Frank Pons

Individualistic orientation and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence

Purpose – Interpersonal influences play a major role in shaping consumer choice decisions. This is particularly evident in the case of services, where intangibility and variability add to the decision difficulty. While all consumers are susceptible to interpersonal influence, people differ in the extent of their susceptibility to interpersonal influence, with some individuals being chronically more susceptible to social influence than others. Seeks to speculate in this paper that, in addition to individual differences, susceptibility to interpersonal influence also varies systematically across cultures with varying degrees of individualism‐collectivism.Design/methodolog/approach – Hypothesis is tested by investigating and comparing the structure, properties, and mean levels of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale across samples of French and English Canadian consumers.Findings – It is found that: French Canadians are significantly more susceptible to normative influence than English Canadia...

Values and adoption of innovations: a cross‐cultural study

The adoption process for new products varies from one individual to another according to socio‐economic and demographic characteristics. This article focuses on cultural values because an individual’s inclination to adopt a new product is also influenced by his system of values. The advantage of using values to explain innovativeness is that this variable transcends national, cultural and social boundaries. In order to determine the influence of values on adoption, this study utilizes a multicultural research framework consisting of consumers living in a large metropolitan area and coming from three distinct cultural groups: business school students from Quebec, France and North Africa. The results of this study suggest that individual values have a significant impact on consumers’ inclinations to adopt new products. In multi‐ethnic heterogeneous markets, segmenting consumers according to their values should be an important tool in the strategic kit of marketing managers.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Football Club Barcelona: how two legendary sports teams built their brand equity

This paper looks at how two sports teams, hockey club the Toronto Maple Leafs and Football Club Barcelona, have each built and leveraged their brand equity. The main differences between the two clubs lie in how they position their brands. For TML, the affective and experiential sides of the product are emphasised to make the brand grow; for Barcelona, the cognitive and affective dimensions of the product are prioritised to nurture the brand. Differences between hockey and soccer also contribute to branding discrepancies in terms of exposure and global influences.

Consumers use of price promotions: a model and its potential moderators

Abstract In the context of consumers’ use of price-oriented promotions, a multidimensional model, which follows a cognitive–affective-behavior pattern was proposed. This model integrates all the aspects of how and why consumers use sales promotions and specifies the linkage between consumers’ beliefs, attitude and behavior. The cognitive component of the pattern included two dimensions: (a) the overall evaluation of the benefits triggered by the use of the promotion and (b) the information search about the potential price promotions. It is posited to influence the degree of liking of specific price promotions as well as the liking of deals in general. This affective component is then posited to influence behavioral intentions towards price promotions and stockpiling. A structural equation modeling analysis (SEM) offers relatively strong support for the expected paths. Moreover, the potential influences on this pattern of consumers’ traits are included. Busyness, variety seeking, perceived financial wellness, market maven and brand loyalty are posited to have specific influences on the three components of the pattern. Results are presented and discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Consumers’ Conspicuous Consumption of Branded Fashion Accessories

ABSTRACT The study attempts to (1) demonstrate whether the purchase of branded fashion accessories is motivated by consumers’ desire to reflect their social status, convey their self-image, and boost their self-esteem; (2) find whether the purchase of luxury fashion accessories may fall under the umbrella of conspicuous consumption; and (3) examine whether conspicuous consumption of branded fashion accessories varies across cultures. Based on a model tested in two different cultures (Canada and Tunisia), the results show that consumers’ conspicuous consumption in both cultures is directly and positively influenced by social status display. Also, in both cultures, consumers believe that their social status may affect their self-image, which, in turn, stimulates them to exhibit conspicuous behavior. Conspicuous consumption, however, is found to be higher in individualist cultures than in collectivist ones. Additionally, in collectivist cultures, social status is found to play a significant role in influencing consumers’ self-esteem.

