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When firms offer consumers a choice of price‐quality levels – the “good‐better‐best” choice – a challenge for managers is how to set price differentials. This article examines how consumer preferences across such price tiers are influenced by non‐price cues about quality. The results suggest that the pattern of preferences observed across price‐tiers can be influenced by: how quality cues (as well as price levels) are framed; the distribution of various price‐quality tradeoff strategies across potential buyers; and the degree of perceived quality variability within the product category. Specifically, the use of ratio‐scaled cues is most likely to impact “trading‐up” behavior when there are a large number of consumers who exhibit “best value‐seeking” behavior in a market.

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the effects of the numerical cues (NC) used in online review comments on perceived review helpfulness and the underlying psychological mechanisms.

An experimental design approach was employed to investigate the proposed research questions. Two experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses. Mplus 7 and Stata 14.0 were used for data analysis.

Empirical findings support the positive correlation between the presence of NC in online review comments and perceived review helpfulness across different product categories. This relationship is mediated by two psychological responses of consumers: cognitive elaboration and credibility perception.

This research adds to the existing literature by focusing on the value of NC in online review comments and how they can enhance perceived review helpfulness. Some practical implications are also addressed. For example, marketers can encourage consumers to post reviews that contain quantitative information to facilitate their target markets' comprehension of a product or brand.

Building on the previous literature, the work adds incremental knowledge on the role NC in online review comments play in affecting consumers' perceptions. In addition, the research uncovers the underlying psychological responses that mediate the relationship between NC in review comments and perceived review helpfulness.

Firms continue to struggle with end users who do not follow recommended actions for safeguarding information security. Thus, the authors utilize insights gained from studies on heuristic processing of risk information to design cues in fear appeal messages more effectively so as to more strongly engender fear among users, which can in turn lead them to take protective actions toward information security. Specifically, four types of fear appeal cues are identified: numeric risk communication, social distance and goal framing in verbal risk communication and visual risk communication.

Drawing from protection motivation theory, the authors hypothesize that these fear appeal cues can engender fear among users to a greater extent. In addition, the authors hypothesize that users will perceive a higher level of severity and susceptibility when they perceive a large amount of fear. The research hypotheses were tested employing data collected through a laboratory experiment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analyses were performed to analyze the data.

The study's results suggest that numeric and visual risk communication cues in security notices can significantly increase the amount of fear felt by users. In addition, social distance was found to marginally increase the amount of fear felt by users. However, unlike our expectation, goal framing was not found to increase the amount of fear when the other three types of fear appeal cues were also given in a security notice. It was also found that induced fear can increase the severity and susceptibility of threats as perceived by users.

The study contributes to the literature on fear appeal cues designed to promote users' security protection behaviors. No prior study has designed security notices featuring the four different types of fear appeal cues and empirically tested the effectiveness of those cues in inducing fear among users. The findings suggest that the design of fear appeal cues can be improved by understanding individuals' heuristic processing of risk information, which can be subject to cognitive biases.

The changing health care market is affecting consumers who are now expected to take greater responsibility for their health. Their means for doing this include purchasing self‐medication and medical self‐service, which coincides neatly with an increase in the number of over‐the‐counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals. Additionally, OTC pharmaceuticals are progressively becoming available in a wider range of stores, where the pharmacists' knowledge of the OTC products is absent. This study aims to examine packaging as media that conveys the product message at the point of purchase, and to explore the impact of its extrinsic verbal and visual product cues.

An exploratory conjoint analysis was conducted in Finland, the USA, and Ghana. In total, 89 respondents conducted conjoint tasks for two product types, i.e. a painkiller and sore throat medicine.

The results showed differences and similarities in the impact of the packaging product cues across Finland, the USA, and Ghana. Differences and similarities were also detected across the two different, but related, product types. The study found that the impact of product cues is contextual, varying across the samples and product types.

