Haeran Jae

Marketplace Vulnerability of Limited English Proficient Consumers: Opportunities to Increase Knowledge in Macromarketing

Important macromarketing issues in the twenty-first century include consumer vulnerability, consumer empowerment, immigration, and acculturation. In the United States, the absolute number and percentage of the foreign-born population continues to increase as does the number of people, indicating a non-English primary language spoken in their homes. This large, growing population segment with limited English language abilities faces higher chances of encountering marketplace imbalances. Accordingly, we expand the model of Baker, Gentry, and Rittenburg of consumer vulnerability to capture a dynamic, reflexive marketplace experienced by limited English proficient (LEP) consumers. The integration of a pivotal piece of acculturation research by Berry et al. drives the development of generalized systems diagrams depicting how LEP consumer vulnerability is enacted and facilitates increased understanding of the emergent phenomenon. Potential research questions are identified and organized using the framework of Layton and Grossbart to better position and inform future macromarketing and public policy research.

Design benefits, emotional responses, and brand engagement

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of brand engagement by examining two of its antecedents: design benefits and consumer emotions. The authors explore the relationship between design and brand engagement and advance a model with emotional responses as mediator. Design/methodology/approach – This paper integrates a range of theoretical works across design and marketing, including concepts of product design, types of design benefits, brand engagement, and brand communities. Findings – The authors propose a conceptual model where emotional arousal, which differs across design benefits, mediates the relationship between design benefits and brand engagement. Brand engagement intensifies with emotional arousal as design benefits change from functional, to hedonic, to symbolic. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual model proposed in this paper can have significant applications in the areas of product design, branding strategies, and brand communications. Howev...

Objectivity in Grading: The Promise of Bar Codes

This article proposes the use of a new technology to assure student anonymity and reduce bias hazards: identifying students by using bar codes. The limited finding suggests that the use of bar codes for assuring student anonymity could potentially cause students to perceive that grades are assigned more fairly and reassure teachers that they are avoiding identity bias to the greatest extent possible. The authors recommend further implementation of bar code usage to investigate whether students and faculty could achieve positive perceptions as well as whether there are any drawbacks to such use.

Syntax Complexity and Presentation Order as Determinants of Comprehension in Print Advertisements

The current research investigates syntax complexity and presentation order as determinants in consumers’ comprehension of print advertisement. This research demonstrated that study participants comprehend an advertisement better when they read a complex advertisement first and a simple advertisement second, as compared with their comprehension when they read a simple advertisement first and a complex advertisement second. The study found that when participants are under a low-involvement condition, their comprehension level increased when they read a complex advertisement first followed by a simple advertisement second. However, when participants were under a high-involvement condition, their comprehension level remained the same regardless of the order of the advertisements they encountered.

The Use of Bar Code Technology in Grading to Improve Student Anonymity and Reduce Identity-Based Bias

This paper studies the use and benefits of bar codes for providing greater student anonymity and enhancing grading fairness. Two studies are reported in this manuscript. Study 1 found that using bar codes to obscure the identity of students is more difficult than using other common methods for identifying students such as using names or numbers. Study 2 revealed that although most students supported greater anonymity in grading, many students opposed anonymity because they felt that it reduces the social process that also influences grade judgments, a process that they perceived to work in their favor.

A Conceptual Model of Design Benefits and Brand Engagement: The Mediating Role of Emotions—Structured Abstract

Brand engagement depicts a set of behavioral outcomes that result when customers meaningfully interact with a product (Keller 2013). Beyond that, an engaged customer is strategically positioned to spread the word in today’s connected society. For a company, the key is in knowing how to elicit the behavior that goes beyond purchase, use, and satisfaction with a product. Knowledge of brand engagement is still in its infancy. Marketing researchers need to clarify what brand engagement is, identify the antecedents and consequences of this important marketing outcome, and understand how it can be influenced. The objective of this paper is to develop a better understanding of brand engagement by examining two of its antecedents: design benefits and consumer emotions. Design provides a useful starting point, specifically the role of design in shaping product-customer relationships. How design and design benefits influence consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses is an area of research that requires further development (Chitturi et al. 2008). Design has become an important contributor to the customer experience with a product (Luchs and Swan 2011), and by extension, should be a significant determinant of brand engagement.