Product Judgments Research Articles

An Integrative Model of Consumers’ Reluctance to Buy Foreign Products

This paper delves into the role of social and environmental country images—along with other relevant product-country influencing factors—in consumers’ reluctance to buy foreign products. Two integrative research models are proposed and tested on Spanish consumers’ reluctance to buy Chinese apparel products. In doing so, the authors draw on and seek to advance theory and knowledge on country-of-origin (COO) effects and anti-consumption. The findings reveal the importance of social and environmental, as well as political-economic issues, in measuring (China’s) foreign country image. Yet, a disaggregated analysis discovered differential effects of the three country image factors examined, that is, as factors indirectly influencing reluctance to buy. The findings are also supportive of the importance of three additional COO influence mechanisms—cognitive (foreign product judgments), affective (country animosity) and normative influences (consumer ethnocentrism)—for consumers’ reluctance to buy foreign products. Implications of the study for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

Experiential Conjoint Analysis: An Experience-Based Method for Eliciting, Capturing, and Modeling Consumer Preference

Traditionally, consumer preference is modeled in terms of preference for the aesthetic and functional features of a product. This paper introduces a new means to model consumer preference that accounts for not only for how a product looks and functions but also how it feels to interact with it. Traditional conjoint-based approaches to preference modeling require a participant to judge preference for a product based upon a static 2D visual representation or a feature list. While the aesthetic forms and functional features of a product are certainly important, the decision to buy or not to buy a product often depends on more, namely, the experience or feel of use. To address the importance of the product experience, we introduce the concept of experiential conjoint analysis, a method to mathematically capture preference for a product through experience-based (experiential) preference judgments. Experiential preference judgments are made based upon the use, or simulated use, of a product. For many products, creating enough physical prototypes to generate a preference model is cost prohibitive. In this work, virtual reality (VR) technologies are used to allow the participant an interactive virtual product experience, provided at little investment. The results of this work show that providing additional interaction-based (interactional) information about a product through a product experience does not affect the predictive ability of the resulting preference models. This work additionally demonstrates that the preference judgments of virtual product representations are more similar to preference judgments of real products than preference judgments of 2D product representations are. When examining similarity of modeled preference, experiential conjoint is found to be superior to visual conjoint with respect to mean absolute error (MAE), but with respect to correlation no significant difference between visual and experiential is found.

Make it Your Own: How Process Valence and Self‐Construal Affect Evaluation of Self‐Made Products

ABSTRACTSelf‐production, participation of consumers in the production process of products for their own consumption, leads to consumers’ enhanced evaluations of the self‐made products. Three experimental studies investigate how and why self‐production affects consumers’ product evaluations and reveal that not all production experiences create additional value for all consumers. In particular, Studies 1 and 2, using hypothetical stories and real experiences, show that only positive (vs. negative) production experiences enhance evaluations of self‐made products over products made by others. Positive (but not negative) experiences decrease the psychological distance between the self and the product and strengthen identification with it. Study 3 manipulates self‐construal (independent vs. interdependent) to investigate its role on evaluation of self‐made products and products made with close others as a group (i.e., group‐made). Consumers with independent self‐construal evaluate self‐made (vs. other‐made) products more favorably only if the process is positive. However, consumers with interdependent self‐construal evaluate self‐made products more favorably even if the process is negative. Additionally, consumers with interdependent (vs. independent) self‐construal exhibit more favorable evaluation of group‐made products. Finally, even if consumers know how another person feels while making a product, other people's process emotions do not affect consumers’ product judgments as strongly as their own experienced process emotions.

