Reconceptualising and Reconstructing Consumer Involvement: Modeling Involvement in a Nomological Network of Relevant Constructs

The research reported herein concerns a specific stream of research within the general domain of consumer behaviour. The dissertation attempts to reconceptualise the construct of involvement and develop an instrument to measure consumers involvement. Largely, the significance of this dissertation rests in the development and presentation of a comprehensive model for the conceptualisation and analysis of involvement and key individual variables that act as antecedents to involvement and consequences of it. The study focuses on the philosophical and practical questions of involvement's content, nature and the direction and strength of its relationship with theoretically important constructs. It fundamentally asks the question: how should the construct of involvement be conceptualised and operationalised, and what is the relationship between involvement and self-image product-image congruency, consumer values, product knowledge/expertise, consumer confidence and consumption consequences. The methodology is based on the development and administration of a survey questionnaire. A mail survey was sent to a random sample of 900 students at an Australian University. The primary analytic procedure for the study was structural equation modeling using the computer program AMOS. The results of the research indicate significant support for the theoretical propositions developed in this study. The theoretical formulations of product involvement, purchase decision involvement, communications involvement and consumption involvement were strongly supported. Further, the introduction of consumer involvement as a second-order factor for the four forms of involvement proved significant. Nomological validity between involvement, values systems, product knowledge, consumer confidence, consumption consequences and self-image product-image congruency was established. A number of theoretical and managerial implications for marketers are identified and discussed

Building brand value: consumer assessment of value

In recent times attention has been given in consumer behaviour to consumer assessments of value. The view that brands provide value to consumers seems well entrenched both in academia and popular culture. This study focused on examining how consumer assessments of brand fit, brand significance, and attitudes towards brands influence consumer evaluation of value. A study of consumers between 18-25 years old, across two brands of sport shoe indicate that personal, idiosyncratic assessments, such as brand fit and brand significance, along with brand attitudes influence overall assessment of brand value

A cross cultural examination of consumer behaviour and GM food products : results from Australian and South Korean female consumers

The call for the cross cultural examination and validation of commonly accepted relationships within consumer behaviour is strengthening. Consequently, this paper seeks to address this call by examining consumer risk perceptions, reliance on country of origin information and willingness to buy Genetically Modified (GM) food products on Australian and South Korean consumers. Findings indicate a number of cross cultural similarities and differences that have both theoretical and practical implications

Examining the effects of website-induced flow in professional sporting team websites

Purpose: This paper seeks to contribute to the internet marketing literature by examining the impact of flow on consumers’ satisfaction, aroused feelings, website loyalty and word-of-mouth behaviours. Design/methodology/approach: A self-administered online questionnaire was used for data collection through a market research firm which randomly selected individuals of its online panel. Participants were asked to recall a recent encounter with their preferred professional sport website and refer to that website regarding their answers. Data were gathered from 400 consumers from a variety of professional sporting teams. The variables under investigation in the study were measured using established scales from the marketing literature and adapted to the context of the study. Findings: The results indicate that a compelling online experience related to sporting team websites as represented by flow experiences appears to be a driver of positive aroused feelings, higher satisfaction levels, as well as website loyalty and positive word-of-mouth of sport consumers. Research limitations/implications: The sample of the study is restricted to consumer evaluations from a specific website-service context being the professional sport sector. The empirical relationships between flow, aroused feelings, consumer satisfaction, website loyalty and word of mouth reported in the study are tentative in the sense that they are based on cross-sectional data. Practical implications: The study provides important implications for flow theory development and implications for internet marketing strategy, especially for professional sporting teams. Originality/value: The paper adds to the literature by investigating the relationship between flow and consequent outcomes of encounters and experiences of sporting team websites. Little research has addressed flow, and its effect on aroused feelings, consumer satisfaction and website-related loyalty intentions, especially in the domain of professional sport websites