Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Research in 1985"
TL;DR: The Personal In-volvement Inventory was developed over four data sets of 268 undergraduate psychology students, two data set of 49 MBA students, and two data sets with 57 clerical and administrative staff members as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: SUMMARY The purpose of the study was to develop a scale tomeasure the construct of involvement. Hence, a se-mantic differential scale was developed to capture theconcept of involvement for products. This Personal In-volvement Inventory was developed over four data setsof 268 undergraduate psychology students; two data setswith 49 MBA students; and two data sets with 57 clericaland administrative staflf members. The scale was dem-onstrated to have content validity by expert judges attwo phases of the scale development: first, for the se-lection of items, and second, through classification ofopen-ended responses from subjects. The reliability orstability of the scale over time was checked over twosubject populations for an average test-retest correlationof 0.90. The criterion-related validity of the scale waschecked by demonstrating agreement with the order ofvarious products as found in previous studies. The con-struct validity—the test ofthe scale to theoretical prop-ositions—was then carried out. The scale was admin-istered to clerical and administrative staff and coveredthree different product categories and several statementsof behavior proposed to be representative of involve-ment. Over all three product categories there was a pos-itive relationship between the scale scores and the sub-jects' responses to the statements of theoretical prop-ositions pertaining to involvement.
6,112 citations
Abstract: The effects of prior knowledge about a product class on various characteristics of pre-purchase information search within that product class are examined. A new search task methodology is used that imposes only a limited amount of structure on the search task: subjects are not cued with a list of attributes, and the problem is not structured in a brand-by-attribute matrix. The results indicate that prior knowledge facilitates the acquisition of new information and increases search efficiency. The results also support the conceptual distinction between objective and subjective knowledge.
2,143 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the relevance of materialism to consumer behavior is discussed and three subtraits (envy, nongenerosity, and possessiveness) are compared over three generations of consumers from the same families.
Abstract: The relevance of materialism to consumer behavior is discussed. Materialism is advanced as a critical but neglected macro consumer-behavior issue. Measures for materialism and three subtraits—envy, nongenerosity, and possessiveness—are presented and tested. The subtraits are compared over three generations of consumers from the same families, and measure validity is further explored via responses to a sentence completion task. Based on these results, a call is made for research into related macro consumer-behavior issues.
2,050 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, three factors were manipulated in an advertisement for disposable razors: celebrity-source physical attractiveness, celebrity source likability, and participant product involvement, and the results were interpreted as supporting social adaptation theory.
Abstract: Three factors were manipulated in an advertisement for disposable razors: celebrity-source physical attractiveness, celebrity-source likability, and participant product involvement. Attitudes and purchase intentions changed due to celebrity-source attractiveness, and the results were interpreted as supporting social adaptation theory.
1,415 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the notion that trust plays a key role in making a seller's tough bargaining strategy successful was examined, and a bargaining experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of trust on dyadic interactions.
Abstract: Exchange theories posit that trust has an important and favorable influence on dyadic interactions. This paper examines the notion that trust plays a key role in making a seller's tough bargaining strategy successful. In a bargaining experiment, we manipulated subjects' preconceptions about a seller's trustworthiness and bargaining toughness. As hypothesized, a seller's expected trustworthiness-plus-toughness in bargaining led to higher levels of buyer-seller cooperation and agreement and a higher level of buyer concessions.
1,386 citations
TL;DR: The diffusion theory literature offers a fairly well-developed conceptual framework for the study of communications as discussed by the authors, which applies to the flow of information, ideas, and products; its uniqueness is its focus on interpersonal communication transfer.
Abstract: The diffusion theory literature offers a fairly well-developed conceptual framework for the study of communications. As developed across a number of disciplines, diffusion applies to the flow of information, ideas, and products; its uniqueness is its focus on interpersonal communication transfer. This paper offers new theoretical propositions to advance consumer diffusion research and to provide a foundation for diffusion modeling.
1,323 citations
TL;DR: This article found that category-based evaluative responses supplement the piecemeal-based evaluation processes more often studied in consumer research, and the alternative modes of processing were found to be contingent upon the match/mismatch of information to category expectations.
Abstract: This study suggests that category-based evaluative responses supplement the piecemeal-based evaluation processes more often studied in Consumer Research. The alternative modes of processing were found to be contingent upon the match/mismatch of information to category expectations. Compared to piecemeal (mismatch) processing, category-based (match) processing resulted in faster impression formation times, more verbalizations related to the product category, fewer verbalizations related to the product's attributes, and fewer references to subtypes. Expertise exaggerated these effects.
1,207 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework is presented that depicts both the mediating role of mood states and their potential importance in consumer behavior, and the potential feasibility and viability of mood-related approaches to marketing research and practice are discussed.
