Understanding how consumers evaluate products is of great interest to market researchers. Different approaches focus on how consumers compare, combine or process attributes (Bettman, Luce and Payne 1998, 2008; Chen and Chaiken 1999; Cohen, Fishbein and Ahtola 1972). While attribute evaluation is clearly central to these approaches, what makes particular product attributes influential to consumers’ overall evaluation of the product is not entirely clear. One of the central goals of the current work is to examine why certain product attributes are appealing or unappealing, and to explore the implications of this for product evaluation research, including work on choice and persuasion, and more focused investigations on the role of trivial attributes. I structure this framework around two broad issues: First, I suggest that product evaluation is based on an attribute’s ability to fulfill a particular goal. Furthermore, I examine the specific processes by which activated goals influence the role of product features on the evaluation of the product itself. Specifically, I suggest that goals are more likely to influence the impact of product attributes on product evaluation when goals are activated and perceived to fit with the product. Second, I focus on three product related features within the consumption environment that are likely to activate certain goals, especially extra-consumption goals (i.e. goals that are not directly relevant to the function of the product, but that may nevertheless exert an important influence on product evaluation). Those aspects include the context in which the product is evaluated (e.g. choosing between multiple products versus evaluating an individual product), product category associations (e.g. fair trade and coffee), and even specific features of the product being evaluated (e.g. shampoo with “eco-friendly” ingredients). These aspects can activate goals that influence the role of the product’s specific features on overall evaluation. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2010-11-29 16:55:13.751

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This dissertation explores how nonconscious thought processing might be affected and activated in ways that influence consumer decision making. To activate nonconscious thought processes, this dissertation relies on priming—the unobtrusive activation of mental representations by stimuli in a social context, which occurs without participants' conscious awareness. Three dimensions of consumer decision making are investigated: purchase intention, product evaluation and arousal. The dissertation is based on the auto-motive model of nonconscious goal pursuit and somatic marker hypothesis. The dissertation is driven by three experiments, which respectively explore crucial areas in priming effects and addresses the following research question: can primes be shaped or controlled by marketers? Specifically, the dissertation examines whether shopping behavior can be primed. Second, the dissertation also examines how facial primes displaying basic emotions (happiness, anger, contempt, disgust, fear, sadness, and surprise) can prime emotion and arousal. Finally the dissertation examines the effect of the interaction of the buying prime with the primes of faces displaying basic emotions on the dependent variables of purchase intention, product evaluation, emotion, and arousal. Results from three experimental studies show that shopping behavior can be primed, and primed participants will exhibit higher product evaluation than those exposed to a control prime. Second while exposing participants to primes of faces displaying emotions did not elicit those emotions, the priming with faces did reveal a marginal activation of arousal in the participants. Third priming with faces was not found to interact with primed buying behavior such that the interaction would affect the level of arousal. The results indicate that Bargh's auto-motive model of nonconscious goal pursuit can be applied to marketing. Thus priming shopping behavior can affect product evaluation though the effect of this prime appears to be too weak to be applied in the field. Priming with faces was found not to interact with primed shopping behavior and thus affect product evaluation. The impact of the findings on marketing practitioners suggests that more laboratory investigation is necessary. Further laboratory investigation should be used to raise the effect level of the prime and to find ways to shape and control nonconscious goal pursuit prior to attempting to bring priming into the field.

Drawing from mental accounting, reference price, attribution and categorization theories, we propose that bundle price discounts will influence perceived prices and quality of the individual bundle components, thus influence purchase intentions. Meanwhile, we investigate how these bundling effects interplay with the forms of bundling, complementarity and brand images of bundle components. The empirical results indicate that the impact of bundle price discount on evaluations of individual bundle components varies across bundling forms. In a mixed-joint bundle, the price discount increases consumer perceptions of the regular price of bundle components, but does not change quality perceptions. In a mixed-leader bundle, the price discount hurt consumer price and quality evaluations of the discounted product, but increased the undiscounted product's perceived quality. These effects are moderated by complementarity and the brand images of bundle components. Implications of these findings for marketing researchers and managers are presented along with suggestions for further research. / Ph. D.

A quick-connect wheelchair power add-on unit (PAU) has been developed at the Human Factors Engineering Center of Virginia Tech. The objective of the new invention is to provide an inexpensive, highly portable product which can quickly convert a manual wheelchair into a power-operated wheelchair. This dissertation details the three year research and design effort to develop the new wheelchair PAU. Results are presented from a series of evaluations conducted to identify performance and user-interaction characteristics of the PAU. Interpretation of the results provides a prioritized list of identified design deficiencies along with wheelchair expert and design team suggestions for the next generation of design alterations. The three evaluations conducted with the second generation PAU prototype include a series of wheelchair expert interviews, a PAU performance evaluation, and a usability evaluation which utilized wheelchair operators as subjects. Also included in the dissertation is an explanation of the need for a new PAU, a description of the most recent design iteration, a literature review containing information about the history of wheelchairs, the condition of the current PAU market, and an analysis of wheelchair PAU consumers. The new invention was conceived and patented by Dr. John G. Casali of the Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) Department at Virginia Tech. This research was supported jointly by Southwestern Applied Technologies, L. C., of Roanoke, Virginia and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon, Virginia. / Ph. D.

