Low Involvement Products Research Articles

Mediating Role of Consumer Involvement between Celebrity Endorsement and Consumer Evaluation: Comparative Study of High and Low Involvement Product

Celebrity endorsement has been an important area of study from the perspectives of marketers as well as consumers. This research aims at developing and testing a model of celebrity endorsement with celebrity-product congruence and attractiveness as predictor variables, with consumer involvement affecting a consumer assessment of the brand and purchase intention. The research has been guided by current attention being given to the significance of celebrities for endorsing products. However, the same has not been duly explored in the context of celebrity endorsement, with consumer involvement as a mediating variable, and further its impact on consumers’ evaluation. The present research discusses the relationship effect of celebrity endorsement on consumers’ evaluation of the communication done through the celebrity endorsing the brand. The study highlights mediating role of consumer involvement for both high and low involvement products in formation of attitude towards advertisement and buying intention. Using mall intercept method, the data was collected from 246 respondents. Structural equation modelling was used for analysing the data using AMOS 22.0. The results indicate that consumer responses are maximised when endorser attractiveness and consumer involvement interact with each other. Also, it is observed that consumer involvement has maximum impact on attitude toward advertisement. The paper closes with theoretical and managerial implication.

The mediating impact of customer satisfaction in relation of brand equity and brand loyalty

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the inter-relationship of dimensions for consumer-based brand equity and brand loyalty with customer satisfaction as a mediator for oral care segment with special reference to Delhi and connecting areas.Design/methodology/approachFor achieving the objective of this study, the theoretical model was tested through structural equation modelling. Research scales from the literature were modified for suitability. Data were collected from 250 respondents.FindingsThe results indicate that for the oral care segment, customer satisfaction is significantly related to the perceived quality, brand trust, perceived value of cost and lifestyle congruence. Moreover, customer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship of perceived quality and perceived value of cost with brand loyalty, whereas it fully mediates the relationship of lifestyle congruence and brand trust with brand loyalty. Thus, even for low-involvement products, consumer purchases are based on the attributes of the brand rather than being merely habitual.Originality/valueThe literature supports the direct influence of brand equity on brand loyalty. However, no other study has investigated the mediating role of customer satisfaction on the relationship between brand equity and brand loyalty for low-involvement products.

Mobile Display Advertising: Perilaku Niat Pembelian Konsumen pada High Involvement vs Low Involvement Product

This study uses the theory of Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) using a quantitative approach. Sampling using non-probability sampling method, using purposive sampling technique. Respondents in this study were 200 respondents in the purchase intention category in the High Involvement product and also 200 in the Low Involvement product category. The analysis technique used in this study is Partial Least Square (PLS). The results showed that browsing activities on Instagram for both the High and Low Involvement categories of the product had a positive influence on flow conditions, online trust, and purchase intentions. Then online trust in an account on Instagram has a positive influence on flow conditions. Likewise, the flow condition variable and online trust also have an influence on the purchase intention of the latest items on Instagram. There is no difference in consumer behavior towards purchase intentions in the online domain between High and Low Involvement products.

Effectiveness of pull-based print advertising with QR codes

PurposeDespite quick response (QR) codes’ prominence, little is known about their embedding in pull-based communications. This study aims to measure QR code effects in print advertising along five different stages of consumer decision making, using advertisement appeals with moderating effects of product category involvement.Design/methodology/approachData were derived from a German market research initiative with 326,212 consumer evaluations for 792 real print advertisements from 26 product categories. Multinomial logit models were used to investigate the effects of QR code presence on consumer reactions.FindingsQR codes steer purchase intention in a low-involvement product category if used alongside an emotional appeal. Advertisements for high-involvement products benefit if QR codes are combined with an overall informational appeal. QR codes do not enhance the persuasive effects of advertisements’ informational appeals in a low-involvement product category.Research limitations/implicationsThe effects of QR codes on consumers’ responses cannot be analysed in isolation but depend on advertisement context. They interact with advertisements’ informational and emotional appeals and product category involvement.Practical implicationsMarketers should not use QR codes indiscriminately but should carefully consider advertisement context. QR codes should be used alongside an emotional appeal if the marketer’s objective is to induce purchase intention in low-involvement settings. Advertisements for high-involvement products need to combine QR codes with an informational appeal.Originality/valueThis study highlights the interplay of effects in print advertisements, which are typically considered push-based when they are combined with QR codes as pull-based communications in the digital marketing area.

