外文翻译消费者个性和情境品牌选择变化的其他因素文档格式.docx
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Consumerpersonalityandotherfactorsinsituationalbrandchoicevariation
原文:
INTRODUCTION
Pastresearchandempiricalevidenceindicatethatindividualbehaviourvariesacrosssituations.Morespecifically,researchintoconsumerbehaviourhasshownhowindividualspreferdifferentbrandsfordifferentconsumptionoccasions.Thisvariationinconsumerchoicehasbeenreportedforbrandedproductssuchasclothing,snackfoods,4mineralwater,soupsandsodas,candy,fragrancesandwine.
Althoughasignificantamountofresearchhasexamineddriversofsituationalvariation,paststudiesalmostexclusivelyfocusedonproductattributesandfailedtoestablishlinkstobrandequitydimensionsintermsofthebenefitsdesiredbyindividualsinbrands.Closingthisknowledgegapisimportantbecauseformanyproductcategoriesconsumersbuybrandsratherthanproducts.Accordingly,brandmanagersneedtoknowhowtodesignanddeliverbrandmessagesthatareeitherrobustacrossanumberofconsumptionoccasionsorarespecificallytailoredtoadistinctivesituation,wheretheyoutperformmoregeneralbranddesigns.Long-termobjectivesofthisresearchthusaimatabetterunderstandingoftheconsumer–situation–brandinteractionsinconsumerchoice.Moreimmediateobjectivesfocusontheexaminationofhowconsumerpersonalityandotherfactorsinfluencedesiredbrandbenefitsandchoicewhendifferentconsumptionsituationsaresalient.Thecentralhypothesisisthatconsumercharacteristicsinteractwithsituationalcharacteristicsinaffectingthebenefitsthatconsumersdesireinbrands,andconsequentlytheirchoice.
BRANDBENEFITSANDCHOICE
Inthepast,marketingresearchershavefocusedontherelationshipbetweenconsumersandtheproductclasstopredictbrandchoice.Inparticular,theproductattributesdesiredbyconsumersattractedresearchers’interest,butresearchersgenerallydidnotdistinguishbetweentheeffectcausedbythebrandnameandtheeffectoriginatingintheproductintermsofattributelevelcombinations.Morerecently,scholarshaveadvancedtheideathattheproductaswellasthebrandnameiscapableofcontributingseveraltypesofbenefitstotheconsumer.
Thetheoreticalandempiricalliteratureonconsumer-perceivedordesiredbrandbenefitssuggestsclassifyingthosebenefitsaccordingtoanumberofbasicdimensions.Multiple-itemscalesforassessingindividualperceptionsanddesiredbrandbenefitshavebeendevelopedwithsixdistinctdimensionsemerging,termedquality/performance,price/valueformoney,social,emotional,environmentalandhealthbenefits.Recentapplicationsofthesescalestobrandedconsumergoodshavedemonstratedthatthebasicdimensionsaresuitableforassessingbrandimages,16brandpositioning,andforpredictingconsumerpreferences18andNostudycouldbefound,however,applyingthemodeltopredictconsumerchoice,avariableofstrongerinterestformarketingmanagersthanantecedentbutunobservableperceptions,intentionsorattitudes.Figure1showsthemodelutilisedinthisstudy.
SITUATIONALDRIVERS
AccordingtoHornik,neitherindividualdifferences(consumerpersonality)norsituationalfactorsareassumedtobeofexclusiveimportanceinpredictingsituationalvariationinconsumerbehaviour.Instead,itisthepersonwithinasituationalinteractionthatisexpectedtocontributemostofthevariance.
Thenotionthatconsumerstates,particularlytheirsituationaldisposition,influenceconsumerbehaviouriswidelyaccepted.Consumersituationaldispositionsarepositedassignificantmediatorsbetweensituationalstimuliandbehaviouraloutcomeswithpersonalitytraitsandaffectivestatesbeingtheirantecedents.Forvariousproductcategories,marketingresearchershavedemonstratedtheeffectsofconsumerdispositionssuchasindividualinclinationtotakearisk,toseekvarietyandcuriosityonacquisitionbehavioursincludingbrandswitching.Forexample,MitchellandGreatorexhavestressedtheimportanceofrisktakingandvariety-seekingtoconsumerchoiceofwinebrands.
DominatingthecurrentliteratureonconsumerexploratorytendenciesisRaju’sconceptualisationofthreesituationaldispositions.Risk-takingdescribesexploratorybehaviourexpressedthroughchoicesofinnovativeandunfamiliaralternativesthatareperceivedasrisky.Variety-seekingisexpressedthroughanindividual’sswitchingwithinfamiliaralternatives,includingbrandswitching,andanaversiontohabitualbehaviour.Curiosity-motivatedbehaviourinvolvesexploratoryinformation-seeking,interpersonalcommunicationandshopping.
Consumer-perceivedriskinwinebuyingsituationshasbeenrelatedtofunctional(quality)andsocialbrandbenefits.Scholarshavealsoshownconsumerinformation-seeking(curiosity-motivatedbehaviour)toberelatedtowhatbenefitsconsumersdesireinwine.Examiningseveralotherbrandedconsumergoodsincludingsoups,sodas,beerandmineralwater,VanTrijpreportedthatinadditiontoindividualdifferencesinintrinsicdesireforvariety,expressionofvarietyseekingbehaviourwasalsoinfluencedbybrand-relatedfactors.
