A considerable degree of cross-cultural research has recognized the impact of cultural values of individualism and collectivism on individuals' consumption behavior. Recently, the impact of international market expansion and modernization may have helped transform values of materialism among Asians. It is evident that values have a hierarchical influence on consumption behavior through higher-order cognition (e.g., perceptions and attitudes). In this study, we argue that materialism, individualism, and collectivism have an impact on consumers' ongoing search and shopping behaviors through consumers' perceived two different roles of price: symbolic and functional. The symbolic role reflects a person's self-enhancement, role position, and self-image, whereas the functional role implies the motivational aspect of an individual's consumption. This current paper is comprised of two studies. In study one, we attempt to establish the overall hierarchical flow of the cultural values of materialism, individualism, and collectivism with regard to consumers' perceived symbolic and functional roles of price, which in turn affect their ongoing search and mall shopping behavior for apparel products based on the combined sample from two cultures, American and Korean. In study two, we focus on establishing a cross-cultural validation of the hierarchical model of values-price perception-ongoing search-shopping behaviors in four countries (the United States, Canada, Thailand, and China). Additionally, study two extends study one by incorporating both horizontal versus vertical individualism and collectivism and the role of the Internet as informational and transactional sources into the hierarchical model. The final sample is comprised of 806 college students. Of these, 192 are Americans, 158 are Canadian, 248 are Thai, and 208 are Chinese. The present findings illustrate that cross-cultural validation using the hierarchical model of values-price perception-ongoing search-shopping behavior is established. However, the underlying constructs explaining such flow differ considerably across cultures. Using a culture (i.e., region) and an individual (i.e., country) level of analysis, we further found that there are differences and similarities related to materialism; as well, the impact of horizontal versus vertical individualism and collectivism and the interrelationships among these constructs are examined. Implications for future theoretical and practitioner research are provided. Limitations and future research directions are also acknowledged.

This dissertation explores alternative models of the valuing process, and the role of satisfaction in the delivery of value, in a service context. Delivering value and satisfaction to the customer is an important concern for firms who recognize the importance of a customer focus. To accomplish this goal, marketers must learn how to deliver and measure both value and satisfaction. This dissertation explores enhancing value and/or satisfaction by focusing on a broad array of costs and benefits in a consumption context. The importance of three types of benefits (functional, symbolic, and experiential) and various costs (i.e. monetary and time) consumers consider while determining value and satisfaction are explored. The dissertation also explores the relationship between perceived value and consumer satisfaction. Three alternative models that offer rival explanations of how consumers determine value and satisfaction over time are proposed to increase understanding of how to deliver value and satisfaction to consumers. Longitudinal data was collected from guests attending an internationally renowned destination resort by gathering surveys from consumers before, during, and after their vacation experience; this context presented a unique opportunity to study the valuing process, including the role of satisfaction, over time.

The power of brands like Coke, Levi's and Nike defies conventional understanding. How do such strong brands get created? What are the sources of their phenomenal strength? The traditional thinking reflected in the brand literature traces the sources of brand strength to the consumer's cognitive knowledge of brand's functional and image attributes, and other associations linked to the brand. I draw upon past research in marketing and social psychology to propose a user-centered view of brand strength. I suggest that loyal consumers actively create 'brandspaces' based on personal, social and cultural factors. These brand knowledge structures may be more insular since they are self generated and anchored in the personal and social self of the user. In Essay 1 of this dissertation, I take the user-centered approach to propose a method for mapping and measuring consumer-based brand equity. I developed a structural model for the sneakers product category with five consumer-based sources of brand equity ('functional attributes','brand image','appeal', 'self-brand relationship', and 'perceived popularity') as independent variables, and study their impact on a four indicator measure of brand equity. In Essay 2, I investigate the role of self-brand relationship schema in promoting insularity of strong brands. I hypothesize that strong brand users, who have high self-brand relationship, suppress or discount negative brand information, as compared to strong users who have low self-brand relationship. Experimental results confirm this central hypothesis. This study clearly shows the centrality of self-brand relationship in promoting brand insularity and brand strength.

