Search results

This paper aims to investigate the direct and interactive effects of regulatory focus (promotion versus prevention), attribute type (search versus experience) and word of mouth valence (positive versus negative) on consumption decision for a service and a product.

Three empirical studies (two laboratories and a field experiment) using “university” and “mobile phone” as the research setting were used to test the key hypotheses.

Promotion (prevention)-focused subjects preferred experience (search) attributes over their counterparts while making consumption decision. This preference was further reinforced for both promotion and prevention-focused people under positive word of mouth. Under negative word of mouth, in comparison to their counterparts, promotion-focused people still retained their preference for experience attributes, whereas prevention-focused subjects reversed their preference and maintained status quo.

Future research may validate and extend authors’ findings by looking into the underlying process or studying additional word of mouth variables that may moderate the current findings.

The findings will help managers devise a range of marketing strategies in the areas of advertising and product positioning, especially for products/services that are showcased in terms of experience and search attributes.

The current research is novel as no prior research has proposed and tested the two-way interaction between regulatory focus and search/experience attributes, or its further moderation by word of mouth valence.

This study aims to examine how the relative importance of a search versus a credence attribute, strategically addressed in a flu vaccination advertisement, varies as a function of message sidedness. A search attribute was designed to highlight the affordability of flu shots, and a credence attribute addressed the potential health benefits of flu vaccination.

Two experiments were designed to explore how the relative persuasiveness of search versus credence attributes varies as a function of message sidedness in the context of flu vaccination advertising. In Experiment 1, the search–credence attribute type was manipulated by addressing either the affordability (e.g. “Get free flu shots”) or indirect health benefits of flu vaccines (e.g. “Improve herd immunity/community health”). In Experiment 2, an individual-level credence attribute (e.g. “Strengthen your immune system”) was created and compared to the other two attribute conditions used in Experiment 1: a search versus a societal credence versus an individual credence attribute.

Experiment 1 (N = 114) revealed the relative advantage of a search attribute (free flu shots) in the two-sided persuasion. Experiment 2 (N = 193) indicated that the persuasive impact of a societal credence attribute (herd immunity/community health) was greater in the two-sided message condition (vs one-sided message condition).

Relatively little research has examined how consumers respond to strategic flu prevention and vaccination messages promoting either credence or search attributes. Motivated by the need to investigate the relative effectiveness of stressing “herd immunity” versus “free flu shots” in flu vaccination advertising, this study examines how the effects of these distinct attributes on flu vaccination judgments differ between two-sided (e.g. “No vaccine is 100% effective”) and one-sided persuasion.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of assortment size and attribute quantity on the depth and content of consumer information searches.

For a computer-aided experiment using an information display board, participants (n = 393) were placed in a simulated shopping situation that involved choosing a product among three sets of frequently purchased, low-involvement, FMCG alternatives.

The findings show that when the assortment size increases, consumers acquire information from more products and cues but sacrifice product attributes. In particular, this sacrifice comes at the expense of secondary product attributes (e.g. nutrition information, country of origin), whereas primary product attributes (e.g. brand name, price) remain constant. Attribute quantity does not have a significant effect on information search.

Provided that several strategies rely on providing more information to consumers with the aim of making more deliberate and better choices, the findings suggest that they may have a limited effect in product categories in which the assortment size is wide. The authors discuss the implications for category management and public policy.

Information searches are measured by means of three different variables (searched cues, searched products and searched attributes), which enable a more complex exploration of the consumer information search process.

Previous work highlights two key challenges in searching for information about individual entities (such as persons, places and organisations) over semantic data: query ambiguity and redundant attributes. The purpose of this paper is to consider these challenges and proposes the Attribute Importance Model (AIM) for clustering and ranking aggregated entity search to improve the overall users’ experience of finding and navigating entities over the Web of Data.

The proposed model describes three distinct techniques for augmenting semantic search: first, presenting entity type-based query suggestions; second, clustering aggregated attributes; and third, ranking attributes based on their importance to a given query. To evaluate the model, 36 subjects were recruited to experience entity search with and without AIM.

The experimental results show that the model achieves significant improvements over the default method of semantic aggregated search provided by Sig.ma, a leading entity search and navigation tool.

This proposal develops more informative views for aggregated entity search and exploration to enhance users’ understanding of semantic data. The user study is the first to evaluate user interaction with Sig.ma's search capabilities in a systematic way.

This research aims to examine how credence, search and experience attributes compete with suggestive brand names that are incongruent with the attributes they cue (e.g. expensive EconoLodge Motel, short-lasting Duracell battery and joint-stiffening JointFlex pill).

This study relies on experimental studies, together with analyses of variance, t-tests and logistic regressions.

Incongruent suggestive brand names can distort product evaluations and alter perceptions of product performance in joint product judgments involving contradictory credence attributes; they can misdirect product evaluations even if the search attributes conflict with competitor brands. Furthermore, they are more likely to backfire if contradictory experience attributes are readily available to consumers.