Effectiveness of Olympic sponsorship by foreign and domestic companies: the influential role of consumer ethnocentrism

This study investigates Chinese consumers' responses to foreign and domestic sponsors engaged in the Beijing Olympic Games. It identifies direct causal relationships between consumer ethnocentrism, attitudes towards the sponsor and product judgement. Findings reveal that event involvement mediates the positive relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards the domestic sponsor. Attitudes towards foreign sponsors are found to be a significant mediator in the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and judgements of the sponsors' products. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The Robustness of Anchoring Effects on Market Good Valuations

Ariely, Loewenstein, and Prelec (2003) showed that people’s judgments of a product’s value are strongly and systematically influenced by considering numbers (or “anchors”) which should be irrelevant to their valuations. However, subsequent studies showed inconsistent results while using different experimental protocols. To bridge the gap between conflicting prior studies, we replicated the anchoring effect in product valuations while also varying the experimental protocol. We examined whether the type of anchoring number (Social Security number vs. random number), recruiting method (classroom vs. email recruiting), or cover story (in-class market research demonstration vs. participation in research experiment) contributed to the divergent results. Our results replicated the anchoring effect at economically significant magnitudes (near the middle of the range for previous studies), but we did not find evidence that the procedural differences can account for the conflicting prior results.

Young Consumers’ Attitudes toward American products

The aim of the study is to analyze the effects of young Turkish consumers’ ethnocentrism and animosity toward USA and consumers’ product judgment about and willingness to buy American products. Hypotheses are tested with data gained from a field survey of a sample of 277 university students studying in Turkey. Path analyzes results reveal that ethnocentrism and consumers’ animosity does not have remarkable effect on product judgment, but ethnocentrism and consumers’ animosity rather than product judgment are good predictors of willingness to buy products originating from USA. At the end, the research findings are discussed and also managerial implications and future research opportunities are presented.

To purchase or not to purchase US products: role of religiosity, animosity, and ethno-centrism among Malaysian consumers

Purpose – The main purpose of this research is to empirically test how animosity, religiosity, and ethnocentrism interact to affect judgment about US products and purchase action of consumers in a progressive Islamic country like Malaysia. There are many studies that have been conducted in conservative Islamic countries such as Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach – The product chosen for this research is US fast food restaurants. A questionnaire was constructed and responses were obtained from 410 Malaysian consumers from different ethnic backgrounds. The authors tested the framework using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – Based on the test results, the authors conclude the following significant relationships: animosity on purchase action of consumers, ethnocentric tendencies on animosity of consumers, religiosity on ethnocentric tendencies of consumers, religiosity on animosity of consumers, ethnocentric tendencies of consumers on judgment of foreign product, foreign product judgment of consumers on purchase action, and animosity and ethnocentrism play mediating roles. Originality/value – The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on consumer behavior, especially the roles of animosity, religiosity, and ethnocentrism. The findings can help marketing managers to formulate appropriate strategies when consumers decide to boycott US products.

Time perception and depressive realism: judgment type, psychophysical functions and bias.

The effect of mild depression on time estimation and production was investigated. Participants made both magnitude estimation and magnitude production judgments for five time intervals (specified in seconds) from 3 sec to 65 sec. The parameters of the best fitting psychophysical function (power law exponent, intercept, and threshold) were determined individually for each participant in every condition. There were no significant effects of mood (high BDI, low BDI) or judgment (estimation, production) on the mean exponent, n = .98, 95% confidence interval (.96–1.04) or on the threshold. However, the intercept showed a ‘depressive realism’ effect, where high BDI participants had a smaller deviation from accuracy and a smaller difference between estimation and judgment than low BDI participants. Accuracy bias was assessed using three measures of accuracy: difference, defined as psychological time minus physical time, ratio, defined as psychological time divided by physical time, and a new logarithmic accuracy measure defined as ln (ratio). The ln (ratio) measure was shown to have approximately normal residuals when subjected to a mixed ANOVA with mood as a between groups explanatory factor and judgment and time category as repeated measures explanatory factors. The residuals of the other two accuracy measures flagrantly violated normality. The mixed ANOVAs of accuracy also showed a strong depressive realism effect, just like the intercepts of the psychophysical functions. There was also a strong negative correlation between estimation and production judgments. Taken together these findings support a clock model of time estimation, combined with additional cognitive mechanisms to account for the depressive realism effect. The findings also suggest strong methodological recommendations.