Reconciling Managers' Strategic Vision with Fans' Expectations

This study presents a multi-method based approach to matching fan expectations and needs with a franchises strategic vision. This approach is demonstrated by looking at a Canadian team in the National Hockey League. The needs of the customers are assessed through a questionnaire survey and an indepth interview with the franchises marketing vicepresident. Results are discussed, discrepancies between the two positions are analysed and recommendations are made.

The Role of Language in Ethnic Identity Measurement: A Multitrait-Multimethod Approach to Construct Validation

The authors focused on the role of language use in measuring ethnic identity. They demonstrated the construct validity of a 3-dimensional measure and examined potential biases introduced by alternative methods such as constant sum scale. Their findings support the distinction between the 3 subdimensions of language use (English use in family, in media consumption, and while shopping). The authors found evidence of discriminant validity. By using 3 approaches to construct validity, they found that the support for discriminant validity strengthens the discriminant and convergent properties of the instrument. Findings concerning method effects were less obvious. If the traditional multitrait-multimethod approach indicates no method effects, more stringent approaches (e.g., analysis of variance and correlated uniqueness approach) indicate the presence of limited method effects. The authors provide implications regarding measurement of ethnic identity.

Going global: how smaller enterprises benefit from strategic alliances

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on understanding three dimensions of international alliance formation by small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs): the role of internal actors, planning/opportunity management, and organizational learning.Design/methodology/approach – The three dimensions form a proposed model of international alliance formation which is examined using semi‐structured interviews with 16 biotechnology SMEs from Montreal (Canada) and 12 from Boston (USA).Findings – Findings deepen the understanding of the firms internal development of international alliance strategy. Results generally support different roles of organizational actors in international alliance formation, often a combination of planning and opportunity management, and signal rather weak administrative routines to ensure organizational learning from the alliance experience. Interestingly, alliance formation strategies vary across the two cities (countries). Age of the firm, development phase, human and financial resources, an...

The role of perceived brand personality in promotion effectiveness and brand equity development of professional sports teams

In the highly saturated sports industry where sport teams represent a complex offering loaded with intangible and tangible attributes, it is important to implement appropriate marketing strategies that will ultimately contribute to the development of strong brand equity. In this paper, the authors focused on the relationship between brand variables and marketing activities on the development of brand equity. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to study the impact of brand personality on the evaluation of marketing promotional activities and the impact on the brand equity.,Respondents (2,400) were recruited through an online survey and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.,The survey revealed that the congruence between the brand personality and the promotional activities has a positive impact on its evaluation and on brand equity. In addition, the results showed that consumers who consider the financial strength of the team as an important factor evaluate more positively the value of congruent and incongruent promotional activities.,Brand managers should maintain consistency between their brand personality and their promotional activities in order to maintain and increase their brand equity.,The results contribute to the literature by investigating the impact of brand personality on the evaluation of promotional activities. Also, it examines an important factor (financial consciousness) that could influence how fans react in front of an incongruent promotional activity. This research brings a better understanding of the impact of brand personality on marketing strategies and brand equity.

Influence of entry modes on communication strategies of international new ventures in foreign markets: a preliminary study

International new ventures (INVs) – those that from the inception seek to use their resources and to sell their output in international markets – have been the subject of much research for more than a decade. However, research on INVs has so far ignored the importance of communication strategies directed toward foreign stakeholders during the internationalisation of these young firms. In addition, INVs may utilise different and at times progressively more complex entry modes into foreign markets (for example, exporting, licensing, direct investment). An important concern is then the necessity to develop and implement appropriate communication strategies towards foreign stakeholders as the firm evolves in terms of its international activities. This study examines communication strategies of INVs in foreign markets when pursuing different entry modes. A communications model is used to develop propositions and these are explored based on interviews with 22 executives in high-tech companies. Insights for managerial practice and for future research are provided. Results suggest that INVs do communicate with various publics as they internationalise; however, they are not taking full advantage of a carefully planned communication strategy or of all the communication tools available.