An Investigation into How the Modes of Persuasion and Valence affect Perceptions of Online Reviews

Consumers ubiquitously rely on assessments provided by strangers when seeking knowledge or making consumption decisions. Whether buying a car or a toaster, or choosing a restaurant, most consumers would feel lost if they attempted to make these decisions without first seeking verification via an online review. Despite the importance of online reviews in consumers’ daily lives, research on the effectiveness of online reviews is still in elementary stages and questions remain regarding how online review content style affects consumer judgments. Correspondingly, little is known about how message construction (e.g., rhetorical strategies) affects consumer judgments. Using an experimental design, this paper provides a valuable contribution to online review literature by examining the effects of Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion (referred to as “modes” in the manuscript: ethos, pathos, and logos), in conjunction with valence (positive vs. negative), on review usefulness and trustworthiness. To conduct the experiment, a full-factorial between-subjects design was used, resulting in 14 discrete conditions based on modes and valence combinations. In addition, general attitude towards online reviews was included as a control variable. Extensive pretesting and a pilot study were employed to refine stimuli and study design. The study was administered via Qualtrics and TurkPrime to collect data from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) participants with recommended precautions for improving sample quality (e.g., restrict to one IP address). The MTurk data collection resulted in 893 usable questionnaires after accounting for the attention and manipulation checks and sample sizes per cell ranged from 59 to 67 participants. MANCOVA was used to assess manipulation effects on review uselessness and trustworthiness. Multivariate significance was demonstrated for modes, the attitudinal control variable, and valence while univariate results further indicate that both modes and valence significantly affected usefulness and trustworthiness perceptions. Examination of pairwise comparisons suggest a superior positive effect for the logos appeal on both usefulness and trustworthiness. When taking into account valence, results revealed that the superior positive effect of the logos appeal seems to be isolated to negative reviews. This study’s findings highlight the value consumers place on logos appeals over other appeals for negative reviews in an online review context. Organizations should be relieved that participants found pathos appeals in negative reviews to be less trustworthy and usefulness. A supplementary analysis suggests that people perceive pathos-laden negative reviews to be left by a “bad” customer. Organizations and online review platforms should consider using message framing strategies to increase the likelihood of logos appeals to enhance the value that reviews have for consumers

The Role of Consumer Self-Concept

The growing shift to niche strategies has created a need for context specific research to address issues faced by today’s marketing manager and to determine whether longstanding consumer self-concept issues are pertinent in niche markets. Regarding the context of retailing and the ability of retailers to serve the desires of individual self-identities, streams of research regarding consumer self-concept, store image, service quality, loyalty, and share of wallet have been prominent in research. However, to the best of our knowledge, these concepts have not been concurrently empirically examined in a niche market context. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between self-concept, store image, service quality, loyalty, and share of wallet in a high-end niche retail market. This research meets the growing need to investigate concepts relevant to meeting the desires of idiosyncratic individual self-identities in niche markets. A high-end outdoor retail store in the Midwestern US that sells a variety of items pertaining to backpacking, camping, mountain climbing allowed the researchers access to 1000 established customers with a history of repeat purchases, contained on their email database. The store is exclusive to the outdoor enthusiast category and does not sell unrelated items. A survey was developed to obtain the data for this research as well as other data requested by the retailer. The hypotheses were tested by examining the structural model. There is a positive relationship between self-concept and store image. Store image is positively related with loyalty. However, we did not find evidence that actual self-concept is significantly related to service quality perceptions. Service quality is positively related with loyalty and loyalty is positively related with share of wallet. Probably the most surprising outcome of this research is the lack of a significant relationship between consumers’ self-concept and service quality. Three explanations may account for the inability of this study to find such an association. First, it is plausible that consumers who frequent high-end specialty stores assume service quality will be higher than other non-niche stores who may offer similar but lower-quality products as disconfirmation may be driven primarily by product quality evaluations in a high-end retail context. This perception may persist as long as high quality products are present and not offset by egregious service failures. Second, the service quality measure used for this study may have been somewhat limited as it was a broad measure of service quality perceptions. An investigation into more specific dimensions of Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings March 2018 2 Copyright of the Author(s) and published under a Creative Commons License Agreement http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ service quality may provide further insight into how self-concept affects service quality judgements. Finally, the actual process of measuring service quality may have primed a more critical mindset, possibly reducing variance when measuring service quality. However, an examination of the data revealed that this is the least likely explanation since a negativity bias was not evident. A more plausible explanation from psychology literature might come from confirmation bias which posits that individuals seek information that confirms their beliefs. It is plausible that respondents evaluated the service quality as consistently high due to the desire to reinforce that shopping at said retailer was a good decision. This study reinforces self-concept relationships in a niche-retail context. It seems reasonable to conclude that loyalty and share of wallet can be enhanced by improving customer service perceptions. However, the magnitude of this relationship was the smallest of all significant relationships. This suggests that other factors may play a more critical role or that boundary conditions may exist in regards to the relationship between service quality and loyalty in a niche retail context. In the context of a high-end niche sporting goods retailer, store image seemed to serve as a more profound driver of loyalty. Consumers’ actual self-concept was shown to hold a clear positive association with store image in the high-end niche category