Consumer Risk Perceptions and Marketing Strategy: The Case of Genetically Modified Food

ABSTRACTNew technologies are hitting the marketplace every day. In trying to make sense of these new technologies, consumers perceive a series of risks and benefits of consumption and use those perceptions to form product judgments. One way for managers to mitigate organizational related risk is to understand how consumers perceive consumption‐related risk. To illustrate this point, the case of genetically modified (GM) food is examined and a series of focus groups is conducted in which participants examined different product labels that either framed the technology as a benefit gained or as a risk avoided. The results indicate that consumers do indeed form very different product evaluations based on how the new technology is framed, but these evaluations vary based on the level of the consumers’ preexisting knowledge. This study provides support for the contention that a better understanding of consumer risk perceptions is an important first step in developing marketing strategies for new technology‐oriented products.

Egocentric Categorization and Product Judgment: Seeing Your Traits in What You Own (and Their Opposite in What You Don’t)

Previous research uses categorization principles to analyze the interplay between individuals and groups. The present research uniquely employs categorization principles to analyze the interplay between individuals and products. It proposes that consumers classify owned (but not unowned) products as integral to their personal self (experiment 1). Consequently, consumers judge product traits (e.g., masculinity) as consistent with their own traits (assimilation) if they own the product, but as inconsistent with their own traits (contrast) if they interact with the product but do not own it, even when owning the product is nondiagnostic of its properties (e.g., following random ownership assignment; experiments 2–4). For example, less creative consumers who enter a drawing for an iPhone may judge it as less creative (assimilation) if they win the product, but as more creative (contrast) if they do not win the product. Moderators of these effects are identified, and their theoretical and substantive implicati...

Aplicability of golden ratio rule in modern product design

This paper presents research regarding application of golden ratio rule in field of product design. The rule was applied to the design on vacuum cleaner, as it is a common and widely spread product. The aim of this paper is to research possibilities of applications of the rule in modern design. In order to determine consumer’s subjective aesthetic judgment of products designed by directly applying golden ratio rule, one vacuum cleaner was designed in that manner. Results for consumer’s subjective aesthetic preference were compared to results for other differently designed vacuum cleaner models present in the market today. Factors used were age, gender and level of education of participants (typical consumer). The results showed no statistical influence of age or gender factors. Statistically significant differences were noticed for level of education factor, between participants with high school diploma and university diploma. It was observed that product de-signed using golden ratio rule received higher marks regarding aesthetics in case of participants with university diploma. It can be concluded that golden ratio rule can be applied in field of product design, equally successful as in the other art fields where it is commonly used, but consumer demographics must be taken in to consideration, especially education level.

Expanding needs for metrological traceability and measurement uncertainty

In our daily life, numerical evaluation of a quantity is normally required not only for scientific decision but also for judgment of products. Under the Metre Convention, ideal system of the International System of units (SI) is globally recognized and utilized in many fields of science and technology [1]. Some documented standards such as International Vocabulary of Metrology (VIM) [2], and Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) [3] are edited and published by the Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology (JCGM) and commonly introduced in the fields of metrology, science and conformity assessment in connection with ISO/IEC 17025. This paper describes the recent situation in measurement science, and how to obtain a reliable measurement result using the expression of metrological traceability together with measurement uncertainty. In the paper, a response to Prof. Ludwik Finkelstein’s message for ‘challenges and problems to future advancement in measurement science’ is also reported.