Abstract: A conceptual framework is presented that depicts both the mediating role of mood states and their potential importance in consumer behavior. Reviewing findings from the psychological literature indicates that mood states have direct and indirect effects on behavior, evaluation, and recall. The scope and limitations of these effects are addressed, and the implications for consumer behavior in three areas—service encounters, point-of-purchase stimuli, and communications (context and content)—are examined. Finally, the potential feasibility and viability of mood-related approaches to marketing research and practice are discussed.
1,145 citations
TL;DR: In daily living, people participate regularly in a variety of ritualized activities at home, work, and play, both as individuals and as members of some larger community as discussed by the authors, and the average person also relies on various ritual events to mark such significant life passages as graduation, marriage, and death.
Abstract: In daily living, people participate regularly in a variety of ritualized activities at home, work, and play, both as individuals and as members of some larger community. The average person also relies on various ritual events to mark such significant life passages as graduation, marriage, and death. Despite these pervasive and meaningful ritual experiences, consumer research has largely failed to recognize this extensive behavioral domain. The present article introduces and elaborates the ritual construct as a vehicle for interpreting consumer behavior and presents the results of two exploratory studies that investigate the artifactual and psychosocial contents of young adults' personal grooming rituals.
878 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of interpersonal communication in the development of consumer behavior of young people is examined, focusing mainly on the effects of mass media (advertising in particular), while studies of communication effects on consumer behaviour of the young have focused mainly on advertising.
Abstract: While studies of communication effects on consumer behavior of the young have focused mainly on the effects of mass media (advertising in particular), little research has examined the effects of interpersonal communication. One finds relatively little theoretical and empirical work regarding the role of interpersonal communication in the development of consumer behavior of young people. This article deals with one important type of interpersonal communication—family communication. It conceptualizes the family communication processes and effects, reviews literature regarding the role of family communication in consumer learning of children and adolescents, develops a set of propositions on the basis of theory research, and suggests directions for future research.
664 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on two studies that focus on ability versus preference for imaginal or visual processing, and propose a new measure of processing preference, Style of Processing (SOP), which exhibits internal consistency and criterion validity.
Abstract: The examination of individual differences in consumer information processing is an emerging area of research within both marketing and consumer behavior. In this article, we report on two studies that focus on ability versus preference for imaginal or visual processing. The first study assesses the psychometric properties of frequently used measures of imaginal processing ability and preference; the study's results were somewhat supportive of the two ability measures but not supportive of the preference measure. The second study proposes and tests a new measure of processing preference—the Style of Processing (SOP) scale—which exhibits internal consistency as well as discriminant and criterion validity.
TL;DR: In this article, both cognitive and normative structure crossover linkages in the Fishbein and Ajzen behavioral intention model were hypothesized on the basis of nine separate predictions taken from the persuasion and false consensus literatures.
Abstract: Both cognitive and normative structure crossover linkages in the Fishbein and Ajzen behavioral intention model were hypothesized on the basis of nine separate predictions taken from the persuasion and false consensus literatures. In a study of new product trial behavior, a maximum likelihood estimation of the model parameters revealed that the normative structure → attitude path was robust under all data subsets, contrary to the hypothesized relationships. The findings support other recent data suggesting attitudinal dependence on social influence.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the role of price in product evaluations with an empirical analysis of surveyed beliefs, attitudes, and intentions regarding automobile brands and found that price beliefs both influence and are influenced by beliefs about a brand's quality, thereby contributing to the attribution definition process.
Abstract: The potentially multifaceted role of price in product evaluations is investigated with an empirical analysis of surveyed beliefs, attitudes, and intentions regarding automobile brands. It is found that price beliefs both influence and are influenced by beliefs about a brand's quality, thereby contributing to the attribution definition process. However, price is not a significant determinant of overall attitude. It is also found that price becomes a negative factor when behavioral intentions are involved, lending support to an economic interpretation of price.
TL;DR: Using a longitudinal content analysis of advertisements appearing in popular U.S. magazines between 1900 and 1980, this paper assessed the image of life depicted during this period and found that advertising has increasingly portrayed consumption as an end in itself rather than as a means to consumer well-being.
Abstract: Using a longitudinal content analysis of advertisements appearing in popular U.S. magazines between 1900 and 1980, we assess the image of life depicted during this period. While little evidence is found to support some critics' contention that advertising has visually portrayed a progressively more luxurious and comfortable lifestyle, the themes employed in advertising do lend support to such an assertion. In addition, there is evidence that recent advertising has increasingly portrayed consumption as an end in itself rather than as a means to consumer well-being.
