Arthur W. Allaway

Effects of personal control on adoption of self‐service technology innovations

A new literature is emerging around the role of self‐service technologies (SSTs) such as airline ticketing machines, automatic teller machines, and computer‐based shopping services in the strategic offering of service providers. SSTs allow (or force) consumers to help produce their own service encounters via machine interaction rather than by interacting with a firm’s service personnel. Firms which introduce SSTs wish to gain rapid acceptance and usage of these technologies by potential consumers. This study investigates whether the provision of more personal control to consumers can reduce their perceived risk, enhance the perceived value of the SST, and induce greater adoption intention associated with the innovation. Propositions are tested using an experiment. Multiple analysis of covariance and follow‐up tests either fully or partially supported 11 out of 12 hypotheses. A set of managerial implications and recommendations is provided.

Service quality attributes and choice behaviour

Addresses two shortcomings of service quality empirical research. Investigates the importance of service quality as a predictor of actual choice behaviour and examines the importance of process and outcome quality attributes as predictors of choice. Uses regression analysis to investigate the importance of service quality attributes on choice. Suggests that consumers utilise multiple process and outcome quality attributes in their choices.

Spatial diffusion of a new loyalty program through a retail market

Abstract Retailers who wish to launch new innovations into their markets can be much more effective if they understand the geographic forces which affect consumer adoption of those innovations. A research field which studies this process is spatial diffusion. This paper explores and models the processes and driving forces of spatial diffusion across a market area following the launch of a new loyalty card program by a national retailer. Event history modeling is used to estimate the effects of distance, the impact of the firm’s marketing efforts, and the role of previous adopters in influencing the speed and spatial pattern of the adoption process. The results, in addition to yielding new insights into the processes involved in spatial diffusion, support previous findings on the importance of targeting the Innovator adopter group in a new product launch.

Multisegment analysis of supermarket patronage

Abstract This study evaluates the efficacy of different customer segmentation approaches in developing a better understanding of consumer choice among competing supermarkets in an urban setting. The analysis focuses on the differential impact of patronage-influencing variables within and across three different segmentation alternatives in a choice modeling context. A key objective is to determine whether one segmentation approach can yield a better understanding of retail choice than other segmentation approaches or a single aggregate model. If “best” approaches for segmenting the market are discovered for different situations, the findings will enable retail offerings to be targeted to key groups of customers more flexity and effectively. The supermarket industry was selected because of the “veritable explosion” in recent years of “meaningfully differentiated” retail formats. These specific store formats, such as “hypermarkets, warehouse stores, super combos, fresh food superstores, and limited assortment discount stores” (Arnold et al., 1983 p. 149), are designed to include specific groups of people who shop outlets other than the closest one to their homes by offering and promoting attributes mixes targeted directly at them. While such efforts are still in their infancy, future success in customer targeting strategies in this and other retail industries will increasingly depend on the ability to segment the market effectively. This study of different approaches for segment-based patronage modeling should therefore lead to significantly improved understanding of the retail market and, ultimately, better strategic decisions by retail firms.

Deriving and exploring behavior segments within a retail loyalty card program

Purpose – Despite the proliferation of retail loyalty programs, little is known about differences in the behavior patterns of the consumers within them. There may be several unique segments within a loyalty program, and significant managerial implications may accrue from identification of these segments and analysis of differences among them. This paper aims to investigate the potential for deriving meaningful, managerially relevant customer segments within a retail loyalty‐type program.Design/methodology/approach – Data from the one‐year test of a retail loyalty card program by a major US retailer were used to derive patronage‐based segments and explore determinants of segment differences and strategy implications. A numerical taxonomy process was used to group 57,650 loyalty‐card program members into distinct segments. Cluster analysis was used to generate a range of potential market structures on a set of managerially relevant variables. The most appropriate market structure was selected using scree te...

Estimating Differential Lag Effects for Multiple Media across Multiple Stores

Abstract More than 30 years of study have provided ample evidence that advertising in one period can continue to influence sales performance in subsequent periods. However, these carryover, or lagged, effects of advertising have generally been studied (1) only for the total advertising budget or (2) using estimation techniques that implicitly assume that different advertising media have the same lag effect. We develop a model that estimates the influence on sales when different advertising media are allowed to have different lag structures. A methodology is presented and illustrated by an application to weekly data from three stores of a large national retailer. Of the two media studied, radio had longer lagged effects than did billboards. The results were consistent for all three stores. This research yields important insights for theory, as well as for the practice of advertising campaign planning and budget allocation.

A Study of Perceived Innovation Characteristics Across Cultures and Stages of Diffusion

The intense competition for consumer spending and the significant costs, risks, and potential rewards associated with multinational product introductions make it imperative that every aspect of consumer reaction to new products be explored. This study investigates consumer perceptions of innovation characteristics in two different cultures for technology-based consumer durables representing early and late stages of diffusion. Based on survey data from young adults in the United States and South Korea, we find that significant cultural effects exist between consumers from an individualism-centered and a Confucian/collectivism-centered country.

Evolution of a Retail Market Area: An Event-History Model of Spatial Diffusion

AbstractWe model the development of the market area around a newly opened retailer in terms of the diffusion of individual consumer adoptions across time and space. The large number of such events ...

An empirical investigation of the advertising spending decisions of a multiproduct retailer

Abstract In a multiproduct retailing context, an approach for testing marketing mix variables is presented that should be of interest to retailers and researchers alike. Traditional model building for decision evaluation purposes suffers from a serious drawback in that the underlying model is assumed to be known. The present approach incorporates the search for the “true” model as an intrinsic part of the method. Based on up to date modeling perspectives, the approach can be divided into three steps: (1)the use of multiple time series analysis to assist in model specification; (2) the choice of functional form, model estimation and testing; and (3) the use of statistical and simulation methods to test decision making hypotheses. The approach is applied to three years of a western wear retailers weekly sales and advertising data; multiple time series analysis is used to specify a simultaneous equation model that captures demand interdependences. After subjecting the model to several stability tests, it is then used as a basis for testing several interesting hypotheses concerning the retailer s advertising decision making behavior. The key insight for multiproduct retailers is that advertising budget allocation decisions across products and media are probably more important than decisions affecting the level of the total budget since the former have a greater impact on profit contribution.

Characteristics‐based innovation adoption: scale and model validation

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop a measurement scale that encompasses a wide array of product characteristics. In addition, a comprehensive model is developed and tested illustrating the relationship among product characteristics and with adoption.Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing 628 respondents, a measurement scale is developed and a structural equation model is tested through a multi‐stage series of surveys. The scope of the research is consumer durable products.Findings – This paper is successful in developing a 43‐item scale that measures 15 unique innovation characteristics. This scale is then used to test a second order model illustrating the relationships innovation characteristics have with each other and ultimately innovation adoption.Research limitations/implications – The major limitation this research suffers from is its lack of variety in products under analysis. For the four consumer durable products studied, the research finds significant results. However, these findings...