Bodo B. Schlegelmilch

Can socio-demographics still play a role in profiling green consumers? A review of the evidence and an empirical investigation

Abstract This paper explores whether socio-demographics still have a role to play in profiling green consumers. Following an interdisciplinary review of the literature, the second part of the paper attempts to address shortcomings identified in previous research. Specifically, hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between six key socio-demographic variables and five valid and reliable measures of environmental consciousness. These hypotheses are subsequently tested on a large nationwide sample of British consumers and conclusions drawn on the utility of socio-demographic variables for profiling green consumers.

The link between green purchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousness

A review of the literature suggests that traditional segmentation variables (socio‐demographics) and personality indicators are of limited use for characterizing the green consumer. Explores the extent to which variables, specific to environmental consciousness, are better able to explain consumers’ pro‐environmental purchasing behaviour. Two conceptualizations of the purchasing domain are addressed, namely general green purchasing behaviour and specific purchasing habits relating to five green product categories. Two data sets are used in the analysis, namely marketing students and members of the United Kingdom general public. Suggests that measures of environmental consciousness are closely linked to environmentally‐responsible purchasing behaviour, although the strength of the relationships varies according to sample type, the conceptualization of the purchasing domain and the particular product category at issue.

Explaining export development through psychic distance: enlightening or elusive?

The concept of psychic distance has gained widespread theoretical recognition as a predictor of export behaviour. However, the empirical validation of the concept remains patchy and contradictory in terms of the results obtained. Consequently, this paper attempts to shed fresh light on the empirical usefulness of the psychic distance concept. First, a wider assessment base is offered through the development of two new US samples. Subsequently, the US findings are compared with previous empirical evidence from Japan, Germany, Finland and Austria. Taken collectively, the results call into question the practical value of the current operationalisation of psychic distance in explaining export behaviour and provide pointers for required conceptual and measurement improvements.

Measuring ecological concern: A multi‐construct perspective

Environmental consciousness has consistently been shown to be much more than a passing fad. However, very little academic research has been conducted in the UK in developing ecological segmentation variables for targeting the environmentally‐concerned/aware segments of the population. This paper follows established procedures from the measure development literature and attempts to develop measures encapsulating individuals’: (1) perceived knowledge about green issues, (2) attitudes toward the environment and (3) levels of environmentally‐sensitive behaviour. The quality of the derived measures is assessed by means of dimensionability, reliability and validity checks and their potential usefulness for marketing purposes highlighted.

The Perils and Opportunities of Communicating Corporate Ethics

This paper examines critical success factors for ethics-related corporate communication with a view to helping companies communicate their ethical stance more effectively. We analyze this communication process from the companys point of view and discuss the implications of source credibility, attitude formation, audience involvement and media choice for image management. We argue that the ideal relationship between corporate ethics, corporate communication, and corporate image is a sequence of activities, with companies adjusting their messages as they change their business conduct. In this way, public perceptions are a fair reflection of corporate behaviour. This process should be a continuous, upward moving cycle that stops when the companys public image matches its desired image. We also point out the dangers inherent in communicating corporate ethics, including public cynicism and elevated stakeholder expectations.

Knowledge transfer between marketing functions in multinational companies: a conceptual model

A key competitive advantage of multinational companies lies in their ability to exploit locally created knowledge worldwide. This implies that such companies have to be able to transfer knowledge within organizational networks characterized by separation through time, space, culture and language. Given the pivotal importance of knowledge transfer for the competitiveness of multinationals, it is remarkable that the process of transferring knowledge effectively across dispersed units of multinational corporations has only attracted little and rather fragmented research interest. What appears to be missing is a unifying framework that serves as a basis for a research agenda. Our paper aims to develop such a framework. Specifically, we propose a conceptual model of knowledge transfer between marketing functions within multinationals and advance research propositions for future empirical testing.

The relationship between country‐of‐origin image and brand image as drivers of purchase intentions

– Against the background of mounting criticism of the country‐of‐origin (COO) construct, the purpose of this paper is to empirically contrast two competing perspectives of the potential influence of country‐of origin image (COI) on purchase intentions., – Based on personal interviews with over 300 UK consumers, the paper investigates the relative impact of COI and brand image as independent drivers (“orthogonality” perspective), and as causally‐linked drivers (“irradiation” perspective) on consumers’ intentions to buy specific US and Chinese brands., – Controlling for the effects of brand familiarity, the analysis shows that COI impacts purchase intentions indirectly in that its influence is fully mediated by brand image. These findings are consistent with an “irradiation” perspective of COI effects and demonstrate that brand image evaluations already encapsulate consumers’ COI perceptions., – Based on the country/brand combinations investigated, the results show that the recent criticism against the COO construct is largely unfounded and that the construct remains relevant to international marketing theory and practice., – COO remains a relevant and powerful influence on brand perceptions and, through them, on buying intentions and needs to be carefully managed by companies., – The paper provides explicit empirical comparison of alternative models depicting potential COO influence on behavioural outcomes (brand image evaluations and purchase intentions) in distinct country/brand combinations.

Responses to different charity appeals: the impact of donor characteristics on the amount of donations

Posits that, at a time when demand for charity services is increasing and donations to charity are remaining static, careful administrative use of funds and accurate targeting of likely donors are vital for charities’ survival. Utilizes empirical data from a nationwide survey of donating behaviour to identify whether different characteristics of donors affect the levels of donation to various methods of prompted giving. Also provides suggestions as to how these characteristics may be utilized in streamlining future fund‐raising strategies.

Reactions to unethical consumer behavior across six countries

Examining individual tolerance for unethical consumer behavior provides a key insight to how people behave as consumers worldwide. In this study, consumer reactions to 11 unethical consumer behavior scenarios are investigated using sample data from Austria, Brunei, France, Hong Kong, the UK, and the USA. Nationality is found to be a significant predictor of how consumers view various questionable behaviors. Gender is not a significant predictor, while age and religious affiliation are found to be significant predictors of consumer ethical perceptions. The study identifies distinct consumer clusters based on their perceptions of consumer unethical behavior. Implications of the findings are discussed and future research directions are provided.

Strategic innovation: the construct, its drivers and its strategic outcomes

Strategic innovation has been described as the fundamental reconceptualization of business models and the reshaping of existing markets by breaking the rules and changing the nature of competition. This paper traces the notion of strategic innovation in the literature, offers corporate examples from Amazon.com and Swatch to illustrate key drivers and outcomes of strategic innovation, and synthesizes the insights gained in a Multiple Indicator–MultIple Causes (MIMIC) model. The model offers a formal specification of the strategic innovation construct and provides conceptual guidance for its operationalization in the context of empirical research.