Search results

The purpose of the paper is to compare measures of subjective and objective knowledge as well as usage/experience measures in a credence service environment for two different samples, namely college students and non‐student adults.

Data were collected from two independent samples using self‐administered questionnaires and were analyzed using correlation and reliability analyses, factor analysis, discriminant analysis and one‐way ANOVA.

For the student sample, the results show that even though measures of subjective product knowledge, objective product knowledge, and product usage are correlated with one another, each represents one unique dimension of total product knowledge. The results for the non‐student sample show that subjective and objective knowledge converge into one dimension, product usage is a second dimension, and vicarious product knowledge a third dimension.

One limitation of the present study is that its results are anchored in the context of hospitals and might thus be most relevant to this particular choice of service. In terms of implications, the “vicarious” component of total product knowledge the study uncovers for non‐students is a promising field for future studies because it is identified as one of the dimensions of total knowledge for those non‐student consumers who have a fairly low degree of objective knowledge and direct product experience.

Marketing managers should to take into account that, for adults, subjective knowledge is a better indicator of their objective knowledge than for students (or perhaps similar segments).

The present study is one of the first studies to investigate simultaneously the three dimensions of consumer product knowledge in a credence service environment.

Studies the impact of search cost and prior knowledge on consumer search at different price points in a market price distribution for telecommunications products. In an experiment it is found that buyers search differently on premium price products than they do on moderate and low price products, and that this behavior depends on the search costs of the purchase situation and the knowledge of the buyer involved. The results suggest a number of implications for marketers on the role of premium priced brands, ranging from product line pricing strategy to information communication strategy.

This paper aims to examine how product knowledge influences consumers to consider available information before choosing between organic and non-organic options. As “certified organic” is based on a complex standard in the USA, many consumers have only partial understanding of the term. This research shows how that knowledge influences consumer evaluation of the options presented in the market.

A two-study experimental survey that offers respondents a choice between two canned soups, one organic and one not, along with front- and back-of-label information which they can decide to use is utilized. The two studies differ in inclusion of national brand.

Consumer behavior with respect to information significantly affects rationale for product choice, and higher levels of knowledge are associated with choice rationale. Objective and subjective knowledge influence information processing differently. Inaccurate knowledge displayed by consumers influences their information processing behavior.

While the survey stimuli are a realistic representation of two products, the online survey abstracts from in-store distractors that might influence behavior. The product chosen, while familiar and commonly consumed, is a low-involvement product which may reduce consumer effort.

Marketers of organic foods must understand the level of knowledge held by consumers, as well as the information that most influences their choices if the industry is to grow further.

This study contrasts subjective and objective knowledge about organic foods and calculates the degree to which consumers under- versus over-estimate “organic” in their ignorance. As such, the research offers insight into a well-established label claim that has yet to achieve significant market share.

There is a growing interest in understanding how consumer preferences and choices vary with experience in a product/service category. Previous research provides support for a conceptual distinction between self‐assessed or subjective knowledge and objective knowledge. Yet relatively little is known about the impact of these two knowledge types on consumers’ pre‐purchase choice and service loyalty behaviors. To bridge that gap, this study examined the relative influence of subjective and objective knowledge on choosing a physician practicing traditional Chinese medicine, and on remaining loyal to the chosen provider. Our findings indicate that high objective knowledge translates into larger consideration sets and decreased loyalty. Although subjective knowledge also had a positive impact on evoked set size, its magnitude was smaller than that observed for objective knowledge. Furthermore, unlike its objective counterpart, self‐assessed knowledge did not reduce service loyalty.

Literacy represents one’s ability to process and produce materials related to a domain. One type of this higher-order, global individual difference variable is consumer financial literacy. It stems from one’s financial information processing capacity, prior financial knowledge, and proficiency in optimizing financial decisions and managing financial resources. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research matching perspective theoretically explains findings related to literacy, including those in this special issue. Optimal processing arises as available and required processing resources correspond. Thus, cognitive comprehension and behavioral application/decision-making outcomes following financial marketing communication exposure are optimized when consumer financial literacy matches the level needed for successful processing. Insufficient or excess available resources harm outcomes.

The resource-matching perspective clarifies consumers’ increasing financial difficulties. Consumers limit personal finance efforts because required resources overwhelm limited financial literacy. However, education or experience can expand consumer financial literacy. Alternatively, financial service marketers may accommodate low consumer financial literacy by simplifying financial information presentation. Consumers reward firms that show sensitivity to their domain-specific literacy limitations with stronger loyalty.

