Product Judgments Research Articles

Buying US products and services: religiosity, animosity, and ethnocentrism of young consumers

PurposeThe aim of this empirical study is to examine how religiosity, animosity and ethnocentrism interact to influence judgment about US products and purchase actions of young consumers in a conservative Islamic country like Pakistan. Many studies have been conducted before in progressive Islamic countries such as Malaysia, Jordan, Turkey and Tunisia but not in conservative Islamic countries like Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachA validated questionnaire derived from literature is used for data collection. Data were collected from 381 college students in four provincial capital cities of Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar). Structural equation modeling is used to test the framework.FindingsThis study reveals key significant cause and effect relationships like consumers religiosity on foreign product judgment, consumers animosity on foreign product judgment, consumers religiosity on ethnocentric tendencies of consumers, consumers ethnocentric tendencies on foreign product judgment and foreign product judgment on purchase action of consumers.Originality/valueThis study attempts to add value to the existing literature on consumer behavior, especially the role of religiosity, animosity and ethnocentrism in young consumers. This study is the first of its kind on examining religiosity, animosity and ethnocentrism among young consumers in Pakistan. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study will guide the marketing managers to formulate appropriate strategies when targeting young consumers, especially when they decide to boycott US products.

Indian Perception and Willingness to Buy Indian Brands: The Role of Ethnocentrism and Animosity

Indian goods have invaded the Indian market, leading to a serious confusion to local enterprises. Despite increased sentiment, Indian product and India's consumer relationship remains tainted by suspicion, antagonism, and distrust. As a result, it's important to know how buyers discriminate between domestic and foreign items. The impact of ethnocentrism, customer antipathy, socioeconomic standing, and personal self-esteem on purchase intention toward Indian products is investigated in this study. The findings show that consumers in developing countries have very different views and behaviors than their counterparts in rich countries. The link between ethnocentrism and consumer resentment is not as strong as one might think. Indians' buy intentions are influenced by their personal self-esteem and customer animosity, while ethnocentrism and socioeconomic class play a role. Status, on the other hand, has no such effect. The goal of the study is to add to the current knowledge on foreign product purchase intentions and to assist marketers in developing marketing mix tactics. Keywords: Brand image, Brand loyalty, Consumer ethnocentrism, Consumer animosity, Product judgment

Healthy-Angular, unhealthy-circular: Effects of the fit between shapes and healthiness on consumer food preferences

Although many previous researchers have examined how visual cues (e.g., colors, typefaces, numbers) influence consumers’ judgments of food products, little is known about whether and how shapes affect food judgments and preferences. This research examined the healthy-angular, unhealthy-circular association in consumers’ memory and its implications for consumer behavior. Using six studies, we demonstrated that consumers tend to associate angular (vs. circular) shapes with healthy (vs. unhealthy) products and such association leads to a fit effect on consumers’ food preferences. Specifically, the awareness of healthy food (vs. unhealthy food) increases consumers’ preferences for the product option with an angular shape (vs. circular shape); Meanwhile, the awareness of angular shapes (vs. circular shapes) increases preferences for the healthier food option. We also identified the sense of feeling right as the mechanism underlying the fit effect. The findings suggest innovative visual marketing strategies for retailers, manufactures, and policymakers.

The extension of animosity model of foreign product purchase: Does country of origin matter?

Although a growing literature has investigated how animosity and consumer ethnocentrism change customers’ perceptions of foreign products in developed markets, research examining these effects in developing markets is scarce. Additionally, the role of country of origin on such effects has received far less attention. The current paper is developed to bridge these gaps. The primary objectives of this paper are to examine whether the animosity and consumer ethnocentrism models that work in the Western world could be applied into a developing market like Vietnam, and whether these relationships are moderated by country of origin (USA versus China). Data from 485 Vietnamese customers illustrate that most of the main effects are significant except for the relationship between ethnocentrism and product judgement, and the relationship between cosmopolitanism and willingness to buy. Furthermore, out of the three moderation effects, the influence of country of origin on the relationship between ethnocentrism and willingness to buy is significant. The paper concludes with theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research.