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Consumers’ purchase decisions typically involve two brands: the manufacturer brand (the “what brand to buy” decision) and the retailer brand (the “where to buy” decision). While extant research suggests that consumers’ product evaluation is affected by both, much less is known about how the two brands jointly affect consumers’ preferences. Building upon prospect theory and mental accounting principles, I hypothesize that the joint effect of the two brands on consumers’ evaluation of different products depends on the reference point evoked, and whether each of the two brands is perceived as a gain or loss relative to the reference point. Five lab experiments provide empirical support for the hypothesized effects. Study 1 reveals that the joint effect of manufacturer and retailer brands depends on the reference product in a manner consistent with prospect theory and mental accounting principles. The results of Study 2 and 3 show that the majority of participants use a reputable brand sold at a reputable retailer as their reference product. For this group, there is a positive interaction effect of the manufacturer and retailer brands on consumers’ willingness to pay. Study 4 extends the results of Study 3 by testing the theoretical framework using a non-price measure of consumers’ product evaluation (i.e., attitude toward the offer). The results provide converging support for H1 and H2 and demonstrate the mediating role of gain and loss feelings, thus providing preliminary evidence for the proposed cognitive process. Finally, Study 5 provides supporting evidence for the predictions through the use of a priming method. This research contributes to the literature on behavioral decision theory and branding by extending the study of mental accounting from quantitative information (e.g., money, time) to qualitative information such as that derived from brand reputation. The findings have prescriptive implications as they can help managers understand how their brands can be leveraged, how consumers react to reference products available in the marketplace, and how to best price products across different outlets depending on the reputation of their brands and the reputation of the outlets.

For many enterprises, brand extension has played an important role in the new products developement and brand strategy. By using brand extension, corporation could reduce costs and effectivly gain their reputation while they sell new products. Recently, certain reserch about brand extension have shown that the key factor of successful brand extension lies in the connection between consumer brand extension and parent brand, the more related of the brands and the products, the higher of the effect of brand extension. In addition, self-construals also make effects in understanding the effects of brand extensions. In this study, we form the concept from this base and would like to exam the further extension effect of brand concept and the distance of each case. Also, we would like to testify how would different self-construals of consumer products works while they evaluate the products and try to examine their influence to consumer through advertising techniques by the extension of self-construals and product reviews. In this study, we use really existed brand as our studing case ,"Nike", "Adidas" and "New balance". We would like to explore the different brand extension degree lie in several types of consumer self-construals from the case. In this study, based on attitude function theory, we form the questions toward advertising manipulation of different attitudes inoder to explore whether consumer self-construals affect cognition, and thus affect the extension of consumer product evaluation. The results indicate that, in general, different types of consumer self-construals for evaluation of the product from the extension make significant difference in distance extension products. When the parent brand as a functional brand concept, no matter the distance or distance extension products, self-construals on the extension of product evaluation is not significant. The study also find that different attitude affects advertising strategy for the consumer, and have no significant effects for self-construals. In addition, they can not affect the extension of product evaluation.

COO is a construct that refers to the country which a consumer associates a certain product or brand as being its source, regardless of where the product is actually produced. Scholars like Magnusson et al. (2011) argue that COO is a salient cue in consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention. In contrast, Usunier (2006; 2011) and Samiee (2010) criticize the COO effect, by explaining that due to multinational production, integrated worldwide supply chains and global branding there are other cues that have become more salient in consumers’ decision- making process. The purpose of this thesis is to extend the understanding about the relationship of COO in consumers buying process. The research questions followed: To what extent does country of origin influence consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ product evaluation? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ purchase intentions. Applying a deductive approach, a quantitative research has been chosen for this thesis involving survey as the source for data collection in order to test this research four main concepts: COO, product evaluation, purchase intention and product involvement. The findings indicated that COO has a significant direct effect in consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention. The results also indicated on that when consumers’ perceive products to be low involvement, the COO effect is greater in consumers’ decision-making process.

The following have been rectified in response to previous evaluation by examiner Olof Bruninge. -We have solely chosen qualitative methods in data collection and analysis by making use of data gathered from focus group workshop. The findings have been coded and analysed descriptively. -We have reformulated research questions and replaced the hypothesis with open questions. Allowing us to explore the participants’ behaviour rather than testing hypothesis. -All quantitative measures have been replaced with qualitative analysis and descriptions. -We have provided tables with results from focus group findings to increase transparency in our data