Product Choice Behavior Research Articles

Exploring the Impact of Consumer Information Search on Communication Product Choice in a Multi-channel Shopping Environment Using TAM Model

In the era of ubiquitous technology and information accessibility, multi-channel shopping has emerged as a prevalent consumer purchasing mode. This diversified shopping landscape presents consumers with an array of shopping channels and product options, profoundly influencing their shopping behaviors and decision-making processes, particularly in the realm of information search. This study delves into the impact of consumer information search behavior on communication product choice within a multi-channel shopping environment, employing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. The findings unveil a significant correlation between consumers' acceptance of various shopping channels and their information search behavior, which in turn shapes their communication product choices. Notably, consumers' perceptions of ease of use, information richness, and transaction security associated with shopping channels influence their channel acceptance, subsequently impacting their communication product choice behavior. These insights hold valuable implications for companies in crafting more effective marketing strategies and promotional plans, while also contributing to academic discourse on consumer behavior and the application of the Technology Acceptance Model.

Effects of Colorimetric Lightness of the Package on Product Choice Behavior for Reciprocal Gift

Effects of Colorimetric Lightness of the Package on Product Choice Behavior for Reciprocal Gift

Fair trade information eliminates the positive brand effect: product choice behavior in Japan

We examine whether Fair Trade information affects the Japanese consumer’s willingness to pay. We provide information on agroforestry and poverty resolution for chocolate products to test consumer behavior. We use an online survey and the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) method for hypothesis verification. The results show that brand has a positive effect on consumer willingness to pay, a negative effect in combination with agroforestry information, and no effect in combination with poverty resolution. In light of our results and discussions, to alleviate the above mentioned negative effect, we concluded that Japanese companies and universities should develop their corporate brand image along with their engagement in activities concerning Fair Trade and Japanese government should support to create their image to be engaged in activities concerning Fair Trade.

PRODUCT REVIEW: POST PURCHASE DISSONANCE PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT The purchase decision and post-purchase product review of 435 customers were studied. Customers’ reviews rating for their purchase were collected. Data collected shortly after the purchase decision was made, showed that the chosen products received high customer rating. Data collected for older reviews for the same products showed that the older the review the lower the customer rating. It was concluded that product choice behavior influences post-purchase attitudes about product attractiveness. The data provide a possibility of the existence of a post-decisional dissonance effect. The post-decision data suggest that individuals need to feel rational since they brought their perceptions into line with their behavior. If the post-purchase dissonance experienced by an individual is great enough, it could cause that individual to reduce dissonance by giving the product high reviews, if the review took place right after buying the product and before sufficiently trying the product and determining met or did not meet expectations. Keywords post-purchase dissonance, product review

A Study on the Impact of Stress on the Selection of New Products and the Intermediary Mechanism during the Process of Goal Pursuit

Most of what consumers do involves the pursuit of goals, and consumer goals affect consumer behavior [1]. Many studies show that stress always exists in the process of goal pursuit [2]. When coping with stress, consumers change their spending habits [3]. Although the existing research has explained to some extent consumer new product choice behavior, they have neglected the impact of stress on new product choice in the process of chasing goals in everyday life. Based on the research of goal orientation, stress, this study mainly explores the influence of the stress level and on the choice of new products and the moderating effect of regulatory focus, and uses two experiments for empirical research. The first experiment tested the selection of new products by manipulating the stress level. The second experiment can influence the attention point of people by manipulating the stress level, thus verifying the mediating effect of the focus. The results show that consumers are more likely to choose a new product when they are experiencing high levels of stress during the goal pursuit process than when they feel low stress. The reason is that the consumer’s focus on the product shifts to the benefits of the product’s ability to help achieve the goal in the high levels of stress. The new products are better than the old ones, so people are more willing to choose new products.

