Variety Seeking Research Articles

ANALISIS FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI PERPINDAHAN MEREK (BRAND SWITCHING) PENGGUNA JARINGAN OPERATOR TRI KE OPERATOR LAIN DI MASA PEMBELAJARAN ONLINE SAAT PANDEMI COVID -19

This researchs purpose to know some factors that influence brand switching Tri operator user to another operator and get result from the pre-survey include the ef ect of product atribute, variety seeking, promotion and price on brand switching. Thisresearch obtained via by questionnaire to 96 respondents which become Tri operator user to students at the As- syafi'iyah Islamic University with population 3.850. Analyst data method that used is regression analysis, correlation, coef icient of determination and hypothesis test. Based on analyst data result, partially product attributes give positive and significant ef ect on brand switching. Variety seeking give positive and significant ef ect on brand switching. Promotion give ositive and significant ef ect on brand switching. Price give positive and significant ef ect on brand switching.

Loyalty Versus Variety: Insights from Hotel Selection Patterns in Australia

This study explores the hotel selection patterns of leisure travellers to understand their loyalty or variety seeking intentions and profile them through their key characteristics, factors that influence their hotel consumption patterns. While data were collected via focus groups, twenty-two participants were purposively sampled based on the criteria-Australian travellers who have been to the same international destination three times or more for leisure. Data analysis used the thematic approach, which commenced with coding by identifying themes. The findings reveal that leisure travellers do seek variety in their hotel selection. It also identified three types of international leisure travellers based on their hotel selection within the same destination. Firstly, the same location within the destination and the same hotel as previous visits. Secondly, the same location within the destination and a different hotel to previous visits and finally, different location within the destination and a different hotel (rather than sticking to a hotel chain).The findings of this study further enrich the understanding of loyalty and variety-seeking behaviour in the accommodation sector. This paper extends the concept of variety seeking behaviour to micro level consumption choices—hotel selection at a destination.

COVID-19 Restrictions and Variety Seeking in Travel Choices and Actions: The Moderating Effects of Previous Experience and Crowding

This article investigates how the perceived threats caused by COVID-19 affect consumers’ travel choices and actions by influencing their intentions to seek variety. Four studies show that the perceived threat of COVID-19 increases variety seeking in travel choices. Study 1 finds that travelers who perceive a greater threat of COVID-19 tend to undertake more varied activities during their travel. Study 2 shows that the main effect exists only for individuals who have previously visited the destination. Study 3 replicates the moderating effect of previous visiting experience by using a different way to manipulate the perceived threat of COVID-19. Study 4 illustrates the moderating impact of another important factor: the number of travelers included in the companies’ communication messages. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.

Beliefs about food quality attributes, food-related goals and satisfaction with food-related life among the elderly in China: A means-end approach

Life satisfaction is a psychological state of an individual, however, a psychological perspective on how life satisfaction is based on cognitive inference-making has been largely neglected in the extant literature on elderly’s life satisfaction. This paper fills the gap by focusing on the psychological determinants of Chinese elderly’s satisfaction with the food domain of life, i.e. satisfaction with food-related life. Data were collected by personal interviews conducted in Beijing with 452 participants above 60 years old from March to May 2018. Based on means-end theory and the “bottom-up” approach to the concept of life satisfaction, this study confirms the hierarchical relationships between beliefs about food safety, taste, naturalness and freshness, the food-related goals of health seeking, enjoyment seeking and variety seeking, satisfaction with food-related life, and overall life satisfaction among Chinese elderly. All the three food-related goals positively affected Chinese elderly’s satisfaction with food-related life with the goal of enjoyment seeking as the strongest predictor. Positive belief about food freshness was related to the importance of all the three goals. Food naturalness belief was negatively related to the goals of health seeking and enjoyment seeking, while belief about food safety did not have any significant impact on either of the two goals. The food taste belief did not significantly affect the goal of enjoyment seeking but affected the goal of variety seeking. Implications for how to improve Chinese elderly’s satisfaction with food-related life and for future research were provided.

Effect of Variety Seeking and Electronic Word of Mouth on Brand Switching (Study on Millennial Generation as Modern Coffee Shop Consumers in Surabaya)

The purpose of this study is to find out the Effect of Finding Variations and Communicationby OnlineWord of Mouthtoward Brand Switching (Study on Coffee Shop Consumers in Surabaya). This type of research is conclusive research. Research with problem solving research studies using the number of respondents as many as 200. As for obtaining data from 200 respondents, researchers added an error sampling of 5% so that the number of respondents as many as 210. Sampling techniques used in this study are non probability sampling, with judgemental sampling method and snowball sampling. The results of this study showed that the search for variations positively influenced the Switching of Consumer Brands of Modern Coffee Shops in Surabaya e-WOM has a positive effect on the Switching of Consumer Brands of Modern Coffee Shops in Surabaya.

The Effect Of Marketing Mix On Students Loyalty Towards Instant Noodles With The Brands of INDOMIE, SEDAP, and ABC With Moderated Variety Seeking

This research aims to know the effect of marketing mix on students loyalty of instant noodle with the brands of Indomie, Sedaap, and ABC which is moderated by variety seeking characteristics of consumers. This research was conducted in August-September 2010 at the Management Students Economic Faculty Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta. Data were collected using questionnaire. The population of the research was Management Students of Economics Faculty, Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta, from 2005-2008 batch who have consumed instant noodle of the brands of Indomie, Sedaap, and ABC. The sampling technique in this research is nonprobability accidental sampling. The samples were 100 respondents. The data analysis technique used were Multiple Linear Regression analysis and Regression Analysis with moderating effect. Results show that: 1) Marketing mix influences students loyalty. 2) Variety seeking characteristics moderates the influence of product on loyalty.

Free word association perceptions of red meats; beef is ‘yummy’, bison is ‘lean game meat’, horse is ‘off limits’

Reduced consumption of conventional red meats due to environmental and health concerns may create interest in less familiar red meats from alternative animal species. The objective of this study was to identify perceptions of three red meats; beef, a familiar meat, and bison and horse meat, less familiar red meat alternatives. A total of 145 western Canadian participants completed an on-line survey that included a free word association task, food variety seeking and food involvement scales, and meat consumption and demographic questions. The free word association yielded 41 word categories of diverging perceptions of the 3 meats. Beef was described with positive sensory attributes and well-liked foods, yet with environmental, ethical and production concerns, reflecting the ‘meat eaters’ paradox’. Bison was perceived as a lean game meat, suggesting a lack of awareness of current bison production and retail availability. Horse meat was unfamiliar to 80% of the participants. Horse meat was acknowledged to be consumed in other regions, however as a companion animal and pet, the dominant perception of horse meat was that it was unacceptable for eating. Participants were clustered into four groups based on the combined food-related personality traits of variety seeking and food involvement. The high food involvement cluster associated bison with positive eating quality attributes and may be amenable to its consumption when provided with accurate information about bison production.

Psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Variety Seeking Tendency Scale (VARSEEK)

As part of a healthy diet, guidelines recommend eating a variety of foods to reduce risks associated with malnutrition. However, whether people follow this recommendation substantially depends on their willingness to try unfamiliar foods, also referred to as food neophilia. This study aimed at comprehensively validating the German version of the Variety Seeking Tendency Scale (VARSEEK), a common instrument to assess food neophilia. Two independent sub-studies were conducted to examine the German VARSEEK’s psychometric properties. Study 1 (N = 532, aged 18–91 years) and Study 2 (N = 468, aged 18–73 years) each comprised a German community sample. Data were collected both online and via a paper–pencil version. Whereas Study 1 included an EFA, Study 2 comprised a CFA, analyses of the VARSEEK’s reliability and construct validity, and different explorative group comparisons. EFA and CFA results supported the original scale’s unidimensionality. Internal consistency (α = .93) and test-retest reliability (r = .87) of the scale were high. VARSEEK scores were positively associated with openness, sensation seeking, and extraversion and negatively associated with food neophobia, general neophobia, and trait anxiety. Construct validity was further established by showing positive associations with ratings of familiarity with and willingness to try familiar and unfamiliar foods. Whereas group comparisons revealed no significant differences for sex, age, and weight status, analyses showed that people who belonged to the upper class were more food neophilic than those assigned to the lower and middle class. Findings further underscore that the German VARSEEK is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of food neophilia in the German population.

The disproportion of crowd wisdom: The impact of status seeking on Yelp reviews.

This study shows that while status seeking motivates people to participate in crowdsourcing platforms, it also negatively impacts the bedrock of crowdsourcing–wisdom of crowds. Using Yelp restaurant reviews in 6 cities, we found that motivations of status seeking lead people to review a greater variety of restaurants, and achieving status further encourages this variety seeking as well as the targeting of more expensive restaurants for review. The impact of this individual-level tendency is confirmed by our aggregate-level analysis which shows that restaurants with higher price levels, higher uniqueness levels, and a larger percentage of elite reviews tend to obtain enough reviews to generate wisdom of crowds sooner than other restaurants. This leads to a different kind of distortion to crowd wisdom: an over-representation of status-conferring products and an under-representation of products that are not status-worthy. The findings suggest the importance of studying sources of distortion that are endemic to crowdsourcing itself.

Mindset predicts consumer variety seeking through learning goal orientation: The role of susceptibility to interpersonal influence

We examined how people's belief that human traits are either malleable or fixed—that is, mindset—can shape consumers' variety seeking through learning goal orientation. We also tested the moderating effect of susceptibility to interpersonal influence in the mindset–variety seeking relationship. Participants were 364 adults in the US, who completed a survey on mindset, variety seeking, learning goals, and susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Results show that consumers with a growth (vs. fixed) mindset were more likely to engage in variety seeking as they were more motivated by learning goals. This relationship was more evident when they cared less (vs. more) about others' approval. These findings offer new evidence for how mindset is related to consumption tendencies, provide insight into the conditions under which these relationships are stronger or weaker, and suggest that practitioners should pay more attention to mindset when they are developing marketing strategies.

Trust and product as moderators in online shopping behavior: evidence from India

PurposeThe present study is aimed at examining the antecedents of online shopping user behavior and customer satisfaction. More specifically, (1) the effect of social influence, variety seeking behavior, advertising and convenience on user behavior, and (2) the effect of user behavior on customer satisfaction are examined.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed and tested after verifying the psychometric properties of the survey instrument. Data were collected from 556 respondents from three major cities (Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore) in the southern part of India using structured instrument. Hierarchical regression is performed. Measurement model was checked using structural equation modeling (Lisrel package).FindingsThe results reveal that (1) social influence, (2) variety seeking, (3) advertising, (4) convenience, (5) trust and (6) product factors were positively related to online user behavior. Results also show that user behavior is significantly and positively related to customer satisfaction. The hierarchical regression results also showed moderating effects of (1) trust in the relationship between social influence, variety seeking and user behavior, and (2) product factors in the relationship between advertising, convenience and user behavior. Finally, results suggest that user behavior is partially mediating the relationship between trust and customer satisfaction, i.e. trust has both direct and indirect effect on customer satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsAs with any survey-based research, the present study suffers from the problems associated with self-report measures viz., common method bias and social desirability bias. However, the authors attempted to minimize these limitations by following appropriate statistical techniques.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to both practicing managers and the literature on advertising. The study suggests that trust and product play a major role in strengthening the relationship between antecedents and user behavior.Originality/valueThis study provides new insights about the importance of gaining trust in influencing consumer behavior. The conceptual model the authors developed is novel in the sense not many studies are available in India to empirically examine the moderating relationships of trust and product in consumer behavior.

Healthy food exposition attendees’ purchasing strategies: a mental budgeting perspective

PurposeGrounded in the theory of mental budgeting, this paper aims to investigate how the regret and perfectionism of exposition attendees influences their purchasing strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis research collected on-site data at a well-established specialty food exposition in China. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to test the proposed model.FindingsThe findings confirm the effect of psychological mechanism (regret and perfectionism) on exposition attendees’ purchasing strategy as one that boosts/impairs their confidence in purchasing healthy food at the exposition. Specifically, regret and perfectionism show differential contributions to purchasing strategy dimensions. Variety seeking has a positive effect, whereas price consciousness has a negative effect, on purchase confidence.Practical implicationsEvent organizers and exhibitors should understand attendees’ consumption-related psychological mechanism and devise effective management and marketing strategies for optimal consumption experiences at expositions. They can create an informative and worry-free experience that facilitates a pleasant thought process to reduce uncertainty in attendees’ on-site decision-making.Originality/valueThe current research pioneered a unique model conceptualizing the important, yet underexplored, phenomenon of purchasing mechanism in the exposition setting. Addressing the emerging interest in food expositions, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first for examining purchasing mechanism from the perspective of mental budgeting, providing insightful knowledge about how the psychological mechanism affects exposition attendees’ pre-purchase evaluation and confidence toward purchasing healthy food at expositions.

