Search results

The “meaning transfer model (MTM)” is one of the less researched models in celebrity endorsement. The purpose of this paper is to empirically measure and validate a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements.

Based on a conceptual model of meaning transfer that starts from celebrity identity as an antecedent of perceived celebrity meaning (CM), the study integrates CM, brand meaning (BM) and consumer behavior (CB) and two moderators leading to six studied hypotheses. The model is empirically tested using survey data (of 483 consumers) from India with the application of factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Major results indicate a positive effect of CM on BM and BM on subsequent CB. The moderating effect of consumer knowledge and product involvement in successful meaning transfer is also observed.

Contribution of the present study lies in the validation of a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements that may pave the way to the explanation of previous confounding results.

The present study provided an actionable model for marketers that would lead to successful meaning transfer and the various factors that need to be controlled.

This is the first study to validate the MTM that integrates the basic tenets of celebrity endorsement theory.

This study aims to explore the dimensions of perceived consumption vulnerability (PCV) for the elderly citizens (EC) in India and its consequences. Consumer vulnerability is a recent and important construct for marketers and policymakers to understand the consumption behavior of the EC.

To achieve the study objectives, the authors conducted 50 in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions of ECs in two large cities in India. The authors used grounded theory methodology to understand the PCV construct.

The findings suggest a five-dimensional formative PCV construct with the dimensions being Physical, Financial, Social, Technological and Service Vulnerability contributing to PCV. The findings also suggest a relationship between PCV and consumption variables such as search cost, choice evaluation, consumption and overall satisfaction.

The major contribution of the present study is the exploration of the PCV construct for the EC and its dimensions. The propositions developed in the study could be tested in future studies using a quantitative approach.

The findings call for compassion from the marketers while dealing with the ECs and a separate service strategy that addresses the specific needs of the ECs.

The findings call for public policy action to protect the consumption rights of the ECs to reduce their consumption vulnerability.

The present study is a novel attempt to explore the PCV construct and its role in defining consumer behavior of the ECs.

This study aims to analyse the roles in which children have been portrayed in advertisements over three decades (1990–2000, 2000–2010 and 2010–2020) and what have been the changes in the portrayal of the children, including the changes in product type and target audience.

The content of 212 television advertisements was analysed for the study; 32 advertisements belonged to 1990–2000, 38 belonged to 2000–2010 and 142 belonged to 2010–2020.

It could be observed that in 2010–2020, marketers had primarily focused on children as their central idea behind making any advertisement. They were projecting children as an emotional and informational tool for attracting adults and children, directly or indirectly.

The implications of this study are manifold. Firstly, the study supports the theories of socialisation and the changing role of children in the same. Secondly, the trend over the decades hints at the marketer’s changing strategy behind using children in advertisements to target adult audiences.

The significant implication for the practitioner is the possibility of having a child protagonist in an ad for the non-children target audience.

This paper is one of the first to analyse the changing role of children in advertisements over a long time horizon.

The purpose of this study is to construct and validate a generalizable scale to measure service induced perceived stress for customers of personal services with a high level of intangibles having both online and offline components.

Five studies were conducted to this end. The first was qualitative and the rest were quantitative (survey) with a total sample size of 1,300. The last study was conducted in a different country than the first four.

The studies resulted in a five-dimensional SERVSTRESS scale to measure service induced stress for customers with the following dimensions, namely, psychological stress; information stress; complexity stress; personnel stress and outcome stress. The scale was tested in a nomological network.

The present study addresses a hitherto unaddressed gap in marketing literature with the construction and validation of a scale to measure service stress of a customer (named SERVSTRESS) using data from five studies spanning two countries.

The SERVSTRESS scale is relevant for the practitioners as it adds more value beyond the traditional service quality measures and allows the marketer to understand the nature of the stressors (with a specific focus on which is going right and which is going wrong) in the service delivery and allow him/her to take remedial actions.

The originality of the study is in the creation of a new scale to measure personal service stress and uncovering its underlying dimensions.

The purpose of this study was to conceptualize consumer’s luxury brand aspiration and develop a psychometrically reliable scale to measure the construct. This study aims to extend the existing research in luxury branding domain through validating a scale to measure consumer’s luxury brand aspiration.

Initially, the dimensions of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration were identified through prior literature review and qualitative investigations. This was followed by a series of scale development studies suggested by Churchill (1979).

The results supported that the second-order measure of consumer’s luxury brand aspiration consist of four related first-order dimensions, namely, identity signaling, social recognition, self-esteem and achievement signaling. Luxury brand aspiration was found to have direct positive influences on brand commitment and brand attachment. Brand commitment and attachment in turn significantly influence intention to pay price premium.

Value of this research article lies in validating a scale to measure individual’s luxury brand aspiration for the first time in branding literature.

This study aims to investigate the relevance of customer experience quality (EXQ) across three different aspects. It compares the effect of EXQ on customer attitudes for hedonic vs utilitarian services; regular vs new customers; and new customers if they revisit or become regular customers.

The study uses a survey design with structured questionnaires and established scales. Part of the data is collected using a longitudinal survey. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used as analytical techniques.

