Li, Yanjie. / "July 2011." / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-53). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.VII / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / THEORETICAL BACKGROUND --- p.3 / THE SELF-CONTROL DILEMMA AND SELF-CONTROL STRATEGES --- p.3 / JUSTIFICATION AND SELF-CONTROL --- p.5 / THE LESS ATTRACTIVE = LESS HARMFUL INTUITION --- p.7 / PR0P0SM0N DEVELOPMENT --- p.9 / OVERVIEW OF STUDIES --- p.13 / EXPERIMENT 1 --- p.14 / OBJECTIVE --- p.14 / METHOD --- p.14 / RESULTS --- p.I5 / MANIPULATION CHECK. --- p.15 / CHOCOLATE CHOICE --- p.16 / CHOCOLATE PREFERENCE --- p.17 / DISCUSSION --- p.17 / EXPERIMENT 2 --- p.19 / OBJECTIVES --- p.19 / METHOD --- p.19 / RESULTS --- p.20 / CHOICE TASK --- p.20 / DISCUSSION --- p.22 / EXPERIMENT 3 --- p.23 / OBJECTIVES --- p.23 / METHOD --- p.23 / RESULTS --- p.25 / MANIPULATION CHECK. --- p.25 / DESSERT CHOICE --- p.25 / DESSERT PREFERENCE --- p.27 / DISCUSSION --- p.29 / EXPERIMENT 4 --- p.31 / OBJECTIVES --- p.31 / METHOD --- p.31 / RESULTS --- p.33 / MANIPULATION CHECK. --- p.33 / DESSERT CHOICE --- p.33 / DESSERT PREFERENCE --- p.35 / DISCUSSION --- p.37 / GENERAL DISCUSSION --- p.40 / SUMMARY OF FINDINGS --- p.40 / THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS --- p.41 / PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS --- p.44 / LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH --- p.45 / REFERENCES --- p.48 / APPENDIX A --- p.54 / EXPERIMENT 1 STIMULI USED IN THE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CHOICE TASK --- p.54 / APPENDIX B --- p.55 / EXPERIMENT 2 STIMULI USED IN TOE CHOICE TASK --- p.55 / APPENDIX C --- p.56 / EXPERIMENT 3&4 STIMULI USED IN THE DESSERT CHOICE TASK --- p.56 / APPENDIX D --- p.57 / EXPERIMENT 3 BRIEF SELF-CONTROL MEASURE --- p.57 / APPENDIX E --- p.58 / EXPERIMENT 4 STIMULI USED IN THE LAY THEORY MANIPULATION TASK --- p.58

by Cheung Suet-Yin Anita, Lo Chui-Yuk Michelle. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 59). / Questionnaire in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.vi / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.4 / Product Life Cycle --- p.4 / Motivation --- p.6 / Level of Involvement --- p.8 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.10 / Management Objectives --- p.10 / Research Objectives --- p.10 / Research Design --- p.11 / Hypothesis Testing --- p.16 / Motivation --- p.16 / Level of Involvement --- p.17 / Miscellaneous --- p.17 / Data Collection Method --- p.19 / Sampling --- p.20 / Chapter IV. --- RESULTS --- p.22 / Findings of Focus Groups --- p.22 / Survey Sample --- p.25 / Motivation --- p.26 / Level of Involvement --- p.30 / Other Findings --- p.33 / Concept of Electronic Pets --- p.33 / The Liking for Keeping Pets --- p.33 / Duration of Nurturing a Tamagotchi --- p.34 / Habit of Buying Cartoon Character Merchandise --- p.35 / Chapter V. --- LIMITATIONS --- p.37 / Sampling Bias --- p.37 / Reliability --- p.37 / Validity --- p.39 / Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.40 / APPENDICES --- p.46 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.59

Orientador: Sérgio Silva Braga Júnior / Coorientador: João Guilherme de Camargo Ferraz Machado / Coorientador: Sandra Cristina de Oliveira / Resumo: Com o aumento do consumo de produtos verdes nas últimas décadas, as organizações passaram a promover a si mesmo, ou a seus produtos e serviços como sendo verdes para atraírem um crescente segmento com consciência ambiental. Consequentemente, houve um aumento na disponibilidade desses produtos no varejo, ao mesmo tempo houve o aumento da divulgação de informações ambientais falsas, prática essa conhecida como greenwashing. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar a relação das características identificadas do greenwashing na reputação da marca e no comportamento do consumidor quanto a confiança, a desconfiança e o não reconhecimento do produto. Sob este enfoque, foi analisado as características dos produtos com greenwashing que são identificadas pelos consumidores no varejo, para verificar como isso afeta a reputação da marca e a confiança, a desconfiança e o reconhecimento do produto, que são aspectos do comportamento do consumidor. Para a verificação do objetivo proposto, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória, de natureza quantitativa, por meio de um survey junto a uma amostra de 150 respondentes da região da Alta Paulista. A análise de dados foi realizada utilizando a modelagem de equações estruturais por meio do software SmartPLS 2.0 M3. Ao final, os resultados demonstraram que as características do greenwashing quando identificadas pelo consumidor afetam a confiança do consumidor e a reputação da marca. Uma vez que, a confiança e a marca interferem diretament... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / With increased consumption of green products in the last few decades, organizations have come to promote themselves, or their products and services as greens to attract a growing segment with environmental awareness. Consequently, there was an increase in the availability of these products at retail, while at the same time there was an increase in the dissemination of false environmental information, a practice known as greenwashing. Therefore, the objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between the identified characteristics of greenwashing in the brand reputation and in consumer behavior regarding confidence, mistrust and non-recognition of the product. Under this approach, the characteristics of greenwashing products identified by retail consumers were analyzed to see how this affects brand reputation and trust, mistrust, and product recognition that are aspects of consumer behavior. To verify the proposed objective, a quantitative exploratory research was carried out by means of a survey with a sample of 150 respondents from the Alta Paulista region. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0 M3 software. In the end, the results demonstrated that the characteristics of greenwashing when identified by the consumer affect consumer confidence and brand reputation. Since, trust and brand interfere directly with the consumer's buying decision. / Mestre