A latent-class model for estimating product-choice probabilities from clickstream data

This paper analyzes customer product-choice behavior based on the recency and frequency of each customer’s page views on e-commerce sites. Recently, we devised an optimization model for estimating product-choice probabilities that satisfy monotonicity, convexity, and concavity constraints with respect to recency and frequency. This shape-restricted model delivered high predictive performance even when there were few training samples. However, typical e-commerce sites deal in many different varieties of product, so the predictive performance of the model can be further improved by integrating such product heterogeneity. For this purpose, we develop a novel latent-class shape-restricted model for estimating product-choice probabilities for each latent class of products. We also give a tailored expectation-maximization algorithm for parameter estimation. Computational results demonstrate that higher predictive performance is achieved with our latent-class model than with the previous shape-restricted model or latent-class logistic regression.

Behavioural effects of nonconscious mimicry and social intentions

Nonconscious mimicry is a salient behaviour in many social interactions, such as the imitation of accent over the phone or the tendency to return a smile from another smiling person. However, existing research has yet to consider the importance of individuals' social intentions when entering into a social interaction in a customer service setting. This paper extends current managerial leadership theory into the novel setting of nonconscious mimicry to explain the critical role of social intentions in relationship building in customer service encounters. This research consists of a 3 × 2 between-subjects factorial design to evaluate the hypothesised relationships between nonconscious mimicry, social intentions, and product choice behaviour. The findings indicate that social intentions play a critical role influencing the relationship between nonconscious mimicry and product consumption, purchase intentions, and product liking in service encounters. Further, it is suggested that individuals identified as task-oriented should not be behaviourally imitated, as this will not positively increase product liking, purchase intentions, or product consumption. Instead, consumers should be primed to be relationship-oriented prior to nonconscious mimicry.

What reported food-evoked emotions may add: A model to predict consumer food choice

Food-evoked emotions provide information that goes beyond the information from traditional hedonic ratings. The objectives of our study were: (i) to investigate how intrinsic (sensory) and extrinsic (packaging) cues affect consumers’ emotional responses to foods, and (ii) to explore whether emotional responses to these cues combined with liking, predict actual food choice. Participants (n=103) rated emotional responses to seven products under a blind taste, a package and a package and taste condition using the EsSense Profile™. During the blind taste condition participants also scored liking of the products. Test products were breakfast drinks and desserts. Food choice was measured in two different breakfast sessions reflecting a different choice context. In one choice context, products were presented blind to taste, after which participants chose one out of the seven foods to consume for breakfast. In the other choice context, participants based their choice on the package of the seven foods without tasting them. Results showed that emotions evoked by food products could be organised in a two-dimensional space, representing a valence (pleasantness) and an activation/arousal dimension. Specific emotional profiles generated for products differed across the blind taste, package and the package and taste condition, meaning that intrinsic and extrinsic product properties elicit in part different emotions. Liking and valence together had the strongest predictive value for product choice based on the product’s taste. The combination of liking, valence and arousal had the strongest predictive value for package-based choice. In conclusion, food-evoked emotions add predictive value to solely liking ratings, and may guide consumers’ product choice behaviour.

Consumer response to monochrome Guideline Daily Amount nutrition labels

Front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling has received extensive political attention in recent years. Most studies assessing the influence of nutrition labelling focus on consumer attention to labels, while few concentrate on its effects on actual purchase behaviour. In this study, we present results from an analysis of scanner data provided by a large UK retailer. We focus on two food categories, using store-brand products that are labelled with a front-of-pack, monochrome Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) nutrition label. The analyses are based on models at both an aggregated and disaggregated level to enable us to identify as many influencing factors on food choice as possible. We utilize the SSAg/1 health score for our food categories as a dependent variable to obtain an objective measure of healthiness.Our results suggest that the GDA label introduction reduces attraction of unhealthier products in terms of market share but does not affect product choice behaviour. Instead, price and habit exhibit a greater impact on purchase behaviour and product choice than the GDA label introduction.

Search costs and adaptive consumers: Short time delays do not affect choice quality

Using online price comparison and shopping platforms makes experiencing slow connections, lags and waiting times for information an unfortunate reality. However, little attention has been paid to analyzing the effects of such delayed display of information on product choice behavior. This article explores the effect of time delays in a multi-attribute choice laboratory experiment by not providing information immediately when requested but after short time delays. Increasing these waiting times reduced the amount of information looked-up but did not affect choice quality. Higher time delays made decision-makers use more deliberate search processes, whereas low time delays induced inefficient over-searching.