Major findings indicate a stronger effect of EXQ on consumer attitudes for a hedonic service. The effect of EXQ is found to be different on attitude variables for new and existing customers. A temporal change is observed for the new customers when they become regular.

The findings emphasize on the differential effect of EXQ depending on the service type and customer type. The findings also support the temporal nature of customer experience.

The findings emphasize on the role of customer experience in retaining customers. The findings further imply that a service provider should consider the effect of experience both during and post-consumption for better service delivery and growth.

The novelty of the study lies in the comparison of the effects of experience across different service types. In addition, longitudinal exploration of changing effects of customer experience is tested for the first time as per the author’s knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically validate a model of luxury fashion consumption that integrates the antecedents and consequences of luxury buying in a developing nation context.

The hypotheses developed in the conceptual model are tested using survey data collected through mall intercept survey of real consumers (with sample sizes 382 and 544). Factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used to analyze the data.

Major results suggest a significant impact of consumer’s local/global orientation on the motivations and associations behind the luxury buying. Motivations and associations are found to influence luxury consumption, which in turn is found to have a positive effect on post-purchase thoughts/feelings. Social influence is found to have a moderating impact on the effects of motivations and associations on luxury consumption, respectively.

The study is restricted to a developing nation context. However, this is one of the novel attempts to validate a comprehensive model of luxury consumption that could be replicated in other contexts.

The findings provide guidelines for a luxury marketer on the factors to consider and monitor while marketing a luxury fashion brand.

The present study adds a new perspective to the literature on luxury buying behavior with its empirically validated comprehensive model.

The purpose of this study is to draw concepts from marketing and information systems research and integrate them in the context of M-commerce. The authors develop a conceptual model of technology readiness (TR) affecting perceived ubiquity (PQ) (of smartphones) and PQ affecting M-commerce adoption (MA) incorporating the moderating effect of privacy concerns (PC) on the relation between PQ and MA along with the constructs perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU).

The conceptual model was formulated using a set of qualitative research procedures (four focus group discussions) and tested using two questionnaire-based surveys (with 372 and 431 respondents each) in India. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted followed by structural equation modeling for the quantitative data.

Results from the quantitative study indicate a significant effect of TR on PQ, PU and PEU. All three latter constructs had a significant effect on MA. A significant moderating effect of PC on the relation between PQ and MA was also observed.

The study findings enhance the literature on the antecedents of successful adoption of M-commerce and establish the role of PQ as a significant influencer of MA.

The study findings would enable service providers with a new and relevant model of M-commerce adoption.

The major contribution of the study is the development and validation of a model that has attitudinal variables related to technology usage and their relations to M-commerce adoption.

Of the three major streams of research in celebrity endorsements, the “Meaning Transfer Model (MTM)” has received the least attention from researchers. In the present study, the authors aim to investigate the basic components of the “Meaning Transfer Model” proposed by McCracken (1986, 1989) and outcome of the flow of meaning through celebrity endorsements.

The authors used an interpretive approach to address four broad research questions framed after a comprehensive literature review. Eight focus group discussions (FGD) (along with embedded word association techniques) were conducted among audience from heterogeneous demographic backgrounds from India. Content and thematic analysis were carried out on the FGD transcripts and the word association test results to generate findings.

The findings indicate seven themes of celebrity meaning, namely, personality, credibility, physical appearance, feelings, performance, values and cogent power. Most meanings were found to be transferred to a brand via the endorsement. The possibility of reverse meaning transfer and the change of celebrity meanings overtime were also observed.

The major contribution of the present study is the development of a measurable and applicable model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements, along with a set of testable propositions.

The findings provide a guiding framework for practitioners who would like to use a celebrity endorsement strategy.

This is one of the first attempts to develop a comprehensive model of meaning transfer in celebrity endorsements that includes sub-constructs of “meaning” and the moderators in the process.

The challenges and factors of household adoption and the use of alternative energy sources have been a point of discussion among researchers. The purpose of this study is to apply a variant of the unified theory of adoption and use of technology (i.e. UTAUT 2) to explore the effect of various constructs that influence technology adoption on the consumers’ intention to adopt (and use) solar power generators (SPG) at the household level and the subsequent switching behavior.

Based on survey data collected from six cities in India (n = 1,246), factor analysis and structural equation modeling are applied for data analysis and testing the study hypotheses.

The results of the structural equation model found UTAUT constructs performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and hedonic to positively affect behavioral intentions to adopt SPG. However, facilitating conditions and perceived value was not found to affect behavioral intentions to adopt SPG. Behavioral intentions to adopt SPG was found to positively influence the switching behavior.

The present study augments the domain of alternative energy usage behavior by applying the UTAUT 2 in the adoption of alternative energy sources (namely, solar) and subsequent switching behavior from traditional sources at the household level.

The findings from the present study will guide the marketers and policymakers on the consumer attitudinal and behavioral aspects of solar energy usage at the household level and subsequent switching behavior.

The present study is novel as it moves beyond household-level behavioral intention to use solar energy and includes the switching behavior to shift to solar power from traditional energy sources.