Frédéric F. Brunel

Individual Differences in the Centrality of Visual Product Aesthetics: Concept and Measurement

This research conceptualizes and develops a scale to measure individual differences in the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA), defined as the level of significance that visual aesthetics hold for a particular consumer in his/her relationship with products. Three related dimensions of product aesthetics centrality emerged from the research: value, acumen, and response intensity. A series of eight studies provided evidence that the CVPA measure possesses satisfactory reliability and validity. Additionally, this research illuminates important differences between high and low CVPA consumers in product-design-related evaluations and behaviors and provides suggestions for future research employing the scale. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.

Gift receipt and the reformulation of interpersonal relationships

Sherry (1983) defines reformulation as the final stage of gift exchange, during which a newly presented gift can impact the relationship between giver and recipient. To date no one has examined exactly how gifts can affect relationships or what aspects of gift exchange contribute to realignment of the giver/recipient relationship. Using depth interviews and critical-incident surveys, our study explores how the recipients perceptions of the existing relationship, the gift, the ritual context, and his or her emotional reactions converge to affect relationship realignment. We identify six relational effects of gift-receipt experiences. Further, we examine gift-receipt experiences that have a consistent impact in the short and long term, and those where the meanings and relational effects appear to change over time. Implications for future research are also discussed. Copyright 1999 by the University of Chicago.

Explaining gendered responses to “help-self” and “help-others” charity Ad appeals: The mediating role of world-views

Abstract This research investigates gendered responses to self-oriented (help-self) and altruistic (help-others) charitable ad appeals. Results from two studies conducted with U.S. undergraduates show that sex is a determinant of message evaluations, and that variations in moral world-views explain these gendered differences. Study One establishes sex differences in absolute (attitude toward the ad) and comparative (ad preference) judgments toward help-self and help-others ad appeals. Females respond more favorably to the help-others appeal and males to the help-self appeal. Study Two replicates these findings from Study One and demonstrates that sex differences can be explained through a full mediation of world-view values.

Message Order Effects and Gender Differences in Advertising Persuasion

ABSTRACT This article demonstrates how presentation order, gender, and value relevance can influence advertising processing under different viewing situations. One study found that message order and gender influenced message persuasion: under situational low involvement, females (males) exhibited primacy (recency) effects when viewing two advertisements differing in values (help-self versus help-others) for a charity. In a second study, with higher situational involvement, all respondents appeared to process advertising messages systematically and considered the value content within the message in their evaluations. Thought-listing data revealed that females continued to exhibit primacy effects regardless of message appeal, but the recency effects with males disappeared when the advertisement (help-self) matched their values. Relevance for advertising effectiveness and media planning is discussed.

Does Relationship Marketing Age Well

Most managers agree that close co-operative relationships between business partners yield benefits to all parties. However, some question whether these benefits continue as the relationship ages. This article reports on a study designed to answer this question. The study suggests that, however long the relationship, building trust, commitment and the other components of Relationship Marketing (RM) continue to have a positive effect on the performance of business partners. However, it also shows that, over time, the positive effect diminishes. The authors suggest that managers need to recognize this, and to identify the true costs of building relationships so as to judge whether the diminishing returns justify the effort. Ultimately, managers need to vary their handling of each relationship because standardized RM practices are unlikely to be effective.

Design Orientation: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Design Thinking and Action

The notion of design thinking or ‘design as a state-of-mind’ and its articulation through design orientation implies that true innovation is a company-wide phenomenon and cannot be left to single individuals as a marginalized function within a company. Many innovative companies try to integrate technical performance with an aesthetic vision – which is not to be confused with style – as the driving force of the organization. Based on our findings and analysis, we put forward theoretical propositions that cover various aspects of design orientation.

Judgment is Not Color Blind: The Impact of Automatic Color Preference on Product and Advertising Preferences

This research examines the colors white and black and highlights the importance of automatic preference for the color white over black in product choice and advertising contexts. Across three studies, we incorporate multiple Implicit Association Tests to assess automatic preferences for colors, products, races, and advertisements. In Study 1, we demonstrate an automatic color preference for white over black, show that this preference holds for Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans, and find that automatic color preference predicts automatic product preference of white over black-colored products. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that actual behavioral product choice is best predicted by a combination of automatic and explicit color preferences. In the advertising domain, Study 3 demonstrates how automatic color preference influences advertising responses and how it explains the lack of in-group preference by African-Americans in previous implicit studies of racial preference. Collectively, our research draws attention to the need to disentangle white and black as designation of colors versus racial groups, and offers significant and novel contributions to the work on color and race in consumer psychology.

Dynamics of Community Engagement: The Role of Interpersonal Communicative Genres in Online Community Evolutions

In order to understand how specific communities might develop over time, it is important to take into account how the broader phenomenon of online consumer communities is itself situated in a bigger social context. As a whole, online communities can be seen as micro-social groups (Maffesoli, 1996) that exist at the “forgotten” level in consumer research (Bagozzi, 2000). This micro-social level, between individual and macro/cultural levels, is the level at which interactions and communications between people take place (Cova & Cova, 2002).

Direct to consumer advertising of robotic heart bypass surgery

Robotic assisted coronary artery bypass (r-CABG) is a relatively novel and less invasive surgery. A yearlong direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) campaign was initiated to provide the community with information regarding r-CABG, increase awareness, and recruit patients. In order to optimize information content and ensure appropriate messaging for future campaigns, we (a) analyzed the campaign effectiveness, and compared (b) service quality perceptions and (c) clinical outcomes following surgery across DTCA-responder and control groups.

Peer-to-peer word-of-mouth: word-of-mouth extended to group online exchange

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how peer-to-peer word-of-mouth (PPWOM) conversations evolve over time because of the dynamic social nature of the community in which they take place. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzed PPWOM conversations in an online community website for new and expectant mothers. Two data collection phases were undertaken during a four-year period. In phase I, messages were collected for a one-month period from five different bulletin boards (i.e. cross-sectional data) and at two points in time (i.e. semi-longitudinal). In phase II, a full longitudinal study was conducted, and the complete text of all messages of a newly formed bulletin board was captured for a nine-month period. The corpus of messages was examined in line with the basic tools of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Findings This research developed a typology of PPWOM genres and showed that these genres change over the community lifespan. The findings confirmed that the levels of social cohesiveness and the interaction communicative motives are the main factors that distinguish different PPWOM genres. Research limitations/implications This research has offered a new perspective into the study of PPWOM, and hopefully it will serve as a starting point for a broader dialogue regarding the social context in which PPWOM is exchanged. Originality/value In contrast to traditional word-of-mouth research, this study demonstrated that PPWOM conversations go much beyond the exchange of functional information, and instead serve numerous social and emotional goals.