Digital labelling in the retail environment: a domain-specific innovativeness perspective

Purpose This is an exploratory study leveraging a domain-specific innovativeness (DSI) perspective to understand adoption of QR code delivered mobile marketing. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of “innovativeness” and “risk aversion” on QR code adoption and usage in the low-involvement context to address tensions between risk and innovation literatures. Design/methodology/approach Participants were assigned to “laggard” (n=19) and “innovator/early adopter” (n=19) segments using the DSI scale. A combination of qualitative reductionism (means-end chain analysis) and qualitative holism (semi-structured interviewing) was employed. Findings Confusion regarding the functionality and purpose of QR codes adversely affected willingness to use and utility perceptions. Source trust and information credibility emerged as key concerns for those considering QR codes, with consumer risk aversion and innovativeness orientations influencing the nature of trust concerns. A perceived lack of complementarity between QR codes and retail environments reduced perceived relevance. For low-involvement products, marketers should consider moving beyond brand-level communication to align offerings to the broader foodscape. Research limitations/implications Findings are limited to the low-involvement product context. Although DSI was considered, the impact of technological innovativeness was not explored. Future research may consider the impact of information provision at the broader foodscape rather than product-specific level when exploring QR code applications in the food domain. Originality/value This is the first study to explore the role of product category innovativeness, as distinct from technological innovativeness on the acceptance and usage of mobile marketing applications in the low-involvement context. This research builds on existing risk and innovation literatures and addresses tensions between these literatures presented by QR codes within the low-involvement context.

If you think about it more, do you want it more? The case of fairtrade

Purpose There are substantive disagreements about whether encouraging deliberative thinking increases consumer preference in low-involvement product categories. The authors draw on dual-process theory to add rare experimental evidence to this debate. They also investigate whether the effect of deliberative thinking increases with familiarity of the stimuli, as different theories of memory yield different predictions on this point. Finally, they provide evidence on whether the effectiveness of the Fairtrade logo arises more from mere exposure or attention to the ethical claim. Design/methodology/approach The context for the research is the use of ethical logos in packaged coffee, as this provides a realistic setting for the desired experimental manipulations. The fieldwork consists of two sets of trade-off experiments – rankings based conjoint analysis (n = 360) and best-worst scaling with a balanced incomplete block design (n = 1,628). Deliberative thinking is manipulated in three ways: by varying logos between visual (Type 1 processing) and lexical (Type 2 processing) treatments, by post hoc classification of time taken, and by imposing either time constraints (Type 1) or cognitive load (Type 2) on the completion of the task. Familiarity is manipulated by varying logos between the Fairtrade and a fictional Exchange Ethics logo. Findings Consumers do have higher preferences in the deliberative treatment conditions; thinking more results in an 18 per cent increase (Cohen’s d = 0.25) in the preference for choices that display an ethical cobranded logo. Surprisingly, the impact of deliberation is not greater for the more familiar Fairtrade logo than the fictional Exchange Ethics logo. This result is inconsistent with strength-based theories of memory, as these predict that deliberation will have a greater effect for more familiar stimuli. However, it is consistent with newer theories of memory that acknowledge familiarity can lead to activation confusion, reducing retrieval of pre-existing knowledge into working memory. The research also shows that the Fairtrade logo has substantial utility to consumers, and that this is approximately 59 per cent due to the ethical claim and 41 per cent due to the familiarity of the logo. Research limitations/implications In field conditions, attempts to manipulate deliberation may not be effective or may simply result in reduced attention. Also, the costs of increasing deliberation may outweigh the benefits obtained. Practical implications The research confirms the heuristic value of the Fairtrade logo and shows that the effectiveness of ethical logos may increase with additional deliberation by shoppers. Originality/value There is relatively little work in marketing that applies dual-process theories to investigate consumer behaviour. The present study extends the use of dual-process theories in marketing, demonstrates a new method to investigate the effect of deliberation on brand choice and shows how deliberation magnifies the effect of endorsing logos, including unfamiliar logos.