No description available.

Wong, Yee Na. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-77). / Abstract and appendix also in Chinese. / Abstract (English) --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.ii / Acknowledgment --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Figures --- p.vii / INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / THEORETICAL BACKGROUND --- p.2 / Psychological Distance as Determinant of Basis for Evaluations --- p.2 / Feelings as Information --- p.8 / Construal Fit Effect and Consumers' Evaluations --- p.14 / When Feeling Right is Called into Question --- p.20 / OVERVIEW OF STUDIES --- p.23 / STUDY 1 --- p.25 / Pretest: Stimuli Development --- p.25 / Method --- p.25 / Results and Discussion --- p.27 / Main Study --- p.27 / Method --- p.27 / Results and Discussion --- p.29 / STUDY 2 --- p.34 / Pretest: Stimuli Development --- p.34 / Method --- p.34 / Results and Discussion --- p.35 / Main Study --- p.36 / Method --- p.36 / Results and Discussion --- p.38 / STUDY 3 --- p.4S / Pretest: Stimuli Development --- p.46 / Method --- p.46 / Results and Discussion --- p.47 / Main Study --- p.48 / Method --- p.48 / Results and Discussion --- p.51 / GENERAL DISCUSSION --- p.59 / Construal Fit and Psychological Distance --- p.61 / Construal Fit and Persuasion --- p.62 / Managerial Contributions --- p.64 / Limitations and Future Research --- p.65 / CONCLUSION --- p.69 / REFERENCES --- p.70 / APPENDIX --- p.78

Consumer perceived value is an important concept in marketing and plays a significant role in purchase decision-making. Consumer perceived value can be markedly influenced by product cues. The current research investigates the impact of extrinsic cues (country-of-origin, brand name, store name and price) on consumer perception of product quality, sacrifice and value developed by Teas and Agarwal (2000). Since little research has examined the generalisability of Teas and Agarwal's (2000) work in less economically developed countries, this research is conducted in a Chinese population.The relationships among four manipulated extrinsic cues, perceived sacrifice, quality and value are tested. Since Teas and Agarwal (2000) did not investigate the mediation affects of perceived sacrifice in the relationship between perceived quality and perceived value, this will be also explored as an additional study for this paper. Thus, the current research expands on previous work on perceived customer value by examining the mediation affects.After the conceptual model of Teas and Agarwal (2000) has been examined, the findings support hypothesized linkages between each of the four extrinsic cues and perceived quality, price and perceived quality, perceived quality and perceived value, perceived sacrifice and perceived value. The results show that perceived sacrifice mediates the relationship between perceived quality and value. The results also indicate that the linkages between the extrinsic cues and perceived value are mediated by perceived quality but are not mediated by perceived sacrifice. Although the results show that one hypothesized mediation affect is not supported, the overall structure of the model is supported across countries.The findings are similar to the study of Teas and Agarwal (2000) which suggests that Chinese and Western consumer behaviours are alike in most situations. For example, brand building is a critical cue to the desired success because it can promote perceptions from both quality and value perspectives. However, this research found that Chinese consumers use product evaluation cues in a different way from Western consumers. The major difference is that, if the price is lower than the reasonable average price-level, Chinese consumers may consider the product to be a big bargain with perceived high quality. This may suggest that marketing managers can use discount and price promotions in China. Therefore, discussions and managerial implications of this research provide advice for managers to formulate appropriate strategies.