Construct definition is vital to advance research. Yet, financial literacy has no generally accepted definition. This paper’s definitions should aid understanding of the psychological underpinnings of financial literacy’s components.

Much has been written about consumers’ inability to manage personal finances. This paper provides a unified, theoretical explanation for consumers increasing financial literacy difficulties and suggests ways that consumers, financial service providers, and public policy makers can overcome these difficulties.

Posits that companies offering services that directly compete with products are particularly interested in whether the form of the offering ‐ service or product ‐ affects the behavior of consumers. Compares in two tightly designed and rigorously implemented experiments, consumers’ information search behavior for services that compete with products. Finds that: the critical difference between services and products is not that personal sources are used more for services but that impersonal sources are used less; there are similarities between products and services in search patterns; and with greater knowledge about the service, product and service search does not look very different. Finally discusses implications of these findings for managerial action.

The effectiveness of a message and its attributes have become important for digital media. This study aims to investigate how different elements of a website including both argument-oriented and emotional stimuli based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) can affect the issue involvement and change the attitude of the website visitors of a healthcare service provider.

The Ministry of Health and Education (MOHME) website was selected to explore how its content and design can persuade visitors. An online survey was conducted on 355 adults engaging in health protection behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that one design element, i.e. website navigation and one social cue, i.e. social connectedness, have positive impact on issue involvement, while social presence and website satisfaction have a negative effect on issue involvement because of the random fluctuation suppressor effect. In addition, prior knowledge significantly influenced the issue's involvement. Further, website satisfaction has impacted attitudes directly. There was no significant relationship between argument quality and issue involvement.

Previous works have studied health-related behaviors in offline contexts; however, the scholars have not focused on the individuals' persuasion using ELM regarding the healthcare services provided in online communities. The results of the current study have theoretical and practical implications for scholars, website designers and policymakers.

Wine consumer behavior has long been a topic of discussion among scholars and industry professionals aiming to understand the underlying predictors of key behavioral outcomes. To help explain wine consumer behavior, concepts such as involvement, expertise, loyalty, satisfaction and perceived risk are often examined. The overarching objective of this study is to determine the relationship between these predictors and their impact on wine purchase intention utilizing a meta-analytical structural equation modeling (MASEM) technique.

As MASEM provides substantive evidence regarding the relationships between theoretical constructs through the combination of multiple studies, the researchers’ aim is to make definitive statements about the predictors of purchase intention.

Findings revealed several relationships that support previous research but also identified relationships that contradict previous literature. This study contributes valuable insights into consumer behavior that wine brands can utilize to improve their marketing efforts.

Wine marketers with a greater understanding of the stronger predictors of purchase intention should be able to create marketing plans that drive wine sales.

Despite the abundance of research that has utilized these theoretical constructs to demonstrate their propensity for determining behavioral outcomes such as purchase intention, no previous attempts have synthesized this body of literature through the use of meta-analysis.

With the increasing mobility of higher education students across the world, institutions and instructors are confronted with the need to mitigate the linguistic challenges that multilingual students face in learning advanced content in universities or colleges where English or another language is the medium of instruction. This usually pertains to students who have low competence in the language of instruction, as it is a second or third foreign language for them, hence encountering difficulties in the mastery of discipline-specific content and knowledge. First and foremost, this chapter explores the specific linguistic barriers that multilingual students encounter in this context, which relate to several elements of communicative competence in the language of instruction, while investigating empirical studies on instructional strategies for multilingual classes. Secondly, it discusses the use of Merrill’s (2013) first principles of instruction as the main framework in the design of technology-enhanced lesson plans and in the selection implementation of technology-nested instructional strategies, which can assist instructors in creating linguistically inclusive learning environments across disciplines, while maintaining high academic standards. The chapter critically addresses the use of ICT tools in supporting instructional strategies and lesson plan design to mitigate students’ linguistic difficulties with the receptive and productive language skills within discipline-specific contexts. Finally, it provides a lesson plan template and examples encouraging instructors to carefully plan and design instruction and to experiment and monitor the outcomes in their classes.

This paper aims to examine consumers' cognitive processes and motivations for making impulse purchases of new products.

A total of 157 consumer surveys were collected and these were analyzed using structural equations modeling.

There are two major findings: new product knowledge and consumer desire for excitement and esteem promote impulse buying intention and behavior.

The paper is among the first to determine how impulse purchases of new products differ from impulse purchases of other types of products. In doing so, the paper builds on the substantial body of work surrounding impulse purchases.