An analysis of consumer preferences and segmentation for mobile phone service providers in India: a multivariate approach

Consumer preferences and information on product choice behaviour can be of significant value in development processes of services. Mobile phone service providers (MSPs) always look for gaining valuable insight into consumer preferences which help them in designing their service packages accordingly. This paper analyses the applicability of conjoint analysis, a classical technique to identify consumer preferences in multi-attribute decision making, to the design of mobile phone service packages and determination of the relative importance of attributes in consumer choice processes. Further, with the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP), there is an urgency to build user profiles and develop a market plan to retain and target new customers. Thus, the study also identifies segments based on their preference pattern and choices through hierarchical cluster analysis which extracts salient and homogeneous consumer segments from the conjoint analysis output.

Search Costs in Consumer Product Choice: Does Delaying the Provision of Information Increase Choice Efficiency?

Using online price comparison and shopping platforms makes experiencing slow connections, lags and waiting times for information an unfortunate reality. However, little attention has been paid to analyzing the effects of delayed provision of information on product choice behavior. In this article, I introduce an information processing model to derive search pattern predictions and test them in a multi-attribute choice laboratory experiment. Information requested during a search process was not provided immediately but after short time delays. Increasing these waiting times reduced the amount of looked-up information but did not affect choice quality. It seems that high time delays nudged decision-makers to think twice about how much and what kind of information should be looked-up, whereas low time delays induced inefficient over-searching. As technological advances are expected to further reduce Internet delay times, the observed change in search behavior could affect the profitability of manufacturers' production and retailers' advertising strategies.

Significance of environmental sustainability issues in consumers' choice of major household appliances in South Africa

AbstractAlthough not regarded as the major culprits in terms of the degradation of the world's resources, consumers in developing countries such as South Africa should be encouraged to realize their potential contribution to save our planet. This research investigated consumers' prioritization of product choice criteria in a prominent product category, i.e. major household appliances, to determine and describe how consumers could be encouraged to accept the principles of pro‐environmental product choice and consumption behaviour. The survey that was conducted in Tshwane, a major urban area in South Africa, in 2010 involved a structured questionnaire that was distributed by means of a convenient snowball method. Findings (n = 446) indicated that the majority of respondents always/mostly considered desirable functions rather than aesthetic attributes or price as important choice criteria, and that consumers would like to obtain information about the ‘greenness’ as well as the ‘functionality’ of appliances before purchasing. Consumers strongly agreed that the durability of appliances (service life) as well as running costs, i.e. electricity and water consumption, should be considered. Consumers seemed undecided about issues concerning recycling and recycling centres, the benefits of modern appliances and whether locally manufactured appliances are better than imported brands. Although different sources of information could be influential during consumers' pre‐purchase evaluation of major household appliances, consumers' reliance on personal acquaintances (friends and family) surpassed their trust in salespeople as information source by far. The majority of respondents indicated that they used printed information sources such as promotional material and brochures as information sources. Retail and industry should supply comprehensive information about pro‐environmental properties of their products. The results of this special investigation may be transferred to similar target groups in developing countries but are not typical for consumer behaviour elsewhere, whereas the methods are generally applicable.

An optimum design selection approach for product customization development

Consumer preferences and information on product choice behavior can be of significant value in the development processes of innovative products. In this paper, product customization evaluation and selection model is introduced to support imprecision inherent of qualitative inputs from customers and designers in the decision making process. Focusing on customer utility generation, an optimum design selection approach based on fuzzy set decision-making is proposed, where design attributes priority is identified from customer preferences using an analytical hierarchy process. A multi-attribute analysis diagram is developed to visualize the preference of each attribute from the expert's group decision. Conjoint analysis is used in the product customization to focus on customer utility generation in terms of multiple criteria. The use of the decision-making method is illustrated with a case example that highlights the utility of the proposed method.