The Impact of Visceral Influences on Consumers' Evaluation of Weight Loss Advertising

The weight loss industry has come under fire from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in recent years due to consumer claims that many firms, marketing weight loss products, are using advertisements in an attempt to deceive consumers. Illegitimate weight loss claims have created so much concern that a White Paper call-to-action to investigate misleading weight loss advertisements has been filed. Despite recent interest, little attention has been garnered concerning the understanding of why consumers respond to potentially misleading weight loss claims. Intuitively, an understanding of why consumers fall prey to weight loss claims may aid academics, practitioners, and policy makers as they make important decisions relative to the weight loss industry and its practices. This study fills that void by applying a theory of visceral influences (TVI) to the context of weight loss advertising. Loewenstein's TVI was developed to aid in explaining why consumers make decisions contrary to their long-term self-interest. Visceral influences are drive states that have a direct hedonic impact, have an effect on the relative desirability of various goods and activities, and consequently, have a strong influence over the decisions consumers make. Common visceral cues (cues associated with any reward linked to a visceral factor) include proximity of reward, vividness of reward, and visual priming. To adequately test TVI in the context of weight loss advertising, a two step approach was used. First, advertiser intent was assessed through content analysis of weight loss advertisements. Second, composite advertisements were created from the content analysis to assess subject response to visceral cues common in weight loss advertising. MANOVA results show that the presence of visceral cues affected subjects' thoughts, buying impulse, affective reaction, intentions, and product evaluation. This research makes the following contributions. First, it addresses an area of public policy where there is a need for research to shape future legislation. Second, it provides an initial empirical examination of the effects of visceral cues on subjects' providing a foundation for further application and theory building. Third, it reveals that visceral cues effects are moderated by an individual's level of involvement with a reward

Information Disclosure on a Chinese Social Media Platform

The nature of social media encourages people to contribute voluntarily to public web and inevitably, leaving a persistent and cumulative repository of personal information. Aware of the privacy risks, about one third of the Internet users in the United States have expressed concerns of their personal privacy. However, users are often cavalier in the protection of their own data profile. There is often a discrepancy between users’ intentions to protect privacy and their actual heavier. This behavior is often terms as “privacy paradox”. The privacy paradox might arise because users balance between risks and benefits of disclosing information on social media. Using the privacy calculus model as the theoretical background, the study examines how perceived risks and benefits affect information disclosure behavior on a Chinese social media site. In addition, the study investigates the antecedents of perceived benefits and risks as well as the effect of gender on information disclosure behavior. 420 valid responses were collected from a Chinese crowdsourcing website. Partial Least Squares (PLS), specifically SmartPLS 2.0, was used to assess the psychometric properties of the measurement model and to test the hypotheses. The study finds that perceived privacy risk is not significantly related to information disclosure (β=-0.01, p\u3e0.10). However, the relationship between perceived benefits and information disclosure is significant (β=0.18,

