Extrinsic Attributes Research Articles

Bringing the Consumer Back in—The Motives, Perceptions, and Values behind Consumers and Rural Tourists’ Decision to Buy Local and Localized Artisan Food—A Swedish Example

This article highlights the motivational factors behind consumers’ and tourists’ decisions to buy local artisan cheese in Jämtland (Sweden). Empirically, the case itself diverts from the typical Franco-Mediterranean case in which both the actions of producers and consumers are embedded in historical, long-term culinary traditions and territorial features, nor is it the typical farmers’ market or another market-driven direct produce system. The main purpose is to shed light on the motivational factors behind the purchasing decision of consumers and tourists by studying the attributes that consumers embody in the products. The article is based on two consumer surveys/short interviews, the first conducted in June 2012 and the second in February 2017. The results were tested against/related to the wider local food discussion conceptualized through four types of attributes. Namely, intrinsic and extrinsic attributes; post-modernity and environmental attributes; geographical and territorial attributes; and local and rural development attributes. The results in this article clearly show that consumers value a combination of different attributes from both market-driven direct produce systems and close typicity systems. Therefore, the construction of proximity from the point of view of the consumer can be derived from a complex set of attributes and motivational factors not normally highlighted in the localized food discussion.

An Ensemble CNN2ELM for Age Estimation

Age estimation is a challenging task, because it can be easily affected by gender, race, and other intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. At the same time, performing age estimation for a narrow age range may lead to better results. In this paper, to achieve robust age estimation, an ensemble structure referred to as CNN2ELM, which includes convolutional neural network (CNN) and extreme learning machine (ELM), is proposed for age estimation. The three-level system includes feature extraction and fusion, age grouping via an ELM classifier, and age estimation via an ELM regressor. Age-Net, Gender-Net, and Race-Net are trained using different targets, such as age class, gender class, and race class, respectively, and the three networks are used to extract features corresponding to age, gender, and race from the same image of a person during validation and test stages. Features related to the age property are enhanced by fusing these of race and gender properties. Then, to achieve a narrow age range, the ELM classifies the fusion results into one of the age groups. Afterward, an age decision is made using an ELM regressor. Our network is pretrained on an ImageNet database and then fine-tuned on the IMDB-WIKI database. The recently released Adience benchmark, ChaLearn Looking at People 2016 (LAP-2016), and MORPH-II are used to verify the performance of “Race-Net + Age-Net + Gender-Net + ELM classifier + ELM regressor (RAGN).” RAGN outperforms the existing state-of-the-art age estimation methods. The mean absolute error of the age estimation of RAGN for MORPH-II is determined to be 2.61 years; the accuracy of the age estimation for the Adience benchmark is 0.6649; and the normal score (ϵ) for the sequestered test set of the LAP-2016 data set is 0.3679.

How Australian consumers value intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of beef products

The purpose of this paper is to determine which information cues on beef labels actually attract consumer interest. We applied a discrete choice experiment to investigate 1002 Australian consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different beef products. Consumers were presented with a novel experiment in which they indicated “how many” they would purchase for mince, diced, roast, and four cuts of steaks (rump, porterhouse, scotch fillet and eye fillet).The results from an ordered logit model showed that cues related to healthy option purchases play a stronger influential role on Australian consumers decision making compared to other beef attributes. Australian consumers have a stronger preference for less marbled beef. Moreover, white fat colour is more desirable than yellow colour. Furthermore, in relation to labelling information, origin of the beef is a key indicator in consumer’s evaluation process. We observed a highly inflated WTP for origin of the beef. For example a WTP of $5.76 for Scotch fillet steak from “Tasmania” compared a WTP of −$14.22 for the same cut from “China”. This finding may be due to Australian consumers using origin as a cue for food safety or quality.We concluded that preferences for beef products are not similar across consumers from different nations and country-specific research is required to illustrate consumer’s preference. Finally, this study provides managerial and policy implication and recommendations to better understand the relative value to the Australian consumer of beef product appearance and labelling information.

