Boonghee Yoo

An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity.

This study explores the relationships between selected marketing mix elements and the creation of brand equity. The authors propose a conceptual framework in which marketing elements are related to the dimensions of brand equity, that is, perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand associations combined with brand awareness. These dimensions are then related to brand equity. The empirical tests using a structural equation model support the research hypotheses. The results show that frequent price promotions, such as price deals, are related to low brand equity, whereas high advertising spending, high price, good store image, and high distribution intensity are related to high brand equity.

Developing and validating a multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale

Abstract Little systematic research has been done to develop a scale to measure consumer-based brand equity. The authors report the results of a multistep study to develop and validate a multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale (MBE) drawn from Aakers and Kellers conceptualizations of brand equity. A total of 1530 American, Korean American, and Korean participants evaluated 12 brands from three product categories (athletic shoes, film for cameras, and color television sets). Multistep psychometric tests demonstrate that the new brand equity scale is reliable, valid, parsimonious, and generalizable across several cultures and product categories. The authors discuss theoretical and practical implications of the study.

Developing a Scale to Measure the Perceived Quality of an Internet Shopping Site (PQISS)

Internet shopping sites must be of high quality to attract consumers and influence their shopping decisions. We have developed a scale to measure the perceived quality of an Internet shopping site (PQISS). This scale can be used to evaluate Internet shopping sites and to examine the relationships between the site quality and relevant variables.

Retail productivity assessment using data envelopment analysis

Abstract Current approaches to retail productivity measurement have long been controversial because of difficulties in identifying the level of retail services. Data Envelopment Analysis, an operations research-based performance evaluation methodology, is introduced as one solution for resolving this problem and assessing managerially useful measure of store-level retail productivity. Data Envelopment Analysis measures relative-to-best performance efficiency of retail outlets characterized by multiple inputs and outputs. In an empirical illustration, using data collected over time from retail stores belonging to a restaurant chain, the potential applications and strengths of Data Envelopment Analysis in assessing retail productivity are highlighted.

Measuring Hofstede's Five Dimensions of Cultural Values at the Individual Level: Development and Validation of CVSCALE

ABSTRACT Hofstedes (1980 and 2001) renowned five-dimensional measure of cultural values is the overwhelmingly dominant metric of culture. His measure has been used as a contextual variable, but it is often required to directly measure cultural values for individual consumers or managers. The purpose of this research is to respond to the call for developing a psychometrically sound measure of Hofstedes culture at the individual level. Past research in this area has developed a scale for only one of Hofstedes dimensions, a highly work-oriented scale, or a scale with poor reliability. By overcoming every major weakness of past studies, this research offers CVSCALE, a 26-item five-dimensional scale of individual cultural values that assesses Hofstedes cultural dimensions at the individual level. The scale shows adequate reliability, validity, and across-sample and across-national generalizability.

The Effects of Marketing Education and Individual Cultural Values on Marketing Ethics of Students

This study investigates the relationships between marketing education and individual cultural valuesand college stu dents’ marketing ethics. Using Vitell, Rallapalli, and Singhapakdi’smarketing normsscale and Yoo, Donthu, and Lenartowicz’s five-dimensional measure of culture operationalized at the individual level, the study reveals that formal and informal marketing educationsare positively related to the level of marketing ethics. Collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and Confucian dynamism are positively related to the level of marketing ethics, whereas masculinity and power distance are negatively related to the level of marketing ethics. Implications for ethics education are discussed.

Cross‐national invariance of the effect of personal collectivistic orientation on brand loyalty and equity

Purpose – This study seeks to examine whether or not the effect of personal cultural orientation on brand‐related consumer behaviors functions invariably at the individual level in two culturally opposite countries (South Korea and the USA).Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from college students from South Korea and the USA. A total of 415 eligible questionnaires were collected: 212 South Korea and 203 USA. Data analysis was conducted using Multivariate analysis of variance.Findings – It was found that personal collectivistic orientation had a significant effect on both brand loyalty and equity among both Americans and Koreans. Brand loyalty was higher among people of high collectivism than those of low collectivism across brands in both the US and South Korean samples. Likewise, brand equity was also higher among people of high collectivism than those of low collectivism across brands in both countries. These findings indicated that regardless of their national culture, collectivist consu...

Measurement equivalence and applicability of core marketing concepts across Nigerian, Kenyan, Japanese and US firms

Establishing the validity and measurement equivalence of core marketing concepts in the emerging market economies of Africa is a key step in assessing the transferability of modern marketing theory and managerial practice to these countries. However, measurement equivalence issues are rarely addressed in studies of marketing practices in Africa. Accordingly, this study examines the equivalence of core marketing concepts based on interviews of 459 marketing managers from Kenya, Nigeria, Japan and the USA. The results show that optimal scaling analysis of the managers’ evaluations provide more valid and meaningful assessment than that of the raw data. The managers’ evaluations of the concepts revealed amazingly similar or prototypical perceptions of marketing’s core concepts and its applicability in their organizations, despite the profound country environmental differences. It appears that the concepts fall into two cross‐national categories of applicability that permeate the industrialized and developing country categorization. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

Consumer patronage of ethnic portals

The emergence and diffusion of the Internet has prompted a surge in web portal sites that are designed to meet the specific needs of ethnic Internet users who are not native English speakers. These ethnic portal sites may be set up by global portal giants (e.g. Yahoo!) or by local entrepreneurs (e.g. netease.com in China). Often, because of the different origins of these sites, they tend to have different operating philosophies and varying appeals to ethnic Internet users. In this study, we first analyze the differences and similarities among different types of ethnic portals. We then propose a conceptual model concerning the factors that affect the patronage of ethnic portals by ethnic Internet users. An empirical study was designed to test the conceptual model with data collected from Mainland Chinese Internet users. Finally, implications of the study results for ethnic portals are presented.

Invariant effect of individual cultural orientations: an application of CVSCALE

Purpose Culture is recognized as a pivotal variable in country of origin (COO) research. The purpose of this paper is to assess culture from an individual perspective and to examine the extent to which individual cultural orientations have similar associations with 33 manager- and consumer-related variables between two culturally opposite countries: the USA and South Korea. Design/methodology/approach An online survey is used. The sample size is 540 for the US sample and 572 for the Korean sample. The correlational similarity between the cultural orientations and other variables is analyzed in three ways and confirmed invariant in the majority cases of each analysis. Findings Individual cultural orientations are measured by Cultural Value Scale (Yoo et al., 2011), a 26-item five-dimensional scale measuring Hofstede’s typology of culture at the individual level. The three-faceted similarity test of each of the 165 pairs of correlations between the USA and Korea samples (i.e. 33 variables × 5 dimensions of individual cultural orientations) shows that the majority of the correlations are significantly similar between the two countries. Originality/value This is a first study in examining the invariance of the relationships of all five dimensions of Hofstede’s culture at the individual level to a variety of variables. As the invariance is found to be a norm, the role of culture in the COO phenomena can be studied at the individual level in a country and be expanded to other countries.