The Effects of Numerical Divisibility on Loneliness Perceptions and Consumer Preferences

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengfeng Yan ◽  
Jaideep Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
Compensatory Consumption

Abstract This research seeks to examine, first, whether and why consumers perceive divisible versus indivisible numbers differently and, second, how such divergent perceptions influence consumer preferences for marketer-created entities associated with divisible versus indivisible numbers. Integrating insights from two different literatures—numerical cognition and loneliness—we propose and find that numbers perceived to be divisible (vs. indivisible) are viewed as having more “connections” and are therefore deemed to be less lonely. Building on these findings and the literature on compensatory consumption, we then propose and demonstrate that a temporary feeling of loneliness increases participants’ relative preference for various targets—products, attributes, and prices—associated with divisible (vs. indivisible) numbers, which are perceived to be relatively more connected and less lonely. It merits mention that our findings are triangulated across a wide variety of numbers, different product categories, and multiple operationalizations of loneliness.

scholarly journals Understanding preferences of German flower consumers: the desire for sustained beauty

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 560-576
Author(s):  
Meike Rombach ◽  
Nicole Widmar ◽  
Elizabeth Byrd ◽  
Vera Bitsch
Keyword(s):  
Latent Class Analysis ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Class Analysis ◽  
Cut Flower ◽  
Cut Flowers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
Best Worst Scaling

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insights for flower retailers, horticultural practitioners and marketing managers into the prioritisation of cut flower attributes by German residents.Design/methodology/approachApplying a best–worst scaling approach, this analysis identified the relative ranking of importance amongst product attributes relevant to German consumers when buying fresh cut flowers. A latent class analysis determined four flower consumer segments for further study. The study builds on a sample of 978 consumers and is consistent with the most recent German census in terms of age, gender, income and federal state.FindingsThe best-worst analysis showed that intrinsic flower attributes, in particular appearance, freshness and scent were found to be more important to German consumers than the extrinsic attributes studied, namely, price, country of origin and a certification indicating fair trade. The latent class analysis determined four consumer segments that desire either budget, luxury or ethical flowers or more information about flowers. For all identified consumer segments, appearance was the attribute of greatest importance. The segments that desired luxury or ethical flowers, as well as the segment that desires more information were interested in appearance, but also had relatively large shares of preferences dedicated to flower freshness guarantees. The preference for freshness guarantees in addition to appearance may be interpreted jointly as a desire for not only beautiful and aesthetically pleasing flowers, but for sustained beauty.Originality/valueInternationally, the study fills a research gap by exploring consumer’s relative preference for cut flower attributes. In contrast to existing studies on consumer preferences for flowers in Germany, the present study builds on a sample that was targeted in terms of age, gender, net household income and federal state to the most recent German census.

Product order affects consumer preferences for variety bundles

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 869-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Mittelman ◽  
Eduardo B. Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Order Effect ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Visual Aesthetics ◽  
Product Attitudes ◽  
The One ◽  
Display Order ◽  
Product Order

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of a variety bundle's product display order on consumer preferences. When forming a variety bundle, manufacturers, retailers and advertisers need to decide on the order in which their products are displayed. The authors provide empirical evidence that this apparently trivial display decision can systematically affect consumer preferences. Design/methodology/approach Four experiments were performed with over a total of 1,000 participants. Logistic regressions were conducted on the collected data sets to provide support for the hypothesis and its underlying psychological mechanism. Findings Results showed that product attitudes systematically affect choices among variety bundles that differ only in the order in which their products are displayed. When choosing among flat and horizontal variety bundles, Western consumers preferred the one that had the product they like the most to the left. This phenomenon was observed in different product categories, among left-to-right readers from different Western countries and languages, and with both hypothetical and consequential decisions. The incremental weight given to the first piece of information (i.e. “first” product in the bundle) explains this product order effect. Originality/value Although a significant amount of research has been conducted to understand the factors that affect consumer preferences for product bundles, little attention has been devoted to the role of visual aesthetics. The research addresses this gap, and in so doing contributes both to the marketing and to the visual aesthetics literature. One simple yet key implication of the product order effect documented here is that the value consumers assign to a variety bundle depends on the order in which its products are displayed.