The results are limited by the exploratory nature of the conjoint analysis. They highlight that medical marketers should recognize the varying impact of salient cues on consumers' product preferences and choices.

The study deals with a mostly unexplored issue and provides exploratory insights into the phenomenon.

Two valuable pieces of information – reviews and their corresponding numerical ratings – are accessible to potential customers before they make a purchasing decision. An extensive body of marketing literature has scrutinized the influence of customers’ reviews by linking such aspects as the volume and valance of reviews with product sales and customers’ purchase intention. The aim of this study, for which dual coding theory was used, was to understand the relationship between reviews and their corresponding numerical ratings.

The authors used the latent Dirichlet allocation technique to categorize customers’ reviews. The present findings contribute to the literature by showing the underlying mechanisms that customers use to interpret reviews and associate them with numerical ratings.

The gradient boosted decision tree model demonstrates that non-abstract-dominant reviews (reviews mainly consist of tangible objects, actions, events or affective words) are significant predictors of their corresponding numerical ratings. However, abstract-dominant reviews (i.e. those consisting primarily of intangible objects, events or actions) cannot predict their associated numerical ratings.

The present findings contribute to the literature by showing the underlying mechanisms that customers use to interpret reviews and associate them with numerical ratings.

This study aims to investigate the following three issues: whether consumers process numeric information with locational cues, which locations (horizontal vs vertical) are more influential in processing numbers and whether a number-location association is weakened or strengthened when a visual reference frame moves up or down.

A field study and a series of three lab experiments were conducted to examine the location effect of numeric information on the package façade on the perceived magnitude of a number.

The authors found that a number at the right was perceived as larger than one at the left only when the number is located at the bottom. Also, placing numeric information at the bottom rather than the top of a product package façade was more powerful in processing the numeric information, but this is true only when the visual frame is set lower.

This study provides practical insights for product managers in placing core numeric information on product packaging to effectively communicate product value to consumers. Optimal locations can be deliberately considered along with types of numeric information and product categories. For healthy products that promote fewer calories, the top area of the package façade may be a better position for placing information on calories per serving to make the product more appealing to those who follow a healthy diet. Heavier, more voluminous products (e.g., refrigerator) better position their volume/weight information at the bottom than at the top or at the right of the bottom than at the left of the bottom on the product facade. Either the left side or right side of the top position may be beneficial for thinner, lightweight products (e.g., television).

The present work adds valuable empirical findings; inconsistent with past research, left-right location-number associations are not always true. People tend to associate smaller numbers with left-side locations and larger numbers with right-side locations only when the number is located at the bottom. Also, the study reported that top-small, bottom-large associations are not always true. The difference in perceived magnitude of the number between a number at the top and one at the bottom within the visual frame is significant only when the visual frame is set close to the ground.

This chapter traces the development of the pricing research program of Kent Monroe, beginning with his doctoral dissertation and continuing to the present time. Drawing on psychophysics and adaptation-level theory the early research efforts concentrated on validating two important concepts relative to behavioral pricing research: reference price and acceptable price range. Then the behavioral pricing research program expanded to explore how the context of a purchase situation, including the structure of the prices available for judgment, influences buyers' price perceptions and willingness to buy. In the early years his research included pricing models and research on patronage behavior. Subsequently, concentrating primarily on behavioral pricing research, he began to integrate findings from the research program into examining how various sellers pricing strategies and tactics influence buyers' judgments and purchase decisions. These efforts led to the first edition of his book Pricing – Making Profitable Decisions published in 1979. The book was subsequently revised and expanded in 1990 and again in 2003.

Despite considerable empirical evidence to support the existence of the Pygmalion effect, studies that focus on the role of gender within this phenomenon have produced varied results. Whereas the research has consistently demonstrated the Pygmalion effect with male leaders, less research evidence exists to support this phenomenon among female leaders. This paper aims to present a conceptual framework for understanding the potential role gender can play in the Pygmalion effect and why women may face obstacles in their efforts to serve as Pygmalion leaders. Research propositions are presented with the intent of guiding future research in this area.

