We examine whether the precepts of what have been termed 'close', 'intimate', or, more specifically, 'communal' relationships in Social Psychology may be communicated via Web site content and whether this positively impacts Site-Loyalty. We introduce a variable called Site-Communality defined as the extent to which Web site content signals that a company's relationship with its customers goes beyond the formal, 'tit for tat' business dealings that are typically expected from purely commercial exchanges, and instead, more closely abide by the norms and behaviours evocative of friendships and/or family relations. We develop multi-dimensional measures of Site-Communality and Site-Loyalty. Using Structural Equation Modelling (LISREL VIII), we then empirically investigate the influence of Site-Communality on the attitudes and behavioural intentions associated with Site-Loyalty using cross-sectional data collected from 305 subjects asked to explore and evaluate one among many real Web sites chosen so as to maximize variability on Site-Communality. / Our results show that Site-Communality has a strong, direct, positive effect on the attitudes and behavioural intentions associated with Site-Loyalty. This directly contradicts conjectures from several authors dismissing as unimportant or irrelevant to Web site design, the affective/relational aspects more closely associated with traditional, interpersonal, face-to-face commercial encounters (e.g., Cox & Dale, 2001; Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Malhotra, 2001, 2002). Generally, such factors were believed to loose their relevance in self-service, Web-based commercial environments, at best, becoming contingently important only when customer/employee communications actually occurs (i.e., emails/telephone conversations). / However, contrary to our expectations, our results show that the positive relationship between Site-Communality and Site-Loyalty is attenuated (rather than accentuated) by the visitor's 'Communal-Orientation in Traditional Commercial Environments' which is defined as the extent to which a consumer enjoys 'getting to know' employees (i.e., waitress, bank teller, hair stylist) and relating with them on a more personal-level than is typically required for the effective delivery of a service. One possible explanation for this unexpected result is that when highly communally-orientated consumers are exposed to a Web site high in Site-Communality, they may be reminded of what they are missing out on if they choose to conduct their business online rather than in more traditional business environments.

Thesis (M.P.H.M. (Primary Health Care Management))--Mahidol University, 2007. / LICL has E-Thesis 0023 ; please contact computer services.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-66). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2008.

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop and evaluate an expanded spokesperson credibility model to address issues uncovered in Ohanian's (1991) study about linkages between spokespersons ' credibility and consumers ' purchase intentions. Based on Tajfel's social categorization theory (1981), 12 hypotheses were developed to test direct and indirect relationships between spokesperson's credibility and purchase intentions. The sample for the study consisted of 1,162 respondents 82.9% students and 17.1% nonstudents; 48.2% males and 51.4% females; 31.3% Caucasian (American); 24.5% Cuban (American); 19.6% other Hispanics and 22.5% other ethnic groups. The data were collected .by having respondents either view a video tape or listen to an audio tape in a classroom or shopping mall setting. The respondents were told that they would hear a spokesperson presenting a message. After listening to the message they would then be asked to complete a questionnaire. The spokesperson credibility model was tested using covariance structure analysis as implemented in the LISREL software. A series of ANOVAs were used to test the impact of the moderating variables on purchase intentions. The findings indicate that Ohanian's (1991) credibility constructs i.e., attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise are significantly related to purchase intentions. In addition, the following interactions were found to be statistically significant:

No description available.

by Fong Sze Nga, Natalie. / Questionnaire in Chinese. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-84). / Acknowledgments --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter A. --- Overview / Chapter B. --- Purposes / Chapter C. --- Reasons for selecting television commercials / Chapter D. --- Objectives of the study / Chapter E. --- Outline of this research report / Chapter II. --- Theoretical Framework --- p.8 / Chapter A. --- Shared themes on involvement / Chapter B. --- Statement of problems / Chapter C. --- Individual-centered involvement level / Chapter D. --- Stimuli-centered involvement level --- High/low involvement product commercials / Chapter E. --- Dependent variables / Chapter F. --- Other concepts pertaining to involvement / Chapter III. --- Methodology --- p.20 / Chapter A. --- Sample / Chapter B. --- Overview of the experimental study / Chapter C. --- Modifications of pilot study / Chapter D. --- Index construction of independent variables / Chapter E. --- Index construction of dependent variables / Chapter IV. --- Hypotheses & Analysis --- p.42 / Chapter A. --- Main findings / Chapter B. --- Summary of main findings / Chapter C. --- Further Analysis on Relationships Between People Involvement Level and Information Seeking & Interest Stimulation / Chapter D. --- Other concepts pertaining to the concept of involvement / Chapter V. --- Discussions & Implications --- p.66 / Chapter A. --- What is high involvement? / Chapter B. --- Variations of personal values and product advertisements / Chapter C. --- Importance of individual-centered involvement level / Chapter D. --- Involvement is consumer-determined and situation-specific / Chapter E. --- Measurement of involvement level / Chapter F. --- Differentiation of product and commercials / Chapter G. --- Equivalence of product commercials / Chapter VI. --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.76 / Chapter VII. --- Limitations of the Study --- p.77 / References --- p.78 / Appendices

University of Macau / Faculty of Business Administration / Department of Finance and Business Economics

This study aims at understanding the decision to buy "Made in Mozambique" products, which is important for developing marketing strategy and promoting national products. To explore the factors influencing consumers' buying decisions, means-end theory and its associated methodology provide a useful framework for understanding why people buy "Made in Mozambique" rice by characterising the relationships between the attributes, consequences associated with those attributes, and the values those consequences help reinforce. Methodology: a total of 20 consumers were interviewed. It is important to mention that only rice was used in this study. The laddering interviewing technique was then used to link these chains of meanings. Analyses and interpretation of the resulting data provide an effective complement for studying consumer purchasing motives and suggest recommendations for managerial practice and future research efforts. Summary of the study findings include: (i) Attributes: Quality, cost, national; (ii) Consequences: healthy, well-being, affordable, trust, contribution, and fulfillment; and (iii) Values: Feeling happy, longevity and self-esteem.The theoretical component of this research covers the definition and discussion of Means-end theory and consumer decision-making. / Industrial Psychology / M.A. (Industrial & Organisational Psychology)

Competition in the mobile services industry is intense, with players in the industry offering generally similar subscription plans. Opportunities are few for differentiating one service provider from another. In the light of prior research suggesting value is multi-dimensional, the present study, which examines how these dimensions impact customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions, provides differentiation opportunities for mobile service providers through focusing on value dimensions that are important to customers. Of six perceived value dimensions examined in the present research, value for money, reputation and social value dimensions had significant effects on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. One way for companies in the highly commoditized mobile service industry to minimize customer defection is to enhance their relationships with customers. However, as relationship building comes with a cost, it is of interest for companies to know whether certain customer groups will reciprocate more than others with loyalty if they are satisfied. The results from the present study show customer relationship inclination, the customer attribute examined, did not moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. Finally, recent studies have differentiated measures of repurchase intentions on the basis of volition levels and have suggested that better model fit can be achieved when higher volition measures are used. Intentions-as-expectations represents the lower volition end and intentions-as-wants represents the higher volition end of intention measure. However, the present study did not find any significant differences in model fit with the different intention measures used.