Effectiveness of CSR Advertising: The Role of Reputation, Consumer Attributions, and Emotions

AbstractDespite companies' wishes to publicise their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, communication remains a challenge. This research study tries to contribute to the literature, analysing the antecedents and consequences of attitude towards a CSR advertisement in the financial sector. Specifically, we designed a causal model, which included the prior ethical reputation, the range of possible attributions, and the mix of emotions provoked by the advertisement. We surveyed 225 adults in Spain who evaluated a fictitious advertisement for companies of different ethical reputations, conveying a philanthropic cause. As a result, it was observed that the advertisement generated a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic attributions and a mix of positive and negative emotions, and the prior ethical reputation of the company was a key antecedent of the effectiveness of the communication. Furthermore, a good attitude towards the advertisement has rewards, in terms of improvement of attitudes towards the brand and behavioural intentions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

More hawthorn and less dried longan: the role of information and taste on red wine consumer preferences in China

Background and Aims This study uses sensory evaluation techniques to test the relative influence of country of origin, price and sensory attributes on consumer preferences in a new wine market. Methods and Results Red wines from France, Australia and China were tasted by Chinese consumers under blind or informed conditions. Sensory descriptive data were collected from a Chinese-trained panel. A higher price and being from France were the strongest predictors of informed liking, while being from China had a negative influence for most of the consumers. Some consistency was found in sensory preferences between blind and informed tastings, indicating that sensory aspects of the wine are important. Well-liked wines were generally high in fermented bean curd, hawthorn and woody, and low in salty and dried longan attributes. Conclusions Price and country of origin generally are more important than the sensory aspects, however, a significant proportion of consumers are less concerned about origin and price and were more influenced by the sensory characteristics. Significance of the Study Even in a new wine market, producers benefit from understanding consumer reactions to the sensory properties of wines and to extrinsic attributes in order to successfully meet consumer expectations.

CONSEQUENTIALITY BELIEFS AND CONSUMER VALUATION OF EXTRINSIC ATTRIBUTES IN BEEF

AbstractThis study measures willingness to pay (WTP) for extrinsic attributes (Angus, local, DNA traceable, raised carbon friendly, and humanely treated cattle) in steak and ground beef using choice-based experiments from a national consumer survey. Belief that survey responses could have consequences on beef products offered by the steak and ground beef industry is investigated, as well as its effect on attribute WTP. For most attributes, belief in consequentiality increases WTP. Results suggest that although consequentiality believers tend to place greater importance on certain food industry issues, they are less certain about the attribute's provision actually effecting change in the industry.

Why dishonest job seekers are attracted by Corporate Social Performance.

Although past research investigates how job seekers react to information about a firm’s Corporate Social Performance (CSP), an unexplored question is whether CSP is more (or less) likely to attract employees that behave according to higher ethical standards. Focusing on individual propensity towards dishonesty we offer the first systematic evaluation of how CSP contributes to the moral preferences of the workforce that an organization attracts. Contributing to research on the micro-level processes that explain job seekers attraction to CSP, the study shows that, contrary to current accounts, organizations promoting social and environmental programs are equally attractive to both honest and dishonest job seekers. Furthermore, the mediating mechanisms linking CSP to organizational attractiveness are systematically different for individuals with different propensity towards honest behavior and the impact of CSP signaling on attractiveness is moderated by extrinsic attributions only for individuals with high propensity for honest behavior. Finally, we hypothesize and show that dishonest job seekers are attracted to CSP because of a social signaling mechanism that is especially valuable for them; the association with a firm promoting CSP is a way to disguise individual predatory tendencies and ensure that dishonest prospects are trusted by others in social interactions.

Selling digital services abroad: How do extrinsic attributes influence foreign consumers’ purchase intentions?