scholarly journals Man Versus Machine: Resisting Automation in Identity-Based Consumer Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 818-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugina Leung ◽  
Gabriele Paolacci ◽  
Stefano Puntoni
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Consumption Benefits ◽  
Identity Motives

Automation is transforming many consumption domains, including everyday activities such as cooking or driving, as well as recreational activities like fishing or cycling. Yet little research in marketing examines consumer preferences for automated products. Automation often provides obvious consumption benefits, but six studies spanning a variety of product categories show that automation may not be desirable when identity motives are important drivers of consumption. Using both correlational and experimental designs, these studies demonstrate that people who strongly identify with a particular social category resist automated features that hinder the attribution of identity-relevant consumption outcomes to themselves. The findings have substantial theoretical implications for research on identity and technology, as well as managerial implications for targeting, product innovation, and communication.

scholarly journals Personality or Value: A Comparative Study of Psychographic Segmentation Based on an Online Review Enhanced Recommender System

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Liu ◽  
Yinghui Huang ◽  
Zichao Wang ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
Xiangen Hu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Recommender System ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Marketing Research ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
User Preference ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Product Categories

Big consumer data promises to be a game changer in applied and empirical marketing research. However, investigations of how big data helps inform consumers’ psychological aspects have, thus far, only received scant attention. Psychographics has been shown to be a valuable market segmentation path in understanding consumer preferences. Although in the context of e-commerce, as a component of psychographic segmentation, personality has been proven to be effective for prediction of e-commerce user preferences, it still remains unclear whether psychographic segmentation is practically influential in understanding user preferences across different product categories. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first quantitative demonstration of the promising effect and relative importance of psychographic segmentation in predicting users’ online purchasing preferences across different product categories in e-commerce by using a data-driven approach. We first construct two online psychographic lexicons that include the Big Five Factor (BFF) personality traits and Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) using natural language processing (NLP) methods that are based on behavior measurements of users’ word use. We then incorporate the lexicons in a deep neural network (DNN)-based recommender system to predict users’ online purchasing preferences considering the new progress in segmentation-based user preference prediction methods. Overall, segmenting consumers into heterogeneous groups surprisingly does not demonstrate a significant improvement in understanding consumer preferences. Psychographic variables (both BFF and SVS) significantly improve the explanatory power of e-consumer preferences, whereas the improvement in prediction power is not significant. The SVS tends to outperform BFF segmentation, except for some product categories. Additionally, the DNN significantly outperforms previous methods. An e-commerce-oriented SVS measurement and segmentation approach that integrates both BFF and the SVS is recommended. The strong empirical evidence provides both practical guidance for e-commerce product development, marketing and recommendations, and a methodological reference for big data-driven marketing research.

Brand personality and purchase intention

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 462-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
María de la Paz Toldos-Romero ◽  
Ma. Margarita Orozco-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Brand Personality ◽  
Personality Dimensions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of brand personality dimensions on purchase intention. Furthermore, the brand personality dimensions are compared to study the differences between users and non-users of 12 brands. Design/methodology/approach – An estimated 400 undergraduate students participated. They were given a questionnaire divided into two sessions (six brands of think products in one session and six brands of feel products in another session). In the end, 313 participants completed the questionnaire on the six brands of think products, and 320 completed the questionnaire on the six brands of feel products. Findings – Multiple regression analysis revealed that Hipness/Vivacity, Success, Sincerity and Sophistication brand personality dimensions are significant predictors of purchase intention. In addition, Domesticity/Emotionality and Professionalism also explain purchase intention but with a negative weight. The results are also broken down into product categories. Compared with non-users of the brands, the users rate the brands higher in all the brand personality dimensions. Practical implications – This paper should prove useful to marketing practitioners to understand how Mexican customers perceive their brands and those of their competitors and, therefore, to understand what competitors of these brands can do to increase purchase intention. Originality/value – The results found regarding purchase intention are important, as they can be used to identify those personality brand dimensions that appear to be most important in explaining consumer preferences.

scholarly journals Re-branding as a marketing tool

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-310
Author(s):  
Vivek V ◽  
Mahilarasi v
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Market Segments ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
The Past ◽  
Intense Competition ◽  
Branding Strategies ◽  
Marketing Tool

