Carlton A. Maile

The Apparent Lack of Self-Esteem and Persuasibility Relationships

Summary Three separate shapes of self-esteem/persuasibility curves could be computationally cancelled out to yield a finding of no apparent relationship as reported in some previous studies. It was hypothesized that a finding of no relationship could appear under certain conditions and that it could be resolved into negative linear, inverted U-shaped, and positive linear components. An experiment was conducted, using 264 Ss of both sexes and adaptations of measuring scales employed in previous studies. Mean persuasibility values were computed and plotted for each cell of 1 × 3 and 3 × 3 factorial designs. An initial finding of no relationships was resolved into negative linear, inverted U-shaped, and positive linear component curves. These component relationships were associated with chi square values significant at or above the 95 percentile level. The data were interpreted as supporting the hypotheses.

A communications model for marketing decisions

The purpose of this paper is to report the development of a communications model which could be helpful in making marketing decisions. The proposed model shows relationships between persuasibility, self-esteem, source credibility, and communication discrepancy. The importance of these variables is explained in the context of a general marketing situation. Because a major goal of marketing activities is to influence buyer attitudes, it is important to know how the buyers self-esteem, the sellers credibility, and attitude discrepant communications may influence the effectiveness of persuasive efforts. Knowledge of these relationships can aid decision making on the part of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and other channel members. The proposed model can be used to optimize efforts in choosing target markets, selecting advertising media, selecting price levels, developing advertising formats, and in making a multitude of additional marketing decisions.

DEROGATION OF SOURCE: A MATTER OF DEFINITION

The frequent interchange of derogation of source with other terms hinders viable dissonance explanations of attitude data. For example, equating derogation of a source to low credibility of a source implies a lack of consideration for the possibility of derogation at high levels of credibility. A definition is proposed to overcome this drawback. This definition may facilitate a dissonance approach to badly needed explanations for a variety of relationships between persuasibility and other communications variables, e.g., communication discrepancy and self-esteem.

Sensory Profiles of Generic Tomato Juice a Qda Comparison

An exploratory study was conducted to enable comparing consumer perceptions of the relative importance, plus ideal and actual levels, of selected product attributes. A preliminary experiment was designed to measure these perceptions regarding generic tomato juice associated with two different types of retail suppliers. As part of a Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) technique utilized in collecting and analyzing the data, graphical profiles of actual and ideal ratings were plotted on polar axes arranged in ascending order of attribute importance. Results were interpreted to indicate that consumers may perceive generic products to exceed ideal requirements regarding attributes of lesser and greater importance when they are associated with discount food stores and conventional supermarkets respectively.

Sensory Profiling and Retailer Selection

After identifying selected characteristics of generic tomato juice, an experiment was conducted to enable a comparison of attribute ratings for generic tomato juice and two types of retail suppliers. Descriptive Analysis (QDA) techniques were used for collecting and analyzing the data. Three types of information were then plotted on appropriate polar axes: (1) ratings for selected product attributes prior to store identification, (2) changes in attribute perceptions after store identification, and (3) attribute ratings of retail suppliers after store identification. After connecting appropriate plotted points, different sensory profiles appeared in association with two different types of stores and their products. These profiles could be helpful to producers in selecting retailers who are likely to be most effective in marketing their products.

Brand Name Development: A Historical Perspective

A review of sources used in the past could be helpful to the systematic development of new brand names for products and services. Because the Patent Office quidelines for registrable brand names are too general or vague, and because intuitive creativity may be too unreliable for the meaningful and productive identification of brand name sources, it is important for marketers to develop their own quidelines which are more specific and fertile. A possible framework for source identification could be based on fixed-length combinations of letters, numbers, or symbols; plus the elements of language structure, and examples of historical precedent.

Communications Effectiveness: A Matter of Methodology

A previously published communications model for advertising decisions can be further extended by recognizing that its application should be varied according to the level of audience familiarity with message content. The proposed model suggests an approach to advertising decisions which includes considerations of relationships between selected characteristics of the audience message, media, and supplier.

Advertising Decisions: A Matter of Confidence

A previously published communications model can be extended to show how buyer confidence can be utilized in making better advertising decisions. The extended model indicates how relationships between persuasibility and self-esteem, communication discrepancy, or source credibility may be altered in association with different buyer attitudes toward advertising content. It is proposed that buyers’ confidence in their own ability to evaluate message content could be used as a guide to media and target market selection, plus the development of better content and format parameters.

Modifying a marketing communication model with the sleeper effect

The purpose of this paper is to modify a marketing communications model published earlier by the authors. In the original model, self-esteem, source credibility, and communication discrepancy are shown to affect the persuasibility of message receiver. However, after modifying this model to accommodate a time lag phenomenon called the sleeper effect, it is apparent that the independent variables may have considerably different effects on persuasibility within a few weeks after the transmission of a marketing communication. These changed relationships may be important to the effectiveness of advertising, personal sales and other marketing communications.

Preliminary tests of a marketing communications model

Two experimental tests of a previously published marketing communications model are reported in this paper. Data from both experiments are interpreted as supporting basic relationships suggested in the model. Negative linear, inverted U-shaped, and positive linear self-esteem/persuasibility relationships appearing in the data are very similar to those suggested in the oroginal model. Similar relationships between communication discrepancy and persuasibility also appeared in the data as predicted. Even though the reported experiments are of a preliminary nature and are not intended to be conclusive, the resulting data are interpreted as substantiating the validity of the proposed model and as lending additional credibility to the models use as a marketing decision tool.