Influence Consumer Responses Research Articles

Effects of risk disclosure prominence in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs: An integrative cognitive process model

ABSTRACTThe literature shows that the prominence of risk disclosure influences consumer responses to direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. However, little is known about the psychological process whereby disclosure prominence exerts its influences on health beliefs and behavior. Based on a review of the literature on health cognition and behavior, the current study proposed and tested a model to show that risk disclosure prominence affects consumers’ drug choice intention through the mediating roles of awareness of drug adverse reactions (ARs), perceived control over ARs, and perceived risk of ARs. The findings were discussed in terms of their theoretical and managerial implications.

Watch Your Tone: How a Brand's Tone of Voice on Social Media Influences Consumer Responses

Social media platforms enable firms to communicate directly and often publicly with individual consumers. In this research, comprising four online studies, the authors investigate how the tone of voice used by firms (human vs. corporate) influences purchase intentions on social media. Findings suggest that a human tone of voice is not always the firm's best option. Study 1a (N=174) shows that using a human voice, instead of the more traditional corporate voice, can increase a consumer's hedonic value on social media and also purchase intentions. However, that influence of a human voice on purchase intentions is stronger when the consumer is looking at a brand page with a hedonic goal in mind (versus a utilitarian one). Study 1b (N=342) shows that the presence of several negative comments about a brand on social media acts as a boundary condition, nullifying the influence of a human voice on purchase intentions. Studies 2a (N=154) and 2b (N=202) show in different settings that using a human voice can even reduce purchase intentions in contexts of high situational involvement, due to perceptions of risk associated with humanness. The results contribute to the literature surrounding the effects of conversational human voice, while also providing managers with a set of guidelines to help inform and identify which tone of voice is best adapted to each communications scenario.

Research on logo design and evaluation of youth education brands based on visual representation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how logo design characteristics influence consumer response based on visual representation. Logos in different areas may have different characteristics that impact liking a logo. The logos of youth education brands were explored in this study.Design/methodology/approachThe Kansei engineering (KE) method was employed in this research. In total, 115 logos of youth education brands were collected and classified into three categories: abstract, natural and text mark. Then 12 of these logos were selected as representative samples. A set of 171 Kansei pairwise image words was collected, and 14 of them were chosen for further investigation. The psychological projection experiment was conducted based on a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire with 120 participants. Three statistical methods including cluster analysis, factor analysis and correlation analysis were combined for the data analysis.FindingsThe results show that four factors affect liking a logo including a sense of contemporaneity, a sense of esthetics, a feeling of interest and a sense of style. Accordingly, the weights of these four factors are proposed. The positive correlation between logo characteristics and liking a logo was also verified. In addition, the classification results of this study confirm the wide use of natural and English text mark logos in youth education brands.Originality/valueThe results could guide designers and managers in selecting or modifying logo design for achieving a positive effective response. This is the first research on logo design characteristics linked with industry domains. This study also contributes to the KE approach to investigate the relative impact of logo characteristics on liking a logo.

When brand-related UGC induces effectiveness on social media: the role of content sponsorship and content type

ABSTRACTWith the growing power of brand-related user-generated content (UGC) on social media, marketers have begun incorporating UGC into the marketing mix as part of word-of-mouth marketing. Drawing upon the Persuasion Knowledge Model, this study examines how content sponsorship interacts with content type to influence consumer responses toward brand-related UGC (inferences of manipulative intent, brand attitude, and intention to click on a URL). The results of an experiment with an online panel in the United States show that when the content is organic (i.e. unpaid), experience-centric content is more likely to induce favourable consumer responses than promotional content. When the content is sponsored (i.e. paid), however, promotional content yields more effective results than experience-centric content. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that consumer inferences of manipulative intent serve as a mediator for the interaction effects between content sponsorship and content types on consumer responses.

The Role of Company-Cause Fit and Company Involvement in Consumer Responses to CSR Initiatives: A Meta-Analytic Review

The marketing literature suggests that company-cause fit is of key importance to developing a successful socially responsible initiative. However, controversy exists regarding the level of this fit. While some studies report that high fit between a company and a cause has beneficial effects on consumer responses to such efforts, other research identifies negative impacts. This paper aims to obtain a deeper insight into this issue by examining the moderating role of company involvement in a cause. A meta-analysis of 51 experimental studies, yielding a total sample size of 11,335 subjects, shows that company-cause fit influences consumer responses to CSR initiatives most positively when a company with a positive reputation is highly involved in a cause, that is, when the company donates at least products. If such a company provides its beneficiary with only monetary contributions (i.e., low involvement), the effects of fit are significantly less influential.