This research investigates the influence of national culture on the trip planning and purchase-consumption behaviour of international leisure travellers. This study focuses on achieving a theory-driven, rigorous study that covers a large number of national cultures in empirically testing systematic relations between national values and overseas leisure travel behaviour. The study proposes a conceptual model linking four sets of generalized national value dimensions drawn from the Hofstede, Schwartz and Inglehart studies with trip planning and purchase-consumption behaviours, drawing on and extending the model of a tourism consumption system suggested by Woodside and King (2001). Both country- and individual-level control variables are incorporated in the model. Per capita GDP and statutory annual leave are country-level covariates; prior-destination experience, trip purpose, age and gender are individual-level covariates. In addition to these covariates, trip itinerary planning and total external search are included in models of consumption behaviours. Secondary data obtained from the quarterly Australian International Visitor Survey (from quarter one 2000) is used to test the proposed model. The final sample for the study comprises international leisure travellers from 22 Asian, European and North American countries. Trip planning and consumption behaviours are taken as the dependent variables in a series of weighted and multi-level (HLM) regression models where the independent variables include national values, per capita income and statutory leave (at the country-level) and four travel segments constructed from prior-destination experience and trip purpose, age and gender at the individual-level, as well as trip itinerary planning and total search. The study found that national values play a significant role in influencing both trip planning and purchase-consumption behaviour. National values were found to have a stronger impact on trip planning behaviours than on consumption behaviours at a destination. The four sets of national values differed in explanatory power as did, the three national culture models in an international tourism context, although there was substantial convergent validity across the three models of national culture. The impact of national values on overseas leisure travel behaviour was strongest among the holiday travellers and the youngest (15-24) female tourists, followed by older (45-55plus) tourists. The study contributes a theory-driven, rigorous investigation of national culture and overseas leisure travel behaviour by provision of comprehensive conceptual model and by empirically testing the hypotheses on a large number of countries. It enriches our understanding of the role of national culture on cross-cultural consumer behaviour. The study's findings may assist in developing more effective international destination marketing strategy (e.g., positioning, communication and products-services development) by showing the potential usefulness of national values. Finally, several avenues for future research are suggested including direct measurement of cultural values, further empirical testing based on larger samples, further advances in the conceptual model adding post-purchase behaviour and other confounding variables.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>In the beginning of the twenty-first century it became clear what consequences companies’pursuit of economical growth had created on our environment and our social lives. Now theworld is standing in front of a challenge and that is to find a sustainable way to produce,consume and live in order to help our environment and social lives. An example of anorganization that is working towards a sustainable way of living is Fair trade LabelingOrganizations International. They set up international fair trade standards in order to supportthe sustainable development of small producers in poor countries, such as ensuring that theproducers receive prices that cover their costs.Research results indicate that the fair trade label could lower the value of the brand that it isattached to, as well as decrease the original brand’s customer loyalty. While there is also thebelief that fair trade is a positive thing for a brand. Therefore our aim with this dissertation isto look at how the consumer behavior changes when the product is co branded with the fairtrade label. We will therefore look at how co branding with the fair trade label affect differentaspects of consumer behavior. The different aspects that we have used are need recognition,information search, evaluation of alternatives, post purchase behavior and perceived brandpersonality.The study is performed on Dutch consumers by doing a quantitative research. The studyshowed that there are four variables that affect consumer behavior when co branding with fairtrade these are price sensitivity, reason for buying, expected quality and perceived brandpersonality.This study contributes to the lack of research concerning the connection between co brandingwith fair trade and consumer behavior. The conclusions drawn from this study could be usedas guidelines for company managers that are thinking of adding a fair trade label to theproduct, but it could also be used as guidelines for managers that already use fair trade.</p>

Little empirical research has been conducted on self-gifts as a phenomenon of consumer behavior. A review of literature demonstrated that the phenomenon of self-gifts has been studied from the conceptual aspect, such as self-gift functions. Yet, our knowledge of self-gifts still remains limited because many of the determinants of self-gifts have not been explored (occasions and motivations, self-gifts relation to self-concept, and cultural influences on self-gift behavior). The purpose of this study was to identify occasions that prompt female college students to purchase clothing as a self-gift and some of their motivations for purchasing clothing as gifts for themselves. The data from the respondents was collected through audio-recorded interviews and were transcribed and analyzed by the researcher. A purposive, non-probability sample of 19 female college students was used. The instrument used to measure the occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts was the Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test (SGTAT) developed by Mick, DeMoss, and Faber (1992). This instrument is a specially adapted Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) based on Murstein's (1963) criteria which was derived from the original TAT developed by Murray (1938). The respondents were shown four SGTAT stimulus pictures of drawings of a young woman standing by a counter purchasing a clothing item, with a salesperson nearby. The titles above the drawings suggested common self-gift contexts based on prior research (Mick et al., 1992; Mick & DeMoss, 1990a). The four self-gift contexts were referred to as reward, therapeutic, birthday, and nice-to-self. Content and interpretive analysis were performed by coding the occasions and motivations in the stories that were reported by the respondents. Seventy-two usable Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test stories were produced (18 respondents by 4 self-gift contexts). Results of the study indicated that personal situations, which were related to significant life-transitions, work-related matters, school-related matters, and interpersonal relationship conflicts were strong occasions that prompted the purchase of self-gifts. In addition, the results of this study indicated that reward, therapeutic, and nice-to-self are common motivations for purchasing gifts for the self. These findings indicated that specific occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts can be identified. / Graduation date: 1995