Himadri Roy Chaudhuri

Assessing the ethnocentric tendencies of different age‐cohorts in an emerging market

Purpose – The main purpose of this study was to investigate what leads consumers to ethnocentrism and the effects of their ethnocentrism on attitudes toward country of origin (CO), and subsequently on purchase intentions (PI). The other objective was to study the knowledge and product preferences of different age‐cohorts, about CO of high and low technology products.Design/methodology/approach – Results are derived from primary data collected from a consumer sample in India. Data analysis was done using SPSS and AMOS.Findings – The Indians, who are found to be ethnocentric, are also willing to purchase products from other countries. Indian consumers showed preferences for products from the USA and Japan over China and the UK. Additionally, from the result of age‐cohort analysis, age was found to have a significant effect on the attitude toward CO and product preference.Research limitations/implications – Consumers were asked to evaluate the attributes of foreign‐origin products without reference to a spe...

An Alternative Analysis of Scale Data: A Marketing Application:

The idea of materialism is one of the most important in modern consumer behaviour literature. In this article we have attempted at studying this component using the celebrated Richins and Dawson (1992) scale, where the required data has been collected using the standard instrument. This data is analyzed with the help of the mechanisms of item response theory (IRT). Specifically the graded response model has been used to analyze and get an insight into the problem of subjective well-being. Item response theory is an increasingly popular approach for development, evaluation and administration of psychological measures. We have used in this article one of the three IRT fundamentals, namely, the item response functions. We next illustrate how IRT modelling can be put to use to analyze the data collected in the study of the judgement component of subjective well-being. To that end, we have used the grm() function available in R. The results obtained are thereafter interpreted.

Conceptual Expansion of the Discipline of Rural Marketing: An Objective Analysis

Researchers have analyzed the variations in rural marketing concepts and offered definitions relating to these varying concepts. However, there seems to be a general disagreement regarding the aspects which should be included in rural marketing. This article studies the contents of various definitions of rural marketing using quantitative techniques in order to discern the probable conceptual expansion of rural marketing. Only definitions of the term ‘rural marketing’ (not just a mention of ‘rural marketing’) are considered for the present study. Dimension reduction technique and frequency tabulations are used for the content analysis. Apart from providing a definition of rural marketing using the results of the content analysis, the present study also found a strong relationship between developmental marketing and the need for rural marketers to stimulate demand through developmental activities such as appointing local inhabitants as distributors, wholesalers and retailers of their products; or by employing local manpower in other operations such as trade marketing, procurement of raw materials and selling and disseminating information on the marketer’s products directly to rural consumers.

Purchase Preference Factors for Traditional Rural Retailers: A Cross-sectional Conceptual Study

Executive Summary A scrutiny of existing literature suggests that traditional rural retailers are important for the success of rural marketing efforts in developing nations. The present study attempts to decipher the indications on the factors that could possibly influence purchase preferences of rural traditional retailers through the use of statistical methods of content analysis. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence purchase preference, analyse the temporal movement of conceptualizations of these factors, and determine whether academic thought on this topic has a conceptual core. This research work presents a longitudinal analysis of the factors over a period of 40 years: the need for information and training on new products and their selling techniques seem to maintain the same significance throughout the study period; the need for discounts has maintained almost a uniform ranking over the period of study; there is also a relative stability in the need for regular/frequent service; doorstep delivery had the highest ranking in the first period, which is probably owing to the relative weakness of delivery systems during the early phase of rural marketing; the requirement for credit seems to increase from the first period to the second period and then decrease. The factor of margins and commissions seems highly ranked only in the second period. Dimension reduction technique and frequency tabulations are the methods used for content analysis. The core concepts indicate that a traditional rural retailer can possibly be persuaded to purchase high-demand products and brands, through the provision of credit, discounts, quantity discount schemes, margins and commissions, by using local distributors and by appointment of local company staff to provide regular service. The analysis has yielded two discernible conceptual clusters: high-demand products and brands and credit; and doorstep delivery and regular service. The clusters that emerge during the content analysis of traditional rural retailers’ purchase preference factors reflect the exact content from conclusions in at least one research paper that is not used (to prevent cyclic conclusions) during the content-analysis process. The result confirms that researchers have been moving on similar lines in their conceptualizations of the purchase preference factors of traditional rural retailers.

Vulnerability or masculinity: Examining “Aesthetic Labor” from male fashion models’ perspective

Abstract ‘Masculinity’ is changing globally. We investigate the adjustments made by Chinese male models as they work in a domain that had previously belonged primarily to women. Using a liminal lens to view the models’ adjustments, the study discovered that they perceive themselves to be subordinated to other participants in the advertising industry: designers, makeup artists, directors, clients, and even female models. While the changing nature of ‘masculinity’ globally has created many more opportunities for male models, we found that the norms of the advertising industry require a major reinvention of the models’ self-perceptions of masculinity.

From Local Taste to Luxury Experience: Insights into Culinary Distinction

Luxury has always held an element of fascination for consumers across the globe. Luxury exists in all facets of life: in cosmetics, watches, jewellery, fragrances, automobiles, fashion, and hospitality, and is established through the processes of linking of one’s self-image, their creative self-identity, and their personal tastes as consumers. Yet what conveys the image and makes it luxurious is not the product; rather, it is the brand, and the experience of it, that evokes the sensation of luxury. Consumers acknowledge brands such as TAG Heuer, Prada or BMW beyond their craftsmanship or technical superiority, and connect with them through their emotional engagement with the image, implying that the age-old definition of luxury based on functionality or craftsmanship has been taken over by a newer definition that highlights the brand’s dominance over its clients (Kapferer and Bastien 2009a). The meaning of luxury has shifted over the years from commodities (rare pearls, crystal, perfumes, and spices) in the 17th century, to craftsmanship, superior quality and customer service (Berthon et al. 2009) in the 19th century, and now to that of branding, where luxury is judged on the basis of its pleasure components (Atwal and Williams 2009).