Priced just for me: The role of interpersonal attachment style on consumer responses to customized pricing

AbstractCustomized pricing is an increasing phenomenon in the marketplace, but little is known about factors influencing consumer responses to customized pricing. The present paper seeks to gain an understanding of how, why, and when this emerging pricing mechanism may offer benefits. Specifically, this research focuses on how consumers respond to customized pricing tactics and, more specifically, on how interpersonal attachment orientations impact consumers' responses to prices offered in the presence of a customized pricing program. The results of 3 studies suggest that customized pricing programs likely create an expectation for a discounted price among securely attached individuals, such that these consumers are dissatisfied paying the shelf price in the presence of a customized pricing program. Overall, the results provide evidence that, although customized pricing programs are often used to enhance consumer evaluations, they may not always be effective. This paper advances prior research by integrating important considerations for both pricing and customization strategies based on individual and situational differences in attachment orientations.

Gratitude mediates consumer responses to marketing communications

PurposeFrom Adam Smith onwards, gratitude has been held as invaluable to societal functioning in view of its role in helping individuals maintain their reciprocal obligations to one another. The purpose of the current research is to use current conceptions of gratitude derived from work in social psychology to test whether simple descriptions of hypothetical organisations could systematically differ in the extent to which they elicit gratitude, and subsequently, whether gratitude would mediate behavioural intentions towards these organisations.Design/methodology/approachIn two studies, participants read vignettes describing hypothetical organisations that systematically differed in the extent to which the services they provided were costly to the organisation, of high value and provided out of a genuine desire to help. Perceptions of these dimensions, feelings of gratitude and behavioural intentions towards each organisation were subsequently measured.FindingsThe appraisal group manipulation significantly affected consumers’ behavioural intentions towards these businesses, and the majority of these relationships were mediated by feelings of gratitude towards the organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThese data indicate that gratitude not only mediates customer responses to relationship marketing investments, but may also be integral in marketing communications’ role in converting non-customers to customers. They also indicate that marketing communications should stress that an organisations services are of high value, of cost to the organisation and provided out of a genuine desire to help.Originality/valueThis paper shows for the first time that the same cognitive appraisals that underpin feelings of interpersonal gratitude mediate responses to global evaluations of organisations. This considerably broadens the situations under which gratitude had previously been considered to operate and argues for the inclusion of gratitude in understanding how marketing communications and relationship management are used to influence consumer responses.

One For Me, One For You: Cause‐Related Marketing with Buy‐One Give‐One Promotions

ABSTRACTA Buy‐one Give‐one (BOGO) donation model features the donation of a physical entity and is a popular cause‐related marketing (CM) promotion format. Little is known about factors that underlie consumer response to BOGO‐format promotions. The current studies, collectively, indicate BOGO promotions evoke a concrete construal mindset [(Trope & Liberman ). Temporal construal. Psychological Review, 110, 403–421], which influences consumer response in a distinct manner: BOGO promotions enhance promotion attitudes and purchase intention when bundled with utilitarian products, and enhance consumer response through perceived helpfulness of the donated entity.

Prosocial Outcomes of Hotel’s CSR-Perceived Motives

This study explores social marketing effects of a hotel’s proenvironmental practices. With an emphasis on consumers’ perceptions of a hotel’s corporate social responsibility motives, it looks at how perceived motives influence consumer responses—attitudes toward a hotel and hotel selection, intentions to participate in a hotel’s green program, and willingness to pay a premium to support its efforts. Findings indicated that a consumers’ perceived public-serving motive positively influenced consumer responses, while a self-serving motive had negative impacts. Additionally, this study revealed that consumers’ perceived motives varied significantly by hotel user segments but not by hotel class. That is, luxury hotel users had a tendency to consider the motive as public serving compared to an economy hotel user group. Further, perceived motive mediated the relationships between hotel user segments and consumer responses, which included prosocial outcomes, like intentions to participate in a green hotel program, along with attitudes toward a hotel, intentions to select a hotel, and intentions to pay a premium.