Markets from low-involvement to high-involvement product categories have been experiencing sweeping changes in the past decade. Changing lifestyles, fragmented market segments and consumer preferences, and intense competition from the brands of multinational corporations (MNCs) have made re-branding strategies a prerequisite for marketing success

scholarly journals POSSIBILITIES OF POSITIONING THROUGH DIFFERENTIATION OF PRODUCTS FROM THE PROCESSING OF OLIVE TREE FRUIT

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieta Stefanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Product Category ◽  
Olive Tree ◽  
Cost Leadership ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Tree Fruit ◽  
Different Types

This study analyses the possibility of differentiation in the supply of different types of products from the processing of the olive tree fruit in order to make them more appealing to the target audience. Possibilities have been identified to distinguish the business from other market participants and to better position it on the market through cost leadership or differentiation of product quality. An analysis has been conducted of a product differentiation method applying five factors facilitating the positioning of the brand to achieve better satisfaction of consumer preferences and earn the consumers' loyalty. It was found that in the examined product category the factor contributing to the greatest degree to product differentiation is the adopted assortment policy. This is an expert method that can be successfully applied to other product categories.

The Influence of Disease Cues on Preference for Typical versus Atypical Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunhui Huang ◽  
Jaideep Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Evolutionary Strategies ◽  
Disease Avoidance ◽  
Decision Context ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
The People

Abstract This article examines how exposure to disease-related cues influences consumers’ preference for typical (vs. atypical) product options. Merging insights from evolutionary psychology with research on preference for typicality in consumer products, we predict that disease salience decreases relative preference for typical versus atypical options, because typical products are implicitly associated with many people, misaligning them with the people-avoidance motive triggered by disease cues. We further build on this conceptualization to identify situations in which this preference shift might be eliminated. Specifically, we argue that the focal effect will not manifest when the disease in question is explicitly described to be noncontagious, or when an anti-infection intervention is introduced, or when the decision context involves minimum infection. Results from six studies provide support for our predictions, advancing basic knowledge on the evolutionary strategies guiding disease avoidance, while also documenting how such strategies can affect consumer preferences.

A Flexible Demand Model for Complements Using Household Production Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-787
Author(s):  
Ludovic Stourm ◽  
Raghuram Iyengar ◽  
Eric T. Bradlow
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Household Production ◽  
Production Theory ◽  
Demand Model ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Perfect Complementarity ◽  
Price Effects ◽  
Level Model ◽  
Household Production Theory

According to household production theory, consumers buy inputs and combine them to produce final goods from which they derive utility. We use this idea to build a micro-level model for the quantity demanded by a consumer across product categories. Our model proposes an intuitive explanation for the existence of negative cross-price effects across categories and can be estimated on purchase data in the presence of corner solutions and indivisible packages. We find that, even when reusing the same functional form as some previous models of demand for substitutes, our model can accommodate very different patterns of consumer preferences from perfect complementarity to no complementarity between goods. We estimate the model on purchase data from a panel of consumers and find that it yields a better fit than a set of benchmark models. We then show how the demand system estimated can be used to increase the profitability of couponing strategies by taking into account the spillover effect of coupons on demand for complementary categories and by manufacturers to make decisions regarding the size of packages by taking into account cross-category consumption. We also use the model to simulate demand under a shift in the proportions used in joint consumption, which could be stimulated via marketing efforts.

scholarly journals The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Preference for Sustainable Luxury Brands

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungkeun Kim ◽  
Felix Septianto ◽  
Jooyoung Park
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Environmental Threat ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Childhood Socioeconomic Status ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Sustainability has become an increasing concern for many brands and companies and an increasing number of luxury brands now engage in sustainability practices. The present research examines the factors influencing the effectiveness of embedding sustainability in luxury brands. Specifically, this paper investigates how childhood socioeconomic status (SES) moderates consumer preferences for sustainable (vs. regular non-sustainable) luxury brands. Across three experimental studies with different product categories and luxury brands, this paper finds that preferences for regular (vs. sustainable) luxury goods are stronger in people with a relatively high (vs. low) childhood SES (Studies 1-3). Notably, these preference patterns are driven by differences in the perceived quality of the brand among consumers with low versus high childhood SES (Study 2). However, these divergent patterns are attenuated when consumers experience high perceived environmental threat from the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 3). Taken together, these findings provide several theoretical and managerial implications.

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