Effect of Young Consumers’ Self-Concept on Hedonic/Utilitarian Cool Attitudes

Understanding the self-concept of young consumers is crucial for apparel marketers because such consumers prefer to purchase products with images congruent with their self-images (i.e., one dimension of self-concept) (Runyan, 1988). Apparel marketers strive to attach target consumers’ perceived self-images to products as a marketing strategy to spur a greater probability of being purchased (Ataman & Ulengin, 2003). Thus, commercial marketers need to understand the projected or ideal self-image of their consumers to increase product sales

The Moderating Effect of Family-Ownership on Firm Performance: An Examination of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Social Capital

Within the small business literature, a number of recent studies have examined the importance of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the development of social capital (SC) as each contributes to a firm's performance. While it is generally accepted in previous studies that each of these constructs positively affects firm performance, relatively less attention has been paid to potential moderating factors that can affect these relationships. The purpose of our research is to address one such moderator, family ownership. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the moderating effect of family ownership on the relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, social capital, and firm performance, our results show that the effects of EO and SC vary depending upon whether the firm is family-owned or non-family owned. Implications of these findings and future research directions are provided

Sports celebrity endorsements and retailing:can athletes provide a competitive advantage?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend previous research into sport celebrity endorsements by investigating such endorsements of products ultimately sold by retailers. This is done by updating previous research involving print media in sporting magazines. Design/methodology/approach – A content analysis approach is used, examining advertisements in randomly selected issues of sports illustrated from the most recent full six years of publication. Findings – Changes in the frequency of advertisements using sports celebrities were found compared to previous studies. Additionally, it appears that products which are ultimately sold by retailers are endorsed more frequently by celebrities in certain sports than others. Originality/value – By including in the investigation the topics of sport played and consumer products, the paper extends the current literature to explore the advertisers' use of athlete endorsers with products directly and indirectly impacting retailers

Author and institution rankings in retail research:an analysis of the four retail journals from 1994–2008

The four retailing journals are reviewed over a 15 year period through 2008. Utilizing established methodology, the impact of scholars and institutions upon the retailing discipline is assessed using five measures. Over 1,800 articles were reviewed, coded for authorship and institutional affiliation and then analyzed based on several measures designed to control for quantity and quality of publication. Results by journal as well as overall are tabled by author and institutional appearance. Findings include a distinct division of European authors and institutions dominating the three European-based journals and North American authors dominating the American-based journal

Hospitality marketing research:recent trends and future directions

This article reviews the hospitality marketing research published in four top hospitality journals from 2008 to 2010 for the purposes of identifying significant trends and gaps in the literature. A total of 274 articles are reviewed and classified based on research topic, industry focus, and analysis technique as well as on a number of other methodological criteria. Significant topical and methodological trends are discussed. Important topical trends are synthesized and specific directions for future research are proposed. We conclude with the presentation and discussion of an organizational framework for future hospitality marketing research

The effect of culture on the context of ad pictures and ad persuasion:the role of context-dependent and context-independent thinking

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine whether the context of ad pictures differs between Chinese ads and US ads and whether it can influence consumers' ad attitudes. Design/methodology/approach – An ad content analysis and a laboratory experiment were conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings – Findings suggest that contextualized ads appear more frequently in Chinese magazines because East Asians have a context-dependent mode of thinking while westerners have a context-independent mode of thinking. However, the effect of culture on advertising is moderated by product class (goods vs service), product category, and magazine category. Moreover, East Asians prefer contextualized ads to non-contextualized ones, while westerners prefer non-contextualized ads to contextualized ads. However, the effect of culture on ad attitudes may be moderated by ad involvement. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of this study stem from its being based on ad samples from China and its use of students to test ad attitudes. Practical implications – The findings allow managers to better determine whether and under what conditions to use contextualized or non-contextualized advertisements. Originality/value – The study's examination of the effect of culture on the context of ad format and effect of context on persuasion in this context constitutes a unique and valuable contribution to the literature. The paper also contributes much to the literature by checking cultural differences across 17 magazine categories, compared to the vast majority of studies analyzing ad content between eastern and western cultures, which have been based on ads from only a few source

The use of buying committees by Chinese retailers:the effects of environment and strategy upon structure

Using an organizational theory framework, this study investigates the use of buying committees by Chinese retailers in the value chain. We conducted a survey of 100 Chinese retailers to determine the effects of the environment and firm strategy upon firm structure. Results from the study revealed that market orientation was inversely related to economic development as well as firm size; market orientation does not predict the use of buying committees; the environmental factors of ownership type and economic development predict buying committee use, but market orientation does not. We offer conclusions and implications for suppliers and other members of the value chain