Cross-Modal Communication: Sound Frequency Influences Consumer Responses to Color Lightness

This research demonstrates that the synesthetic cross-modal correspondence between sound frequency and color lightness can guide visual attention: high-frequency (low-frequency) sounds guide visual attention toward light-colored (dark-colored) objects. Three eye-tracking studies indicate that this influence is automatic; it arises without goals or conscious awareness, it seems to take precedence over the influence from a simultaneously occurring semantic correspondence, and it even operates despite explicit instructions to the contrary. Two additional studies highlight the potential role for this influence in marketing contexts. In Study 4, the audio frequency in a soundtrack guides visual attention in a commercial, as evidenced by recall of marketing messages. In Study 5, customers in a supermarket exposed to high-frequency (vs. low-frequency) music are more likely to purchase products from a shelf with light (vs. dark) decor.

Using the power of Word-Of-Mouth to leverage the effect of marketing activities on consumer responses

Research has studied Word-Of-Mouth (WOM) and the 4P marketing activities separately with no attention to how these two processes simultaneously influence consumer responses. This is unfortunate as a firm’s marketing activities may also mobilise WOM, which then can leverage the activities’ effect on consumer responses. The present study fills this research gap and investigates how WOM mediates the relationship between the 4Ps and consumer responses using the Partial Least Squares method on survey data with 400 broadband customers. Findings show that the 4Ps influence consumer responses directly and that this effect is leveraged when WOM mediates the relationship. The 4Ps primarily mobilise positive WOM (PWOM), making PWOM the strongest mediator. This has implications for marketing and communication strategies, as the 4Ps have to mobilise WOM and influence consumer responses directly. This challenges the composition of the 4Ps and how to design the marketing message so it is appealing for consumers to bring into their social milieu so WOM can take place. It also underlines the necessity to add PWOM as a fifth P, so the different marketing activities’ effect can be amplified by the power of WOM and brands can be created as much out of PWOM as out of marketing activities.

Healthy by design, but only when in focus: Communicating non-verbal health cues through symbolic meaning in packaging

The visual design of food packages can activate heuristic inferences which in turn shape consumer perception and judgment of salient content. Focusing on two core design elements (typeface and color), this paper demonstrates that visual cues conveying weight (or a lack thereof) influence consumers’ healthiness perceptions, explicitly as well as implicitly. Study 1 reveals that package design elements that differ in weight perception evoke divergent health perceptions of a soft drink. This effect is moderated by consumers’ health promotion focus for typeface, but not for color. Following up on this finding, Study 2 elaborates on the typeface manipulation using an Implicit Association Test to show that the interaction between health promotion focus and typeface weight accounts for implicit associations between sugary foods and healthiness. Together, the two studies provide initial evidence for the influence of design cues differing in heaviness on food healthiness perceptions. The findings add to the literature on health perception and attest to the importance of package design for influencing consumer responses.

Building theory from consumer reactions to RFID: discovering Connective Proximity

Academic research into RFID technology has largely neglected ethics. What scarce research was being performed has now dwindled despite having some consumers continue to express their ethical concerns. This article aims at reducing this apparent void by exploring the antecedents that cause the public to react when consumers are targeted by RFID technology. Through the analysis of 11 real RFID implementations used to target consumers, our research indicates that several factors can influence consumer response through the distinct nature of the technology, namely, (1) Customization of communications, (2) Imposition of tag use, (3) Segmentation and targeting, (4) Modified role of the sales representative, (5) Physical distance between the consumer and the tag, and (6) Security of transactions. The article then proposes a construct to determine the risk of raising consumer ethical concerns. The construct of "Connective Proximity" and its three components (physical proximity, exposure time, and information proximity) are defined. Our research highlights the need for further studies on the ethical considerations of tagging humans and specifically tracking consumers when performing marketing activities with RFID technology. Our article aims at invigorating research on this topic, which has a lot to contribute to both society and corporations.

Consumer acceptance of and willingness to pay for food nanotechnology: a systematic review.