Marketers commonly scent a large variety of products ranging from toilet paper to crayons in order to differentiate their products from the competition. Exploratory research suggests that the meanings consumers attach to fragrances are a critical part of the consumption experience in many product categories. Such meanings may be symbolic (e.g., what the scent communicates about the personal or social identity of the product user) or functional (e.g., what the scent implies about product performance). Product scents range from being centrally to peripherally important to the primary function of a product depending upon the product category. In each of these cases, both functional and symbolic inferences of product benefits based on scent are guided by a set of learned associations which are the focus of this research. This dissertation takes an anthropological perspective, arguing that cultural construction plays a major role in how consumers acquire, cognitively represent and use these olfactory meanings in day-to-day consumption. The central thesis is that cultural models anchor what consumers experience when they encounter scents in consumption contexts. The empirical work first uses a qualitative long interview methodology to discover how consumers acquire these shared cultural models of product scents for four product categories. This approach also explores the cognitive representation of these cultural models, attempting to identify the propositional and image schemas in which consumers store these learned symbolic and functional meanings. The dissertation then focuses on how consumers use these schemas to evaluate products. The stability of these representations are empirically tested by examining whether consumers can reliably and validly assign a range of product stimuli to these categories based only on exposure in the olfactory mode or whether additional marketing stimuli are necessary to determine a product's meaning. Finally, a pilot experiment assesses how manipulating product scents to be consistent or inconsistent with the functional or symbolic benefits influences product evaluations, as well as assessments of objective product performance. The findings provide insights into the use of olfactory meanings for market segmentation and product differentiation.

In this dissertation, I distinguish between two types of mortality salience, namely mortality salience of self (MSS) and mortality salience of a loved one (MSLO). Based on a need salience mechanism, I predict and find in four studies that MSS individuals prefer social status choice options over social experience choice options; whereas MSLO individuals prefer social experience choice options over social status choice options. Further, these effects are more pronounced among MSS individuals high in independent self-construal, and MSLO individuals high in interdependent self-construal. This dissertation contributes to the mortality salience literature in three ways. First, it distinguishes for the first time between two types of mortality salience, namely MSS and MSLO in terms of their effects on type of choice. Second, it proposes a new mediating mechanism based on need salience which predicts the divergent effects of MSS and MSLO on type of choice. Third, it identifies two new moderating variables, namely independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal, which can modify the effect of MSS versus MSLO on type of choice. / Dans cette thèse, je propose une distinction entre deux types d'exposition à la saillance de la mort (mortality salience), soit la saillance de sa propre mort ou MSS (mortality salience of self) et la saillance de la mort d'une personne aimée ou MSLO (mortality salience of a loved one). En se basant sur un mécanisme du besoin de saillance (need salience mechanism), je prédis et confirme à l'aide de quatre études expérimentales que les individus exposés à la saillance de leur propre mort (MSS) préfèrent des options de décision signalant le statut social contrairement aux individus exposés à la saillance de la mort d'une personne aimée (MSLO) qui préfèrent des options de décision associées à des expériences sociales. De plus, l'effet de la saillance de sa propre mort (MSS) est plus prononcé lorsque les sujets de l'étude ont un construit de soi hautement indépendant (independent self-construal) alors que l'effet de la saillance de la mort d'une personne aimée (MSLO) est plus prononcé pour les individus ayant un construit de soi hautement interdépendant (interdependent self-construal). Cette thèse contribue à la littérature sur la saillance de la mort de trois façons. En premier lieu, elle distingue pour la première fois, en fonction de leur effet sur la prise de décision, deux types de saillance de la mort, soit celle associée à sa propre mort (MSS) et celle associée à la mort d'une personne aimée (MSLO). Deuxièmement, elle propose un nouveau mécanisme de médiation basé sur le besoin de saillance (need saliance) qui prédit les effets divergents des types de saillance de la mort sur la prise de décision. Finalement, elle identifie deux nouvelles variables modératrices, soit le construit de soi indépendant et le construit de soi interdépendant, qui modulent l'effet des deux types de saillance de la mort sur la prise de décision.

