Iris Vermeir

The influence of need for closure on consumer’s choice behaviour

Abstract Consumers select a decision strategy in a purchase situation that best meets their goals for that situation. One of those possible goals is to obtain closure. The dimension need for closure (NFC) (vs. avoidance) reflects the desire for clear, definite, or unambiguous knowledge that will guide perception and action, as opposed to the undesirable alternative of ambiguity and confusion. The purpose of this study is to identify the influence of NFC on choice behaviour in a low involvement purchase situation. Both high ( N =71) and low ( N =71) NFC participants participated in a shopping experiment. In a simulated environment, participants were asked to choose repetitively between different brands within two low involvement product categories. We found significant differences between high and low NFC participants with regard to the amount of information sought, the amount of information used, the use of decision rules and the level of confidence in their decisions made. Marketing implications, limitations and directions for future research are also provided.

A Meta-Analysis of Relationships Linking Service Failure Attributions to Customer Outcomes

When they experience service failures, customers look for causes. They seek to understand whether the service firm could have prevented the failure (controllability attribution) and whether the cause of the failure is temporary or constant over time (stability attribution). To understand such attributions, we perform a meta-analysis. We find that causal attributions are related to emotional and cognitive reactions in several ways. First, controllability attributions elicit stronger negative emotions than do stability attributions. Second, controllability attributions directly affect only transaction-specific satisfaction, whereas stability attributions directly affect customers’ transaction-specific and overall satisfaction. Third, both attributions affect loyalty and negative word of mouth through negative emotions, overall satisfaction, and transaction-specific satisfaction. Finally, contextual (i.e., cultural values), methodological (i.e., type of failure), and measurement factors (i.e., measurement scale) partly explain studywise variation in the effects of attributions on customer outcomes. We recommend that companies manage reactions to service failure thrice: before customers formulate attributional beliefs, using fast and accurate communication; when the attributional beliefs are formed, offering employee assistance and compensations; and well after the attributional beliefs are established, providing feedback on process improvements by the company.

Service recovery's impact on customers next-in-line

Purpose – Previous research considers service recovery as a one-on-one interaction between a service provider and a complaining customer. However, customers frequently complain at the place where they receive the service, making an investigation of the impact of a service recovery on observing customers necessary. Using observational learning theory and attribution theory as theoretical anchors, this paper examines whether observing a service recovery influences the observing customers’ satisfaction and repurchase intentions. In addition, this paper tests whether service quality perceptions mediate, and customers’ locus of control attributions moderate these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – Study 1 tests the main hypothesis using a scenario-based experiment in two settings (restaurant, retail). Study 2 further elaborates on these findings using a scenario-based experiment in a hotel setting. Findings – The findings show that the negative consequences of a failed recovery extend beyond the comp...

Need for closure and youths' leisure time preferences

The Need for Closure is an individual characteristic which may help explain individual differences in engagement in leisure activities. Both a leisure engagement inventory and a validated Dutch version of the Need for Closure Scale were administered to a convenient sample of 1,035 young adults ages 15 to 24 years of whom 552 were female. Leisure engagement was hypothesized to differ for groups differing in Need for Closure. More specifically, youngsters who score high (versus low) on Need for Closure engaged more in structured, cognitively effortless, and predictable leisure activities like shopping for fun and going to the cinema, while young adults scoring low (versus high) on Need for Closure more often participated in unstructured, unpredictable, cognitively effortful or challenging leisure activities like going to a party, a pub, or a pop concert, idly lazing away, visiting or hosting friends, attending an evening class and playing computer games.

A Motivational Account of the Question-Behavior Effect

To explain the question-behavior effect, that is, the effect of answering an intention question on subsequent behavior, this article takes on a motivational perspective and proposes that answering an intention question automatically activates an intention. The activation of this motivational state influences subsequent brand choices due to changes in brand accessibilities. Three studies provide support for the assumption that responding to an intention question affects brand choices through a motivational mechanism, such that (1) answering an intention increases the accessibility of motivation-related information and decreases the accessibility of motivation-competing information which increases the choice for the intention-related brand; (2) intention completion temporarily reverses the foregoing accessibility patterns, instigating a reversal of the brand choices for an immediate, second brand choice; and (3) the changes in brand accessibilities and thus the behavioral effect persist as the delay between the intention question and brand choice occasion increases until intention completion.

