Service Recovery in Online Medium
Abstract Past research has shown that the status of the apologizing service personnel in offline medium impacts fairness perceptions of service recovery differently in
cross-cultural settings. The tremendous growth in the global online retailing industry with their ever-increasing consumer base belonging to Eastern cultures makes it
imperative to find a cost-effective way to manage service recovery from this cultural
group about which there is very little literature. This paper addresses this issue by
first showing that what works for Eastern consumers in offline service recovery may
not necessarily work in online without suitable modifications. We then further
reveal a novel cost-effective way using social media to increase fairness perceptions
even in the impersonal online medium. Two experimental studies were conducted
using nonstudent samples from a Western country (Germany) and two Eastern
countries (India and the Philippines). Our empirical findings indicate that a public
apology from a high-status service provider in the online medium that is conveyed
through social media would result in higher justice perceptions for consumers in
Eastern cultures as compared to Western cultures. For managers of global online
retailers, se thus show a powerful yet cost-effective way to deal with consumer
complaints.
Impact of Consumer Behavior Factors on Retail Decisions
Abstract The US retail industry makes billions of dollars a year by engaging customers to participate in their business (design, production, delivery of goods and
services); however, the psychological implications of such participation by customers have recently began gaining scholarly prominence. This paper explores the role
of potent upward counterfactual thinking (the process of looking back at events and
thinking about how things could have turned out better) in a participatory setup.
More specifically, the role of upward counterfactual potency on perceived ownership toward the coproduced good is examined. Additionally, the role of consumer’s
self-assessment of participation as an antecedent to upward counterfactual potency
and the moderating role of opportunity to return the product on the aforementioned
are explored.
An Empirical Study of Body Size and Basket Healthiness on Consumer Helping Behaviors Toward Thin, Average, and Obese Shoppers (Abstract)
Abstract Obesity is a leading health crisis in the United States; however, there is
almost no research in the arena of obesity within the social space of a retail environment. While some studies examine prejudices toward thin and obese people in general, there are no studies that investigate how shoppers judge one another based on
body size. This is an important aspect of consumer behavior as consumer interactions are relevant criteria for determining customer satisfaction (Huang and Hsu
2009). We attempt to bridge this gap in research and provide initial empirical
insights into how brand attitudes and the emotional response people have toward
other shoppers are affected by other shoppers’ body size (thin, average, obese) and
their shopping basket (healthy, unhealthy).
The results of this study should be taken as a starting point to further delve into
the nuances of shopper appearance in the retail domain. Specifically, body image
and the “weight bias” are an important signal in the eyes of consumers who share
retail space. It seems that the weight bias is not only reserved for the obese—but
should be applied to those viewed as “too thin.” This study highlights how emotional responses to shoppers can vary based on both body type and the composition
of the shopping basket. This is important since shopping scenarios almost always
include more cues about a person than merely appearance. Results also suggest that
brand attitudes can be negatively influenced by weight biases; however, we only
found this to prevail for thin shoppers purchasing unhealthy items. Brand attitudes
were unaffected by the obese shopper, which seems contradictory to previous studies about the weight bias. A deeper investigation into this finding is needed.
Retailers increasingly utilize private label branding strategy in an effort to
simultaneously increase store loyalty and compete with national brands (Ailawadi
and Keller 2004; Nies and Natter 2012). Previous research suggests consumers
are not only receptive to the notion of private label consumption but in many cases
prefer retailer brands over their premium brand competitors (Neilsen 2011;
Thomassen et al. 2006). From a supply perspective, many national brand manufacturers, or “dual branders” (ter Braak et al. 2013: 87), produce private label
brands to optimize outcomes from the channel relationship (Chen et al. 2010;
Kumar et al. 2010). Dual branders do not volunteer this information to prevent
loss of the national brand market share due to narrowing gaps between quality
perceptions of premiums and private labels (Sethuraman and Raju 2012;
Steenkamp et al. 2010). Consequently, consumers are often only able to rely on
superficial signals (e.g., packaging or price) to evaluate the origins and quality of
private-label products. However, consumers can be inadvertently exposed to dual
branding knowledge through other communications such as a manufacturer’s
announced product recall or word-of-mouth from others. Thus it is important for
marketing researchers to understand how consumers react to the knowledge that
two differently priced, competing brands are sourced by the same manufacturer.
In response, this research examines the influence of dual branding on customers’
Although desiring confidentiality in their operations, many national brand manufacturers engage in private label production at the consumer packaged goods level
(Steenkamp et al. 2010). Nationally branded products have historically enjoyed perceived quality advantages over store brands (Ailawadi 2001; Brucks et al. 2000;
Rao and Monroe 1989). However, recent research suggests a deterioration of this
competitive edge, as diversity in retail brand strategy has evolved to the extent that
consumers may no longer view private labels as cheaper—and presumably lower
quality—alternatives to premium competitors (Kumar and Steenkamp 2007). Given
the typical price premium imposed for national brands over private labels, consumer
awareness of dual branding may influence their comparative quality perceptions of
both brand alternatives, which may in turn influence brand-related decisions.
Furthermore, previous research suggests that consumer willingness to pay for store
brands in general increases with decreased perceived gaps in quality at the industry
level (Steenkamp et al. 2010). Consequently, dual branders fighting to maintain
market share and retailer relationships risk consumers’ exposure to their additional
production of private labels, which could narrow the comparative quality gap
between the two.
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