Competition in a Variety Seeking Market With Brand Name Awareness

This article investigates service and price competition in a variety seeking market, with the consideration of brand name awareness on consumers. Variety seeking behavior is modeled as a decrease in the willingness to pay for product purchased on the previous occasion. Under a three-stage Hotelling-type model, we show that variety seeking intensifies the competition when both firms are equally known. However, when one firm is better known than the other, it softens the competition observing the differentiation of equilibrium policies. In addition, variety seeking increases both the price and service gaps to exaggerate market differentiation. Under both scenarios firms adjust the service level in the second period so as to prevent consumers from switching, if keeping prices committed across periods. Furthermore, if consumers on average have a higher propensity to one firm, the variety seeking behavior leads to a higher total profits and a higher consumer surplus.

PRICE PERCEPTION, VARIETY SEEKING, DAN ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH TERHADAP STORE SWITCHING DALAM BELANJA ONLINE PADA TOKOPEDIA DI KOTA DENPASAR

This study aims to determine the effect of price perception, variety seeking, electronic word of mouth on store switching in online shopping on Tokopedia. The population of this research is consumers who have Tokopedia application in Denpasar City, with a sample of 80 respondents. Sampling using a purposive sampling technique. Collecting data using an online questionnaire with a Likert scale measurement tool. The type of data used in this study is quantitative data. The data analysis method used in this study uses validity test, reliability test, classic assumption test, and multiple linear regression analysis test using the SPSS version 20.0 application. The results of this study stated that the variable price perception, variety seeking, electronic word of mouth had a positive and partially significant effect simultaneously on store switching in online shopping at Tokopedia in Denpasar City, with the variable X1 Price perception having the strongest influence with a beta coefficient of 0.352 because in shopping online or offline the first thing that consumers see is the price of a product with different perceptions for each consumer to see the usefulness, value, and quality of the product through the price consumers want.

Trialing or combining? Understanding consumer partial switching in mobile application usage from the variety seeking perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to clarify what specific behaviors are involved in consumers' partial switching in mobile application (app) usage, and, second, to explore the common and differential motivations of these behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThis paper specified two behaviors in consumers' partial switching in mobile app usage, trialing and combining behaviors, and conceptualized them as different types of variety seeking behaviors. A theoretical model contrasting intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations on the two behaviors was developed and tested with a sample of 561 mobile app users in China.FindingsThe findings showed that both trialing and combining behaviors could be motivated by intrinsic individual-related and extrinsic technology-related factors. Besides, intrinsic individual-related factors were more effective in motivating trialing behavior, whereas extrinsic technology-related factors were more effective in motivating combining behavior. All these findings are applicable and consistent in both hedonic and utilitarian apps.Originality/valueThis study extends and advances the literature on information technology switching by investigating consumer use behaviors from a new perspective of partial switching and multiple competing apps usage. This study also contributes to variety seeking literature by extending the understanding of variety seeking to the context of mobile app usage. Finally, by investigating the associations and distinctions of trialing and combining behavior, this study not only helps to fully understand the partial switching but also enriches the understanding of different types of variety seeking behaviors.

