Exploring Consumer Collecting Behavior: A Conceptual Model and Research Agenda

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the behaviors that revolve around collecting, the motivations behind these behaviors and the psychological benefits collectors receive from engaging in these collecting behaviors. Design/methodology/approach A thorough literature review and integration of prominent psychological and social psychology theories are used to propose a conceptual model, several research propositions and potential research questions for future scholarship. Findings This paper proposes that a collector salient identity and collecting motives drive tension-inducing social and solitary collecting behaviors and that these behaviors in turn reinforce the collector salient identity. Relevant aspects of the collecting phenomenon are explored, and included propositions provide future research direction to validate a proposed conceptual model designed to provide insights into a common consumer behavior. Originality/value This paper provides a broad conceptual model and explores several details of consumer collecting behavior as a basis for future research

Self-centred beliefs : an empirical approach

We perform an experiment designed to assess the accuracy of beliefs about distributions. The beliefs relate to behavior (mobile phone purchasing decisions, hypothetical restaurant choices), attitudes (happiness, politics) and observable characteristics (height, weight) and are typically formed through real world experiences. We find a powerful and ubiquitous bias in perceptions that is "self-centered" in the sense that an individual's beliefs about the population distribution changes with their own position in the distribution. In particular, those at extremes tend to perceive themselves as closer to the middle of the distribution than is the case. We discuss possible explanations for this bias

Identity studies: Multiple perspectives and implications for corporate-level marketing

Purpose – Provides a comprehensive review of the identity literature drawing on perspectives from marketing (corporate identity concept) and organisational behaviour (organisational identity) so as to provide an up-to –date overview of identity scholarship. Findings – Reveals a growing congruency between scholars of marketing and organisational behaviour in their comprehension of identity. Identifies four principal schools of thought relating to identity which differ in terms of conceptualisation, locus of analysis and explanandum (corporate identity, visual identity, an organisation’s identity and organisational identity). Our review confirms the importance of identity especially in relation to the concepts underpinning the nascent field of corporate-level marketing. Practical implications – the importance of taking a multidisciplinary perspective in the comprehension and management of identity in organisational contexts. Originality/Value – The first major review of identity studies that synthesises the marketing and organisational behaviour approaches to identity. Offers pointers in terms of the research agenda to be followed

What's in a sign? Trademark law and enconomic theory.

The aim of this paper is to summarise the extant theory as it relates to the economics of trademark, and to give some suggestions for further research with reference to distinct streams ofliterature. The proposed line of study inevitably looks at the complex relationship between signs and economics. Trademark is a sign introduced to remedy a market failure. It facilitates purchase decisions by indicating the provenance of the goods, so that consumers can identify specific quality attributes deriving from their own, or others', past experience. Trademark holders, on their part, have an incentive to invest in quality because they will be able to reap the benefits in terms of reputation. In other words, trademark law becomes an economic device which, opportunely designed, can produce incentives for maximising market efficiency. This role must, of course, be recognised, as a vast body of literature has done, with its many positive economic consequences. Nevertheless, trademark appears to have additional economic effects that should be properly recognized: it can determine the promotion of market power and the emergence of rent-seeking behaviours. It gives birth to an idiosyncratic economics of signs where very strong protection tends to be assured, even though the welfare effects are as yet poorly understood. In this domain much remains to be done and the challenge to researchers is open.trademark, brand, economics and signs, asymmetric information, intellectual property rights, law and economics

Brand search

Consumers frequently buy the products they find most easily. This has forced manufacturers and retailers to invest in package design, shelf layouts, and expensive advertising campaigns to facilitate findability of their products. Surprisingly, there is no research in marketing that investigates how consumers localize products, which we call brand search. This dissertation investigates the brand search process and develops a statistical model that describes the eye movements of consumers while they are searching for a specific product. The proposed model uncovers the search strategies of consumers and suggests which marketing tools manufacturers and retailers may use to influence this process.