High-involvementdecisionsusuallyentailaconsiderabledegreeofperceivedriskinmakingasub-optimaldecision,asituationthathampersvariety-seekingbehaviour.Ontheotherhand,forbrandchoicesthataretotallyunimportanttotheconsumer,habit-basedrepetitivechoicebehaviourisbyfarthemostefficientheuristic,andconsequentlyvariety-seekingisnotlikelytooccur.
VanTrijpetal.suggestthattruevariety-seekingisrootedintheneedforchangeinanattempttoresolvetheboredomassociatedwithabrand.Differentfromthatisvariety-seekingtriggeredbyexternalfactorssuchasimpression-managementconcerns.Indeed,researchershavefoundthatconsumersincorporatemorevarietyin
theirbrandchoiceswhentheirbehaviourissubjecttopublicscrutinybecausetheyexpectotherstoevaluatetheirdecisionmorefavourablyiftheychoosevariety.
VARIATIONINDESIREDBRANDBENEFITSANDCHOICE
Anamplebodyofstudiesindicatesthattheawarenessthatotherswillobserveone’sdecisioninducesimpression-managementconcernsthatleadindividualstoaltertheirconsumptionchoices.Experimentalevidencehasconfirmedthatreferencegroupsinfluencebothindividualbrandandproductchoices.Thebenefitsdesiredbyconsumersinabrandhavebeenfoundtoplayaroleinthischoicebecausetheyaddtotheself-expressiveandsymbolicvalueofthebrandforthebuyer,andthustothatbuyer’simpressionmanagementefforts.BatraandHomerfurtherdemonstratedthatsuchbeliefshaveagreaterimpactonintentionsandactualbehaviour(behaviourthatotherscanobserve,suchaschoice)thanonbrandattitudes(whichareprivateandunobservable).
Insituationswherereferencegroupsaresalient,purchaseandconsumptionarethusatleastpartlymotivatedbyaneedforpublicself-presentationandimpressionmanagement.Somebrandbenefitsspecificallypertaintosociallyvisibleaspectsofabrand,eghowclassy,trendyorfashionableitiswidelyperceivedtobeorhowcheap,valuefor-moneyitis.Accordingly,thedesiretoobtainoravoidthesebenefitsoughttobegreaterinconsumptionoccasionsinwhichareferencegroupissalient,iewhereimpressionmanagementneedsarehigher.Pastresearchhasindeedshownthatsocialbrandbenefitsofclothingaremoreimportantinsituationsinwhichtheoutcomeisvisibletoothers.Similarly,thesocialandvaluefor-moneybenefitsconsumersseekin
snackbrandshavebeenfoundtoaffectchoice.
Justasdifferentreferencegroupscanmakedifferentself-conceptionsmoresalientforanindividual,38theabsenceofthesegroupscouldalsoinfluencethesalienceofbrandbenefits.Inasituationwherethebrandisbeingchosenprivatelyforself-consumption,greatersalienceofmoreself-centredbenefitssuchasemotionalorhealthbenefitsmightleadtodifferentialeffectsonbrandchoice.
CONSUMERPERSONALITYANDBRANDCHOICEVARIATION
Beyondthesubstantialbodyofresearchindicatingthattheinfluenceofothers(interpersonalinfluence)affectsindividualbehaviour,researchershavearguedthatthesereferencegroupeffectswillbestrongerforcertainmoreinfluenceableindividuals,characterisedbyanindividualdifferenceconstructsometimescalledthesusceptibilitytointerpersonalinfluence.
Consumersusceptibilitytointerpersonalinfluencehasbeenconceptualisedasageneralpersonalitytraitthatvariesacrossindividualsandisrelatedtootherindividualtraitsandcharacteristics.Inhis1968review,McGuireconcludedthat‘aperson’srelativeinfluenceabilityinonesituationtendstohaveasignificantpositiverelationshiptohisorherinfluenceabilityinarangeofothersocialsituations’.Socialpsychologistsdistinguishbetweeninformationalinfluence,inwhichthegroupprovidesinformationabouttheissueinquestion,andnormativeinfluence,themotivationtomeshwiththegroup’sstandardsandnorms.Beardenetal.reportedthedevelopmentofatwodimensionalscaletomeasuresuchinterpersonalinfluenceability,includinganormativeandaninformationaldimension.Theauthorsdefinedtheconstructas:
‘theneedtoidentifywithorenhanceone’simageintheopinionofsignificantOthersthroughtheacquisitionanduseofproductsandbrands,thewillingnesstoconformtotheexpectationsofothersregardingpurchasedecisions,and/orthetendencytolearnaboutproductsandservicesbyobservingothersorseekinginformationfromothers.’
Aconsiderablenumberofarticlesfrompsychologicalandconsumerresearchhaveinvestigatedthetendencyofindividualstoconformtogroupnormsortomodifytheirjudgmentbasedu