Carla Ferraro

Segmenting consumer reactions to social network marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how consumers may be segmented with respect to their reactions to social network marketing. Design/methodology/approach – Consumers are segmented on the basis of attitudes toward social network marketing and the association among psychological, economic, and socio-demographic covariates are explored using data from 883 consumers and latent-class analysis. Findings – A total of five segments are identified – Passive, Talkers, Hesitant, Active, and Averse – along with significant covariates, such as information search, convenience, entertainment, age and gender that predict membership. Research limitations/implications – Evidence was found of two segments that are highly impacted by social network marketing in terms of brand engagement, purchase intention and WOM referral intention. The most engaged – the Active – representing approximately 10 percent, is most open to interacting with brands in social networks, likely to make a purchase as a result of the...

Does the online channel pay? A comparison of online versus offline information search on physical store spend

The Internet has transformed consumer behaviour, particularly the manner in which consumers search for information prior to making a purchase. However, we know relatively little about the relationship between consumer information search strategies prior to visiting a physical retail store and the amount of money spent on product purchases. This raises an important question for retailers; does the online channel pay? We test this notion in a study of 1275 consumers across the four retail categories of Clothing and Footwear, Beauty and Skincare, DIY Hardware, and Kitchen and Bathroom Renovations. We find that in all categories, except for Clothing and Footwear, consumers who used the Internet to search for product information prior to making a physical store purchase, spent more money when purchasing. The fact that consumers seem to spend more in-store after conducting an online search (compared to those that search offline) is somewhat counter-intuitive to traditional consumer behaviour theory, in that as part of the consumers search motivation, it is traditionally assumed that there is a desire to obtain the best price (i.e. spend less). This finding therefore challenges traditional perspectives of value-seeking behaviour and suggests that the Internet is a critical channel for retailer engagement, given it can potentially engage consumers in such a way that leads to increased in-store spend.

The Inscrutable Shopper: Consumer Resistance in Retail

The book highlights research undertaken by marketers, social researchers and anthropologists who have an interest in this field. Anti consumption is of relevance to practitioners and academics as it is important to understand consumer trends and values.