechanisms underlying
blame attributions by examining whether extrinsic cues cause REFERENCES
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research has not examined biased information processing in rela- and Inhibition: Advances in social cognition (Vol. 11, pp. 1-
tion to blame attributions associated with product-harm crises. 52). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
The findings of all three experiments demonstrate that extrin- Cordell, V. (1992). Effects of Consumer Preferences for Foreign
sic cues impact consumers’ assessment of blame for a product-harm Sourced Products. Journal of International Business Studies,
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pants to place more blame on the company for a product-harm Jo, M., Nakamoto, K. & Nelson, J.E. (2003). The shielding
crisis. Finally in experiment 3, when multiple extrinsic cues were effects of brand image against lower quality countries-of-
available (brand and country of manufacture) both a well-known origin in global manufacturing. Journal of Business
brand and a positive country of manufacture reduced blame to the Research, 56, 637-646.
company. In this experiment we found that a well-known brand Laufer, D. (2002). Are Antecedents of Consumer Dissatisfaction
eliminated a negative country-of-manufacture effect such that there and Consumer Attributions for Product Failures Universal?
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positive and negative country-of-manufacture conditions. We also Laufer, D., & Gillespie, K. (2004). Differences in consumer
found that a positive country of manufacture reduced the negative attributions of blame between men and women: The role of
implications of being an unknown brand such that there was perceived vulnerability and empathic concern. Psychology &
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country-of-manufacture condition when compared with the nega- Laufer, D., Gillespie, K., McBride, B. & Gonzalez, S. (2005).
tive country-of-manufacture condition. In an analysis of effect sizes The Role of Severity in Consumer Attributions of Blame:
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The brand effect explained 11.1% of the variation in the dependent
variable, blame to the company, whereas the country of manufac-
ture explained only 4.2%.