This article investigates, through the country-of-origin effect and value-in-use lenses, how the implementation of digital services creates opportunities for cultural industries to expand internationally. We argue that intrinsic attributes of cultural content such as the capacity to entertain are difficult to parameterize because they are somewhat experiential and subjective. This means that extrinsic cues are essential to foreign consumers when making a decision to purchase digital services. We specifically evaluate the influence of Britishness, cultural distance, exoticness, brand image, and flag-brand congruence on the purchase intentions of consumers in foreign markets. This study employs a unique consumer dataset with information on the internationalization of British cultural digital services. The depth and breadth of the survey data collected through collaboration with a UK media industry partner with a globally recognised brand is significantly richer than data used in previous studies. In particular, the study exploits a survey with 5,200 usable data points from consumers residing in fourteen geographically dispersed countries. Findings support theoretical predictions that Britishness, cultural distance, exoticness, brand image and flag-brand congruence are positively linked to the purchasing decisions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

How Much Should a Corporation Communicate About Corporate Social Responsibility? Reputation and Amount of Information Effects on Stakeholders’ CSR-Induced Attributions

This study investigates how much corporations should communicate about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to stakeholders. It is important to know how much a corporation should communicate about its CSR, because over-communicating CSR may cause stakeholders to question the motivations (CSR-induced intrinsic and extrinsic attributions) of the corporation’s CSR engagement. Through an experiment (N = 372), the effects of corporate reputation and the amount communicated about CSR on CSR-induced attributions are investigated. Findings show that neither the amount of CSR communication nor corporate reputation influences stakeholders’ CSR-induced attributions. The findings of this study suggest that corporations may choose to spend less time and money trying to communicate about their CSR engagement, because it does not influence stakeholders’ CSR-induced attributions.

The power of self-service technologies in creating transcendent service experiences

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to draw upon the theory of consumption values and the experiential value scale to develop a conceptual model concerning hospitality customer’s use of self-service technologies (SSTs) and their impact on consumers’ service experience.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to 220 hotel and restaurant customers. The researchers tested the hypotheses by using descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis.FindingsBoth extrinsic and intrinsic attributes of SSTs influence consumers’ satisfaction with SST usage significantly, while the extrinsic attributes play a stronger role. It is worth noting that while the intrinsic attributes have a significant impact on consumers’ transcendent service experience, the extrinsic attributes negatively influence such experience.Practical implicationsThe findings help managers create effective strategies to better match consumers’ needs and to deliver more customized self-service experience. The role of SSTs can be expanded beyond functional attributes to satisfy consumers’ curiosity, foster customer–customer interactions and personalize consumer experience.Originality/valueAlthough most SSTs research focus on technology adoption intention, features, functionality and benefits to the service provider, this research is among the first attempts to examine the role of SSTs in creating better consumer experience. The bidimensional conceptualization of SSTs experience developed in this research suggests that SSTs in the hotel and restaurant sector should be utilized for reasons beyond their utilitarian attributes: SSTs should be designed to help create a transcendent service experience.

Drivers of choice for fluid milk versus plant-based alternatives: What are consumer perceptions of fluid milk?

Fluid milk consumption has declined for decades while consumption of nondairy alternatives has increased. A better understanding of why consumers purchase fluid milk or nondairy alternatives is needed to assist increased sales of milk or maintain sales without further decline. The objective of this study was to determine the extrinsic attributes that drive purchase within each product category. The second objective was to determine the personal values behind the purchase of each beverage type to give further understanding why particular attributes are important. An online conjoint survey was launched with 702 dairy consumers, 172 nondairy consumers, and 125 consumers of both beverages. Individual means-end chain interviews were conducted with fluid milk consumers (n = 75), plant-based alternative consumers (n = 68), and consumers of both beverages (n = 78). Fat content was the most important attribute for dairy milk followed by package size and label claims. Consumers of fluid milk preferred 1 or 2% fat content, gallon, or half-gallon packaging, conventionally pasteurized store-brand milk. Sugar level was the most important attribute for plant-based beverages, followed by plant source and package size. Almond milk was the most desirable plant source, and half-gallon packaging was the most preferred packaging. Means-end chain interviews results suggested that maintaining a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle was important to all consumer groups. Lactose free was an important attribute for plant-based alternative consumers and consumers of both dairy and nondairy. A distinguishing characteristic of those who only drank nondairy plant-based alternatives was that plant-based beverages contributed to a goal to consume less animal products, beliefs about animal mistreatment, and perceived lesser effect on the environment than fluid milk. Unique to fluid milk consumers was that fluid milk was perceived as a staple food item. These results suggest that the dairy industry should focus on the nutrition value of milk and educating consumers about misconceptions regarding dairy milk. Future beverage innovation should include the development of lactose-free milk that is also appealing to consumers in flavor.

Product Family Approach in E-Waste Management: A Conceptual Framework for Circular Economy

As the need for a more circular model is being increasingly pronounced, a fundamental change in the end-of-life (EoL) management of electrical and electronic products (e-products) is required in order to prevent the resource losses and to promote the reuse of products and components with remaining functionality. However, the diversity of product types, design features, and material compositions pose serious challenges for the EoL managers and legislators alike. In order to address these challenges, we propose a framework that is based on the ‘product family’ philosophy, which has been used in the manufacturing sector for a long time. For this, the product families can be built based on intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of e-products as well as of the EoL management system. Such an approach has the potential to improve the current EoL practices and to support designers in making EoL thinking operational during the product design stage. If supported by a better EoL collection, presorting and testing platform, and a family-centric approach for material recovery, such a framework carries the potential to avoid the losses occurring in today’s e-waste management system. This, in turn, could facilitate a smooth transition towards a circular model for the electrical and electronic industry.

Organic price premium or penalty? A comparative market analysis of organic wines from Tuscany

Previous literature suggests that the price of wine is a function of its intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. Studies have examined the price of wines from various wine producing regions using the hedonic price model to determine the correlation between wine attributes and price. However few studies have examined the relationship between organic production or certification and price. This study uses a hedonic pricing model to examine the price premiums associated with organic production and organic certification for Tuscan red wines produced between 2000 and 2008 in both the Italian and American wine markets. Controlling for a variety of wine attributes, the analysis finds that wines produced with organic practices, but not certified as organic and wines certified, but not labeled as organic receive a higher price compared to conventional wine, for wines with low quality ratings. However, as the wine’s quality rating increases, the positive effects of organic practices and certification on price decrease, and for wine with higher quality ratings, organic practices and certification is associated with lower prices relative to otherwise comparable conventional wines.

Is taste the key driver for consumer preference? A conjoint analysis study

A conjoint design was applied to examine the effects of three conjoint factors (based on the results of two focus groups): one intrinsic attribute (sweetener, with levels of sugar and Stevia) and two extrinsic attributes (brand and package size) on preference and purchase probability for chocolate and sugar substitute chocolate. Tasting and ingredient information were linked to the intrinsic factor.The first objective of this research was to study the influence of using tasting vs. ingredient information as a stimulus on consumers’ preference for chocolate using adaptive conjoint analysis. A second objective was to examine whether completing a behavioural questionnaire might influence consumer’s preference. A third objective was to investigate whether participants could be clustered based on their chocolate preference and if these clusters would be influenced by the stimulus (tasting vs. ingredient information). Given the objectives, a 2×2 factorial design was used with tasting vs. ingredient information as a first factor and completing a behavioural questionnaire vs. not completing a behavioural questionnaire before the conjoint task as the second factor.Respondents were divided into four groups according to the experimental design. A total of 2096 respondents completed the study, resulting in useful data from 1570 respondents. Consumer data were deleted based on consistency checks in the questionnaire.The results indicated that actual tasting led to greater consistency in respondents’ answers. Moreover, tasting had an influence on the importance ratings and the utilities for the overall population sample. Furthermore, completing a behavioural questionnaire did not impact the results of the conjoint analysis. Through clustering the respondents, three clusters were identified: ‘sugar driven’, ‘brand driven’ and ‘sugar substitute driven’. These clusters were recurrent in all four groups of respondents. Tasting or receiving ingredient information about the product did not influence the existence of the clusters. However, this difference in stimulus presentation did induce a shift in cluster sizes.

