Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp

The effects of trust and interdependence on relationship commitment: A trans-Atlantic study

A two-stage locking or latching mechanism for releasably connecting an endoscope and a urological instrument. In the first latching stage a body portion of the endoscope is fully received within a socket of the urological instrument and is restrained by a cooperating lug and socket against all movement except limited outward axial movement into the second latching stage. In the second latching stage the parts are secured against further axial separation unless they are first rotated with respect to each other to cam a spring out of latching engagement with the body portion of the endoscope.

Generalizations about trust in marketing channel relationships using meta-analysis

Abstract This meta-analysis examines the role of trust in marketing channels. First, the analysis of pairwise relationships involving trust indicates that trust, on average, exhibits a robust and strong relationship with other channel relationship constructs under a wide range of different conditions. Next, we explored systematic patterns of variation in the correlations. The results demonstrate that the use of experiments, samples drawn from multiple industries, and US data tend to produce larger effects than the use of field studies, samples drawn from a single industry, and European data respectively do. Various other methodological characteristics of studies did not have significant effects. Finally, we examined the role of trust in a nomological net, involving some of the most frequently studied antecedents and consequences of trust. We find that trust contributes to satisfaction and long-term orientation over and beyond the effects of economic outcomes of the relationship. Both trust and economic outcomes—not just one or the other—are conducive to relationship marketing success.

Decline and variability in brand loyalty

Abstract In this paper, we examine the over-time behavior of brand loyalty for a large set of brands drawn from 21 consumer packaged goods categories. Using the brand-loyalty operationalization of Colombo and Morrison (1989), the following conclusions are obtained. First, little support is found for the often-heard contention that brand loyalty is gradually declining over time. Second, while the short-run variability around a brands mean loyalty level is not negligible, no evidence is found that this variability has systematically increased over time, and it can be reduced considerably through a simple smoothing procedure. Finally, the brand-loyalty pattern for market-share leaders is found to be more stable than for other brands. The study findings were robust to variation in the time interval used to construct the switching matrices, and to different treatments of multiple purchases.

International market segmentation : Issues and perspectives

With the increasing globalization of the business world, international segmentation becomes an ever more important concept in marketing. The globalization forces now at work push many companies to extend or reorganize their marketing strategies across borders and target international segments of consumers. It is the purpose of this paper to review the international market segmentation literature and to identify its future prospects and threats. We critically assess the current status of international market segmentation research and provide a systematic overview of 25 previous empirical studies with respect to the samples used for segmentation, segmentation bases and methods, geographic configuration of segments, and validation efforts. We discuss a number of conceptual and methodological issues that deserve more attention if international market segmentation is to fulfill its high potential. The conceptual issues include construct equivalence of the segmentation basis used, level of aggregation in the segmentation process, and choice of the segmentation basis. The methodological issues include measure equivalence and sample equivalence of the segmentation basis, segmentation methods employed, and whether national sample sizes should be proportional to population sizes. We describe a case study to illustrate and integrate the various issues and conclude with suggestions for future research to stimulate further advances in the area. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

An investigation into the association pattern technique as a quantitative approach to measuring means-end chains

Abstract Means-end chain theory links products to consumers by postulating hierarchical relations between attributes of the product, consequences of product use and values of consumers. It has served as an important conceptual framework for studies in marketing. The authors investigate the association pattern technique (APT) as a supplement to laddering, the most popular, qualitative measurement methodology in means-end chains research. APT is a structured method for measuring means-end chains, suitable for large-scale surveys. It can be used in personal as well as quantitative mail interviews. APT separately measures the attribute-consequence, and the consequence-value links. The independence of attribute-consequence, and consequence-value links is crucial to the validity of APT. Using loglinear models, we investigate this assumption for empirical data on four different products. Consistent support for independence is found. In addition, we use loglinear models to test the convergent validity of APT and laddering with respect to the content and structure of the means-end chains network that they reveal. The results show that the content of the APT and laddering networks differs. This result is explained from the different task formats. Most importantly, the hypothesis that the structure of APT and laddering networks is the same could not be rejected.

Development and cross-cultural validation of a short form of CSI as a measure of optimum stimulation level

Abstract The important role played by optimum stimulation level (OSL) in a variety of consumer behaviors renders it highly desirable that researchers have a short but valid instrument for measuring this construct. In this paper, a shortened (7-item) version of the Change Seeker Index (CSI) is developed and cross-validated in three countries (USA, Belgium, and the Netherlands). It is shown that the new instrument has much better psychometric properties than the original scale. Moreover, in spite of the substantial reduction of the length of the scale, the short form of CSI actually exhibits better nomological validity than the 95-item scale in two US samples.

Multi-Group Latent Variable Models for Varying Numbers of Items and Factors with Cross-National and Longitudinal Applications

Varying sets of items and constructs are a problem frequently encountered in cross-national and longitudinal studies in marketing. We discuss the use of multi-group latent variable models in this situation and describe a method that can be used to handle unequal sets of items and constructs across groups in such models. A simulation study based on cross-national marketing data from Belgium and Great Britain revealed that accurate estimates of differences between latent means can be obtained with this procedure with as few as two common items, although a fairly large sample size is required to obtain small standard errors of the estimates of latent mean differences. A substantive example involving a confirmatory factor model as well as a structural model is also provided, using longitudinal data concerning the quality image of a food product in the Netherlands.

The relationships among arousal potential, arousal and stimulus evaluation, and the moderating role of need for stimulation

Abstract We develop a series of hypotheses delineating the impact of arousal potential on arousal and of arousal on stimulus evaluation, and we introduce the concept of need for stimulation (NST) as a key moderating variable which takes into account other sources of stimulation and individual differences in preferred level of stimulation. The hypotheses are investigated in an exploratory study involving a series of fear-appeal ads. We find that there is a monotonically increasing relationship between the arousal potential of a stimulus and the arousal it induces in the consumer, and that the relation between arousal evoked by the stimulus and the consumers evaluation of the stimulus takes the form of an inverted U. Support is also obtained for the moderating role of NST in this process. The effect of arousal potential on arousal is stronger for individuals with higher NSTs, and the level of arousal at which stimulus evaluation reaches a maximum is higher for people with higher NSTs.

The metric quality of full-profile judgments and the number-of-attribute-levels effect in conjoint analysis

Abstract Several studies have documented the existence of a positive association between the number of levels used for an attribute and the attributes estimated influence (relative importance) on preference judgments in conjoint analysis. We propose that this number-of-levels effect is contingent upon the (lack of) metricity in the preference judgments. We use magnitude estimation to test this idea. We find that rating scale and magnitude estimation data provide comparable average effects. We then use the magnitude estimation data to categorize respondents into “metric” and “nonmetric” groups, and we find that the number-of-levels effect is substantially smaller for respondents who do satisfy the criteria for metric quality than for respondents who do not.

Quality Labeling as Instrument to Create Product Equity: The Case of IKB in the Netherlands

In response to the problems associated with intensifying competition and slow growth in the demand for food, European businesses increasingly attempt to add value to the agricultural raw material. To adopt a successful differentiation strategy, they must make the transition from the well-known product-oriented approach to marketing (based on homogenization, and cost minimization through economies of scale) to a consumer-oriented approach (identifying and meeting the needs of particular groups of consumers). The best performing companies demonstrate an unwavering focus upon the market place and relate all their operating decisions to the dictates of customer needs. The strategic reorientation of agribusiness coincides with consumer trends demanding higher quality than ever before. Therefore, differentiation on product attributes that consumers deem important may be a viable strategy to agribusiness.