Investigating Consumer Concept in a Niche Retail Market

This paper examines the relationship between self-concept, store image, service quality, loyalty, and share of wallet in a high-end niche retail market. Data was obtained from a high-end outdoor retail store customer email database. Partial Least Squares (PLS), was used to assess the psychometric properties of the measurement model and to test the hypotheses. A significant positive relationship was found between actual self-concept and store image; store image and loyalty; service quality and loyalty; and loyalty and share of wallet. This research suggests service quality perceptions, and particularly store image will enhance loyalty and increase share of wallet. The concurrent examination of the constructs in a niche retail context provides unique insights into the importance of self-concept, store image, and service quality as drivers of loyalty and share of wallet. Store image was the most substantial driver of loyalty behavior, followed by self-concept and service quality perceptions, respectively

Exploring Impact Philanthropy, Altruistic, Hedonic, and Egoistic Motivations to Support Animal Causes

Due to unpredictable economic turbulence, it is imperative that nonprofit organizations understand and implement segmentation practices to better target donors to maintain continual growth in donations. While such strategies are well implemented in for-profit arenas, non-profit organizations still lag behind in the implementation of segmentation and targeting practices. The targeting of donors by nonprofit organizations tends to be unfocused and sporadic at best. Early research on the practice of segmenting potential donors suggest that nonprofit firms should resist profiling their existing donors based upon demographic characteristics alone and should rely on examining demographic variables in relation to meaningful motivational forces. This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining altruistic, hedonic, impact philanthropy, and egoistic motives in an exploratory fashion to investigate which motivational are the strongest among animal sanctuary supporters. These motivational dimensions are also examined relative to past visitation behavior and membership. In addition, gender and age are examined in the study. A cross-sectional sample of 109 animal sanctuary supporters is obtained from an avian sanctuary in the Southeastern United States and paired sample t-tests were used to examine the relative effects of the motivational dimensions. Results indicate that impact philanthropy was a stronger motivational force than hedonic, altruistic, and egoistic motives. No substantial difference was found between hedonic and altruistic motives while both hedonic and altruistic motives were substantially greater than egoistic motives. In addition, hedonic motives were found to have a substantial relationship with sanctuary membership while past visitation was strongly associated with both impact philanthropy and hedonic motives. As shown in past research women rated higher on altruistic motives while no difference in motives was found based upon age. The results of this study indicate that impact philanthropy may be a major motivational force for donating to animal causes. This finding suggests that animal causes should focus on appeals attractive to impact philanthropists, individuals motivated by the desire to make a difference

Internal Marketing Implications of Workplace Bullying: The Integration of Multiple Perspectives

This special session will highlight marketing, behavioral, leadership, and legal perspectives of workplace bullying behavior and how such behavior can negatively affect an individual’s wellbeing and adversely impact an organization’s welfare. The discussion will be couched within an internal marketing framework with special emphasis on strategic implications. Behavioral aspects of those who bully and the impact that their behavior can have on their targets will be given special consideration. Also, various leadership issues that arise in workplace environments with respect to workplace bullying will be explored. Further, an overview of the legal ramifications of workplace bullying will be integrated into the discussion. Additionally, theory advancement and applied research development will be discussed as a means to stimulate additional study of the bullying phenomena. It was during the 1970s that the internal marketing concept emerged. Over time various firms gradually acknowledged the value of internal marketing programs. This adoption of internal marketing initiatives was possible because many firms recognized that internal marketing strategies were a complementary prerequisite for many external marketing efforts. The application of the IM philosophy embraced the marketing concept as it applied to employees within an organization. Under this philosophy, firms sought to recruit and retain talented people who would aspire to build and sustain relationships with customers. Although well-planned visions, missions, products, processes, and procedures were critical to such initiatives, these managerial tools have not necessarily sufficient in assuring an IM-driven environment. The panel members submit that it is also imperative to consider the impact that specific types of personal and organizational behaviors can have on internal marketing outcomes. In so doing, there is a need to recognize and acknowledge negative behaviors that can hamper, or worse yet, sabotage potential individual and group accomplishments that are in keeping with marketing goals. Many times organizations have explicitly stated the adoption of the internal marketing philosophy, The reality is, however, that workplace bullying is one form of negative behavior that may simultaneously exist even in light of noble mission statements, employee appreciation proclamations, and IM programs that declare the adherence to civil actions in a supportive work environment. In the extreme, the disconnections between explicit messages of communications and implicit messages of actions can be flagrant. The severing of organizational communications from organizational actions may manifest itself as transparent duplicity, inherent dishonesty, and disruptive affronts. In severe cases, malfeasance may thrive. The panel members will encourage audience discussion for the purposes of identifying theoretical and applied research issues and for suggesting potential research directions. Further, the SMA audience will be specifically invited to share their insights relative to IM leadership issues and bullying in the workplace. Also, panelists will encourage discussions of workplace bullying within academic settings with an emphasis on structural solutions. Questions and perceptions concerning behavioral issues will be welcomed

