Search results

Comparative consumer research is one of the neglected areas of marketing and consumer behaviour. This article advocates the importance and contribution of comparative consumer research to the field of consumer behaviour. Following a brief discussion of the “emic”, “etic”, and hybrid approaches to comparative consumer behaviour, the article focuses on the major considerations in the design of comparative consumer studies. It concludes with a brief discussion of the consumer behaviour and marketing areas which can benefit most from a comparative perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and identify Chinese consumers’ behavior and preference characters toward table grapes, especially to explore the variance of consumption preference in recent five years.

Two representative China-wide questionnaire surveys were conducted by face-to-face and online questionnaire survey, respectively, in 2009 and 2014. Comparative study was adopted to dig the changes of consumers’ preferences and habits. ANOVA was adopted to explore the statistically difference among consumers’ behavior and preferences.

The results indicate that Chinese consumers are rational-motivation-driven grape consumers, they prefer to sweet taste, seedless and medium priced grapes. Safety and quality characters (clean appearance, freshness and taste) were ranked as the most important grape attributes. As a whole, it was found that consumers are more quality-focussed and safety-conscious five years later, so some variances was showed in their purchase habits and preferences, such as the choice of purchase place, attitude to special grapes and willingness to pay to safe and genetically modified grapes.

This research not only indicates some stable preferences of Chinese consumers toward table grape, but also finds out some significant changes in consumers’ behavior before and after five years based on a comparative study in 2009 and 2014.

Examines consumerism and its causes and also distinguishes the possibilities of improving consumers' position. Stresses the command of purchasing demand functions as a basis of consumers' power, e.g. the greater the purchasing demand the greater the ability to use it in alternative ways through choice or demand flexibility, the greater the potential power of the purchasers over the supplier. Consumers and the extent to which market behaviour can be influences by means of comparative product‐testing and other kinds of information, thus determine the importance of consumer organizations as a social power factor. Mentions two main results regarding analysis: there appears little support for the theory of a hierarchy of effects; and the explained variance was for most of the within‐group analyses considerably lower for members than non‐members.

Claims that the consumer behaviour field, during the last two decades, has become both multinational and multidisciplinary. States that marketing with its consumer behaviour, has become the most import sub‐field, while significant contributions to its understanding have been made by economists, psychologists, sociologists and political scientists. Attempts to prove that integrating the field into comprehensive models has not been very successful thus far, by using a different track. Organizes into 9 sections and addresses, finally, the further development of consumer theory and research. Posits that the majority of studies on consumer behaviour have approached the subject matter at the individual, rather than the group, level. Summarizes that the ‘gospel’ preached is that of individual, proactive, foresightful choice ‐ which is compatible with rationalistic culture, stressing volition and personal responsibility by broadening the field of consumer behaviour

The paper examines how individuals can be susceptible to payment biases in the context of digital payment behavior by utilizing the concept of mental accounting. Furthermore, the paper investigates the moderating effects of Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) on the relationship between payment methods and spending behavior.

The study employs a survey-based approach to collect data from 503 individuals who use digital payment methods, utilizing purposive sampling from Pakistan. The collected data is analyzed using Smart-PLS 4 software to assess the direct impact of payment methods on spending behavior and the moderating influence of DFL.

The research findings demonstrate that both digital and cash payments significantly affect spending behavior. However, digital payments have a more substantial impact on spending behavior compared to cash payments. The findings also show that DFL significantly positively moderates individual spending. The study validates the mental accounting perspective by evaluating the direct impact of payment methods on consumers' spending behavior.

The findings have practical implications for policymakers, financial institutions, and educators. Policymakers can leverage the insights to design effective strategies that promote responsible spending behavior and enhance the adoption of digital payment methods. Financial institutions can design user-friendly platforms that cater to users' spending preferences, while educators can develop programs to enhance Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) among the public.

This study’s social implications lie in its potential to contribute to individuals' financial well-being by promoting responsible spending through digital payment methods. Enhanced financial literacy and informed spending decisions can lead to better financial management and ultimately contribute to societal financial stability.

The study enriches the understanding of mental accounting, shedding light on how overspending behavior can manifest through digital payment channels. In addition, this research practically provides valuable insights into enhancing the adoption and financial literacy of digital payments among the public.

In the context of strategic marketing and market commitment models, modeling of brand switching behaviour of consumers is of extreme use in determining the performance potential of the existing players. This paper revisits the static models of Ehrenberg and Hendry and introduces a dynamic model of brand switching based on market shares. In terms of a χ² measure of closeness, these three models have been compared to ascertain their modeling performances. A case study has been carried out for the field of sanitary napkin to give some further insight into this problem. Studies have also been included for a few FMCG items. In all the cases, the proposed model gives a better description of the actual situation than the existing static models.

Local marketing decisions are too often made on a dichotomous basis, either standardize or fully adapt. However, similarities are too substantial and differences go too deep to be ignored. This article aims to articulate similarities and differences in local consumer experience across multiple contexts.

Language, being used daily in local contexts, reflects local knowledge (Geertz). This paper shows how translation/back‐translation can be used as a discovery tool, along with depth interviews and checks of researcher interpretations by informants, to generate cognitive mapping of consumption and taste experiences. Local words, used as emic signals, are combined into full portraits of the local experiences as narratives linking people to products and taste. Local portraits can then be merged to derive commonalities emergent from within the contexts studied. The comparative thick description framework is applied to the bitterness and crunchiness taste experiences in ten countries (China, Croatia, El Salvador, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey) and nine languages.

Local experiences in several different languages and countries in different areas of the world can be surveyed, compared, and organized into cognitive maps (Eden), which highlight commonalities and differences between contexts. In essence, differences are qualitative, dealing with creolization patterns, local consumption experience, local preferences, perceptions, and associations.

This approach can be considered as interpretive and, although driven by a systematic approach, depends on researcher and informant expertise and rigor.

Cognitive maps help evaluate cross‐national differences and similarities in local markets. The emergent similarities and differences are highly meaningful for glocalizing marketing strategies, in terms of advertising, branding, and packaging.

Significant insights derived from this method can be tested in a more traditional and applied manner. This allows quicker insights into new local marketplaces and a progressive enrichment of cognitive maps with new languages and countries.

IThis study aims to investigate the effects of the consumption motivations of restaurant customers on their perception of the importance of experiential and functional restaurant attributes.

A total of 330 questionnaires were issued in China (168) and Korea (162). The resulting data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 to verify the reliability and validity of the measured variables. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses of the study.

The results showed that customers with hedonic consumption motivation were more sensitive to the experiential attributes than to the functional attributes of a restaurant. In addition, those customers with utilitarian consumption motivation were more influenced by functional attributes than by experiential attributes. However, these relationships differed between China and Korea. In China, the consumers’ hedonic motivation had a stronger relationship with functional restaurant attributes, which reflects a culture that emphasizes pragmatism.

This study analyzed the relationship between the motives to eat at a restaurant and the evaluation of restaurant attributes and how this differed between China and Korea, while suggesting practical implications.

The content of selected international marketing serials, published from 1985 to 1998, is examined. Results show that the authors published in these serials tend to be affiliated with marketing departments, senior professors, male, and work with a single co‐author. Articles often focus on export and import, promotion, consumer behavior, and country of origin. Empirical studies – often survey research based on one‐country convenience samples – are typically drawn from the USA, UK, Japan, Korea, PRC, Canada, and Hong Kong; South America and Africa are less studied regions. Statistical analysis is often limited to univariate and bivariate methods.