How Regulatory Focus Affects Perceptions of Online Limited-Time Promotions

Prior research on online limited-time promotions has not yet examined the role of regulatory focus and culture. As e-tailers expand across the globe, they need to understand how customers with a different regulatory focus across cultures react to online limited-time promotions. This study, using the lens of regulatory focus, examines the impact of time constraints and framing of online limited-time promotions on different culture customers’ price and product judgments. Through analyzing previous literature and identifying relevant insights from that work, we found that different combinations of time constraints and message framing should be used for customers who are prevention- (e.g., East Asian) versus promotion- (e.g., Caucasian) focused. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

The impact of animosity, brand image, consumer boycott, and product judgment on made-in-China covid-19 vaccination intention

This study measures consumers’ intention to receive the Covid-19 vaccine using an international marketing approach. Vaccination intention was tested by analysing animosity, consumer boycott, brand image, and product judgment, which had dropped from the attention of marketing researchers. Data was collected in Malang, in Indonesia. participants were selected using an online convenient sampling method. There were eight hypotheses examined. Data was processed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation models. The results showed that animosity has positive impact on consumer boycott and a negative impact on brand image. Consumer boycott, brand image, and product judgment was significantly affected vaccination intention.

Need for touch and online consumer decision making: the moderating role of emotional states

PurposeWith the growth of online shopping, during which consumers are not able to touch products, there is much for researchers and marketers to learn about the underlying role of the need for touch (NFT) in driving online shopping decisions. Consumers' emotional state prior to purchase is considered a situational variable that affects their attitude and behaviour. This study explores the effects of consumers' NFT and pre-purchase emotional states on their online decision-making behaviour, examining perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase.Design/methodology/approachA field experiment was conducted using a scenario presenting buying a sweater as a real purchase opportunity available to participants. A convenience sample of two hundred ninety-eight university students at a university in the southeast of France was used in this study. A 2 (NFT: high/low determined by a median split) × 2 (emotional states: high/low level) analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to further examine the interaction of NFT and emotional states in consumer decision making.FindingsThe results indicate that autotelic NFT and positive emotional states experienced before shopping have an impact on consumers' decisions in relation to perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that instrumental vs autotelic NFT affects consumer decision making, with mixed support found for negative emotional states acting as possible moderators.Originality/valueThis study advances the NFT field and leads to insights regarding online consumer purchase decision making by exploring instrumental vs autotelic NFT and pre-purchase emotional states as antecedents of consumer decisions.

Impact of consumer animosity, boycott participation, boycott motivation, and product judgment on purchase readiness or aversion of Kurdish consumers in Iraq

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the impact of Turkish–Kurdish political relations on Kurdish consumers' behavior toward Turkish products. The following variables were included as predictors: consumer animosity, boycott participation, boycott motivation, and product judgment. An online survey was conducted to collect the data; it attracted 1,100 participants. Seven hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and structural equation modeling. The study findings show that consumer animosity has a significant impact on boycott participation, motivation, and product judgment. Purchase readiness is significantly affected by product judgment and boycott participation. Purchase aversion is significantly impacted by boycott participation and boycott motivation. This study gives insight into a conflict that has not been previously covered; to the best of our knowledge, it is the first to examine the consumers' perspective on the on the Turkish–Kurdish conflict.

Attitude towards foreign product purchase: Malaysian consumers' perspective

The current research examined Malaysian consumers' attitudes towards foreign product purchase. Specifically, the study investigated the consumers' attitude, which is characterised by boycott, animosity, ethnocentrism, patriotism, and world- mindedness towards foreign made products. The study also examined how these constructs can affect consumers' foreign product judgment and willingness to purchase such products. In total, 512 responses were collected from the states of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Terengganu. The goodness of fit analysis and hypotheses testing were performed using SEM-PLS software. The findings exhibited that consumer patriotism and consumer world-mindedness mediated the relationship between product judgement and purchase willingness. The results also indicated that consumers with attitude of animosity and ethnocentrism negatively perceived foreign made products and consumers with world-mindedness attitude positively perceived foreign made products. As expected, only world-mindedness was positively related to purchase willingness. Finally, discussion for future direction and managerial implications are highlighted.