Volume 1, © 2006
Author Index
Abe, Shuzo ............................................................................ 154 Lado, Nora ................................................................................ 61
Acevedo, Claudia Rosa ...................................................... 92, 99 Laufer, Daniel ........................................................................ 187
Aggarwal, Pankaj ..................................................................... 29 León, Azucena Minerva García ................................................ 67
Ahlert, Dieter ......................................................................... 119 León, Ruth Areli García ........................................................... 67
Allen, Michael W. ................................................................. 180 Lerman, Dawn .................................................................. 63, 107
Almeida, Alda Rosana Duarte de .......................................... 172 Licandro, Oscar ........................................................................ 61
Anaudin, Virginie Villeneuve .................................................. 95 Lowrey, Tina M. ....................................................................... 23
Armida, Eduardo Esteva ........................................................... 49 Luce, Fernando Bins ................................................................. 60
Arruda, Ana Laura de ......................................................... 92, 99 Maille, Virginie ..................................................................... 109
Aurifeille, Jacques-Marie ................................................... 80, 95 Maldonado, Cecilia ............................................................ 86, 93
Ayala, Edgardo ...................................................................... 146 Malter, Alan J. ....................................................................... 117
Ayrosa, Eduardo A. T. ........................................................... 133 Manin, Stephane ................................................................. 80, 95
Barragan, Jose N. ................................................................... 169 Martin, Ingrid M. ................................................................... 186
Belk, Russell W. ..................................................................... 7, 8 Matos, Celso Augusto de ....................................................... 162
Beugre, Constant ..................................................................... 10 Maxwell, Sarah ......................................................................... 63
Bianchi, Constanza C. .............................................................. 91 Mazzon, José Afonso ............................................................... 44
Biselli, Ana Maria Figueiredo .................................................. 75 McCabe, Catherine .................................................................. 71
Bonsu, Samuel K. ....................................................................... 7 Melewar, TC ............................................................................. 46
Botelho, Delane ....................................................... 90, 162, 172 Mena, Joaquin .......................................................................... 91
Caldwell, Marylouise .................................................... 2, 5, 106 Milberg, Sandra J. ............................................................ 31, 121
Castaño, Raquel ..................................................................... 146 Minor, Michael S. ............................................................... 24, 86
Chapa, Sindy ............................................................................. 1 Monteiro, Pedro Augusto Ramirez ........................................... 75
Chowdhury, Md. Humayun Kabir ......................................... 154 Muñoz, Caroline Lego .............................................................. 54
Cismaru, Magdalena ................................................................. 33 Naus, Mary J. ............................................................................ 33
Cohen, Eric David .................................................................... 55 Nique, Walter Meucci .............................................................. 64
Costa, Sayuri Ojima .............................................................. 133 Nohara, Jouliana Jordan ..................................................... 92, 99
Costley, Carolyn L. ............................................................... 139 Nyer, Prashanth U. ................................................................... 52
Dato-on, Mary Conway ........................................................... 71 Ortuño, Rebeca Bautista .......................................................... 21
Dave, Christian ......................................................................... 80 Park, Jung Kun ......................................................................... 49
Delgado, Carlos Falces ............................................................ 21 Peñaloza, Lisa ............................................................................. 4
DeShields, Jr., Oscar W. ........................................................... 82 Pennanen, Kyösti ...................................................................... 38
Devinney, Timothy ..................................................................... 8 Pereira, Bill Nunes ................................................................ 133
Díez, Benjamín Sierra ............................................................. 21 Pizzutti, Cristiane .................................................................... 15
Dyer, Barbara ........................................................................... 78 Rajagopal, Ananya ................................................................... 83
Eckhardt, Giana .......................................................................... 8 Rajagopal, Dr. ................................................................... 83, 128
Ekström, Karin M. ................................................................. 148 Reed, Gary ................................................................................ 63
Elizondo, Silvia Cacho ............................................................. 57 Reynolds, Nina L. ..................................................................... 73
Elizondo-DuCharme, Karla ....................................................... 1 Rosa, José Antonio ................................................................ 117
Epstein, Leonardo ..................................................................... 31 Rossi, Carlos Alberto Vargas ................................... 59, 162, 171
Escalas, Jennifer Edson ............................................................ 26 Russell, Cristel Antonia ............................................................ 97
Espartel, Lelis Balestrin ........................................................ 171 Russell, Dale W. ....................................................................... 97
Felix, Reto ................................................................................ 87 Saran, Anshu ......................................................................... 169
Fernandes, Daniel .................................................................... 15 Scaraboto, Daiane ..................................................................... 59
Fernandez, Pedro Jesus ............................................................. 90 Serviere, Laura ...................................................................... 169
Friend, Lorraine A. ................................................................ 139 Sherry, Jr., John F . ..................................................................... 6
Garbarino, Ellen C. ................................................................ 117 Shrum, L. J. .............................................................................. 23
Gastal, Fernanda ....................................................................... 60 Siddiqui, Shakeel ................................................................... 130
Giglio, Karin ............................................................................. 75 Silvera, David H. ................................................................... 187
Gil-Lafuente, Jaime .................................................................. 80 Sinn, Francisca ................................................................. 31, 121
Gillespie, Kate ....................................................................... 187 Small, Joseann .......................................................................... 46
Goodstein, Ronald C. ............................................................ 121 Smith, Anne M. ........................................................................ 73
Gopinath, Mahesh .................................................................... 52 Smith, Sharon ........................................................................ 107
Hausman, Angela ..................................................................... 93 Som, Ashok .............................................................................. 89
Henry, Paul .................................................................... 2, 5, 106 Sonnenberg, Nadine ................................................................. 76
Hernandez, José Mauro da Costa ............................................. 44 Sparks, Beverley ....................................................................... 77
Hernandez, Monica D. .............................................................. 24 Steenhaut, Sarah ....................................................................... 37
Hjort, Torbjörn ...................................................................... 148 Stern, Barbara ..................................................................... 26, 97
Jallat, Frederic .......................................................................... 63 Taschner, Gisela Black ............................................................. 75
Kempen, Elizabeth ................................................................... 76 Torres, Anna ............................................................................. 61
Kenhove, Patrick Van ............................................................... 37 Torres, Claudio V. ................................................................. 180
Kozinets, Robert V. ................................................................ 3, 6 Tsarong, Tenzin Thuthob ...................................................... 139
188
Turley, Darach ....................................................................... 130
Villeneuve, Virginie ................................................................. 80
Visser, Sonna ............................................................................ 76
Viswanathan, Nanda K. ........................................................... 10
Vogel, Verena ........................................................................ 119
Watchravesringkan, Kittichai ................................................... 78
Wattanasuwan, Kritsadarat ....................................................... 48
Weber, Karin ............................................................................ 77
Woisetschläger, David ........................................................... 119
Wood, Natalie ........................................................................... 54
Zhang, Meng ............................................................................ 29
Zilles, Fernanda Pagliarini ....................................................... 64