The Floor Is Nearer than the Sky: How Looking Up or Down Affects Construal Level

This research shows that consumers select a different product when they look down versus up. Because (1) people are accustomed to looking down to process nearby stimuli and to looking up to process distant stimuli, and because (2) perceived distance is linked to concrete versus abstract processing, the association between moving one’s eyes or head down or up and concrete versus abstract processing has become overly generalized. A series of three experiments highlights that downward (upward) head and eye movements evoke more concrete (abstract) processing because downward (upward) head or eye movements have come to serve as a proximity (distance) cue. Two additional experiments indicate downstream behavioral consequences of moving one’s eyes or head down versus up. Consumers choose more for feasible versus desirable products when looking down and vice versa when looking up. They also tend to be more preference-consistent when looking down versus up.

Impact of flow on recognition of and attitudes towards in-game brand placements: Brand congruence and placement prominence as moderators

This study investigates the moderating influences of brand congruence and placement prominence on the impact of game-evoked flow on cognitive and affective outcomes for in-game brand placements. In two studies, the authors demonstrate that experiencing flow while gaming tends to contribute positively to affective outcomes, leading to more positive brand attitudes, but it has no impact on cognitive processing or brand recognition. In particular, brand congruence moderates the impact of flow, leading to more positive brand attitudes and brand recognition. Brand prominence moderates the impact of flow only on brand recognition, not on brand attitudes. These findings offer several implications, limitations and directions for further research.

The Impact of Brand Name Placement in Song Lyrics on Brand Attitudes: Does the Attitude toward the Artist Matter?

As the overload of advertising in traditional media is causing annoyance with the audience (Fennis and Bakker, 2001) leading to advertising avoidance (Woltman-Elpers et al., 2003), marketers are exploring various new ways to convey brand-related messages to consumers. One of the proposed techniques is product or brand (name) placement, which is defined as the incorporation of a brand name into an entertainment vehicle (Ferraro and Avery, 2000). Past research concerning product placement mainly focused on product and brand name placement in movies (Babin and Carder, 1996; d’Astous and Chartier, 2000; Wiles and Danielova, 2009; Yang and Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2007), television programs (Gould and Gupta, 2006; La Ferle and Edwards, 2006; Matthes et al., 2007; Russell, 2002; Russell and Stern, 2006; Van Reijmersdal et al., 2007), music videos (Schemer et al., 2008), games (Lee and Faber, 2007; Mackay et al., 2009; Nelson, 2002; Schneider and Cornwell, 2005) or novels (Brennan, 2008; Friedman, 1985). Recent academic research suggests that brand placement can be implemented by including brand names in song lyrics (Delattre and Colovic, 2009), which often occurs in practice.

From informational towards transformational advertising strategies? A content analysis of Belgian food magazine advertisements

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to perform a preliminary examination of informational and transformational advertising appeals in contemporary advertisements for healthy and unhealthy foods. Design/methodology/approach Western (European) food advertisements published in Belgian food magazines were content analyzed to identify informational and transformational advertising appeals. Belgian food advertising was selected as an adequate representation of Western (European) food advertising because marketing in Belgium is permeated by international influences (cf. Belgian Federal Government). Advertisements were sampled from three magazines over a period of five years, from January 2009 to December 2013. The sample comprised 325 unique advertisements, including 159 for healthy foods and 166 for unhealthy foods. Findings The results of the content analysis indicated that healthy food advertisements in Belgium are mainly informational, whereas unhealthy food advertisements are mainly transformational. Originality/value This preliminary examination of informational and transformational advertising appeals in contemporary healthy food and unhealthy food advertisements shows that healthy food advertisements in Belgium are mainly informational, whereas the segment of consumers which is precarious – people low-involved with healthy food – are mainly attracted by transformational advertising appeals. The contrasting transformational strategy of unhealthy-food advertisements can provide inspiration for healthy food advertisers to help increase healthy food consumption.