<p> Play is a means to express and explore an individual&rsquo;s or a community&rsquo;s identity. The individual uses play to communicate meaning about who they are. People perform identity when they meet role expectations (Goffman, 1959). Play involves accepting or rejecting the role expectations of the situation in which we find ourselves (Grayson, 1999). We don&rsquo;t have to play when there are role expectations, but we <i>can</i> if we so choose.</p><p> All play has meaning (Huizinga, 1956). It points to and signifies other things. It reflects and rewards the values of the players&rsquo; community. If shopping is more than buying things but the buying of identity (Clammer, 1992; Johnstone and Conroy, 2005), then play is the demonstration and the performance of this purchased (and elective) identity. The acquired &lsquo;things&rsquo; become the props we use to make identity performances real, visible, and readable by others. This research will look at the effort consumers go through to construct, maintain, and defend elective identities within the environments within which they are enacted&mdash;what I will refer to throughout this document as &lsquo;playscapes&rsquo;. I ask the questions,</p><p> 1. &ldquo;Why take the effort to construct, maintain, and defend an elective identity within a playscape? (What are the payoffs?).</p><p> 2. &ldquo;What role does the environment play in affecting elective identity consumption processes?&rdquo; and</p><p> 3. &ldquo;[How] do players differentiate between other players and spectators within a playscape?&rdquo;</p><p> What I show through this research is how the explicit recognition of play in the elective identity process enables us to better understand how consumers approach consumption. Once we are freed from the obligations of necessity&mdash;once we are free to play&mdash;we can approach our consumption differently. Once we begin to play, we don&rsquo;t all play the same way. </p><p> Identities are not static; they are ongoing projects. They are a process. We can work at these projects or we can play at these projects. We can make these projects a game and, in doing so, they take on the characteristics and components of any other game. They have a playscape&mdash;boundaries within which they are played. They have rules determining what you can and cannot do. They have pieces, props, and other paraphernalia. They involve the suspension of the &lsquo;real world&rsquo; for the acceptance of an imaginary world that&mdash;while it is active&mdash;takes precedence over the outside world. Finally, games have other players.</p><p> One of the things this research makes apparent is that other players, in the form of spectators, are more important to play and games&mdash;especially elective identity games&mdash;than we may at first realize. In consumer behavior and consumer culture theory we tend to treat the observer as a given; as something that is fixed. As a result we tend to see elective identity performances as one-sided communication&mdash;as presentations made to relevant audiences. What, in fact, my research shows is that elective identity performances are more like multi-sided games with both moves and countermoves. Elective identity becomes a form of negotiation between the performer and an active audience who are also involved in the performance&mdash;or, in keeping with this dissertation, a negotiation between players playing the same or similar games. As an open game&mdash;one whose goal is to keep playing and not end the game&mdash;elective identity games involve the creation, maintenance, and defense of different elective identities within a playscape. Successful play means the creating, maintaining, and defending playscape-compatible elective identities. It is through the ongoing play within these playscapes that boundaries are tested and performances assessed. It is an iterative process, a conversation, between presenter and observer in which a consumer can choose to play either role. If we study just one side of this equation we cannot get a proper understanding of the role played by each&mdash;like hearing only one side of a phone conversation. We can try to piece some of it together, but we can be more confident in what we hear and understand if we have both sides of the conversation.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to understand the extent to which marketing efforts help the survivability of early-stage innovations. The locus between the phases of Research and Development (R&amp;D) and New Product Development (NPD) is defined as the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation (F²EI). Frequently called the "Valley of Death," this early stage of innovation is typified by high risks and scarcity of project resources. The challenge for a firm as it develops an early-stage innovation is securing adequate financial, human, and physical project resources. For this study, the focus is specifically on National Institutes of Health (NIH) licenses accorded to small- to medium-size firms. </p><p> By using a mixed-method approach comprising qualitative interviews and quantitative survey results, this study develops firm profiles that describe combinations of marketing efforts that enable innovation continuation during the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation. Profiles are evident in terms of marketing variables, firm attributes, and project resources. These profiles vary for type of firm and also by the firm's life cycle. </p><p> The contributions of this study are to: 1.) Develop combinations of variables and profiles for predicting early-stage innovation continuation, 2.) Provide pragmatic information to potential stakeholders about how to identify and foster early-stage innovations, and 3.) Help small- to medium-size firms understand how to position and promote themselves in order to obtain resources and advance early-stage innovations.</p>

