Do lower prices always increase willingness to purchase? a comprehensive understanding toward the role of perceived price

Today, most firms assume that low price increases the likelihood of purchase. However, is this assumption always true? If the answer is no, when does the negative relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase not hold true? This study systematically investigates the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase, incorporating three existing theories (i.e., signaling theory, equity theory, and Veblen's theory of the leisure class). A conceptual research model consists of Phase I and Phase II: Phase I includes the antecedents of perceived price (i.e., symbolic brand benefits, perceived brand globalness, and perceived brand quality), and Phase II includes the moderators (i.e., perceived price fairness, vanity, and consumer sophistication) of the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase. Both Phase I and Phase II are tested in the U.S. and India, separately. Using a questionnaire survey with college students in the U.S. and India, 543 usable responses (287 from the U.S. and 256 from India) were analyzed for this study. Before analyzing the proposed hypotheses, measurement invariance tests were conducted to decide whether each construct measured the same factor structure and factor loadings across the U.S. and India. In both Phase I and II, the two countries revealed sharply contrasting results. In Phase I, four hypotheses were tested in each country. Of the three antecedents of perceived price, only perceived brand quality (ã =.23) had a positive relationship with perceived price among U.S. respondents. The additional paths suggested by modification indices indicated that symbolic brand benefits (ã =.16) and perceived brand globalness (ã =.20) had positive relationships with willingness to purchase in the U.S. In contrast, the path between perceived brand quality and willingness to purchase was not supported in the U.S. Surprisingly, none of antecedents of perceived price turned out to be significant for Indian consumers. Among the three additional paths suggested by modification indices, only perceived brand quality and willingness to purchase (ã =.21) was found to be significant in India. The negative relationship of perceived price-willingness to purchase was supported both in the U.S (â = -.37) and India (â = -.22). In Phase II, three hypotheses were tested in each country. Among the three moderators, perceived price fairness (â = .271) and vanity (â = .271) moderated the perceived price-willingness to purchase relationship in the U.S. Consumer sophistication did not have a moderating effect on the perceived price-willingness to purchase relationship. In the Indian data, none of the three moderators of the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase were supported. This study is one of the earliest attempts to examine the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase comprehensively in multiple countries (i.e., the U.S. and India). Findings from this study suggest that 1) marketers should pay attention to perceived brand quality in order to maintain a higher price in the U.S. and high purchase intention in India; 2) symbolic brand benefits and brand globalness should be promoted and stressed when marketers introduce products to U.S. consumers; 3) in order to increase purchase intention, building a concept of price fairness should be emphasized in the U.S.; and 4) marketers should intrigue and target consumers who have a high level of vanity in the U.S

ANALISIS PENGARUH FOREIGN BRANDING TERHADAP PERCEIVED PRODUCT ADVANTAGE DAN BRAND PERSONALITY TERHADAP BRAND IMAGE SERTA IMPLIKASINYA TERHADAP MINAT MEMBELI PRODUK LEA JEANS (Studi Kasus Mahasiswa Fakultas Ekonomika dan Bisnis Universitas Diponegoro dengan Kategori Usia Remaja)

The research was intended to illustrate customers’ low purchase intention to buy Lea Jeans products compared to other products in the same product category by testing the influence of foreign branding and brand personality to increase the intention to buy the products of Lea Jeans where perceived product advantage and brand image were used as the intervening variables. The case study of the research was the Faculty of Economics and Business with 105 respondents as sampled, who are categorized as adolescent college students. Using Structural Equation Model (SEM) analyzing technique operated through AMOS 16.0 software, to increase the customer purchase intention to buy Lea Jeans Products, the variables analyzed in the first flow have shown that foreign branding has a significant influence on perceived product advantages and perceived product advantage also has a noticeable effect on the purchase intention; while in the second flow, the results has shown that brand personality has a significant influence on brand image, but brand image has no significant effect to the intention to buy the products of Lea Jean

A consumer-based method for retailer equity measurement: Results of an empirical study

This research extends the consumer-based brand equity measurement approach to the measurement of the equity associated with retailers. This paper also addresses some of the limitations associated with current retailer equity measurement such as a lack of clarity regarding its nature and dimensionality. We conceptualise retailer equity as a four-dimensional construct comprising retailer awareness, retailer associations, perceived retailer quality, and retailer loyalty. The paper reports the result of an empirical study of a convenience sample of 601 shopping mall consumers at an Australian state capital city. Following a confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling to examine the dimensionality of the retailer equity construct, the proposed model is tested for two retailer categories: department stores and speciality stores. Results confirm the hypothesised four-dimensional structure

Consumer Acceptance of Licensed Brand Extensions: An Analysis of Key Success Factors for Extending into Fashion Categories