Facebook news feed ads: a social impact theory perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of “social information” in Facebook News Feed ads on American users’ advertising responses, including ad credibility, attitude-toward-the-ad, brand interest, intention to click and purchase intention. Using social impact theory as a conceptual framework, three factors were tested – relationship strength, physical distance and number of affiliated friends. The moderating role of product involvement was also investigated. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (strength of relationship: weak vs strong) × 2 (immediacy of relationship: close distance vs long distance) × 2 (number of friends: one vs several) between-group factorial design was used, and 397 research participants were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Findings Significant main effects were found for relationship strength and physical distance. Product involvement was identified as a moderating variable. No significant effects were found under the high involvement condition. Under the low involvement condition, however, relationship strength and physical distance significantly affected Facebook users’ advertising responses. Research limitations/implications Research samples were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). It is possible that the characteristics of this specific social group might have influenced the findings of the study. Only one specific product category, fast casual restaurant, was tested. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in certain scenarios. Even though the scenarios were carefully tested in the pretest and clear instructions were given, field experiments might be helpful in future research to better reflect the actual consumer experience. Practical implications Marketers should take advantage of the “social information” feature in Facebook News Feed ads, especially for low involvement products. Names of friends with stronger social relationships and within close physical distance should be included in the ads. Originality/value The study is one of the first to examine the effects of “social information” in Facebook advertising. It also confirms the Social Impact Theory in a social media setting.

I like you, but only if not too successful: male spokespersons effectiveness

Purpose This paper aims to examine and compare the simultaneous effect of financially successful appeals and attractiveness for male spokespersons, as well as explain why and when this effect happens based on the viewer’s gender. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were designed by manipulating the success (vs absent) and attractiveness (vs average looking) of a male spokesperson and compared his marketing effectiveness in terms of purchase intention and advertising attitude. Additionally, the influence of gender through the mediating effect of negative/positive affect was compared. Findings Participants indicated lower purchase intention and advertising attitude in light of the success appeal in both studies; however, this effect was influenced by attractiveness in case of high involvement product. Additionally, success had a greater effect on ad effectiveness than attractiveness. Only for males, negative affect mediated the relationship between ad effectiveness and exposure to a successful spokesperson. Practical implications Practitioners should be aware of the negative influence of a financially successful spokesperson overall, especially if he is also very attractive and the product is a high involvement one targeting males. On the contrary, attractiveness of a successful spokesperson might cancel out negative effects for those products targeting females. Originality/value This study differs from previous studies by considering the simultaneous effect of successful and/or attractive male spokespersons on adult sample instead of college students and examine the effects for high and low involvement product.

Consumers' perceived usefulness of online reviews: Effects of emotional certainty and product involvement

In this study I examined 2 products for the effects of the level of consumers' involvement on their perception of the usefulness of online reviews from the perspective of emotional certainty. I used the experimental method of scene simulation verification with a sample comprising 727 participants. Results show that for both low- and high-involvement products, a review in which a positive emotion that is certain (happiness) is expressed is perceived as more useful than one expressed with an uncertain positive emotion (hope); for low-involvement products, the reviews in which a negative emotion that is certain is expressed (anger) are perceived as more useful than those with an uncertain negative emotion (worry); when emotions expressed in the reviews are the same but level of involvement with the products differs, compared with high-involvement products, consumers perceive online reviews of low-involvement products as being more useful. This study enriches the research on the content structure of online reviews and provides a reference platform to optimize the evaluation system.