Lack of association between angiotensin-converting enzyme and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type in an elderly Arab population in Wadi Ara, Israel

The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a protease involved in blood pressure regulation, has been implicated as an important candidate gene for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study investigated whether the ACE gene insertion–deletion (ID) polymorphism is associated with risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer’s type (DAT) in an Arab–Israeli community, a unique genetic isolate where there is a high prevalence of DAT. In contrast to several other studies, we found no evidence of an association between this polymorphism and either DAT or age-related cognitive decline (ARCD)

Curcumin Ingestion Inhibits Mastocytosis and Suppresses Intestinal Anaphylaxis in a Murine Model of Food Allergy

IgE antibodies and mast cells play critical roles in the establishment of allergic responses to food antigens. Curcumin, the active ingredient of the curry spice turmeric, has anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the capacity to regulate Th2 cells and mucosal mast cell function during allergic responses. We assessed whether curcumin ingestion during oral allergen exposure can modulate the development of food allergy using a murine model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced intestinal anaphylaxis. Herein, we demonstrate that frequent ingestion of curcumin during oral OVA exposure inhibits the development of mastocytosis and intestinal anaphylaxis in OVA-challenged allergic mice. Intragastric (i.g.) exposure to OVA in sensitized BALB/c mice induced a robust IgE-mediated response accompanied by enhanced OVA-IgE levels, intestinal mastocytosis, elevated serum mMCP-1, and acute diarrhea. In contrast, mice exposed to oral curcumin throughout the experimental regimen appeared to be normal and did not exhibit intense allergic diarrhea or a significant enhancement of OVA-IgE and intestinal mast cell expansion and activation. Furthermore, allergic diarrhea, mast cell activation and expansion, and Th2 responses were also suppressed in mice exposed to curcumin during the OVA-challenge phase alone, despite the presence of elevated levels of OVA-IgE, suggesting that curcumin may have a direct suppressive effect on intestinal mast cell activation and reverse food allergy symptoms in allergen-sensitized individuals. This was confirmed by observations that curcumin attenuated the expansion of both adoptively transferred bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs), and inhibited their survival and activation during cell culture. Finally, the suppression of intestinal anaphylaxis by curcumin was directly linked with the inhibition of NF-kappaB activation in curcumin-treated allergic mice, and curcumin inhibited the phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB in BMMCs. In summary, our data demonstrates a protective role for curcumin during allergic responses to food antigens, suggesting that frequent ingestion of this spice may modulate the outcome of disease in susceptible individuals

Superconductivity in potassium-doped 2,2′'-bipyridine

Organic compounds are always promising candidates of superconductors with high transition temperatures. We examine this proposal by choosing 2,2$'$-bipyridine solely composed by C, H, and N atoms. The presence of Meissner effect with a transition temperature of 7.2 K in this material upon potassium doping is demonstrated by the $dc$ magnetic susceptibility measurements. The real part of the $ac$ susceptibility exhibits the same transition temperature as that in $dc$ magnetization, and a sharp peak appeared in the imaginary part indicates the formation of the weakly linked superconducting vortex current. The occurence of superconductivity is further supported by the resistance drop at the transition together with its suppression by the applied magnetic fields. The superconducting phase is identified to be K$_3$-2,2$'$-bipyridine from the analysis of Raman scattering spectra. This work not only opens an encouraging window for finding superconductivity after optoelectronics in 2,2$'$-bipyridine-based materials but also offers an example to realize superconductivity from conducting polymers and their derivatives.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure