Measuring Consumer Perceptions Research Articles

Determinants of Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality in Restaurants

Service quality has been an issue of importance to managers and academic researchers in a variety of service industries. Most approaches to this topic have utilized a variety of multiitem questionnaires (for example, SERVQUAL) to measure consumer perceptions of service quality. Such approaches have some weaknesses including: A common set of items are assumed to apply to all settings; and, all items are assumed to be equally important in influencing consumers' evaluations of quality. Conjoint analysis is used to overcome these limitations. Using a set of attributes derived from consumers and using consumers' measures of the relative importance of these attributes it is found that consumers do show a differential ranking of the different attributes of restaurants. Those wishing to measure consumer preferences of service industries, such as restaurants, need to understand how consumers evaluate service variables before making changes in existing service mixes.

Image and consumer attraction to intraurban retail areas: An environmental psychology approach

Abstract This study suggests that intraurban retail area patronage decisions are influenced by the image of the area. A model of environmental behaviour is derived from the extant literature and tested empirically. An approach to measuring consumer perceptions of retail area image is proposed. The research finds significant relationships between product and store range and quality, visual amenity, customer service and consumers’ willingness to patronise a retail area. Affect, or consumers’ liking of the area, mediates the impact of retail area image on consumer behaviour. The value of this approach is that retailers and regulatory bodies may be able to explain and predict the effects of changes to retail environments on consumer patronage decisions.

Sport Sponsorship: Evaluating the Sport and Brand Image Match

* Keywords: Sponsorship, Brand Image, Personality Matching, Brand Management Executive Summary This paper demonstrates that the process of creating a favorable brand image can be aided using image-sensitive sponsorship. Firms have traditionally analyzed demographic to determine the appropriate sport/brand match. When utilizing sponsorship to build brand awareness and reach a specific target market, this methodology is sufficient. However, if one of the prime objectives of pursuing sport sponsorship is to reinforce or modify a brand's image, an accurate assessment of consumer perceptions of brands and sports should be added to the analytical process. This paper presents a methodology to assess the perceived image between a sport and a brand and empirically validates this approach in an applied research setting. In building this new methodology, two studies were conducted. The first study utilized a student sample to assess the validity of the personality image method. The follow-up study examined the viability of using this approach to measure consumer perceptions of image and sponsorship at a major US sport event. Additionally, perceptions of a brand's overall fit with a particular sport were examined in both studies to explore the relative impact of image matching relative to demographic fit. Study 1 results support the validity of the methodology. To assess the data structure and the reliability of the personality scale, a common factor analysis was performed on the 20 personality items. Four distinct factors emerged (Exciting, [alpha] = .89; Wholesome, [alpha] = .70; Rugged, [alpha] = .90; Sophisticated, [alpha] = .91), explaining 68% of the variance. To test the predictive validity of the method, both a personality and demographic congruency coefficient for each brand/sport combination was derived. Simmons Market Research data was utilized to create a demographic index. Regression analysis was performed to test the statistical relationship between personality fit, demographic and perceived sponsorship fit. Results indicate that perceptions of a brand's fit with a particular sport increase as the personalities between the brand and sport become more congruent. While personality was found to be a significant predictor of sponsorship fit, demographic was not. This supports the need to explore personality congruency when utilizing sponsorship for image association benefits. In study 2, 153 respondents attending the National Basketball Association (NBA) Jam Session as part of the NBA all-star weekend activities assessed perceptions of sponsorship between actual sponsors of the event and the sport. The survey required subjects to assess one sport (professional basketball) and ten brands on the four personality factors. The brands with the best personality with the NBA were functionally related to the sport of basketball, athletic footwear/apparel and isotonic beverages. The NBA was rated as being more exciting than the ten brands listed. Thus, managers desiring a more exciting image for their brands might choose to align with the NBA. Study 2 also revealed a strong correlation between personality and perceived sponsorship fit. Our results also indicate that a good demographic between a target market and a sport audience does not necessarily imply it will also be an appropriate image match for the firm/brand. For firms seeking image association benefits from sponsorship, we propose that testing the congruency of sport and brand images should be added to the research methodology. If a company's goal is to reinforce a brand's existing image, selecting a sport with a high-level of congruency is advised. However, when altering a brand's image is the objective, associating with a sport with the desired but currently incongruent image is recommended. Evaluating the Sport and Brand Image Match Firms engaging in sport sponsorship note a number of reasons for employing this increasing popular marketing vehicle (Kuzma, Shanklin & McCally 1993). …

Measuring Consumer Perceptions in the Product Development Process

USING DESIGN AS A LANGUAGE requires that we understand what design elements are saying. Robert Veryzer's design perception model facilitates these interpretations. Perceived product characteristics are generated from consumer responses to models, prototypes, and other representational media. This data, in turn, is translated into a sentientality index that measures the degree to which elements convey certain sensations. With these facts, managers can more rationally judge the effectiveness of a particular design language.

Retail consumer acceptance of beef tenderized with calcium chloride

Beef inside round subprimals were injected with a 200 mM calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution at 5% (wt/wt) to determine its effects on beef steak palatability and quality traits. Alternating subprimals from the right and left sides were selected for injection of CaCl2 or not injected to serve as a control. After 7 d of postmortem storage, 2.5-cm-thick steaks were cut from each subprimal for consumer evaluation (n = 478) in a retail setting. Three supermarkets with customers varying widely in income were selected as test sites for measuring consumer perceptions of the treated and control steaks and package labeling acceptance. Supermarket, income level, education, and sex were evaluated for their impact on acceptance of calcium-injected beef. Steak flavor and tenderness both were important in determining beef eating quality; 50% of consumers said tenderness was the most important and 40% said flavor was the most important. Consumers visually preferred CaCl2-treated steaks 71% of the time over the control steaks based on package labeling. The CaCl2 injection improved tenderness, juiciness, flavor desirability, and overall palatability ratings by the consumers for inside round steaks and did not cause any off-flavor problems compared with the controls. Therefore, injecting beef with a solution of 200 mM CaCl2 at 5% (wt/wt) can improve retail consumer evaluations of beef steak tenderness and reduce tenderness variation without detrimental effects on other palatability or quality traits.

Measuring service quality: Is SERVQUAL now redundant?

SERVQUAL, a multiple‐item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality, was introduced in 1988 and revised in 1991 in response to some criticism from researchers who had tested the instrument. Its authors, Parasuraman et al., claim that the 22‐item questionnaire is a measure relevant to a broad spectrum of services and based on five generic quality dimensions—reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. Design of the instrument involved rigorous methodological and conceptual development, where the latter defined perceived service quality as the degree and direction of discrepancy between customer expectations and perceptions. Further, this construct “perceived service quality”, as defined, was differentiated from satisfaction on the basis of differing expectations measures and a temporal dimension—a global view rather than a service encounter. Since 1988, several researchers have conducted studies using SER VQUAL and/or examined various aspects of the methodology. This pap...

The role of attributions in consumer perceptions of retail advertisements promoting price discounts

This study examines whether information in an advertisement promoting a price discount is capable of affecting attributions made about the price reduction and whether these attributions, in turn, affect consumer perceptions and evaluations of the sale. Findings show that price image of the retail advertiser had a strong effect on attributions pertaining to the merchant and a marginal effect on product attributions. The attribution variables, in turn, explained significant amounts of variance in criterion variables measuring consumer perceptions of value, attitude toward the ad, and shopping intentions, beyond the variance explained by the store and discount claim variables manipulated in the study. These results suggest the importance of the role of attributions made by consumers when exposed to ads promoting discounts.

Deceptive Advertising and Complaint Behaviour

The purpose of this study was to measure consumer perception and overt behavioural intention regarding the practice of deceptive advertising. It introduces and discusses the components of deception, insights into consumer complaint behaviour and a model containing the hypothesized relationships amongst the constructions under study. The analysis sought to extract principal components affecting the basic characteristics of complaint behaviour in relation to deceptive advertising. The social orientation of the consumer was found to be the most influential factor in the widespread perception of deceptive advertising and the development of extreme forms of complaint behaviour. This factor was also implicated in increases in the number of consumers who show reluctant buyer behaviour due to deceptive advertising.

Consumer Perceptions of Advertising as Misleading

A mail survey was conducted of 314 residents of two California cities to measure consumer perception of the prevalence of misleading advertising. Information was obtained concerning the extent of misleading advertising in the various media, for 30 products and services and for three age groups. The findings indicate that over half of the sample viewed “most” or “all” mail and telephone advertising as misleading, and that 38 percent of the respondents regarded “most” or “all” television advertising as misleading. Newspaper advertising was considered the most credible. Findings indicate that “most” or “all” advertising for products and services was viewed as misleading by 30 percent of the respondents. Findings for actions taken concerning misleading advertising indicate that nearly half of the sample had registered a complaint to the store or person advertising and that 29 percent of the respondents had complained to a manufacturer. Also, findings for the age groups indicate that two out of three respondents regarded “most” or “all” advertising directed at children as seriously misleading. Advertising directed at senior citizens was viewed as seriously misleading by 45 percent of the sample, and advertising directed at young and middle‐aged adults was viewed as only slightly less misleading.