TL;DR: In this paper, the adoption of several key consumer-related technologies by the elderly was investigated in an elderly and a nonelderly sample of consumers, and the results indicated that lower percentages of the elderly group were in the trial and adoption stages for most of the innovations.
Abstract: The study investigated adoption of several key consumer-related technologies by the elderly. Specifically, the adoption of scanner-equipped grocery stores, electronic funds transfer, automated teller machines, and custom telephone calling services was compared in an elderly and a nonelderiy sample of consumers. Results indicated that lower percentages of the elderly group were in the trial and adoption stages for most of the innovations. However, elderly consumers were more likely to adopt electronic funds transfer. The elderly also used sources of information to different degrees than did the nonelderly to learn about innovations.
TL;DR: The authors found that individuals make inferences about missing information and that these inferences have a predictable influence on the evaluations being made, and that the greater the amount of missing information, the less favorable the evaluation.
Abstract: Information integration models have generally assumed that individuals making evaluations ignore attributes for which no information is available. However, recent evidence indicates that individuals make inferences about missing information and that these inferences have a predictable influence on the evaluations being made. The present study required individuals to evaluate television purchases, which were described by varying amounts of information—the greater the amount of missing information, the less favorable the evaluation. The evaluations' results are reported, as are the nonconfigural effects of the relationships among multiple attributes. Finally, the implications of this research for theory and marketing strategy are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used state-level historical data to estimate the demand for distilled spirits and beer using economic, sociodemographic, and control-law explanatory variables, and found that consumers and product segment-based approach to alcohol control laws or social marketing that emphasizes measures directed at youths for beer and at price for spirits.
Abstract: This article tests the social marketing effectiveness of alcohol control laws designed to reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The study uses state-level historical data to estimate the demand for distilled spirits and beer using economic, sociodemographic, and control-law explanatory variables. Spirits and beer consumption are found to react differently to changes in economic, sociodemographic, and regulatory variables. These differences suggest a consumer and product segment-based approach to alcohol control laws or social marketing that emphasizes measures directed at youths for beer and at price for spirits.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (MMC-FTC Improvement Act) as a market place in which a product's warranty would be an accurate signal of its reliability.
Abstract: A major goal of the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act was to create a market place in which a product's warranty would be an accurate signal of its reliability Appliances and motor vehicles were studied empirically to determine whether warranties actually do serve as reliability signals The results of the study show that even after controlling for other cues, warranties are accurate signals
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a model of voter behavior in a primary election, which integrates several schools of thought that have tried to explain voter behavior; it is tested by predicting the behavior of respondents based on the model, and then validating the results with the actual behavior of the respondents.
Abstract: This article develops and tests a model of voter behavior in a primary election. The model integrates several schools of thought that have tried to explain voter behavior; it is tested by predicting the behavior of respondents based on the model, and then validating the results with the actual behavior of the respondents. Results obtained here provide a prediction rate of 90 percent correctly classified. The article then compares the explanatory and predictive power of the model to models that use demographic and political involvement data.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of exposure in affective response is examined in order to develop a mechanism that can explain the role that exposure plays in the effect of affective responses.
Abstract: Various theories are examined in order to develop a mechanism that can explain the role of exposure in affective response. Processing style is proposed as a moderating variable that includes attention and elaboration of processing. An experiment suggests that some minimal level of processing (focused attention) may be required for affective response based on sensed familiarity and that more elaborative processing may invoke complex evaluative processes.
TL;DR: In this paper, an investigation was undertaken to empirically document effect sizes (i.e., the strength of a relationship or the magnitude of a difference between variables) in consumer behavior experiments reported in the literature during the period 1970-1982.
Abstract: An investigation was undertaken to empirically document effect sizes (i.e., the strength of a relationship or the magnitude of a difference between variables) in consumer behavior experiments reported in the literature during the period 1970–1982. A total of 118 experiments and 1,036 experimental effects was analyzed. Using ω2 as a measure of effect size, the investigation's results reveal that, on average, approximately 11 percent of the variance in a response variable was explained or accounted for by a statistically significant ( p ≤ 0.05) effect. This percentage, however, differed as a function of the methodological characteristics of the experiment.
TL;DR: The authors studied the impact of commercial practices on American popular language by examining the usage made since World War II of brand names and generic names in the texts of a selected set of bestselling American novels.
Abstract: This study seeks to understand the impact of commercial practices on American popular language by examining the usage made since World War II of brand names and generic names in the texts of a selected set of bestselling American novels. The various study findings lend support to the charges made by critics of increasing commercial influence in the American popular language of the postwar era. The findings also point to the emergence of a promotional practice, called “word-of-author advertising,” with important implications for marketers, consumers, and consumer researchers.
