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Why does a recession in the domestic market lead to a modification of the firm′s export marketing behaviour? Based on an empirical study which investigated the behaviour of United States exporters during the 1980‐82 recession, evidence is provided which suggests that many firms which were adversely affected by the recession intensified their exports, and that these firms significantly modified their export marketing activities. The evidence also suggests that exporting firms change their export destinations during recessions. Finally, the factors which facilitated and inhibited export expansion during the recession are also examined.

This article examines the effects of brand image country image and familiarity with both brand and country on consumer evaluation of binational brands. Specifically two sub‐constructs of country image: overall image and product specific image and three different types of familiarity: product familiarity brand familiarity and country familiarity are identified and utilized. Hypotheses based on categorization theory are developed and tested using a mail survey of a random sample of US households. The study shows that product specific image plays a mediating role between overall country image and consumer evaluation. With product and brand familiarity moderate familiarity consumers utilize country‐of‐origin information less than low or high familiarity consumers. Likewise with country familiarity low familiarity consumers rely more on country‐of‐origin information than high familiarity consumers.

Services are inherently intangible, and high on experience as well as credence quality. To promote services effectively, a service provider must go beyond mere creation of awareness. There is a need to induce trial so that consumers are able to assess the experience and credence qualities. In addition, the notion of timing in the consumption process also plays a key role, i.e. pertinent information about the service at the appropriate time. These issues are empirically investigated in a higher educational setting, with a focus on learning augmentation services. The results indicate that although consumer interest increases with awareness, the increase in interest is even higher when awareness is coupled with trial. This study also indicates that interest in a service is a function of timing in the overall service consumption cycle. Finally, interest in service items offered is positively associated with the overall interest in the service provider. Promotion planners and brand managers need to take these into account for an efficient and effective promotional plan.

This study seeks to explore the idea that consumers select a particular shopping mode – i.e. bricks and mortar versus online outlet – based on their perceptions about whether a product or service is best bought from one or the other. It aims to posit that this perception is associated with the importance allocated to various shopping motivation dimensions.

Data for this study were collected using a self‐administered mail survey from 689 internet‐enabled US households. They represent a 28 percent response from 2,500 households that received the survey. Extensive non‐response analysis ruled out serious bias in the data.

The results from this empirical study suggest that different shopping motivations indeed influence perceptions of service type and shopping mode congruence differently. In addition, the results also suggest that services are more likely to be associated with the online shopping mode, whereas more tangible products are likely to be associated with bricks and mortar stores.

The findings have significant implications for services retail managers of both bricks and mortar and online service outlets in the areas of segmentations, targeting, and retail mix strategies. Apparently, consumers also tend to group related services or products into homogeneous shopping baskets based on their perception of congruence between the product or service and the shopping mode – online versus bricks and mortar store. These findings should help a manager plan for retailing mix strategies, catering to various shopping motivation dimensions, thus enhancing consumer satisfaction. In addition, the results hold important implications in the areas of segmentation and targeting decisions.

Spousal influence in the decision‐making process for purchasing consumer goods has been extensively investigated in the academic literature. There have been few studies, however, that have looked at this issue in a cross‐cultural context, especially that of cultural assimilation. Reports the results of a cross‐cultural study of consumer decision making for 16 product categories across three different household samples: US nationals, Indian US immigrants, and Indians living in India. Two major conclusions emerge: the three groups differ significantly in extent of spousal influence: and, in general, the immigrant group is found to be positioned between the American nationals and the culture they left behind, lending credence to acculturation/assimilation theories.

The purpose of this study is to focus on the feeling associated with being rejected by the preferred service brand, and its effect on consumer assessment of the alternate brand.

The data were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire in the context of higher education services targeted at the international market.

Consumers who do manage to get their preferred service brand tend to be more satisfied with the features of the obtained brand and exhibit higher levels of brand loyalty towards that brand. In comparison, consumers who end up with a service brand that is not their first choice seem to have lower levels of satisfaction with and loyalty towards the obtained brand.

A key limitation of this study is the sampling frame. Future studies should replicate this study in different service and product contexts and with different target population. In addition, the disconfirmation of expectations or desires within the framework of preferred brand attainment should be explored.

Managers should ensure that one's service brand is high in the consideration set. This has implications for service branding and brand positioning as well as fulfilling service brand promise through services elements. It also has implications pertaining to winning over new customers and retaining through superior service delivery – particularly the service augmentation elements, and the selection and training of service delivery personnel.

This study provides answers to a crucial question – “Can the number two brand ever achieve a prominent position or is it doomed to remain in the second place waiting to be picked only when consumers do not get their first choice?”

Financial services are inherently intangible and high on experience and credence qualities. In order to promote them effectively, a service provider must first identify the dimensions used by consumers to evaluate the service quality of banks prior to becoming a customer. Based on responses from customers of a credit union, the current study identifies four dimensions – empathy/assurance, tangibility, routine transaction cost, and loan transaction cost – which form the domain of consumer's evaluation of search quality in the financial services industry. Further, the relationships between these search quality factors and overall assessment of respondents' current bank is also investigated. The results indicate that higher levels of importance accorded to search quality factors, especially loan transaction costs, were associated with extreme (good or bad) assessment of current bank. The importance accorded to these search quality factors was also tested against contingency variables such as gender, marital status, age, household income, employment status, education, and house ownership. Of these, gender and home ownership emerged as the strongest determinants. These findings suggest that bank managers should be cognizant of search quality factors and their relations with the appropriate contingency variables.