<p> The objective of this research was to determine how perceptions of consumers towards marketing strategies are related to satisfaction, loyalty, subjective wellbeing and quality of life. It is a pioneer study in Puerto Rico, extending the theoretical and practical information on the subject and understanding of consumers. This research studies Peterson's Model (2006) which includes the variables Product, Fair Price, Customer Service and Publicity related to Wellbeing and Quality of life and adds two variables: Satisfaction and Loyalty. </p><p> A descriptive exploratory mixed method approach was used. The population was composed of consumers over 21 years. The sample included 408 consumers participating in a survey and twelve consumers in a focus group. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were made and factor analysis, correlation and regression statistics were used to determine the relation between dependent and independent variables. </p><p> According to the analysis made, the following null hypothesis were rejected: Marketing strategies and Satisfaction, Marketing strategies and Wellbeing, Satisfaction and Quality of life, Wellbeing and Quality of life and Loyalty and Quality of life. Null hypothesis not reject were: Service and Wellbeing, Satisfaction and Wellbeing, Loyalty and Wellbeing and Publicity and Loyalty. </p><p> As a result, the researcher developed a model based on Peterson's model (2006) adding variables Satisfaction and Loyalty. Two of the recommendations made were: to conduct further research on these new variables to determine whether the behavior of these variables is similar in other contexts; and, to use this research to develop marketing strategies to improve consumer wellbeing and quality of life.</p>

<p> This dissertation includes two essays exploring the effects of observers' interpretation of signaling behavior by others on the inferences and decision making of the observers. The first essay investigates how observers make inferences about other people's brand attachment. We propose that observers use the proximity of branded objects to the physical being of the user and the costs incurred to acquire the object to determine the degree of self-extension of the object&mdash;that is, to what extent it represents a part of the person's self-concept. Through two studies, we show that to the extent that an object is seen as self-extensive, the user would be inferred to be engaging in self-expression, attempting to convey aspects of their personality to others by using the object. These beliefs about self-expression then lead observers to infer that the individual is attached to the brand. </p><p> In the second essay, we consider how a brand's advertising appeals should be affected by its market position. Building on an experimental study, we present a duopoly model of brand advertising copy decisions, where consumer motives are influenced by Quality-based and Image-based advertising appeals. We show that each brand's decision to select one type of advertising appeal over the other is a function of its market position. We find that larger brands will use Quality-based appeals while smaller brand will use Image-based appeals. We empirically test these findings by examining advertising decisions for major brands found in a popular newsmagazine. Consistent with the model, we find that larger market share brands use Quality-based advertising appeals to a greater extent, while smaller brands use more Image-based appeals. Further, we find that brands that deviate from the predictions of the model are less profitable. Our results suggest that marketing managers should consider their position in the market when crafting advertising appeals, with larger brands emphasizing product quality in their appeals and smaller brands emphasizing the fit of their products with consumers' self-image.</p>

Soft capsule is a new architecture prototype for the small independent business. It clusters the merchants of similar type (such like bookstores) with supporting program and common space. Soft capsule provides a structure for the small independent business to compete with chain stores by lowering down the cost of infrastructure. It enables the small business to operate in a larger system, while maintaining their individual scale and character. Soft capsule also animates an urban area with open air and pedestrian spaces.