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Editors

International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 0-915552-56-6

Silvia Gonzalez and David Luna, Editors

Latin American Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 1

(Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research, 2006)

Silvia Gonzalez David Luna

Laurel Anderson, Arizona State University

2006 LATIN AMERICA

Creating Knowledge Across Borders:

Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................ iii

Conference Committees / Reviewers ........................................................................................................................... iv

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................................... vi

ACR-Latin America Welcome Reception

(Each film is followed by a 15-minute discussion with the filmmakers)

“TOO MUCH PASSION”: Exploring the Telenovelas Consumption in Mexico .................................................................................. 1

Headbanging: As Resistance or Refuge ................................................................................................................................................. 2

There and Back Again: A Consumption Journey ................................................................................................................................... 3

Generaciones/Generations: Cultural Identity, Memory, and the Market .............................................................................................. 4

Living Dolls: How Affinity Groups Sustain Celebrity Worship ............................................................................................................. 5

God’s Holy Fire ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

The Gospel of Prosperity: Charismatic Churches in Ghana ................................................................................................................. 7

Consumer Ethics Across Cultures .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Relationships, Expectations, and Satisfaction in Service Encounters

Session Chair: Nanda Viswanathan, Delaware State University, USA

Failure and Recovery on Satisfaction: An Approach from Script Theory ............................................................................................ 21

ACR Presidential Address

Session Chair: Reto Felix, University of Monterrey, Mexico

Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference ................................................................................................................................ 23

Norms, Context, and Advertising Effects on Decision Making

Session Chair: Pankaj Aggarwal, University of Toronto, Canada

Context Effects on Consumer Choice: Do Brands Matter? .................................................................................................................. 31

Emotions in Consumption: Sellers, Buyers, Guilt and Trust

Working Paper Session and Reception

The Effect of Public Commitment on Resistance to Persuasion: Preliminary Findings ..................................................................... 52

Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty in the Supermarket Industry in Brazil ......................................................................................... 55

Measuring the Relationship Building Capacity of Online Marketing Communications ..................................................................... 57

Virtual Communities as Reference Groups on Consumer Decision Process ....................................................................................... 59

The Impact of a Crisis in Attribute Importance Perceptions ............................................................................................................... 61

Family and Leisure Consumer Behavior .............................................................................................................................................. 75

Unchaining Means-End Chain Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 80

Measuring Aggregate Returns in the Customer Value: An Analytical Framework ............................................................................. 83

Understanding Consumers in Colombia: A Retail Industry Case Study .............................................................................................. 89

Towards a Brazilian Life Cycle Model

Incorporating Heterogeneity into Count Data Models Applied to Marketing ..................................................................................... 90

Female Images in Commercials: A Content Analysis Study: 1973–2000 ............................................................................................. 92

The Adoption of Foreign Music as Hedonic Experience: A Theoretical Model ................................................................................... 93

Improving the Predictibility of Personal Values ................................................................................................................................... 95

Meet the Editors Session

Journal of Consumer Research

Consumption, Markets, and Culture

Austral Asian Journal of Marketing

Imagery, Identity, and Celebrities in the Media

Session Chair: José Luis Pineda, ITESM, Mexico

Soap Opera Heroines and Women Consumers: Images of Vulnerability ............................................................................................ 97

Women Feelings about Female Images in Advertising: A Qualitative Study ....................................................................................... 99

The Self in Context: The Effect of Positioning, Situation, and Environment

Session Chair: Alan J. Malter, University of Arizona, USA

New Perspectives on Brands and Brand Extensions

Session Chair: Carlos Ballesteros, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain

The Self and Consumption

Session Chair: Melea Press, Penn State University, USA

Simulations as Possessions and Their Role in Self Extension ............................................................................................................ 130

Living with Respect ............................................................................................................................................................................ 139

Reputation .80 .77 .97 **

Reputation → Web Quality .55 .54 .54 **