Symbolic Consumption of Advertisements for Male Perfumes: Effects of Advertising Appeals and Product Involvement on Advertising Effectiveness

Because of the trend of metrosexual men, numerous cosmetic brands that originally focused on female customers have extended their product lines to cover the male market, and symbolic consumption in advertisements for male perfumes has flooded society. This study adopted a 3 × 2 between-subjects experiment method to examine the effect of two independent variables, namely the appeal of various types of male perfume advertisement (vanity appeal, admiration appeal, and sexual appeal) and the product involvement of consumers (high and low), on attitudes toward the advertisement (Aad), attitudes toward the brand (Ab), and purchase intention (PI). This study revealed the following: (1) The types of advertising appeal do affect the Aad, Ab, and PI of consumers; (2) consumers’ product involvement also affects their Aad, Ab, and PI; (3) vanity appeal and admiration appeal both result in optimal Aad, Ab, and PI of consumers with high product involvement; and (4) sexual appeal results in optimal Aad and Ab for consumers with low product involvement but has no effect on their PI. In today’s advertising and marketing business, how a product is made to carry certain symbolic meanings has become particularly crucial; company owners must not overlook the influence of symbolic consumption. This study’s results can serve as a reference for company owners and advertisers when planning future advertising and marketing strategies.

Promoting reuse behaviour: Challenges and strategies for repeat purchase, low-involvement products

Reusable products offer reduced environmental impact compared to recycling, but producers mostly focus on strategies such as light-weighting, recyclability and eco-labelling. A reasonable number of innovative reusable products and business models exist for repeat purchase, low-involvement products, but they are largely restricted to niche health-food stores. Therefore, this research primarily attempts to understand consumer attitudes and behaviour towards reuse of household care products (e.g. air fresheners, domestic cleaning products). Focus groups with UK consumers are utilised to examine reusable/refillable spray products and the data are triangulated with global archival data on various refill business models, reusable products and recycling initiatives. The study offers useful guidelines for both producers and policy makers to encourage reusable products. First, we recommend that eco-innovations have a familiar design congruent with well-known brands, to reduce uncertainties for consumers. Second, if the innovation has an unfamiliar design, to mitigate, producers should offer new functional benefits. Third, and most important, producers must place greater emphasis on aesthetic aspects that could evoke product attachment, thus encouraging reuse. Fourth, if reusable products are to become mainstream, ‘well-known brands’ have to promote the transition from one-off sales to a service model built on durable products. Finally, a successful outcome is dependent on government interventions in designing new life cycle policy instruments, in particular de-marketing the current recycling norm and emphasising reusing over recycling.

The Impact of Need for Uniqueness on Word of Mouth

The report suggests that consumers who score highly on the avoidance of similarity dimension of consumers' need for uniqueness (CNFU) are less likely to engage in positive word-of-mouth (WOM) for publicly consumed products they own, as others may then purchase them and ultimately reduce their uniqueness. A new model is developed based on all three dimensions of CNFU (avoidance of similarity, creative choice counterconformity, and unpopular choice counterconformity) that tests for a relationship between these dimensions and consumers' positive WOM engagement for high- versus low-involvement products along with across gender. The survey was administered to 1000 consumers and the research findings suggest that a negative relationship was established for the avoidance of similarity dimension, a positive relationship for the creative choice counterconformity dimension, and no relationship for the unpopular choice counterconformity dimension with positive WOM engagement for high-involvement, publicly consumed products. Further the results did not differ between genders.

