Joo-Gim Heaney

Status Consumption Among Malaysian Consumers: Exploring Its Relationships with Materialism and Attention-to-Social-Comparison-Information

Abstract Status consumption describes individual differences in how much consumers purchase to attain social status. We investigated the relationships of status consumption with the constructs of materialism and attention-to-social-comparison-information in order to replicate the relationship of status consumption with the former and to extend its relationship to the latter. Multi-item self-report scales measured each construct. A survey of 239 Malaysian students provided the data. As hypothesized, status consumption was positively associated with both constructs, supporting its nomological validity and suggesting that promotional appeals to status seeking consumers might be more effective if they emphasize social comparisons.

External information search for banking services

Empirically examines how certain variables influence the extent of external information search for banking services. The effects of perceived benefit, perceived cost, perceived risk, and perceived knowledge are tested within a proposed structural equation, cost‐benefit based Banking Services Model (BSM). Surveys a sample of 661 students at a major US university to gather data on their information search for banking services. The results reveal that the BSM provides a good fit to the data. Perceived benefit, cost and knowledge influence the extent of prepurchase bank information search. In addition, the consumers felt that it was more beneficial to obtain more information when there was a perceived benefit of lowering risk and when they already had some form of prior product knowledge. Implications of the BSM for services marketing management and consumer theory, limitations of the study, and future research are discussed.

Institutional and Managerial Factors Affecting International Student Recruitment Management.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate international student recruitment from an institutional perspective and to consider institutional factors that may affect recruitment.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study is undertaken in which education marketing practitioners are interviewed regarding aspects of international student recruitment at their institutions. Interview data are analysed by NVivo and categorized into four institutional factors: marketing department size, employee qualifications, institutional recruiting experience, and institutional focus.Findings – Differences are found to exist between universities and secondary schools in terms of their current international education recruitment practices. The percentage of international student cohort appears to be largely responsible for sectoral differences.Research limitations/implications – Findings presented are from a sample of secondary schools and universities in Australia and New Zealand. Further research is require...