Gary Gregory

Cultural values in international advertising: An examination of familial norms and roles in Mexico

Past research suggests that the cultural value orientation, individualism-collectivism, should be considered when developing international advertising campaigns. The present study examines how (in)consistencies in collectivist values (e.g., familial norms and roles) may affect attitudes and behaviors toward advertised products within a collectivist culture, Mexico. The findings suggest advertisements that depict consistencies in local cultural norms and roles are viewed more favorably and purchase intention is higher than for advertisements that depict inconsistencies. The data provide no support for the moderating role of individual-level differences in value orientation (i.e., allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies) on persuasion measures. Interestingly, product category advertised appears to be the best moderator of the relative strength of role and norm effects on ad attitudes and purchase intention.

Global vs local brands: how home country bias and price differences impact brand evaluations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize the distinction between global and local brands, providing a more comprehensive framework, which considers both geographical distribution and ownership. It examines main and interactive effects of consumers’ perceptions of these factors, and studies how ethnocentrism (CET) and price affect brand evaluations, considering a range of price difference thresholds. Design/methodology/approach – A preliminary study (n=243) examined main and interaction effects of brand globalness and ownership on consumers’ brand quality attitudes and purchase intentions in four different product categories. The main study (n=558) further explored brand ownership effects by examining the interaction of CET and price differences. Findings – The preliminary study confirmed the distinctiveness of brand globalness and ownership. Consumers evaluated global (vs non-global) brands more positively, regardless of brand ownership (local vs foreign). The main study found that effec...

Toward a Better Understanding of Volunteering for Nonprofit Organizations: Explaining Volunteers’ Pro-Social Attitudes

In addition to currently fueling the nonprofit sector of the economy, volunteering is a key ingredient in community-based or cooperative models of economic exchange, including customer coproduction. The purpose of this study is to develop knowledge about pro-social attitudes of volunteers. Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT) provides a framework for understanding how volunteers’ values and reasons for volunteering influence volunteers’ pro-social attitudes. Gender, experience, and age are controlled for in the analysis. Using large-scale survey data from four distinct nonprofit organizations in Australia, structural equation modeling results suggest that the BRT framework is a valuable one for understanding important influencers of volunteers’ pro-social attitudes. In sum, values and reasons that are other-oriented appear to be much more influential than values and reasons for volunteering that are self-focused. Additionally, our results suggest that being a younger volunteer is positively correlated with higher levels of values and reasons for volunteering that are self-focused.

Attitude functions in consumer research: comparing value–attitude relations in individualist and collectivist cultures

Abstract Culture, and the influence that cultural values have on attitudes and behavior, is an important topic in cross-cultural consumer research. The relationship between values and the psychological purposes (functions) of attitudes are investigated in a cross-cultural study on consumer groups from the individualist culture, US, and collectivist culture, Colombia. The primary objective of this study is to test the moderating role of attitude functions (the goals served by attitudes) in the value–attitude relationship. In an attempt to extend attitude function theory to other cultures, it is expected that value–attitude relations will be stronger when people have value-expressive (or social-identity) attitudes than when they have utilitarian attitudes. Similarly, value–attitude relationships are expected to vary between idiocentric (individualist) and allocentric (collectivist) individuals within each culture. Overall results support the moderating role of attitude functions, as values were related to attitudes only when ad appeals emphasized a social-identity function, but not when they emphasized a utilitarian function.

Integrating e-commerce into existing export marketing theories: A contingency model

Current theory on export marketing is based on the assumption that each exporting decision is made in isolation, whereby a set of factors are considered for single market entry only, without the consideration of simultaneous entry into multiple foreign markets. Because e-commerce is able to provide instantaneous access to numerous global markets, recent technological advances force us to rethink whether existing theoretical frameworks are sufficient in explaining todays export marketing strategies. A review of the recent export literature suggests that a new paradigm may be needed to take into consideration the electronic marketplace, both in the process of entering markets, and in the management of operations within those markets. The purpose of this article is to present a model that integrates e-commerce into existing theories on export marketing. Specifically, the aim is to develop a theoretical framework that: (a) extends existing export marketing theories by incorporating ecommerce strategy; (b) proposes a contingency approach to compare and contrast the relationship among environmental variables, export market strategy and export performance; and, (c) provides a clear direction for future research through the development of research propositions investigating the role of e-commerce strategy in the exporting process.

Comparing US and European perspectives on B2B repair service quality for mission‐critical equipment

Purpose – To evaluate the cross‐regional equivalence of repair service quality for mission‐critical equipment.Design/methodology/approach – Using the five dimensions of SERVPERF as a framework, clinical laboratory directors across Europe and the USA were surveyed about repair service for mission‐critical equipment. Assessment of construct equivalence across the two regions was then performed using item bias analysis. Following this, assessment of model equivalence across the two regions was conducted using both the Chow test of model equivalence and regression in structural equation modeling (SEM).Findings – Results suggest that service quality in this B2B domain is perceived to be remarkably the same in both the USA and Europe.Research limitations/implications – Future research could focus on repair services for other types of mission‐critical equipment, and another region of the world, such as Asia. Both of these steps would boost the generalizability of the studys findings.Practical implications – The...

Creating Diderot unities – quest for possible selves?

This paper tries to draw links between the creation of new Diderot unities (products consumed in a group and that have an internal consistency based on lifestyle) with “impulse purchases” as key departure products. A study, using exploratory in‐depth interviews, is reported. Common themes are drawn from the interviews to serve as possible identifying elements of the phenomenon. Emotive and cognitive themes are identified and are offered as a starting point for further research into such product unities. The self‐concept theory of “possible selves” is offered as one possible explanation that determines when an“impulse purchase” is a key departure product for a new Diderot unity.

Using a nursing performance information system.

Presently, most nursing performance evaluation systems do not incorporate attitudinal data nor consider its influence on performance evaluation systems. When the Nursing Performance Information System is correlated with unit performance evaluation data and staffing requirements, nurse managers can observe significant changes in each and every important predictor of nurse performance. By incorporating key environmental performance indicators into evaluation systems, appropriate strategies are formulated to improve hospital productivity.

GIS and spatial information in business decision support: the case of automobile service network planning

Service network expansion and rationalization is a major aspect of business planning in large multi-site organizations. In this paper an approach is presented to provide decision-support for managers engaged in network expansion and rationalization. The approach rests on the analysis of spatial data. Particular attention is drawn to the value of geographical information systems (GIS). An application is described, based on the experiences of dealer x who had the task of managing six existing service centers in Melbourne, Australia, and which was considering a number of options for the location of new centers. The application demonstrates that spatial analysis, supported by GIS technology, has the capacity to assist decision-makers when planning their service networks.