Douglas L. MacLachlan

AD SKEPTICISM: The Consequences of Disbelief

Three studies investigated the effects of consumer skepticism toward advertising on responses to ads. Consumer skepticism, defined as the tendency toward disbelief of advertising claims (Obermiller and Spangenberg 1998), is measured in each study and then related to various measures of advertising response, including brand beliefs, ad attitudes, responses to informational and emotional appeals, efforts to avoid advertising, attention to ads, and reliance on ads versus other information sources. The results generally support the hypotheses that more skeptical consumers like advertising less, rely on it less, attend to it less, and respond more positively to emotional appeals than to informational appeals.

Application of a Multi-Generation Diffusion Model to Milk Container Technology

A recently introduced multi-generation model 1181, developed for high-technology industries and tested on a high-tech product class, is applied to a very different situation. It is tested by fitting and forecasting use of three generations of packaging technology in the fluid milk market, glass, paperboard cartons, and plastic, across two submarkets: gallons and half gallons. Results in the gallon market show that the model can be successfully applied to industries not usually associated with high technology, and to specific submarkets, rather than across a whole product class. It is less successful in the half-gallon market, which violates some of the assumptions underlying the model. Extension of the model with the addition of pricing and growth terms allows slightly improved forecasts over the basic model without these terms.

Absorptive and disseminative capacity: Knowledge transfer in intra-organization networks

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. You may purchase this article from the Ask*IEEE Document Delivery Service at http://www.ieee.org/services/askieee/.

Perceived Risk: A Synthesis

Discusses a conceptual framework of perceived risk consolidating and interrelating the numerous theories and research results. Adumbrates the measurement of perceived risk, consumer risk handling, risk reduction methods and consumer preference for risk reduction methods. Posits that although the area of consumer behaviour as a risk‐taking function has been extensively researched since 1960, there are many aspects needing further investigations. States that research into levels of risk between different product classes is necessary. Sums up that the concept of perceived risk may have been extensively investigated, considerable opportunity exists for further refinement and meaningful study.

Process Tracing of Emotional Responses to TV Ads: Revisiting the Warmth Monitor

Because of the transient nature of some emotions stimulated during TV commercials, measurement of emotional reactions at various points during an ad requires process tracing. This research discusses the analysis of process-tracing data using the Warmth Monitor as an illustration. We show that the establishment of the reliability and validity of process-tracing measures hinges on a suitable choice of the relevant domain of (co)variance in the data. The Warmth Monitor is shown to provide a reliable measure of warmth, but questions remain regarding the constructs meaning and valid measurement. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.

Implication of network size and structure on organizations' knowledge transfer

Past studies have suggested an interaction between knowledge transfer, structural characteristics and behavioral patterns of network organizations. However, most research has explored the process of knowledge transfer from the micro-level perspective, and less attention has been paid to the macro-level dynamic behavior patterns of network-based organization and the micro-macro links in the process of knowledge transfer. In this paper, a virtual experiment (VE) is utilized to explore the interdependence of knowledge transfer and dynamic behavior patterns of network-based organizations on the basis of rules systems. Our model shows that the speed of knowledge transfer and power influence of individuals play dominant roles in the process of knowledge transfer. The larger the network organization and the greater number of the neighbor nodes an organization have, the higher the proportion of nodes that will change their knowledge state.

Ecological validation of alternative customer-based brand strength measures

Abstract Customer-based brand strenght measures developed from conjoint-like tradeoff data have the advantages of allowing discovery of customer segments and permitting analysis of market responses to hypothetical changes in the marketplace (e.g., new products, prices, competitor actions). This study provides an ecological validation of a set of such measures using customer responses to brand-price tradeoffs in four product classes. Measures based on simple average brand and price partworths outperform more complex measures of brand strength.

A consumer‐based view of multi‐channel service

Purpose – Consumers increasingly experience multi‐channel service and a significant challenge for the service organization is to ensure that the design of the multi‐channel interface contributes to the service experience and helps to build bonds with customers. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate four features (i.e. problem‐handling, record accuracy, usability, and scalability) used by customers to evaluate multi‐channel service and investigates their impact on customer relationship and loyalty intentions.Design/methodology/approach – The study involves an online survey with customers selected randomly in two service industries. Empirical data are analyzed using structural equation models.Findings – Customer evaluations of the multi‐channel service interface have a strong influence on customer trust in the organization but a negligible impact on customer commitment. Trust, however, has a positive effect on commitment, thus enhancing customer loyalty.Research limitations/implications – The measures d...

Estimating Willingness to Pay with Exaggeration Bias-Corrected Contingent Valuation Method

Estimates of the prices customers are willing to pay for new products or services using responses from survey questionnaires are notoriously biased on the high side. An approach to obtaining more realistic estimates is suggested here, called the exaggeration bias-corrected contingent valuation method EBC-CVM. The method is an alternative to conventional contingent valuation methods CVMs that have been used in economics and, to a lesser extent, in marketing. Two experiments and one field study are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. In each case, the proposed method outperformed conventional CVMs in comparison with real choices or more realistic price estimates.

Forecasting fluid milk package type with a multigeneration new product diffusion model

A recently introduced multigeneration model, developed for high-technology industries and tested on a high-tech product class, is used to forecast use of three generations of packaging technology in the fluid milk market: glass, paperboard cartons, and plastic. Results show that the model can be successfully applied to industries not usually associated with high technology, and to specific markets, rather than across a whole product class. The model is extended by incorporating pricing, which brings about slight improvements in already good forecasts. >