Which product characteristics are preferred by Chinese consumers when choosing pork? A conjoint analysis on perceived quality of selected pork attributes.

Due to the economic growth achieved by China over the past 20 years, Chinese consumers have changed their purchasing behavior regarding meat. Instead of buying locally produced pork, they are increasingly willing to purchase imported pork. A conjoint analysis investigated how intrinsic pork attributes (fat content and processing) and extrinsic pork attributes (origin, price, and packaging) relate to the perceived quality of pork and the choices made by Chinese consumers. A questionnaire distributed among a sample of Chinese consumers (n = 81) revealed that processing (fresh/frozen) is the most important determinant of pork choice (36%), followed by fat content (27%), origin (18%), price (12%), and packaging (6.6%). Estimates of utility showed that Chinese consumers value fresh pork highly (0.147), followed by lean pork (0.111) and pork imported from countries other than China (0.073). The findings indicate that Chinese consumer's value both intrinsic and extrinsic attributes, and these results may help the meat industry improve China's competitive meat market by developing new and more products that are tailored to the needs of the consumer.

The influence of country image on luxury value perception and purchase intention

PurposeThis study aims to develop a theoretical concept by examining the country image effects on luxury value perception, a matter past studies have overlooked. Multiple facets of country image, cognitive and affective dimensions, have been developed to evaluate perceived luxury value and purchase intention. However, no prior studies have considered all the types of perceived luxury values: utilitarian value, hedonic value, symbolic value and economic value, considered in relation to cognitive and affective country image in an emerging country’s market. Accordingly, this study has attempted to explore the ways Thai luxury consumers perceive the image of the country and the influence of the perceived value of Thai luxury brands, to learn which country attributes strengthen the luxury brand’s value and customers’ purchase intention.Design/methodology/approachA total of 407 Thai respondents, who were luxury-product consumers who knew and previously had bought either Thai luxury brands or global luxury brands, comprised the final sample examined. Structural Equation Modeling was employed in this research to test the research hypotheses. The structural model proposed a causal relationship between two endogenous constructs, cognitive and affective country images, and five exogenous constructs: utilitarian value, hedonic value, symbolic value, economic value and purchase intention.FindingsThe findings confirmed that countries are like brands in that the perceived image of each country’s aspects, cognitive and affective, influences the perceived value in each dimension differently, and so affects purchase intention. This implies that the evaluation of perceived quality or perceived value for money, as in past studies, cannot accurately demonstrate what particular benefits consumers receive when they utilize the country-image cue. Country image has both symbolic and emotional significances for consumers. The findings have provided a more precise measure of the effects of country image as well as important information on country positioning the in the world market.Research limitations/implicationsThere are some limitations in this study. The reliance on Thai samples from one city has limited the generalizability of the findings. Moreover, this study considered only one country of brand origin, and only one product category has been chosen as the stimulus, which together are the major limitations of this study. Future research could also consider further testing country image effects on value perception with other extrinsic attributes, rather than using a single cue, as this study did. Additionally, antecedent variables that may have an influence on country-image effects should be considered in future studies.Practical implicationsThe relation of country image and value perception could help both governments and companies support their national brands more effectively, or to export products in accordance with the image aspect that most strongly impacts consumers’ positive perception of value. Moreover, it would be valuable for companies producing luxury products to know which country attributes strengthen the brand’s value. Luxury-brand managers will have to take these aspects into consideration when developing their communications strategies (Krupka et al., 2014).Originality/valueThere is a lack of research as regards the impact of a brand name’s perceived origin on the luxury perception associated with that brand (Salciuviene et al., 2010). This research is the first to investigate the theoretical framework of luxury value perception found in relation to cognitive and affective country images. From an academic perspective, this study sought to increase the theoretical research relating to the ambiguous conceptualization of the country-image effect on consumers’ perception of value in luxury products. Additionally, the relation of country image to luxury value perception could help both governments and companies support their national luxury brands more effectively, or to export luxury products in accordance with the image aspect that most strongly impacts consumers’ positive perception of value.