An examination of ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity at the ethnic level. This study examines both effects on an ethnic majority’s consumption of an ethnic minority’s products and services, focusing on the relationship between two ethnic groups in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe relationship between the constructs were analyzed using the co-variance-based structural equation modeling techniques with analysis of a moment structures version 21. Self-administered questionnaires were obtained from 325 Malay respondents in 2 Malaysian cities.FindingsThe results suggest that ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism can negatively affect product judgment and product judgment can affect consumers’ willingness to buy. Two significant findings were rejected as the directions of the results were not as hypothesized.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could study other ethnic groups of different countries using specific ethnic related products and/or brands.Originality/valueThis research suggests that ethnic-based ethnocentrism and ethnic-based animosity are important factors for businesses to consider as both can affect ethnic consumers’ purchasing behavior. Depending on ethnic consumers’ perception toward a brand, a manager may face either an opportunity or a challenge.

Ethical judgment, subjective norms, and ethical consumption: The moderating role of moral certainty

Although various empirical works have attempted to explain the gap between consumers' ethical judgments and actual purchasing behaviours, the role of moral certainty has received relatively little attention. Moral certainty refers to the subjective sense of conviction or confidence one holds about his/her ethical judgment of an object. This study contributes to the ethical consumption literature by empirically examining whether the associations among consumers' ethical judgment, intention, and actual purchasing of ethical products (EPs) vary according to their level of moral certainty. We also examined the effect of subjective norms under the same conditions. The results of regression analysis revealed that the ethical judgment of EPs has a stronger effect on consumers' intention when consumers are more confident or convinced that buying EPs is fundamentally right, as compared to moral ambiguity. The effect of subjective norms was less effective under a high level of moral certainty. Nevertheless, the results indicated that there is no evidence for the claim that consumers’ intention towards EPs has a stronger effect on the actual purchasing of EPs under a high level of moral certainty. We discuss the implications of these findings to theory and practice.

From boycott to product judgment in the coronavirus era: Chinese products cases

PurposeThis study aims to explain the boycott of Chinese product during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, this paper attempt to empirically test the influence of boycott on the image brand and foreign product judgment, as well as to testing the influence of brand image on the judgment of these products.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from a stratified random sample (N = 300) of students and was analyzed by using the structural equation modeling method.FindingsThe results show that the boycott negatively influenced the brand image and valuation of foreign products. Also, empirical results confirm that the brand image of foreign products positively influenced consumer judgment.Practical implicationsThe success of foreign products is because of a combination of adaptation and standardization strategies for foreign companies in a local market to resist ace to unexpected economic conditions. These strategies allowed foreign products to penetrate diverse markets and not to be considered as a “foreign” brand which must be boycotted even in health crisis. The internationalization of companies and the opening of subsidiaries in the targeted countries can be considered as a solution for them so that their products will not be boycotted by consumers and consider them as national products.Originality/valueAlthough with the existence of several studies on the boycott of foreign products, little attention has been paid so far to assess its interactions in times of health crisis such as COVID-19 crisis. This study contributes to the existing the literature with a research model based on two theories. This study leads to a better understanding of the role of boycotting foreign products and its impact on the brand image of these products and their judgments by consumers. On the other hand, this study tested the effect of branding on the judgment of boycotted products. Indeed, no study has so far examined the influence of consumer boycotts on the brand image of boycotted products. The authors have already responded to this shortcoming by adding additional tests for verification, robustness and validation of the results obtained.

The Impact of Religiously Motivated Consumer Boycotts on Product Judgment, Brand Image and Loyalty

The Impact of Religiously Motivated Consumer Boycotts on Product Judgment, Brand Image and Loyalty

Heuristic Thinking and Credibility of Organic Advertising Claims: The Role of Knowledge and Motivations

Consumers are often overexposed to sustainability symbols and claims on food product packages and find it difficult to accurately judge their meaning when making purchase decisions. Based on the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), this paper aims to identify cognitive mechanisms to reduce the heuristic credibility of organic advertising claims and to increase the motivation for searching for more reliable information when making product judgements. Particularly, we hypothesize that knowledge and defense and accuracy motivations affect organic claim credibility, which in turn is related to organic product judgement. Data collected from an experimental between-subject study with a sample of 412 Spanish undergraduates was analyzed using partial least squares. The results indicated that claim credibility was directly related to the attribution of organic properties to products, and was affected by defense motivation especially when appropriate knowledge was not available. Improving consumers’ knowledge reduced organic claim credibility and triggered a positive effect of accuracy motivation on credibility. The findings stress the importance of improving the regulation of ambitious advertising claims and developing specific educational campaigns to empower consumers and prevent biased purchase decisions of organic products.