The longitudinal effects of a two‐dimensional consumer animosity

PurposeConsumer animosity is often used to explain consumers' boycott of products from a foreign country in a dispute. However, these studies are mainly cross‐sectional. The purpose of this paper is to investigate temporal changes in two distinct consumer‐animosity dimensions – i.e. historical and contemporary – and their influences on judgment of and willingness‐to‐buy foreign products.Design/methodology/approachSampling came from a mall‐intercept survey in Japan during the height of a recent Japan‐China dispute (n=139), followed by a similar survey six months later (n=157). Identical questionnaires tapped Japanese consumers' historical animosity (HA), contemporary animosity (CA) and ethnocentrism dispositions, and judgment of and willingness to buy Chinese products. The data were fitted using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results indicate that both CA and HA lowered willingness to buy Chinese products during, but not after, the dispute. CA was consistently stronger than HA in influencing willingness to buy. By contrast, product judgment did not influence willingness to buy during the dispute. That is, animosity dispositions overshadowed objective product evaluation during the dispute. After the dispute, only product judgment directly influenced willingness to buy, and HA indirectly influenced willingness to buy via product judgment. CA weakened after the dispute, but HA remained stable over time. Product judgment was lower during the dispute. Consumer ethnocentrism interacted only with CA during but not after the dispute.Practical implicationsInternational dispute heightens the salience of present‐day issues such as unemployment rather than of historical conflicts. Although product judgment was affected, the downside to foreign firms is temporary. Domestic firms can only take short‐term advantage, but long‐term edge remains improving product judgment.Originality/valueDespite extensive research into the influence of consumer animosity on consumer behaviour, surprisingly little research has attempted to investigate the temporal characteristics of the consumer animosity, let alone investigate its distinct dimensions. In this study, the authors attempt to show that unless one considers the potential temporal changes to individual consumer‐animosity dimensions, sweeping conclusions from single‐shot studies may yield an incomplete picture and even misguide managerial initiatives.

Does country‐of‐origin matter to Generation Y?

PurposeThis study aims to examine how members of American Generation Y cohort feel about the USA and the USA's major trading partners. In addition, the study's purpose is to find out whether product's country‐of‐origin (COO) plays a role when members of Generation Y evaluate products.Design/methodology/approachUndergraduate university students are used as sample in this study. Experiment with 18 conditions is utilized to collect that data. Linear regression is used to test the hypothesis.FindingsResults show that animosity toward the country negatively influences COO image and that person's level of cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism contribute to person's perception of (in)equality when evaluating COO images. Findings also indicate COO significantly influences product judgment and this relationship is moderated by quality of information about the product (positive, negative, or lack of information) and involvement with the product (involved or not involved).Originality/valueResults from this study show that, in the context of Generation Y, country image still matters and should be considered when developing a product or promotion strategy. Although country image matters, its effect on product judgment has to be examined in conjunction with factors like quality of information about the product and involvement with the product. As such, examining COO effect on its own might be misleading and not paint a completely accurate picture of antecedents to product judgment.

You Get What You Pay For? Self-Construal Influences Price-Quality Judgments

Abstract How does cultural self-construal influence consumers' tendency to use price to judge quality? Seven experiments designed to address this question revealed that people with a more interdependent (vs. independent) cultural self-construal—operationalized by ethnicity, nationality, measured self-construal, or manipulated salient self-construal—have a greater tendency to use price information to judge quality. This difference arises because interdependents tend to be holistic (vs. analytic) thinkers who are more likely to perceive interrelations between the elements of a product. These effects were observed regardless of whether the price-quality relation was assessed with a standard self-report scale or via actual product judgments, and whether thinking style was measured or manipulated. However, cultural differences only emerged in situations that afforded interdependents (vs. independents) a relational processing advantage. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying the effects and identify novel boundary conditions for the influence of self-construal and thinking style on consumer judgments.

A Study on the Consumer Ethnocentrism, Animosity and Product Judgment Effect on Foreign Products Purchase Intention : A Comparative Study between Korean and Japanese Electronic Products in China

A Study on the Consumer Ethnocentrism, Animosity and Product Judgment Effect on Foreign Products Purchase Intention : A Comparative Study between Korean and Japanese Electronic Products in China

Author, self, monster: Using Foucault to examine functions of creativity.