Consumer’s attitudes to, and acceptance of, emerging technologies and their applications, are important determinants of their successful implementation and commercialisation. Understanding the range of socio-psychological, cultural and affective factors which may influence consumer responses to applications of nanotechnology will help “fine-tune” the development of consumer products in line with their expectations and preferences. This is particularly true of applications in the food area, where consumer concerns about technologies applied to food production may be elevated. This research applied systematic review methodology to synthesise current knowledge regarding societal acceptance or rejection of nanotechnology applied to agri-food production. The objective was to aggregate knowledge derived from different research areas to gain an overall picture of consumer responses to nanotechnology applied to food production. Relevant electronic databases of peer-reviewed literature were searched from the earliest date available, for peer-reviewed papers which reported primary empirical data on consumer and expert acceptance of agri-food nanotechnology, using a formal systematic review protocol. Inclusion criteria for papers to be included in the review were: empirical peer-reviewed papers written in English; a population sample of adults aged 18 years and over used in the research; a research focus on consumer and expert acceptance of agri-food nanotechnology; and research on attitudes towards, and willingness to pay for, different applications of agri-food nanotechnology. Two researchers independently appraised the papers using NVivo 10 QSR software. Studies examining consumer and expert acceptance were thematically analysed, and key information was collated. The results were synthesised in order to identify trends in information relevant to consumer acceptance of nanotechnology applied to food production. Eight key themes were identified from the 32 papers which were extracted from the literature. These themes were applied to understand the determinants of consumer acceptance of agri-food nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is more likely to be accepted by consumers when applied to development of novel packaging with distinct benefits rather than when integrated directly into agri-food products. Trust and confidence in agri-food nanotechnology and its governance need to be fostered through transparent regulation and development of societally beneficial impacts to increase consumer acceptance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11051-015-3270-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.

Ethics, Risk and Benefits Associated with Different Applications of Nanotechnology: a Comparison of Expert and Consumer Perceptions of Drivers of Societal Acceptance.

Examining those risk and benefit perceptions utilised in the formation of attitudes and opinions about emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can be useful for both industry and policy makers involved in their development, implementation and regulation. A broad range of different socio-psychological and affective factors may influence consumer responses to different applications of nanotechnology, including ethical concerns. A useful approach to identifying relevant consumer concerns and innovation priorities is to develop predictive constructs which can be used to differentiate applications of nanotechnology in a way which is meaningful to consumers. This requires elicitation of attitudinal constructs from consumers, rather than measuring attitudes assumed to be important by the researcher. Psychological factors influencing societal responses to 15 applications of nanotechnology drawn from different application areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, food, military, sports, and cosmetics) were identified using repertory grid method in conjunction with generalised Procrustes analysis. The results suggested that people differentiate nanotechnology applications based on the extent to which they perceive them to be beneficial, useful, necessary and important. The benefits may be offset by perceived risks focusing on fear and ethical concerns. Compared to an earlier expert study on societal acceptance of nanotechnology, consumers emphasised ethical issues compared to experts but had less concern regarding potential physical contact with the product and time to market introduction. Consumers envisaged fewer issues with several applications compared to experts, in particular food applications.

A Strategic Approach to CSR Communication: Examining the Impact of Brand Familiarity on Consumer Responses

AbstractDespite the widely acknowledged importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications, our knowledge is limited with regard to various factors affecting consumer responses to such communication efforts. This paper aims to identify the extent to which prior brand familiarity influences consumer responses to CSR communications through a controlled experiment, exploring whether the use of different communication functions for environmental domain of CSR (i.e., publicity and advertising) generates any different effect on these responses. Findings reveal that familiar and unfamiliar brands do not differ from each other with regard to consumer attitude toward message, but elicit dissimilar responses in terms of attitude toward brand and purchase intentions. The study leads to managerial implications regarding the effective formulation and dissemination of CSR‐related messages in order to achieve stakeholder engagement. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Brand logo design: examining consumer response to naturalness

Purpose – This paper aims to study how logo design characteristics influence consumer response. Based on an in-depth literature review on consumer responses to logo design, the authors included in this research one fundamental dimension of logo design, namely, naturalness and investigated the influence of the different types of natural logo designs on affective response. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 96 logos were selected as design stimuli. The logos were previously classified, according to the naturalness of the logo design, as having an abstract, cultural or organic design. Responses were gathered through a survey in Portugal, including two studies with 220 participants. Findings – Results show that naturalness is an essential logo design element which significantly influences consumer affective responses to the logo, and that natural logos are clearly preferred to abstract logos. Additionally, this research indicates that, within natural logos, organic designs are favored over cultural designs. Practical implications – The findings presented suggest that affect toward unknown organic logos is at the same level as affect toward well-known abstract logos. This is a relevant finding from a managerial point of view, as familiarity, an essential cognitive response toward the brand that has a cost for the firm, can be replaced cost-free with unknown organic logos. Originality/value – This paper is a first exploration of responses to different types of natural logo design. The results should guide managers in selecting or modifying logo designs for achieving a positive affective response.