Hábitos de consumo de bebidas gasificadas, en la población de adultos jóvenes en la ciudad Hermosillo, Sonora, México

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo desarrollar un modelo estadístico que definan cuáles son los atributos de calidad (intrínsecos y extrínsecos) y de creencia que influye en la intención de compra de las bebidas gasificadas, de la población con un nivel socioeconómico C, C+ de Hermosillo Sonora. El diseño de la metodología de esta investigación se realizó en dos actuaciones: 1) cualitativa, la cual está dividida en dos partes, entrevistas de profundidad y sesiones de grupo; y 2) cuantitativa, se aplicó un cuestionario estructurado para la recopilación de datos y por medio de la técnica estadística de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales se contrastaron las hipótesis de trabajo. Los resultados demuestran que los atributos extrínsecos son un factor importante para el consumo de bebidas gasificadas.

The Choice of Canned Whole Peeled Tomatoes is Driven by Different Key Quality Attributes Perceived by Consumers Having Different Familiarity with the Product.

Canned whole peeled tomatoes are a premium tomato product; however, no information is available about the key intrinsic and extrinsic quality attributes perceived by consumers when buying this product. This research considered consumers differing in the level of familiarity with peeled tomatoes, that is, knowledge, frequency of consumption, and availability of this product, on 3 markets: Chile (low), The Netherlands (medium), and Italy (high). The perceptions and preferences of each group were studied using first focus groups and subsequently conjoint analysis in order to identify the key quality attributes leading their preferences for this product. Focus groups identified 7 intrinsic attributes (color, packing medium, tomato consistency, acidity level, sweetness level, extra ingredients, and intensity of product taste), and 5 extrinsic attributes (packaging material, product type, country of origin, brand, and label design). Significant variations according to the familiarity were found. The conjoint analyses showed that color of tomatoes was the most important intrinsic quality attribute for all groups, while packaging material was the most important extrinsic quality attribute for Chileans and Dutch, being a glass container or a can with easy open the preferred packaging for respective groups. In contrast, country of origin was the most important parameter for Italians. We concluded that intrinsic and extrinsic attributes were strongly influenced by the degree of familiarity with canned whole peeled tomatoes.

The consumer trail: Applying best-worst scaling to classical wine attributes

The main goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the buying behavior of wine consumers in Portugal. More specifically, the study identifies extrinsic attributes that influence wine purchase choices in a retail store, crossing-tabulating the results with six classification variables. The authors use the best-worst scaling method with eighteen reference attributes for designing, implementing, and analyzing responses to a survey of 250 wine buyers. Results reveal that the most significant reference attribute is whether consumers had tasted the wine previously. These findings for Portugal are in accordance with what has been observed in other Western countries. The second most important attribute, region of origin, is also commonly identified in the literature as a significant attribute. The classification variables of age and gender help to explain the behavior of the majority attributes. Using a latent class analysis, the authors obtained a set of three segments that are representative of Portuguese wine consumers. The findings presented here have important implications for wineries and wine distributors in their efforts to know their consumers better in an off-premise context and thereby to maximize profit.

Improving consumer commitment through the integration of self-service technologies: A transcendent consumer experience perspective

An increasing number of hospitality firms have integrated self-service technologies (SSTs), yet limited studies exist concerning consumers’ experience of using SSTs. The present research theorizes SSTs experience as a bi-dimensional (i.e., extrinsic and intrinsic) construct and tests its impact on consumer commitment (i.e., affective, temporal, and instrumental commitment). This research further examines the potential mediating effect of transcendent consumer experience (TCE) on the tested relationships. Results of Structural Equation Modeling using a sample of 223 hotel and restaurant consumers reveal that TCE fully mediates the impacts of SSTs’ extrinsic attributes on the instrumental commitment as well as the impacts of SSTs’ intrinsic attributes on the instrumental and the temporal commitment. In contrast, TCE partially mediates the impacts of SSTs’ extrinsic attributes on the affective and the temporal commitment as well as the impacts of SSTs’ intrinsic attributes on the affective commitment. The paper concludes with theoretical implications and managerial implications.