TL;DR: The authors describes four styles of conducting scientific inquiry (analytical science, conceptual theory, conceptual humanism, and particular humanism) and argues for a broader based perspective of the scientific enterprise and for mutual acceptance of different ways of conducting research.
Abstract: This paper describes four styles of conducting scientific inquiry—analytical science, conceptual theory, conceptual humanism, and particular humanism. The work of four consumer researchers—James Bettman, Russell Belk, Morris Holbrook, and Sidney Levy—is used to explicate each approach to inquiry. The author argues for a broader based perspective of the scientific enterprise and for mutual acceptance of different ways of conducting research.
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of exposure to TV commercials for lipstick and diet drinks on children's perception of the adult world was investigated, and the results indicated that even if children are not presently consumers of a product class, exposure to television advertising for these products may influence the perspective children have of adult world.
Abstract: The present study investigated the effect on children of exposure to TV commercials for adult products. An experiment was conducted testing the effects of exposure to commercials for lipstick and diet drinks. It was hypothesized that the effects would be greater for lipstick than for diet drinks, since the sample of nine- and ten-year-old girls utilized in this study saw themselves using that product in the future. The results indicated that lipstick TV commercials can influence children's perception of the products and brands that are associated with being an adult and thus perhaps the products and brands they should consume in the future. The results suggest that even if children are not presently consumers of a product class, exposure to TV advertising for these products may influence the perspective children have of the adult world.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that under certain circumstances affective reactions could be evoked before or in the absence of any cognitive processes and that neither one substantiates the independence of affect and cognition.
Abstract: In a recent paper in this Journal, Zajonc and Markus (1982) challenged the traditional view that the generation of affect toward a given object is always mediated by a cognitive evaluation of this object. They proposed instead that under certain circumstances affective reactions could be evoked before or in the absence of any cognitive processes. Zajonc and Markus's article contains intuitive arguments and compelling anecdotes as well as empirical evidence and theoretical claims. The present paper addresses each of these aspects and shows that neither one substantiates the independence of affect and cognition.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated information acquisition in several variations of the Information Display Board (IDB) format, including an interactive computer version, and found that the amount of information acquired and the manner in which it was acquired were dependent upon the presentation format.
Abstract: Previous research has indicated that the information acquisition process is highly dependent upon the manner in which information is presented. This study investigated information acquisition in several variations of the Information Display Board (IDB) format, including an interactive computer version. The amount of information acquired and the manner in which it was acquired were dependent upon the presentation format. The results suggest that one should be cautious when generalizing the results of previous work to new information search environments.
TL;DR: This article found that working wives tended to have a greater dislike for food shopping and cooking that seemed to stem primarily from time considerations, while housewives also exhibited a tendency to be less concerned with the impact of their food shopping activities on other family members.
Abstract: A research study is described which compared the responses of 246 working wives and 181 housewives to several food shopping- and preparation-related psychographic statements. Results show that working wives tended to have a greater dislike for food shopping and cooking that seemed to stem primarily from time considerations. Working wives also exhibited a tendency to be less concerned with the impact of their food shopping and preparation activities on other family members.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the usefulness of unanticipated situational occurrences for explaining the disparity between stated intention and actual behavior for 15 commonly consumed food and beverage products and found that behavior-intention inconsistency is partly attributable to unexpected situations.
Abstract: This study explores the usefulness of unanticipated situational occurrences for explaining the disparity between stated intention and actual behavior for 15 commonly consumed food and beverage products. Unlike previous research on unexpected situations, actual situational occurrences were monitored for effects on actual consumption (measured by garbage analysis and self-report). The results show that behavior-intention inconsistency is partly attributable to unexpected situations.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the decisions that face consumer researchers as they implement a perceptual product space analysis based on multi-attribute rating data and propose six major categories relating to issues of (1) data input, (2) mode, (3) preprocessing transformation, (4) choice/preference modeling, (5) technique and (6) solution.
Abstract: This paper considers decisions that face consumer researchers as they implement a perceptual product space analysis based on multi-attribute rating data. Decisions that affect the structure of the derived perceptual product space solution can be grouped into six major categories relating to issues of (1) data input, (2) mode, (3) preprocessing transformation, (4) choice/preference modeling, (5) technique, and (6) solution. The major difficulties of each decision area are explicated, and specific recommendations are provided whenever possible.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between recalled information and subsequent attitudes toward chosen and rejected alternatives was explored under different experimental conditions, and the results were discussed in terms of recent theoretical models describing effects of memory on judgments.
Abstract: Relationships between recalled information and subsequent attitudes toward chosen and rejected alternatives were explored under different experimental conditions. Memory for product information and effects of amount recalled on subsequently reported attitudes varied as a function of the processing objective and chosen or rejected alternatives. Results are discussed in terms of recent theoretical models describing effects of memory on judgments.