When deal depth doesn't matter: How handedness consistency influences consumer response to horizontal versus vertical price comparisons

The current research introduces a new moderator to the price comparison literature by considering how the processing of regular and sale price information may be grounded in the degree to which consumers are consistent-handed (CHs) or inconsistent-handed (ICHs) in performing manual tasks. Because vertically presenting regular and sale price information facilitates calculation of savings, vertical price comparisons should be processed more fluently than horizontal comparisons. However, this fluency difference should asymmetrically affect ICHs and CHs. Prior research has indicated that ICHs are more cognitively flexible than CHs. Here, ICHs expressed more favorable purchase intentions with greater deal depth for both vertical and horizontal price comparisons, possibly because their greater cognitive flexibility enabled them to process price comparisons effectively regardless of presentation layout. Conversely, possibly due to lower cognitive flexibility, CHs exhibited purchase intentions that were sensitive to differences in deal depth when presented with more fluent vertical price comparisons, but not less fluent horizontal comparisons. These findings are replicated across two experiments relying on different participant populations.

Creative Impact Measure of Cros – Cultural Managerial Apects

Abstract The world today is characterized by intercultural diversity. More and more communication takes place between people with different linguistic as well as cultural backgrounds. This happens because of contacts within the areas of business, science, education etc. but also because of immigration brought about by labour shortage or unstable political situation. The globalisation of the economy with increased appreciation by companies that managing cultural differences properly can be a key factor in getting things done effectively across borders. With increased contact of personnel and customers from diverse cultural background, there is a growing demand for businesses to understand and manage the diverse values, perceptions, business worldviews and behaviour of corporations, staff, and its customer. Intercultural communication and management is an interdisciplinary human resources field concerned with faciliting communication, management and effective interaction of personnel and customers across borders. The starting point for understanding consumer behaviour is really important. Marketing and environmental stimuls enter the consumer’s conscioussnes, and set of psychological processes combine with certain consumer characteristics to resault in decision processes and purchase decision. The marketer’s task is to understand what happened in the consumer’s consciousness between the arrival of the outside marketing stimuli and the ultimate purchasedecision. Four psychological processes are motivation, perception, learning and also memroy, fundamentaly influence consumer responses. Understanding consumer behaviour may often be complicated since many different factors influence the behaviour and sicnce many different forms of behaviour exist. Paper describe fuzzy concept for evaluation of some cros-cultural impact and compare it with other type of measurements presented in literature.

Understanding consumer responses to retailers' cause related voucher schemes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and test a conceptual model for understanding consumer responses to cause related voucher schemes (CRVS), considering the initiatives of two UK-based grocery retailers (Tesco and Morrisons). Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model incorporates six theoretically derived exogenous constructs, i.e. status of the cause, company-cause fit, personal involvement with the cause, attitudes to the company, perceived sincerity of the company and perceived ubiquity. These are hypothesized to influence consumer responses to three primary endogenous variables: interest in the company, favourability of attitudes to the company and use (impact on purchasing intentions). The model is tested using survey data (n=401) collected in two UK cities. Findings – All but two of the hypothesized path relationships were confirmed and the percentage of explained variance for the primary endogenous variables compares well against previous models. Attitudes to the company, perceived ubiquity and favourability were identified as significant predictors of behavioural intentions (use). Practical implications – In selecting a cause, managers need to think carefully about the status of the cause, its degree of fit with the company and how to build personal involvement. CRVS initiatives should be focused, with consistency in communication. If a company suffers from negative consumer attitudes, a CRVS alone is unlikely to turn around their business performance. Originality/value – The paper represents the first academic assessment of consumer responses to CRVS, introducing and validating a conceptual model.