Geoffrey N. Soutar

Consumer perceived value: The development of a multiple item scale

Abstract Value creation is widely discussed in the practitioner literature and is often a part of organizations’ mission statements and objectives. It is seen by many commentators as the key to long-term success, with Albrecht (1992 , p 7) arguing that “the only thing that matters in the new world of quality is delivering customer value.” Despite this emphasis, little research has addressed the value construct itself and there is no well-accepted value measure, even in the retail environment in which customers evaluate products before purchase. The present research project describes the development of a 19-item measure, PERVAL, that can be used to assess customers’ perceptions of the value of a consumer durable good at a brand level. The measure was developed for use in a retail purchase situation to determine what consumption values drive purchase attitude and behavior. Four distinct, value dimensions emerged that were termed emotional, social, quality/performance and price/value for money. The reliability and validity of the scale was assessed in a prepurchase situation, using exploratory and confirmatory analyses. All four value dimensions were found to help significantly in explaining attitudes and behavior. The scale was also tested in a postpurchase situation and found to be both reliable and valid in this context as well. The PERVAL scale has a variety of potential applications and can serve as a framework for further empirical research in this important area.

The Role of Perceived Risk in the Quality-Value Relationship: A Study in a Retail Environment

This study extends previous research on perceived value by including the role of perceived risk within a model of the antecedents and consequences of perceived value. The model was tested in a retail setting using a sample of consumers actively looking for an electrical appliance. The mediating impact of perceived risk on the quality-value relationship was specifically examined. Empirical results confirmed that not only do perceived product and service quality lead to perceived value for money in a service encounter but that these quality components reduce perceived risk. Perceived risk was found to play an important role in the perceived product and service quality-value for money relationship and was found to be a significant mediator of this relationship. Perceived value for money was also found to be a significant mediator of perceived quality, price and risk and willingness-to-buy. The results obtained have major implications for retailers as well as for future research in this strategically important area of consumer research.

“Push‐pull” factors influencing international student destination choice

Examines the factors motivating international student choice of the host country. It describes a “push‐pull” model motivating the student’s desire to seek overseas education and influencing the decision process in selection of a final study destination. Drawing on the findings from research studies undertaken in Indonesia, Taiwan, China and India, the paper examines the factors influencing host country selection and additional research that examines the factors influencing choice of final host institution. Based on these findings the paper argues that economic and social forces within the home country serve to “push” students abroad. However, the decision as to which host country they will select is dependent on a variety of “pull” factors. After drawing together the findings, the paper then examines the implications for governments and education institutions seeking to recruit international students.

Students’ preferences for university: a conjoint analysis

Tertiary education has become more competitive in recent years due to reductions in government funding and higher student fees. As the nature of the environment grows more competitive, the role of marketing, previously non‐existent in most universities, has grown significantly. One of the key pieces of information that would assist a university’s marketing effort is an understanding of what determines a student’s university preference. Examines university preference using a form of conjoint analysis, known as adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA), to investigate the importance of a number of attributes to high‐school leavers in Australia. Results indicate that the four most important determinants of university preference were course suitability, academic reputation, job prospects, and teaching quality, which has significance for education managers developing marketing strategies and programs.

Measuring service quality in a tertiary institution

Measures service quality from the point of view of the customer using the SERVQUAL model. The “customers” in this instance were a group of business students at an Australian university. Obtains service quality evaluations in relation to academic and administrative aspects of the educational service. Makes significant negative evaluations in relation to the quality of administrative services. Finds that satisfaction with the academic service was closely related to dependability whereas satisfaction with administrative services was associated with good communication.

The structure of intraindividual value change.

Values are assumed to be relatively stable during adulthood. Yet, little research has examined value stability and change, and there are no studies on the structure of value change. On the basis of S. H. Schwartzs (1992) value theory, the authors propose that the structure of intraindividual value change mirrors the circumplexlike structure of values so that conflicting values change in opposite directions and compatible values change in the same direction. Four longitudinal studies, varying in life contexts, time gaps, populations, countries, languages, and value measures, supported the proposed structure of intraindividual value change. An increase in the importance of any one value is accompanied by slight increases in the importance of compatible values and by decreases in the importance of conflicting values. Thus, intraindividual changes in values are not chaotic, but occur in a way that maintains Schwartzs value structure. Furthermore, the greater the extent of life-changing events, the greater the value change found, whereas age was only a marginal negative predictor of value change when life events were taken into account. Implications for the structure of personality change are discussed.

The Selling Orientation-Customer Orientation (S.O.C.O.) Scale: A Proposed Short Form

This article reports the results of an examination of the Selling Orientation-Customer Orientation scale to determine if the number of items could be reduced while still maintaining the scales dimensionality and consistency. Analysis of a new Australian data set was undertaken using data from 250 salespeople, 157 of their managers and 276 of their customers in a range of business to business markets. The findings provide evidence that salespeoples customer orientation, as defined by Saxe and Weitz (1982), can be measured with little information loss by ten items, rather than the twenty-four items originally suggested. This significant reduction in length may contribute to a more reliable and valid scale by reducing response fatigue and acquiescence bias, as well as making it possible to include the construct in larger studies with other multiple item scales. Further research is suggested to test the revised scale across a number of industries and consumer groups, to verify its generalizability.

Cognitive dissonance after purchase: A multidimensional scale

The concept of cognitive dissonance has been discussed widely in the consumer behavior literature, yet paradoxically, there is no well established scale to measure it. This article describes the development of a 22-item scale for assessing cognitive dissonance immediately after purchase. First, the article discusses the conceptualization of the construct, recognizing that dissonance is not only cognitive in nature, but also has an emotional component, consistent with Festinger’s early description of dissonance as a psychologically uncomfortable state. The procedures used to develop and refine the scale are subsequently described. This included a qualitative study to generate the items and two samples for each stage of the quantitative stages of scale refinement. Evidence of the scale’s sound psychometric properties, including its reliability, validity and factor structure is given. 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Festinger (1957) described cognitive dissonance as a psychologically uncomfortable state that motivates a person to reduce that dissonance. Following Festinger’s early work, dissonance has been discussed in a

The third wave: future trends in international education

Describes how the second half of the twentieth century saw the development of a global market in international education. Following the Second World War, the flow of international students undertaking courses at all levels grew rapidly as developing countries sought to educate their populations. By the century’s end, there were an estimated 1.5 million students studying internationally at the HE level. Driving this market expansion was a combination of forces that both pushed the students from their countries of origin and simultaneously pulled them toward certain host nations. By the 1990s, the HE systems of many host nations (e.g. Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK and New Zealand) had become more market focused and institutions were adopting professional marketing strategies to recruit students into fee‐paying programs. For many education institutions such fees had become a critical source of financing. Suggests that the international education industry, HE administrators and managers and academic staff face very significant challenges in the next few years.

Are Hofstede's and Schwartz's value frameworks congruent?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative basis for calculating cultural distance scores using Schwartzs cultural values.Design/methodology/approach – Cultural distance scores were calculated for 23 countries, based on the two most common measures of cultural difference (four cultural dimensions and Schwartzs 1994 culture level values), following Kogut and Singhs formula. Correlation analysis was used to assess the congruency between these two bases of cultural distance. In addition, their relationship with international trade figures was assessed, to understand how well each framework predicts the amount of trade between countries.Findings – Inter‐country distances between 23 countries suggest that the two bases of cultural distance were not congruent. While the correlation between both cultural distance measures and international trade suggested a negative relationship, as expected, only cultural distance based on Schwartzs values was significantly related to international tra...