Bridget Satinover Nichols

Competing while shopping

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the experiences of women who were engaged in a competitive retail shopping event.Design/methodology/approach – This study employed the discovery‐oriented grounded theory approach, in order to interpret field data from observations and interviews from 30 women who participated in a bridal gown sale event.Findings – This paper exposes the manner in which the women shoppers shifted from competitive mindsets and behaviors, to cooperative ones, with other women shoppers. Four complimentary “trajectories” help explain how this takes place by demonstrating that the women progressed through mindsets of competition, co‐opetition, cooperation, and charity. The course of this process occurs within the realm of highly dynamic environments, which help foster the womens changing behaviors. The experiences of our participants converged such that this process of competition‐cooperation contributed to positive experiential value of the shopping trip.Research lim...

Advertising Appeals and a Psychological Scarcity Effect: Competitive Arousals and Implications on Purchase Interest

Economic theory stipulates that companies compete as a natural force of the free market system. Within the same theory, assumptions about how consumers respond to supply and demand fluctuations are made without due consideration for many tenets of consumer behavior like perceptions or attitudes. Only recently have researchers begun to explore the “human” effect of supply and demand, concentrating on scarcity-based situations (Brannon and McCabe 2010; Lynn 1989). These studies have focused largely on scarcity’s ability to increase desirability for goods, suggesting this occurs through mechanisms of perceived value (Lynn 1991), and consumers’ needs for uniqueness (van Herpen et al. 2005), since people who desire individuality recognize that owning scarce goods can create this distinction. Research indicates that advertisements with scarcity appeals lead to enhanced value perceptions and purchase intentions for scarce goods (Eisend 2008), because they create a sense of “missing out.” Behaviorally, the scarcity effect influences people’s tendency to attempt acquisition of resources that are scarce or becoming scarcer (Cialdini 1995). Evidence of this can be found with respect to auctions (Ariely and Simonson 2003; Ku et al. 2004), Black Friday shopping (Harrison, Reilly, and Gentry 2010), and special retail events (Nichols 2010).

The Spillover Effects of Negative Supply Chain Information on Consumers’ Perceptions of Product Attributes

Research shows consumers moving from passive recipients of products and services to becoming a more integral part of supply chain operations and even strategies. As consumers are exposed to, and take interest in, more supply chain information, questions are arising concerning the impact this information has on product-related attributes and evaluations. This study examines the extent to which messages about a company’s supply chain activities, specifically those dealing with social responsibility, affect consumer evaluations of products sold by the company. Results indicate this “spillover effect” is most likely to occur when the message is negative. Positive messages are less influential. This effect is generalized across two sample populations, while accounting for relevant individual differences in consumer behavior.

Creating Memories and Bonding through Competitive Shopping: Evidence of Co-creating Experiential Retail Value

While researchers have identified personality traits and situational circumstances as drivers of general competitive consumer behaviors (e.g., Mowen 2000), competitive shopping itself has not garnered significant attention. As such, the purpose of this research was to better understand the motives, nature, and nuances of competitive shopping. Drawing from a sample of twenty-three informants who were engaged in a competitive shopping event, we sought to enrich our understanding of the phenomenon. The Grounded Theory (Glaser & Straus 1967) method was employed for data collection and analysis. Our findings indicate that although the primary phenomenon incorporates aspects of competing, participants were predominantly engaged in a process of creating memories. At the heart of creating memories was interpersonal bonding manifested through competitive shopping. Creating memories through bonding and competing highlights how consumers can take part in creating experiential value during a retail shopping experience.

Cause-Related Sports Marketing: The Role of League–Cause Fit and Team Imagery in Advertising Promotions: Abstract

Social involvement research in the sport industry is still evolving, leaving much to be understood regarding the social activities of sport organizations (Walker and Parent 2010). While research suggests that CRM can positively affect purchase intentions and behavioral responses (e.g., Bhattacharya and Sen 2003), the rise in CRM activities in professional sports and the breadth of philanthropic partners among individual leagues warrants a deeper understanding of how and when sports fans respond favorably, and perhaps more importantly, unfavorably, to such initiatives.

The Weight Bias: An Empirical Study of Body Size and Basket Healthiness on Consumer Helping Behaviors Toward Thin, Average, and Obese Shoppers (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).

Disruptive Cause-Related Marketing in Professional Sports: The Case of Devon Still and the Cincinnati Bengals: Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a fundamental element of managing professional sport properties (Irwin et al. 2003). CSR refers to a company’s commitment to reduce, minimize, or eliminate harmful effects of operating, while maximizing the long-term positive impact on society (Petkus and Woodruff 1992). Besides impacting society, there is ample support for the positive impact CSR activities can have on firm reputation. One common issue with CSR and CRM activities is a lack of strategic planning on the part of the firm (Porter and Kramer 2006).

Exposing the Competition, Co-opetition, and Cooperation Process of Consumers INA Retail Shopping Context

Competing is an experiential attribute that is (and has the potential to be) present in many shopping and consumer behavior situations. Although researchers have identified personality traits and situational circumstances as drivers of general competitive consumer behaviors (Mowen 2004), competitive shopping itself has not garnered significant attention. Meanwhile, evidence of consumers actively competing with each other can be found in scarcity-laden shopping situations like Black Friday, new product releases like Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and during times of threat or fear, such as when hurricane or snowstorm forecasts drive people to hoard gasoline and staple foods. Competition for consumer goods receives the most attention under circumstances of scarcity, which can be a result of several supply-demand functions (Gierl et al. 2008). But what happens when people compete for scarce goods? Researchers contend that “…scarcity hinders our ability to think…when we watch something we want become less available...a physical agitation sets in. …the blood comes up, the focus narrows. … the cognitive and rational side retreats. … cognitive processes are suppressed. … thoughtful analysis of the situation becomes less available... and brain clouding [occurs] (Cialdini 1993, p. 266).”

The impact of functional integration on perceived risk and consumer-based brand equity

Abstract Consumers today have access to a wide span of corporate information and are increasingly aware of the degree to which the functional areas of marketing and supply chain activities are becoming more integrated. Functional integration involves coordinating supply- and demand-focused activities and is theorized to create two interrelated benefits for consumers: lower perceived purchase risk and, ultimately, higher consumer-based brand equity. Despite an emphasis on the important role of consumers in the functional integration literature, the consumers’ viewpoint is missing. This research addresses this gap using a survey and an experiment to investigate the impact of functional integration on consumers’ perceptions of risk and consumer-based brand equity. Findings suggest that when functional integration acts as a component of brand association, purchase risk decreases and consumer-based brand equity increases. The results can help scholars and practitioners better understand the role of functional integration by advancing the nomological net of brand associations as part of the standard marketing mix.

Rival Team Influence on Team Identification and Cause-Related Sports Marketing

Cause-related marketing (CRM) has become increasingly popular with professional sport leagues and large charitable organizations (Genzale 2006). A prominent example is the National Football League’s (NFL) Pink Campaign, branded “A Crucial Catch,” with the American Cancer Society (ACS). While a large body of research suggests that CRM can positively affect purchase intentions and behavioral responses (e.g., Bhattacharya and Sen 2003), consumers’ response to CRM in a sports context may be confounded by team allegiances and rivalries (Platow et al. 1999). The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of rivalry in CRM on hometown team identification and consumer behavior in support of the cause.