What attracts vehicle consumers’ buying:A Saaty scale-based VIKOR (SSC-VIKOR) approach from after-sales textual perspective?

Purpose: The increasingly booming e-commerce development has stimulated vehicle consumers to express individual reviews through online forum. The purpose of this paper is to probe into the vehicle consumer consumption behavior and make recommendations for potential consumers from textual comments viewpoint. Design/methodology/approach: A big data analytic-based approach is designed to discover vehicle consumer consumption behavior from online perspective. To reduce subjectivity of expert-based approaches, a parallel Naïve Bayes approach is designed to analyze the sentiment analysis, and the Saaty scale-based (SSC) scoring rule is employed to obtain specific sentimental value of attribute class, contributing to the multi-grade sentiment classification. To achieve the intelligent recommendation for potential vehicle customers, a novel SSC-VIKOR approach is developed to prioritize vehicle brand candidates from a big data analytical viewpoint. Findings: The big data analytics argue that “cost-effectiveness” characteristic is the most important factor that vehicle consumers care, and the data mining results enable automakers to better understand consumer consumption behavior. Research limitations/implications: The case study illustrates the effectiveness of the integrated method, contributing to much more precise operations management on marketing strategy, quality improvement and intelligent recommendation. Originality/value: Researches of consumer consumption behavior are usually based on survey-based methods, and mostly previous studies about comments analysis focus on binary analysis. The hybrid SSC-VIKOR approach is developed to fill the gap from the big data perspective

Age-induced decision shrinkage, another avenue to repeat purchase: the example of new automobiles

The literature from psychology and gerontology suggests that older persons have reduced cognitive abilities, and an increased risk aversion. On this basis, we predict that their decision process will be shrunk, in three manners: a smaller consideration set, a focus on the previous brand (leading to repeat purchases), a privileged status given to other ancient brands. In a survey approach, we test these predictions on a large sample of recent buyers of new automobiles. The results confirm the prediction: A shrinkage of the decision process appears after sixty, and is markedly stronger after seventy-five, two limits suggested by the literature.age; consumer behavior; purchase process; brand loyalty; cautiousness

The Effectiveness Of Product Placement By Media Types: Impact Of Image And Intention To Purchase

Product placement, as an integrated marketing communication tool, is widely applied to increase attention, interest, and purchasing intention. Product placement is also identified as an integrative conceptual model that captures how such messages generate audience outcomes (Balasubramanian, Karrah, and Patwardhan, 2006). By considering various applications of product placement in the automobile brands, the purpose of this study is to measure awareness, familiarity, image, and purchase intention of brands placed in various media types. In particular, this study measures 1) how brand awareness from product placement affects brand image, 2) how brand familiarity from product placement affects brand image, 3) how brand image affects purchase intention, and 4) the effects of brand awareness and familiarity based on different media types. This study applied a survey to collect data and used quantitative analyses to test hypotheses. The study provides managerial implications for the effectiveness of product placements by media types

Weathering product-harm crises.

Product-harm crises can seriously imperil a brand's performance. Consumers tend to weigh negative publicity heavily in product judgments, customer preferences may shift towards competing products during the recall period, and competitors often increase their advertising spending in the wake of a brand's misfortune. To counter these negative effects, brands hope to capitalize on their equity, and often use advertising as a communication device to regain customers' lost trust. We develop a multiple-event hazard model to study how consumer characteristics and advertising influence consumers' first-purchase decisions for two affected brands of peanut butter following a severe Australian product-harm crisis. Buying a recently affected brand is perceived as highly risky, making the trial purchase a first hurdle to be taken in the brand's recovery. Both pre-crisis loyalty and familiarity are found to form an important buffer against the product-harm crisis, supporting the idea that a brand's equity prior to the crisis offers resilience in the face of misfortune. Also heavy users tend to purchase the affected brands sooner, unless their usage rate decreased significantly during the crisis. Brand advertising was found to be effective for the stronger brand, but not for the weaker brand, while competitive advertising delayed the first-purchase decision for both brands affected by the crisis.(pro-environmental) attitudes; Behavior; Claim; Cognitive; Consumption; Control; Control theory; Decision; Decisions; Demand; Ecological consumer behaviour; Effects; Ego depletion; Implications; Marketing; Model; Performance; Research; Self-control; Self-perception theory; Social marketing; Studies; Theory; Product; Judgments; Preference; Recall; Advertising; Brands; Communication; Trust; Characteristics; Loyalty;

The Emergence of Captive Finance Companies and Risk Segmentation of the Consumer Loan Market:Theory and Evidence

A parental seller with market power to some degree in its product market can earn rents. In this context, there is a gain to granting credit for the purchase of the product and thus the establishment of captive finance company for expanding the sales by offering loans to consumers who need financing for purchase of durable good. This paper examines the optimal behavior of such a durable good seller and its captive finance company when the consumer loan market is segmented into captive and independent lending institutions under symmetric and imperfect information on borrower’s creditworthiness. The model presents that one critical difference for captive finance company will be its credit standard. Specifically, the model indicates that captive finance company will follow a more lenient credit standard, leading to the prediction that the likelihood of repayment of a captive loan is lower than that of a bank loan, other things equal. This prediction is tested using unique data sets drawn from a major credit bureau in the U.S. The analysis of credit bureau data shows that a captive automobile loan is less likely to be repaid than a bank automobile loan, which supports the theoretical prediction.Monopolistic Competition, Consumer Loan Market, Captive Finance Company, Differential Loan Performances