An Analysis of the Controlling Function of National Culture in Product Choice Preferences of Japanese Consumers

The aim of this paper is to analyse the controlling function of national culture in regulating product choice behaviour of consumers. Japanese consumers showed signs of a high culture enabling remarkable economic achievements during 70’s and 80’s. Nationalistic feeling coming from this high culture initially favoured indigenous products creating a natural control of the influx of foreign products to the country. However, with the dilution of indigenous nature of culture, product preferences have begun to incline towards western products in general with marked preference toward American products. The Study investigates the controlling function of national culture on consumer product preferences relating to local products and products of western origin. The paper reviews socio-economic developments that cause changes in product choice behaviour and the process of western influence on the Japanese culture. Methodology used in the study is qualitative and it includes case analysis of individuals’ purchase preferences. In-depth interviews were conducted to unearth dynamics caused by cultural change and control function of the national culture affecting product choice behaviour. The study illustrates as to how national culture controls product choice preferences of Japanese consumers relating to Western products. The main implication is that by changing core values of national culture, product preferences relating to foreign products can be regulated and controlled. Keywords: Japanese consumer preferences, national culture, controlling function of culture

Brand origin recognition accuracy: its antecedents and consumers’ cognitive limitations

An ever-growing literature has reported consumer bias toward national origins of products, and has explored factors that moderate such bias. Researchers have assumed, if only tacitly, that consumers are knowledgeable of brand origins, and that this knowledge is a significant influence that drives judgments of product quality, brand attitudes, and choice behavior in the marketplace. Using categorization theory and attribute diagnosticity as the theoretical foundation, our research reveals that consumers actually have only modest knowledge of the national origins of brands, and that American consumers’ proficiency at recognizing foreign brand origins is predicted by variables such as socioeconomic status, past international travel, foreign language skills, and gender. In the second of two studies, we determined that brand origin recognition is based largely on consumers’ associations of brand names with languages that suggest country origins. These studies ultimately lead us to conclude that past research has inflated the influence that country of origin information has on consumers’ product judgments and behavior and its importance in managerial and public policy decisions.

Consumer preferences for location-based service attributes: a conjoint analysis

Consumer preferences and information on product choice behaviour can be of significant value in development processes of innovative products or services. Potential providers of location-based services in mobile commerce have to deal with a high uncertainty regarding consumers' acceptance and intensity of use. This paper analyses the applicability of conjoint analysis, a classical technique to identify consumer preferences in multiattribute decision making, to the design of new context sensitive services. The method is evaluated by using a fictitious example of location-based services in a touristic setting. It is concluded that despite methodological and contextual limitations conjoint analysis provides valuable insights into consumers' preferences regarding selected attributes of the specified service.

Competitive Outcomes in Product-Differentiated Oligopoly

This paper analyzes the effect of market concentration and product differentiation on the observed outcomes of competition among oligopolists. The empirical framework is designed to examine whether competition is less intense in markets with equal levels of concentration but more differentiation among the products offered. A two-stage estimation procedure is proposed to address the endogeneity problem inherent in comparing outcomes across different market structures. I estimate the competitive effects using data from a cross section of oligopoly motel markets located along U.S. interstate highways. The results indicate that firms benefit substantially by offering differentiated products. The presence of any market competitor drives down prices, but the effect is much smaller when the competitor is a different product type. Differentiation is optimal product choice behavior because the resulting competition among firms is less tough when their products are differentiated.

The relationship between involvement, attitude accessibility and attitude–behaviour consistency

A study was conducted to examine the simultaneous influence of attitude accessibility and involvement with the attitude object on the attitude–behaviour relationship. Ninety students reported their attitudes towards a number of consumer products and their involvement with the underlying product categories. In addition, the accessibility of product attitudes was assessed. The results revealed that both involvement and attitude accessibility moderated the impact of attitudes on product choice behaviour. High levels of both variables were associated with more attitude‐consistent behaviour. The moderating influence of involvement and accessibility on attitude–behaviour consistency was independent. Further, the results provided some support for the notion that high involvement is associated with more accessible attitudes. Taken together, these findings suggest that involvement and accessibility constitute two distinct but interrelated dimensions of attitude strength.