INTENTION TO PURCHASE LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTS AMONG INDONESIAN YOUNG CONSUMERS

Purpose of the study: This study was undertaken to examine a theoretical concept that can increase consumer purchase intentions for local food products.
 Methodology: This study involved 450 students as respondents, but only 437 data were eligible for testing. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and processed with AMOS 24.0 statistical tools.
 Main Findings: The results of the research successfully revealed that cultural sensitivity was proven to have a negative effect on consumer ethnocentrism and had a negative effect on imported product judgment. Consumer ethnocentrism has a positive contribution to animosity toward foreign products and negatively influences imported product judgment. Intention to purchase local food products is positively influenced by consumer ethnocentrism and animosity toward foreign products and imported product judgment that has a negative effect. While testing the effect of animosity toward foreign products on imported product judgment was declared rejected or insignificant.
 Applications of this study: Consumer cultural sensitivity on a foreign product can cause consumer ethnocentrism on local food products will decrease and can increase imported product judgment which is increasingly positive. This has implications for marketers to be able to increase consumer ethnocentrism which will later be able to make consumers prefer local products and can increase consumer purchase intentions on local food products.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: This research conducted cultural sensitivity on consumer purchase intention with consumer ethnocentrism, consumer animosity, and imported product judgment within the empirical concept.

Effects of Search, Experience, and Credence Attributes versus Suggestive Brand names on Product Evaluations

Purpose– This research examines how credence, search, and experience attributes compete with suggestive brand names that are in-congruent with the attributes they cue (e.g., expensive EconoLodge Motel, short-lasting Duracell battery, joint-stiffening JointFlex pill). Design/methodology/approach– This research relies on experimental studies, together with analyses of variance, t-tests, and logistic regressions. Findings– In-congruent suggestive brand names can distort product evaluations and alter perceptions of product performance in joint product judgments involving contradictory credence attributes; they can misdirect product evaluations even if the search attributes conflict with competitor brands. Furthermore, they are more likely to backfire if contradictory experience attributes are readily available to consumers Research implications– This test of the role of in-congruence between suggestive brand names and actual product features includes key concepts that can inform continued studies, such as search attributes that consumers can readily observe, experience attributes that can be observed only after product use, and credence attributes that might not be observed even after use. Practical implications– This article provides applicable guidelines for managers, consumers, and policy makers. Originality/value– The findings expand beyond prior literature that focuses on memory-based, separate evaluations of advertised benefits and inferences or expectations of unavailable attributes. Specifically, this study details the implications of congruence between the suggestive brand names and different types of attributes observable at different consumption stages.

Effects of search, experience and credence attributes versus suggestive brand names on product evaluations

Purpose This research aims to examine how credence, search and experience attributes compete with suggestive brand names that are incongruent with the attributes they cue (e.g. expensive EconoLodge Motel, short-lasting Duracell battery and joint-stiffening JointFlex pill). Design/methodology/approach This study relies on experimental studies, together with analyses of variance, t-tests and logistic regressions. Findings Incongruent suggestive brand names can distort product evaluations and alter perceptions of product performance in joint product judgments involving contradictory credence attributes; they can misdirect product evaluations even if the search attributes conflict with competitor brands. Furthermore, they are more likely to backfire if contradictory experience attributes are readily available to consumers. Research limitations/implications This test of the role of incongruence between suggestive brand names and actual product features includes key concepts that can inform continued studies, such as search attributes that consumers can readily observe, experience attributes that can be observed only after product use and credence attributes that might not be observed even after use. Practical implications This study provides applicable guidelines for managers, consumers and policymakers. Originality/value The findings expand beyond prior literature that focuses on memory-based, separate evaluations of advertised benefits and inferences or expectations of unavailable attributes. Specifically, this study details the implications of congruence between the suggestive brand names and different types of attributes observable at different consumption stages.

