Search results

Purpose – A major limitation in cross-cultural research continues to be attempts to compare construct measurements across cultures without adequate conceptual and empirical evidence of the equivalency of the measurement scores. Of significant concern in such studies is the presence of various types of response bias that may systematically differ from one culture to another, resulting in a potential violation of the assumption that measurement scores across cultures are equivalent. The focus of this study is to investigate the role of the response format type, extreme response style (ERS). Most studies have investigated response bias styles using Likert-type scales as response formats, yet it has long been argued that these particular formats tend to result in various types of response style bias, especially in cross-cultural research. Would other scaling devices, such as semantic differential (SD), lessen response style bias in pan-cultural studies? To answer this question, our study employs two types of response formats (i.e., Liker-type and SD) to empirically test for the presence of ERS within each response format style.

Methodology/approach – This chapter takes the form of empirical research using ERS indices to test for the degree of ERS between response formats using samples from a collectivistic culture (i.e., South Korea) and an individualistic culture (i.e., United States).

Findings – Results show that samples from both cultures exhibit greater levels of ERS when using Likert-type scales compared to SD scales. Additionally, this study finds that, when using Likert-type scales, ERS is greater for U.S. respondents than for South Korea respondents. Finally, results show that there is no statistically significant difference in ERS between the two cultural groups when using SD response formats.

Research implications – Findings show that the use of SD response formats eliminates systematic differences in ERS between a collectivist sample and an individualist sample. Therefore, the use of such response formats in future cross-cultural research can greatly diminish the problematic effects of culturally based ERS and lead to greater confidence in the equivalency of measurement scores across cultures.

Originality/value of paper – This study is the first to simultaneously assess culturally based ERS using two types of response formats to investigate the impact of response format on ERS. Furthermore, this study assesses the role of response format on ERS both within and between two distinctly different cultures.

“Garbage in, garbage out” is a common expression that academics and practitioners use to emphasize that empirical analysis is only as good as the basis on which it relies. Although the importance of sound data and valid measures has long been acknowledged, it is nevertheless often problematic to follow required quality standards in concrete research situations. Potential sources of error are usually unknown, methods to ensure data quality are unavailable, and existing methods for scale development, index construction, data collection, and data analysis are insufficient or erroneously applied. This is especially true of international marketing research, which often makes great demands on the data and measures used, as well as on the research methodology applied. Against this background, this volume addresses issues pertaining to measurement and research methodology in an international marketing context. Thanks to the efforts of authors and reviewers, we are pleased to present nine articles that deal with cutting-edge topics such as formative measurement, response-bias in cross-cultural research, marketing efficiency measurement, and segmentation methods.

This study aims to examine the impacts of brand structure (i.e. brand cohesiveness and similarity) on brand perceptions and the adverse effects of brand extensions.

Data were collected online via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Overall, 188 US residents participated in the 2 (extension typicality: typical and atypical) × 3 (brand cohesiveness: high, medium and low) between-subject experimental design.

Narrow brands are favored over cohesive broad brands, and cohesive broad brands are favored over incohesive broad brands. When new extensions are typical, brand cohesiveness dominates brand similarity in terms of adverse extension effects. Negative extension information exerts more salient adverse effects on narrow brands and cohesive broad brands than on incohesive broad brands. Conversely, when new extensions are atypical, brand similarity dominates brand cohesiveness on adverse extension effects. Negative extension information exerts more salient adverse effects on narrow brands than on cohesive and incohesive broad brands.

Brand cohesiveness is more impactful than brand similarity on brand perceptions. The identical adverse effects of typical extensions on narrow, and broad brands exist only when the portfolio products of the broad brands are cohesive.

Cohesive broad brands have the advantages of being more favored than incohesive broad brands and being less vulnerable to negative atypical extension information than are narrow brands.

This study advances brand research by examining the interplay between brand structure (i.e. category cohesiveness and similarity) and extension typicality on adverse extension effects.

Chatbots are increasingly used in online retail settings and are becoming a powerful tool for brands to engage customers. However, consumers’ satisfaction with these chatbots is mixed. Thus, this paper aims to investigate how using a social- versus task-oriented anthropomorphic communication style can improve customer satisfaction.

The authors explore the link between the anthropomorphic communication style use and customer perceptions/customer satisfaction in online customer service interactions. Two experiment scenarios were developed to test these links.

Overall, using a social-oriented communication style boosts customer satisfaction. Warmth perception of the chatbot mediates this effect, while chatbot’s anthropomorphised role (servant versus partner) moderates this effect.

This paper enriches the bilateral communication literature by extending the investigation on communication style effects to chatbot service interactions and revealing the psychological process driving the impacts. It also adds to the existing literature on chatbots as a customer service and contributes to the prominent topic examining how consumers react to artificial intelligence that is used to establish and maintain a relationship with them. Additionally, the authors also make contribution to the warmth and competence literature by demonstrating that customers can interpret social cues in chatbot service interactions mainly based on the warmth dimension. Thus, the authors further add to the growing chatbot humanness perception literature and respond to the calls for investigating more anthropomorphic design cues to enhance chatbot humanness. Finally, the authors also provide a way to help reconcile seemingly conflicting prior findings.