Brand extension and lifestyle branding have been the most commonly used marketing strategies. Unlike other consumer goods, fashion products, or other lifestyle products contains strong meaning of the user’s identity, thus, once done well, the parent non-fashion brands could benefit from not only the profit generated by the extension, but also creating a closer and stronger relationship with customers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine how fashion product attributes affect consumers’ behavioral intention towards the fashion extension, to examine how perceived fit and brand extension authenticity affect consumers behavioral intention towards the fashion extensions, to explore the important parent brand factors and examine how these factors affect consumers’ behavioral intentions of fashion extensions; and to test the influence of ownership status and consumer characteristics on consumers’ behavioral intension of the fashion extensions. Data was collected through Qualtrics with a national sample. A total of 453 valid responses were collected. Structural equation modeling, factor analysis and MANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. Results show that compared to parent band affect, the other independent factor, brand extension attribute evaluation, contributes a larger portion on brand extension behavioral intention through the mediating effects of fit, brand extension authenticity, and brand extension attitude. Brand extension behavioral intention is directly affected by attitude toward the extension, perceived, and parent brand affect. The results of sub-model testing show that parent brand affect is impacted by other parent brand factors, including parent brand trust, consumer-brand identification, parent brand identity expressiveness, parent brand prestige image, and parent brand quality. Among these factors, parent brand identity expressiveness and consumer-brand identification contributes the largest portion to the parent brand affect, which consequently leads to a favorable brand extension behavioral intention. Parent brand ownership status and consumer characteristics, including brand engagement, product knowledge, and need for self-expression moderate the effects on brand extension behavioral intention. These results provide some suggestions to both brand managers and manufacturers who intend to be licensees of the brands. Future research may focus on emerging market and the impact of cultural differences on consumers’ perception of fashion extensions, and explore co-branding strategies

Brand Personality, Consumer Satisfaction, and Loyalty: A Perspective from Denim Jeans Brands

This study employed Aaker's brand personality framework to empirically investigate the personality of denim jeans brands and to examine the impact of brand personality on consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty based on data collected from 474 college students. Results revealed that the personality of denim jeans brands can be described in six dimensions with 51 personality traits: attractiveness, practicality, ruggedness, flexibility, friendliness, and honesty. The results indicated that consumers associate particular brand personality dimensions with denim jeans brands. Also, the various dimensions of brand personality have different effects on consumer satisfaction and consumer brand loyalty

Self-Concept, Gender, And Product Type: An Investigation Of Brand Loyalty

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of self-concept brand image congruity on brand loyalty. However, there is a dearth of literature which has assessed this relationship across different product types. Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding regarding the role that gender may play in the creation of such brand loyalty. This study investigates the effects of self-concept brand image congruity on consumer attitude formation and resulting brand loyalty across two different types of products (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian products) and assesses the moderating role of gender within each product type setting. Results reveal that the proposed model is sufficiently robust to explain the effects of self-concept brand image congruities across different product types. Furthermore, this study indicates that gender serves as a moderator in both product type settings, however, in theoretically important different manners

Galaxy Masses

Galaxy masses play a fundamental role in our understanding of structure formation models. This review addresses the variety and reliability of mass estimators that pertain to stars, gas, and dark matter. The different sections on masses from stellar populations, dynamical masses of gas-rich and gas-poor galaxies, with some attention paid to our Milky Way, and masses from weak and strong lensing methods, all provide review material on galaxy masses in a self-consistent manner.Comment: 145 pages, 28 figures, to appear in Reviews of Modern Physics. Figure 22 is missing here, and Figs. 15, 26-28 are at low resolution. This version has a slightly different title and some typos fixed in Chapter 5. For the full review with figures, please consult: http://www.astro.queensu.ca/~courteau/GalaxyMasses_28apr2014.pd

Impact of dance in advertisements on emotional attachment towards the advertised brand: Self-congruence theory

The present study examines how consumers’ perceived congruence between their self-concept and the image of the dance incorporated in online advertisements influences emotional attachment toward the advertised brand. The partial least squares structural equation model was applied to the data analysis. The results show that congruence between self-concept and the dance incorporated in online advertisements has a positive impact on emotional attachment toward the advertised brand. More specifically, the present study demonstrate that ideal self/dance-congruence increase emotional attachment towards advertised brand as hypothesized. However, contrary to expectations, actual self/dance-congruence has negligible contribution to emotional attachment towards advertised brand. The managerial implications of the study are outlined

THE EFFECT OF STORE ENVIRONMENT ON CONSUMER EVALUATIONS AND BEHAVIOR TOWARD SINGLE-BRAND APPAREL RETAILERS

This study aimed to assess consumer behavior towards single-brand apparel retailers by employing the Stimulus-Organism-Response model. In addition to the traditional store atmospheric stimuli of social cues, design cues, and ambient cues, this study introduced merchandise cues as a stimulus within the single-brand apparel retail store. This study also incorporated both cognitive and affective evaluations as consumers‘ internal states. The effect of stimulus on approach-avoidance behaviors was mediated by these internal states. This study also introduced the concept of ‗store as a brand‘ which was evaluated to identify whether consumers considered the single-brand apparel retail store and the merchandise carried by the store to be a single holistic entity. The specific research objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) the effects of store atmospheric cues and merchandise cues on cognitive evaluation toward store and merchandise, respectively; (2) the effects of cognitive evaluation toward store and merchandise on affective evaluation toward store and merchandise, respectively; (3) the effects of cognitive and affective evaluation towards store and merchandise on approach-avoidance behaviors; and (4) the ‗store as a brand‘ concept wherein the paths between the two internal evaluations were postulated to be equal for store and merchandise. This study was conducted in the context of single-brand apparel retailers. A mall intercept survey methodology was employed to collect the data and 438 completed responses were used for the data analyses. All the constructs had acceptable levels of composite reliability and was valid in terms of convergent and discriminant validity. The data were analyzed by using a structural equation modeling approach. Several hypotheses were significant as proposed except vi for a few which were not significant. Design cues were found to have an insignificant relationship with cognitive evaluations toward the store. Cognitive evaluations toward merchandise and affective evaluations toward store were found not to be significant. The results supported the ‗store as a brand‘ concept, thereby validating that consumers do not perceive the store and the merchandise sold by the single-brand apparel retailer to be different from each other. Research implications, managerial implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research were provided

Success factors of social influencers – multiple dimensions and contingencies of a prosperous campaign

Social Influencer haben sich zu einem mächtigen Mittel der Marketing-Kommunikation entwickelt. Gegenwärtig übersteigt die Höhe der Ausgaben für Social Influencer Marketing die der traditionellen Werbung (wie Fernsehspots, Print- oder Plakatwerbung). Angesichts des großen Einflusses, den Social Influencer auf Konsumenten haben können, stellt sich die Frage, wie man eine Influencer-Kampagne erfolgreich durchführt. Erste Ansätze haben Engagement-Variablen berücksichtigt - z. B. die Anzahl der Follower eines Influencers. Allerdings haben sich diese Ansätze oft genug als zu schlicht und eindimensional erwiesen. Tatsächlich beruht der Erfolg eines Influencer-Endorsements auf einem komplexen System von Erfolgsfaktoren, deren Bedeutung variieren kann. Dazu gehören unter anderem Faktoren, die in der Person des Influencers liegen, das Zusammenspiel zwischen Influencer und Zielgruppe, das Setup von Influencer und Marke/Produkt, der Kommunikationsstil des Influencers und die Vermeidung von Influencer-Fehlverhalten. Diese Elemente können miteinander verbunden sein und auch in gegenseitigem Konflikt stehen. Die vorliegende Dissertation widmet sich der Erforschung dieses komplexen Systems und der Schließung von Forschungslücken. Das erste Modul (1 Beitrag) legt ein Fundament, indem die drei Faktoren Attraktivität, Expertise und Vertrauenswürdigkeit untersucht werden. Im zweiten Modul, das zwei Forschungsarbeiten umfasst, wird das Zusammenspiel zwischen Influencer, Konsument und Marke/Produkt behandelt. Das erste Paper fokussiert die Persönlichkeit und untersucht die Übereinstimmung der Influencer-Persönlichkeit mit dem tatsächlichen und gewünschten Selbstkonzept des Konsumenten sowie mit der Markenpersönlichkeit. Dabei wird auch die moderierende Rolle des Produktinvolvements berücksichtigt. Im zweiten Beitrag wird das Zusammenspiel von Influencer- und Konsumentenattraktivität sowie Geschlecht untersucht. Das dritte Modul (4 Beiträge) konzentriert sich auf die Erfolgsfaktoren für verschiedene Produktarten bzw. Endorsement-Anlässe; dabei wird ein starker Bezug zur Kommunikation des Influencers hergestellt. Paper 1 und 2 ziehen eine grundsätzliche Grenze zwischen hedonischen und utilitaristischen Produkten und untersuchen die Bedeutung von Kommunikationsstil, Faktizität, Expertise und demographischer Ähnlichkeit. Der dritte Beitrag untersucht die Rolle der Attraktivität und Expertise von Influencern für attraktivitätsbezogene und nicht-attraktivitätsbezogene Produkte. Der vierte Beitrag schließlich diskutiert die Besonderheiten eines Influencer-Endorsements im Non-Profit-Kontext. Im letzten Modul werden die Schattenseiten des Influencer-Marketings, nämlich die schädliche Wirkung von Skandalen, in einem Beitrag beleuchtet. Diese Arbeit verdeutlicht die Vielfalt und Kontingenz der Faktoren, die ein erfolgreiches Influencer Endorsement ausmachen. Alle Faktoren müssen gegeneinander abgewogen und diskutiert werden; dabei spielen Unterschiede wie die angesprochene Zielgruppe oder das beworbene Produkt bzw. Anliegen eine große Rolle. Die Ergebnisse liefern wertvolle Implikationen für Praktiker vieler Branchen, um ihre Influencer-Kampagnen erfolgreich zu gestalten und umzusetzen. Ebenso eröffnen die Ergebnisse viele Perspektiven für zukünftige Forschung. Ein großes Forschungspotenzial kann in einer qualitativen Ergänzung der durchgeführten quantitativen Studien liegen. Auf diese Weise könnten die Gedanken, Gefühle und Handlungsabsichten von Influencern, Konsumenten und Praktikern, die die Grundlage der vorliegenden Ergebnisse bilden, aufgedeckt werden