Effects of “craft” vs. “traditional” labels to beer consumers with different flavor preferences: A comprehensive multi-response approach

Common definitions of craft-style beers emphasize that they are brewed by small, local breweries and that they have complex, novel and, often, bold flavors. In recent research conducted with declared craft beer drinkers who tasted beers in a blind condition, Jaeger et al. (2020) [FQAP, 103884] identified the existence of two preference segments. One segment (Craft-style Likers) preferred the characteristic complex, novel and bold flavors of many craft-style beers, while the other segment (Traditional-style Likers) preferred the less complex and milder flavors associated with traditional-style beers. In the present research, a multivariate response approach that included the evaluation of liking, sensory, holistic/conceptual, and cognitive/emotional/situational responses, as well as beer-related attitudes and behaviors, was used to assess the same set of six beers in a similar sample of declared craft beer drinkers (n = 122) as used in our previous study. However, beers were now labeled to reflect the style of the beer (craft vs. traditional) and the size (small vs. large) and regional origin (local vs. international) of the brewer. Results confirmed the existence of the same two preference segments. Although the effects of labeling the beers in accordance with their craft- vs. traditional-style natures did not influence sensory, holistic/conceptual or cognitive responses, they did influence emotional and situational responses. For craft-style beer likers, the information increased their positive emotions and the situational uses for craft-style beers, while for the traditional-style beer likers the labeling had a corresponding positive effect on their judgments of the traditional style beers. The results confirm previous findings on beer and product labeling, which show that sensory properties are less susceptible to extrinsic information effects than are affective, emotional and other, non-sensory product judgments. Implications for craft and traditional brewers are discussed and suggestions for future research presented.

Impact of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity on brand image and brand loyalty through product judgment

PurposeThis study aims to check the impact of consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and animosity on brand image (BI) and brand loyalty (BL) of Indian made cosmetic products in Pakistan and to check the mediation role of product judgment (PJ) related to Indian made cosmetic products in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the researcher used quantitative techniques to collect data. Online survey strategy was used for data collection and the technique of purposive sampling was used to select 280 consumers as respondents of said study. SPSS-20 and AMOS-21 were used for data analysis and to test the hypotheses of the study.FindingsThe results indicate that there is a positive relationship between CE and BL that is the novel result of this study because past studies proved negative relation in CE and BL and there is no direct relationship between CE and BI. The results also indicate that consumer animosity (CA) has a negative impact on BI and BL of Indian made cosmetic products in Pakistan. The results of mediation indicate that PJ is playing partial mediation in this relation.Originality/valueThis study is for the first time that is conducted in the context of India and Pakistan. Similarly, PJ is tested as a mediator for the first time in the relationship between CE and CA and BI and BL. This study would be beneficial for foreign brands generally and for Indian cosmetic brands specifically. In addition, it may provide help to business students and scholars to further understand and explore these variables in the context of developing countries.

Is country affinity applicable for domestic brands? The role of nation sentiment on consumers' self-brand connection with domestic vs foreign brands

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment on self-brand connection regarding both domestic and foreign brands.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved an online experiment and was conducted using online questionnaires. Sampling was done among undergraduate students of a Southwestern university in the US. The data was analyzed using SEM with PLS.FindingsThe results showed, for foreign brands, consumer self-brand connection increased through the effect of country affinity and product quality judgment. For domestic brands, self-brand connection was influenced by ethnocentrism (and not country affinity or product quality judgment).Research limitations/implicationsThis study only focused on one industry (i.e. Television industry), and the authors recommend future studies examine a broader range of industries. Moreover, other country related constructs such as national identity need to be examined in future studies.Practical implicationsMarketers focusing on global branding and international marketing can benefit from the findings of this paper by understanding the routes through which consumers build self-brand connections in foreign vs domestic settings. Additionally, marketers can, more effectively, invest their resources by focusing on the factors that can be influential (i.e. ethnocentrism for domestic brands vs country affinity and product judgment for foreign brands).Originality/valueThis study examines the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment for consumers' domestic country as well as a foreign country. Moreover, this study contributes toward the global branding literature by incorporating self-brand connection as a behavioral outcome.