The relationship of individuals to groups has been central, and problematic, to the construct of creativity since it emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Psychological research has often used the idea of creativity to differentiate and/or advocate constructs of the individual as creator, but has used a sociocultural criterion— eminence—to assure validity. Researchers and creative practitioners are then caught in a contradiction in psychology’s own terms: using extrinsic outcomes at the level of culture as the starting point to conceptualize individual activities characterized by intrinsic motivation. Even research that focuses on everyday creativity often identifies creativity only through judgment of products. Sociocultural approaches go further, defining creativity as social judgment of individuals’ works. But what does the eminence of relatively few individuals indicate about social questions (changes in discourse and power relations) or about psychological questions (the people in the system)? This article explores an alternative approach, using Foucault’s analysis of the author function, technologies of self and the related technology typology (production, signs, power and self). Comparing Foucault’s analyses to the psychological discourse demonstrates advantages of integrating Foucault’s ideas into the study of creativity. Analyzing the functions of creativity, rather than its ontology or location, provides a unifying framework for the wide array of approaches psychologists have developed. Within that framework individual experiences can be examined in relation to the distorting nature of the author function, needs for production and shifts in power relations, rather than conflated with them.

Can Consumers Forgo the Need to Touch Products? An Investigation of Nonhaptic Situational Factors in an Online Context

ABSTRACTTouch is an important source of information for consumers, and there is much to learn about its role in an online purchase decision context where the ability to touch products is not (at least currently) possible. The present investigation examines three nonhaptic situation‐specific factors that moderate the relationship between haptic motivation and consumer responses. The results indicate that positive mood, price promotions, and level of situation‐specific product expertise are influential, yielding greater purchase intentions and product judgment confidence when touch is not available. Additionally, the findings of the investigation suggest that imagining a Web site is comparable to actually viewing a Web site. Several implications for consumer behavior research and online marketers are discussed.

A UNIFIED FRAMEWORK OF TARGETED MARKETING USING CUSTOMER PREFERENCES

One of the fundamental tasks of targeted marketing is to elicit associations between customers and products. Based on the results from information retrieval and utility theory, this article proposes a unified framework of targeted marketing. The customer judgments of products are formally described by preference relations and the connections of customers and products are quantitatively measured by market value functions. Two marketing strategies, known as the customer-oriented and product-oriented marketing strategies, are investigated. Four marketing models are introduced and examined. They represent, respectively, the relationships between a group of customers and a group of products, between a group of customers and a single product, between a single customer and a group of products, and between a single customer and a single product. Linear and bilinear market value functions are suggested and studied. The required parameters of a market value function can be estimated by exploring three types of information, namely, customer profiles, product profiles, and transaction data. Experiments on a real-world data set are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Advances on the Measure of Judgment and Meaning of the Product for Brazil

The purpose of this paper was the development of a valid measure of judgment and meaning of products for Brazilian consumers. It consisted of a two-stage study including both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In the qualitative stage, focus groups with 16 Brazilian participants allowed the generation of 40 items for a new scale of judgment and meaning of a product. After semantic validation and expert analysis, the found items composed a questionnaire administered to 684 participants in a paper-and-pencil survey. Results suggest that the items performed considerably better when compared to the previous version, indicating their potential of usage not only in Brazil, but also in other countries. The final measure consisted of 20 items that were distributed into four factors, as pointed out by the literature review. Two factors are related to judgment types (piecemeal and affective), while the other two are related to meaning types (utilitarian and symbolic). Additional results, as expected, showed that product's utilitarian meaning is positively correlated to a piecemeal judgment, whereas symbolic meaning is positively related to affective judgment. Managerial implications for marketing, and future research directions are proposed.DOI: 10.5585/remark.v11i2.2279