For the purpose of this theoretical paper, elements of the sociological, structural and psychological perspectives are drawn to present an understanding of the potential influence a leader’s gender has on the facilitation of the Pygmalion effect. A brief background to the Pygmalion effect is first provided followed by research related to this phenomenon. Then the underlying elements of the Pygmalion effect are revisited and attention is drawn to those factors affecting subordinate receptiveness to leader influence. Following that, these ideas are integrated with gender-based research to present the theoretical framework and research propositions.

This paper’s framework offers a fuller understanding of the role of a leader’s gender in facilitating the Pygmalion effect by identifying factors that can influence subordinate perceptions of leader efforts. Gender-based cues influence subordinate perceptions of leader expertise and power. In turn, this will influence subordinate receptiveness to leader elicited expectations and supportive behaviors.

The theoretical framework of this paper suggests that under certain conditions, gender differences can impact subordinate receptiveness to leader behaviors and performance expectations. Managers need to be aware of the gendered-nature of the work context and how it can influence subordinate perceptions of leaders. Otherwise, gender-based cues can unwittingly undermine women who endeavor to elevate follower self-efficacy beliefs.

Stereotypes regarding women in managerial roles can undermine the capacity of women to effectively mentor and inspire others. These biases must be explicitly confronted and challenged. Moreover, given the global nature of the workforce it is critical to understand how national cultures can differ in their attitudes toward women in management in ways that can impede the ability of a woman to facilitate this transformative process.

The theoretical framework of this paper broadens the understanding of gender differences in the Pygmalion effect. This paper attempts to explain the lack of consistent findings for women who attempted to serve as Pygmalion leaders. It is asserted that rather than a leader’s gender, it is gender-based contextual cues that influence the leader’s capacity to trigger the Pygmalion effect. Thus far, no systematic effort has been made to identify the conditions under which subordinates are receptive to the influence of Pygmalion male or female leader expectations and behaviors.

This study aims to empirically investigate how the interaction effect of occasion-setting cues and consumers’ cognitive styles (e.g. field dependence levels) influences their food intake intention.

In this research, several scenario simulation studies were conducted to verify the hypotheses. A total of 646 participants were recruited for the experiments, and samples were obtained through well-established online research platforms.

In the occasion-setting cue advertisement condition, field-dependent (vs field-independent) consumers displayed increased cravings for food and purchase intention, with mental simulation playing a mediating role and cognitive load playing a moderating role.

The influence of others (e.g. servers and other consumers) was not taken into consideration in this study. Future research can extend this study by conducting field experiments.

The research conclusions can help various organisations reduce consumers’ food overconsumption intention and encourage healthier food choices by adjusting occasion-setting cues in marketing stimuli and identifying the target consumers’ cognitive styles.

Based on embodied cognition theory, this study reveals the influence and internal mechanism of the interaction effect between occasion-setting cues and individual cognitive style on eating desire.

This study aims to investigate how judgments of firms’ underlying motives are affected by corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication which features percentages of profit allocations to CSR causes. It also examines how firm size interacts with CSR spending allocations affecting motive attributions for firms of different sizes.

Two experiments were carried out manipulating CSR spending allocations (smaller vs larger percentage of profit) and firm size (small vs large firm).

A larger percentage of profits allocated to CSR enhanced value-driven motives and inhibited inferences of manipulative intent, which produced lower egoistic-driven motives. Large firms allocating smaller percentages to CSR were judged as less value-driven and were more prone to elicit manipulative intent.

Two routes of motive attributions were identified – a direct route, contingent on CSR spending allocations and firm size; and an indirect route via inferences of manipulative intent, which inhibited favorable motives and prompted unfavorable ones. Both routes resulted from numerical cognition associated with the processing of numbers. Managerial implications include suggestions for firms wishing to overcome negative consumer bias arising from communication featuring CSR spending allocations and firm size.