Does the Brand Name Matter to Purchase Decision? The Case of Mobile Phone

The study aims at determining the influence of brand name on consumer buying decision. Data collected from 160 mobile phone users at Dodoma municipal by using questionnaires and interview.  The findings show that consumers’ are not loyal in single brand name and their judgment in a purchase decision on the mobile phone is influenced by three factors; the need, country of origin, and the durability. This means that when different brand names of mobiles are presented to the consumers; they answer mainly three questions: does it match with my need? Where is it made? and if it can stays for a reasonable time. It is recommended that the manufacturers of mobile phones to accentuate on the needs of the market (marketing orientation), durability, and country of origin products (intra- trade) in order to enhance marketing competitiveness. Keywords: Brand Name, Purchase Decision, Mobile Phon

Spillover effect in supplier related product recall: the impact of supplier COO on product evaluations

Research has shown that supplier quality can lead to brand quality failures. However, what is not clear is whether a supplier’s country of origin (COO) plays a role in the evaluations of manufacturer brands after a recall is initiated. In this paper, through the lens of resource advantage (R-A) theory, we empirically examine whether a supplier’s COO hurts or helps the vehicle brand when a supplier is blamed during a vehicle recall event. R-A theory suggests that high brand quality can enhance competitive advantage for a firm. Through an experimental study, we find that high brand quality can override the spillover effect of COO after a product recall. However, the severity of a recall can nullify the impact of high brand quality

The Impact of the Internet on Information Search for Automobiles

While the Internet has apparently become a major source of information about many items, including real estate, travel, computer equipment, books, records, and automobiles, little is known about how it is used, and about its impact on search behavior. The objective of this study is to shed light on this question by studying the use of the Internet as an information source for one good, automobiles. In order to accomplish our objective, we need to construct a model of the choice of information sources. We liken the time spent with each alternative source to the choice of factors of production. In our case, different sources are combined to produce current information, which, when combined with prior information, produces gains to information, defined as the difference in monetary value between the best choice given complete information and a random choice. Assuming that consumers choose the optimal amount of time to allocate to each source, given their time costs, we derive first-order conditions that lead to expressions for the share of time spent with each source and total search time. These expressions become the basis for our empirical analysis. Consistent with past literature and our data, we define four major categories of sources of information on automobiles. These are interpersonal sources such as friends and relatives, non-advocate or neutral sources of print information such as Consumer Reports, dealer/manufacturer sources, and the Internet. We use data on information source use obtained from recent new car buyers in one market in 1999, after the Internet became established, and compare this with data obtained from a survey of recent car buyers obtained in 1989 in the same market, before the Internet was introduced. The two data sets allow us to create baseline estimates of what buyers with a particular set of characteristics would have done in the absence of the Internet, and then to determine how the presence of the Internet is associated with deviations from this baseline. Our descriptive results indicate that about 40 percent of our sample used the Internet as a source in their purchase decision, which is very consistent with other evidence on Internet use in 1999, the time of our survey. The share on Internet use in total search is significantly related to younger age, higher education, higher wage, dissatisfaction with the dealer of the previous car, and no decision on which manufacturer to buy from prior to the search. A testable prediction of our model is that the Internet should draw proportionally from each other source. Since dealer/manufacturer sources get the biggest share of time in the absence of the Internet, this implies that the Internet has the greatest absolute impact on time with these sources. Tests of the proportional draw assumption indicate that this hypothesis cannot be rejected, and that the assumption provides a good approximation for our data. Our analysis of total search indicates that total search increases with factors that determine gains to search, such as price level of the chosen model, and decreases with prior information and efficiency at search. Specifically, total search decreases with a prior decision on a manufacturer or dealer to buy from, satisfaction with the previous dealer, and age. Search also decreases with wages, a measure of time costs. Putting all of the pieces of our model together allows us to estimate the effects of the Internet and other consumer characteristics on search, and on gains to search. We simulate overall behavior, and that of Internet users and certain other groups, both with and without the Internet. Our simulations indicate that the Internet both reduces total search time, and leads to improved purchases. These effects are largest for younger, more educated consumers, particularly those that were dissatisfied with their previous dealer. Conversely, the Internet has very little value for older consumers, and younger consumers with high school or less education. Our simulations also indicate that the Internet leads to a considerable reduction in time spent with dealer/manufacturer sources, most of which is time spent at the dealership requiring the presence of a sales person. This suggests that, by making it easier for consumers to be better informed when they arrive at the dealer and hence cutting down on the demand for sales person time, the Internet can lead to a substantial improvement in the efficiency of dealer operations. Thus the Internet is likely to benefit dealers as well as consumers.Internet, search, information, automobiles ,

Product reliability, consumers’ complaints and market performance: the case of consumers’ associations

In their dealings with retailers and suppliers, regulations and warranties ensure that consumers can seek a repair, a replacement or a refund if the good they have purchased is faulty. The evidence, however, indicates that few consumers pursue any form of compensation, suggesting that, for most consumers, transaction costs are high and providing a rationale for the role that consumers’ associations play. In this paper, we analyze the monopolist’s pricing and product reliability problem when consumers are entitled to product replacement and assess the implications of a decrease in consumers’ transaction costs. Our results suggest that the appearance of the consumers’ associations could, instead, lower product reliability. We draw empirical evidence from the pattern of recalls and complaints in the U.S. car market around 1995 (the year in which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) incorporated on-line filings) and find that it appears consistent with this prediction.product reliability, consumers’ association, consumers’ claims, liability cost