Does non-hard-sell content really work? Leveraging the value of branded content marketing in brand building

Purpose This study aims to test the role of branded content marketing on YouTube in brand building and explicates the mechanism through which brand content influences brand loyalty and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative, Web-based, three-step randomized intervention design and recruits YouTube users through the Amazon Mechanical Turk (n = 925). Findings Post-intervention results (n = 596) show that consumers’ repeated exposure to branded content facilitates their social learning processes. Consumers derive value from the relevant content and subsequently form more favorable brand attitudes, greater brand loyalty and heightened purchase intentions. Brand loyalty mediates the effect of perceived brand content value on purchase intentions. Practical implications This study’s findings support the advantages of investing in the creation and dissemination of valuable brand content through a brand’s own social media channel(s). While informative content and entertaining content can both drive brand loyalty, high product-involvement brands are advised to emphasize on informative content to precipitate brand–consumer attachment. Low product-involvement brands, on the other hand, are advised to feature more enticing and captivating content to stimulate consumer devotion. Originality/value This study reveals the positive impact of branded content marketing within social media on consumers’ brand attitudes, brand loyalty and purchase intentions. It also explicates the mechanism through which content marketing influences brand evaluation and purchase intentions by coordinating consumer learning and value derivation.

What are the revenue implications of mobile channel visits? Evidence from the online travel agency industry

Abstract Retailers increasingly advocate mobile devices as a source of improvement and ultimate transformation of business performance. This study examines: (1) the different effects of mobile visits vs. desktop visits on firm revenue; and (2) which type of mobile visits are more effective – direct vs. search engine and referral traffic; and higher vs. lower involvement product categories. Unique data collected from a leading online travel agency in China show that, compared with desktop visits, mobile visits have a shorter wear-out time but greater short-term effects on firm revenues. Furthermore, the mobile channel has a greater short-term effect on firm revenues for search engine traffic and low-involvement products. These findings suggest the importance of understanding how mobile channel value is created. Based on the findings, marketers can save on costs by carefully designing their mobile channel and multichannel campaigns.

Influences of Product Involvement and Symbolic Consumption Cues in Advertisements on Consumer Attitudes

Symbolic consumption has become pervasive in daily life; advertisements focusing on brand awareness and celebrity endorsements involve strong product symbols and serve as a persuasive advertising tool. This study employed a 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design to investigate the influence of two independent variables, namely the level of consumer product involvement (high and low levels of involvement) and types of symbolic cues (brand and celebrity symbols), on consumer attitudes toward advertisements (Aad) and brands (Ab). Four notable findings were revealed: (1) the level of participant product involvement affected their fondness for Aad and Ab; (2) symbolic cues affected participant Aad and Ab; (3) participants with a high level of product involvement exhibited more positive Aad; and (4) participants with low product involvement demonstrated more positive Ab. In the contemporary advertising market, how enterprises can enable a product to convey a certain symbolic meaning has become particularly critical, and enterprises should not ignore the influences that symbolic consumption may have on consumers. These study results serve as a reference for enterprises and advising agents for devising future product advertising strategies.

The reciprocal impact of both visual and verbal metaphors in advertisements: the moderating role of need for cognition

Metaphors, one of the attractive strategies in communication, can have a significant impact visually and verbally on the persuasion of targeted consumers. The current study investigates the interaction effects when using pictorial and verbal metaphors in ads on consumers’ attitude toward the ad, the brand, and purchase intention while considering the moderating effect of individuals’ differences in need for cognition (NFC). Experimental results indicate the reciprocal impact of metaphor in both image and copy in ads under different combination-conditions considering the individual differences in information processing (i.e. NFC) with low-involvement products. Furthermore, the results highlight a significant three-way interaction effect on the consumers’ attitudes toward the ad and the brand with the individuals’ differences in the NFC. The findings illustrate the effective combination and the optimisation of visual and verbal metaphors in order to enhance the ad effects with metaphors. The implications and limitations are discussed.