This test of the role of incongruence between suggestive brand names and actual product features includes key concepts that can inform continued studies, such as search attributes that consumers can readily observe, experience attributes that can be observed only after product use and credence attributes that might not be observed even after use.

This study provides applicable guidelines for managers, consumers and policymakers.

The findings expand beyond prior literature that focuses on memory-based, separate evaluations of advertised benefits and inferences or expectations of unavailable attributes. Specifically, this study details the implications of congruence between the suggestive brand names and different types of attributes observable at different consumption stages.

Previous researchers have established that brand names are important in determining perceptions of brand quality and attitude towards the product. In this research we investigate the role of brand name in shaping consumers’ evaluation of search, experience, and credence attributes. The findings confirm that, prior to trial, brand name increases consumers’ perception of experience and credence attribute performance evaluations. However, prior to trial, brand name is found not to affect consumers’ perception of search attributes. Trial of the brand is found to reduce (and not eliminate) the advantage branded products have in enhancing consumers’ perception of experience and credence attributes.

Many thousands of researchers are now using personal bibliographic managers such as Reference Manager, EndNote and ProCite to access bibliographic databases via the Z39.50 protocol. With the EndNote software as an example, this paper demonstrates how researchers are using a standard search interface to access diverse databases and download references into their personal databases. There follows an overview of problems involved in searching the Z39.50 servers of some standard library automation systems (Innovative Interfaces, GEAC, SIRSI, Endeavour) and of two vendors of non‐OPAC databases (Research Libraries Group and SilverPlatter). The paper concludes with some suggestions as to how the library community can contribute to improving the effectiveness of Z39.50 as a research tool.

While the brand equity associated with tangible goods has received a great deal of attention in the literature, a basic understanding of the nature of brand equity for services has yet to emerge. Most of what is known about brand equity for services is based on theoretical or anecdotal evidence. In addition, the presumed differences in brand equity associated with search‐dominant, experience‐dominant, and credence‐dominant services has yet to be empirically examined. The objectives of this study are threefold: to empirically test whether brand equity is more important for services than for tangible goods, to test whether the presumed differences in brand equity for search‐, experience‐, and credence‐dominant services can be confirmed in an empirical examination, and to assess whether consumer knowledge of a product category has an effect on the importance of brand equity across product types. Contrary to suppositions in the literature, the results indicate that brand equity is more important for tangible goods than for services. In addition, the results do not support the presumed differences between service types as brand equity for search‐dominant services is more important than for both experience‐ and credence‐dominant services. The same pattern of results is achieved when consumer knowledge of each product category is included as a covariate.

This study examines consumers' channel attitudes and choices leading to webrooming and showrooming, and how product attributes (informational vs experiential and perceived risk) moderate the effects of channel attitudes.

A research framework is built upon the heterogeneity of channel attitudes, the lack of intrachannel lock-in and interchannel synergy. A questionnaire-based survey yields 868 multi-channel consumer responses in China. Simultaneous equation modeling and STATA 12.0 are used to test the hypotheses.

Consumers webroom when buying high-risk informational products (e.g. personal computers or mobile phones). They webroom as well as showroom for high-risk experiential products (e.g. clothing or cosmetics). Moreover, a single channel is preferred to webrooming or showrooming for purchasing low-risk informational (e.g. books or stationery) and low-risk experiential (e.g. snacks or toys) products. The results also show that webrooming is more frequently used than showrooming by consumers.

This study extends current understanding on multi-channel and omnichannel shopping behavior and highlights the role of product attributes in customer journey mapping.

This study offers retailers and other downstream firms a fresh perspective on multi-channel customer experience management and channel design.

This study offers a clear explanation on the commonalities and differences between webrooming and showrooming.

A model for analysis of consumer behaviour towards food is developed. This model is intended to bridge the gap between the objective quality approach pursued in food sciences, the product characteristics approach, and the subjectively perceived quality approach, the product attribute approach as pursued in the consumer behaviour literature. The focus is on the information processing by the consumer. Information on the product quality is supplied to the consumer in the form of cues received while shopping or consuming. A distinction is made between extrinsic and intrinsic cues, and between search‐, experience‐, and credence‐quality attributes. Within the credence attributes, three categories are distinguished: food safety, health, and all other credence quality attributes. It is demonstrated that public policy should use minimum standards for regulating food safety, information and consumer education on health issues and definitional standards to regulate the other credence qualities. In the case of search quality, no public intervention is needed. In the case of experience quality, reputation is a means of reducing the quality erosion inherent for experience quality attributes. In the case of those foods which are not sold prepacked over the counter, these means are restricted. Here the public regulators could consider backing up the private quality policy efforts on labelling by implementing traceability schemes and defining the requirements for specific label claims.