Generating Global Brand Equity through Corporate Social Responsibility to Key Stakeholders

In this paper we argue that socially responsible policies have positive short-term and long-term impact on equity of global brands. We find that corporate social responsibility towards all stakeholders, whether primary (customers, shareholders, employees and suppliers) or secondary (community), have positive effects on brand equity value, where the secondary stakeholders are even more important than primary stakeholders. In addition, policies aimed at satisfying community interests act as a mechanism to reinforce trust that gives further credibility to social responsible polices with other stakeholders. The result is a decrease in conflicts among stakeholders and greater stakeholder willingness to provide intangible resources that enhance brand equity. We provide support of our theoretical contentions using a panel data composed of 57 global brands, originating from 10 countries (USA, Japan, South Korea, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands) for the period 2002 to 2007. We use detailed information on brand equity obtained from Interbrand and on corporate social responsibility provided by the Sustainalytics Global Profile (SGB) database, as compiled by Sustainalytics.

Behavioral Aspects of Pricing

Buyers sometimes exhibit seemingly “irrational” behavior with respect to prices and use socially embedded heuristics to simplify their purchase decisions. In some cases small changes in prices can lead to much larger than anticipated changes in sales and profitability. Sellers need to understand the heuristics consumers use, the situations in which they emerge, and recognize how they can respond in markets where information and knowledge of product attributes and competitive prices is increasingly available via the Internet. This chapter explores consumers’ behavioral reactions to price through a review of contemporary literature in the field of pricing. The chapter delineates the nature and scope of these effects based upon a critical review of the most up-to-date empirical research in the field, and concludes by providing implications for innovation in pricing, and guidance for managers to reduce the disconnect between themselves and consumers

A broader view on brands’ growth and decline

What does it take to grow a brand? How to avoid its decline? Some popular answers to these questions can be found in the research by Byron Sharp and others from the Ehrenberg-Bass (EB) Institute on “how brands grow.” In this article, we propose that such an approach, despite its strengths, lends itself to some limitations when taken too literally. We maintain that a broader notion and role of branding—encompassing brand equity, brand portfolio, and circular relationship of attitudes and behaviors—should be adopted by marketeers to derive better managerial implications for sustainable brand growth. We, therefore, invite marketers to not oversimplify Dirichlet evidences by thinking of availability as the only (costly) response to all marketing challenges

Generating global brand equity through corporate social responsibility to key stakeholders

In this paper we argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) to various stakeholders (customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, and community) has a positive effect on global brand equity (BE). In addition, policies aimed at satisfying community interests help reinforce credibility to social responsible polices with other stakeholders. We test these theoretical contentions using panel data comprised of 57 global brands originating from 10 countries (USA, Japan, South Korea, France, UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands) for the period 2002 to 2008. Our findings show that CSR to each of the stakeholder groups has a positive impact on global BE. In addition, global brands that follow local social responsibility policies over communities obtain strong positive benefits in terms of the generation of BE, as it enhances the positive effects of CSR to other stakeholders, particularly to customers. Therefore, for managers of global brands it is particularly productive for generating brand value to combine global strategies with the satisfaction of the interests of local communities.Global Brands, Brand Equity, Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholders.

Explorations in price (un)fairness.

Consumers may use multiple reference points-including cost of goods, past prices, and competitive prices-to judge price fairness. Across a series of studies we show that consumers are inclined to overestimate profits, often to an extreme extent. We further demonstrate that prices are perceived to be unfair because consumers fail to take into account vendor costs, underestimate the effects of inflation, and attribute competitive price differences to profits. Potential corrective interventions by marketers-such as cueing costs, providing historical price information, and explaining price differences-were insufficient to eliminate unfairness perceptions. In addition, prices for goods were found to be stickier than prices for services and therefore were especially susceptible to these systematic perceptions of unfairness.Prices; Studies; Costs; Effects;