Gender segmentation to increase brand preference? The role of product involvement

Purpose This paper aims to address the role of product involvement in the brand preference formation of men and women. Product involvement can be defined as a consumer’s motivation for product purchase that affects their information processing strategies when forming a brand preference (e.g. more automatic at low levels vs more deliberative at high levels). Given that gender differences are found to be context-dependent, it was expected that, when forming a single brand preference, men would emphasize instrumental aspects (functional and socially conspicuous utilities) and women the experiential utility of the brand only with high-involvement-level products. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive survey (n = 459) using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used following an online experiment where involvement level was manipulated (n = 255) to validate the results. Findings Stereotypical gender differences appeared at high, but not low-involvement levels. Theoretically, these findings question the evolutionary basis of gender differences, as differences were not consistent at both levels. Practical implications The findings raise questions about the efficacy of segmenting by gender when aiming to increase brand preference of low-involvement products, whereas stereotypical targeting seem to be effective for increasing preference for high-involvement ones. Originality/value For the first time, the role of product involvement and gender was examined in brand preference formation. This can theoretically clarify whether gender differences are consistent or dependent on the level of involvement. This information can help in designing efficient marketing strategies for products with different involvement levels.

How Online Descriptions of Used Goods Affect Quality Assessment and Product Preferences: A Conjoint Study

Online sellers need to provide information about used products. This study answers two important related questions: (1) what kinds of product information should online sellers provide, and (2) how do different kinds of used product information affect online buyers’ preference and perception of quality? We find that when a used product is a high-involvement one, buyers’ preference of the product is more influenced by its physical condition than by price; however, when the product is a low-involvement product, its price is more important than the physical condition. Other information cues have a less significant impact on buyers’ preference.

Examining digital video advertising (DVA) effectiveness

PurposeMarketers are increasing their use of digital strategies and prioritizing digital tactics, although the effectiveness digital video advertising (DVA) has not been examined empirically. The purpose of this research is to suggest that it is useful for advertisers to consider theories of the past to understand the link between product, advertising format and message processing.Design/methodology/approachTo examine DVA effectiveness, this study utilized a 2-product type (utilitarian vs hedonic) × 2-product involvement (low vs high) x 2-platform (laptop vs mobile) mixed-design. Participants were recruited from a research company, who invited members of their panel to participate in an online experiment.FindingsDVA for hedonic products resulted in stronger attitudes toward the ad and brand, and intentions to purchase. DVA for low involvement products resulted in stronger purchase intentions and likelihood to opt-in for more information. Moreover, there was an interaction between product category and involvement across all five measures of DVA effectiveness.Research limitations/implicationsLike TV commercials, DVA is more effective when used with low involvement, hedonic products than with high involvement, utilitarian products. Additionally, the device on which the advertisement is viewed impacts the effectiveness of DVA.Practical implicationsCompanies promoting high-involvement utilitarian products may consider alternative advertising strategies (e.g. MDAs, apps, websites and advergames), as DVA may not be the most effective ad format.Originality/valueAs technology continues to develop and marketers continue to pursue growing numbers of consumers through digital means and on mobile devices, understanding how device type influences advertising effectiveness is important for media strategy, message placement and marketing metrics. This research takes one step in that direction.

Characters’ persuasion effects in advergaming

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore advergaming to identify how users respond to characters in terms of forming brand trust and purchase intentions. The study shows that users will tend to trust brands when characters are congruent with product type and trust propensity. Design/methodology/approach In a 2×2×2 factorial design, the character presence/absence condition and product type (high vs low involvement) are between-subject, manipulated and dichotomous variables. Trust propensity is a measured, continuous variable. Findings Findings indicate that character presence contributes to brand trust, leading to higher purchase intentions. Character presence is more effective for promoting products of low involvement; character absence is more effective for promoting products of high involvement. Moreover, in the low-involvement product condition, consumers who have low-trust propensity are more persuaded by characters. In the high-involvement product condition, consumers who have high or low-trust propensity respond similarly to both character presence and absence. Originality/value Although characters potentially affect how gamers react to online gaming, surprisingly few studies have attempted to identify how the characters and their interactions influence consumers’ emotions and behaviors in advergaming contexts. The current study fills the gap by focusing on the effects of characters and the interactions among other influences related to characters. This study makes new theoretical and practical contributions to the literature by showing that brand trust plays a mediating role and demonstrates that game characters can stimulate purchase intentions more persuasively depending on gamers’ trust propensity and involvement in the advertised products. The findings contribute to theory regarding congruency effects of game characters and the theory of brand trust.