EFFECT OF RELATIONSHIP QUALITY ON LOYALTY: THE MODERATING ROLE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS AMONG YOUNG FASHION RETAIL CUSTOMER IN INDONESIA

This research aims to analyze the effect of relationship quality on a fashion retail store customer's loyalty in Indonesia. We further investigate the moderating role of personality traits (innovativeness, variety seeking, and relationship proneness) on the relationship between relationship quality and loyalty. An online survey utilizing a questionnaire was conducted, purposively sampled to potential respondents resulting in 1.341 valid responses. All valid data were analyzed with structural equation modelling, including the moderating effect. The findings showed that relationship quality positively affects loyalty while only the innovativeness trait moderates the relationship between relationship quality and loyalty. This research suggests that fashion retail stores should increase the relationship quality with their customer by developing customer service with an excellent standard service procedure, conducting email and social media marketing, and creating a loyalty program that emphasizes the functional benefit. Further, innovation in terms of product is also vital to maintain the fashion retail store's loyalty.

Effects of luck beliefs on consumers' variety-seeking behavior

From a risk perspective and using the courage–ability–willingness theory in relation to consumer choice, we built a model with luck beliefs as the independent variable, psychological security and self-efficacy as mediating variables, optimum stimulation level as the moderating variable, and variety seeking as the outcome variable. We conducted an online survey and analyzed data from 593 participants using structural equation modeling. The results show that personal luckiness and belief in luck positively affected variety seeking, psychological security and self-efficacy mediated the influence of luck beliefs on variety seeking, and optimum stimulation level positively affected variety seeking and positively moderated the effect of personal luck on variety seeking. However, the moderating effect of belief in luck on variety seeking was nonsignificant. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Antecedent of Online Buying Behavior

This research was conducted to determine the effect of availability, low price, promotion, comparison, convenience, customer service, perceived ease of use, attitude, time consciousness, trust, and variety seeking on online buying behavior. This study aims to examine what factors influence online buying behavior. The methodology of this research is to test the research hypothesis. Sampling with a questionnaire of 250 respondents who are consumers who have shopped online in the past year. Non-probability sampling technique using purposive sampling method. The analysis tool is structural equation model (SEM). The results of this study indicate that low price, convenience, perceived ease of use, attitude, time consciousness, trust, and variety seeking service are factors that can directly influence online buying behavior. Whereas availability, promotion, comparison, and customer service are not factors that can directly influence online buying behavior. This study has limitations, including this research only carried out on customers from online stores found on the online shopping website in jabodetabek, besides that this research is only limited to variables that directly affect online buying behavior without seeing any mediating factors. The implication of this research is that managers can increase the factors that can influence purchasing behavior online, and this research can also be a reference for marketers to implement appropriate strategies to increase their sales.Keywords: online buying behavior.

Spontaneous Variety-Seeking Meal Choice in Business Canteens Impedes Sustainable Production

Sustainable meal choices in the out-of-home catering market are essential to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. This study investigated consumers’ acceptance of different features that help service providers to work more sustainably. For this purpose, data of a choice experiment and a supporting online questionnaire were analyzed using latent class analysis (LCA) and the data of n = 373 employees. Examined attributes in the choice experiment were menu variety, menu type, ordering system, ingredients and price. LCA led to four consumer segments: variety seekers (27.6%), spontaneous decisionmakers—vegetarian (25.7%), spontaneous decisionmakers—meat (24.1%) and vegetarians/vegans (22.6%). Results showed that consumers in all four segments expected to have the choice between different menus in company canteens. Moreover, they preferred spontaneous choice to preordering. Both preferences hamper sustainable production and consumption in the catering sector.

Antecedents of smartphone brand switching: a push–pull–mooring framework

PurposeRecent years have witnessed the increasingly fierce competition amongst smartphone brands. Hence, smartphone firms urge to prevent current consumers from switching to maintain market position. Based on the push–pull–mooring (PPM) framework, this study aims to explore the drivers of users' intentions to switch from their current smartphone brands.Design/methodology/approachBased on previous literature and the characteristics of the smartphone purchase, this study identified one pushing, two pulling and five mooring factors. Online questionnaires were collected to test hypotheses using the structural equation modelling approach. An additional netnography study provides further support to the hypotheses.FindingsResults show that regret is a push factor that enhances consumers' switching intentions. Moreover, two pull factors, subjective norms and alternative attractiveness positively influence consumers' switching intentions. Finally, switching costs, emotional commitment and brand community engagement are mooring factors that negatively affect brand-switching intention, whereas consumers' variety seeking has a positive effect.Originality/valueThis study enriches the brand switching literature and offers significant implications for customer retention.