Juan Carlos Gázquez-Abad

Structural equation modelling in marketing and business research

Purpose – Structural equation modelling (SEM) is a method that is very frequently applied by marketing and business researchers to assess empirically new theoretical proposals articulated by means of complex models. It is, therefore, a logical thought that the quality of the new advances in marketing and business theory depends, in part, on how well SEM is applied. This study aims to conduct an extensive review and empirical analysis of a broad variety of classic and recent controversies and issues related with the use of SEM, in order to identify problematic questions and prescribe a compendium of solutions for its suitable application.Design/methodology/approach – The main analyses were conducted on a sample of 191 SEM‐based papers and 472 applications, i.e. all the SEM‐based studies published in four leading marketing journals during the period 1995‐2007.Findings – Despite the maturity of SEM, its application in marketing research still has notable room for improvement. This is a general conclusion bas...

Characterising the deal-proneness of consumers by analysis of price sensitivity and brand loyalty: an analysis in the retail environment

This study characterises the ‘deal-proneness’ of consumers by analysis of the consumer-level characteristics of price sensitivity and brand loyalty. The study first develops a multinomial logistic (MNL) latent class model suitable for use with universal product code (UPC) point-of-sale (hypermarket) scanner data. The model is then used to assess the deal-proneness of consumers with respect to monetary promotions (price reductions) and non-monetary promotions (store flyers). The results show that almost 47% of consumers can be considered deal-prone, in that both kinds of sales promotions have a significant effect on their choice behaviour. The findings provide important insights for retail management in seeking to optimise the results obtained from promotional budgets.

Service Quality in Public Services as a Segmentation Variable

The application of perceived service quality to marketing segmentation makes a significant contribution to customer quality expectations by enabling more efficient segmentation. By means of an empirical analysis, the present work firstly contrasts the validity of perceived service quality measurements in public services. It goes on to analyse the usefulness of this concept as a segmentation criterion. Finally, customer segments are identified as a function of perceived quality and profiles are established for each segment. This study proves that service quality is a useful tool for segmentation in public services.

Utilitarian motivations in online consumption: Dimensional structure and scales

Abstract To date, the utilitarian benefits of online consumption have only been partially investigated. This study undertakes an exhaustive approach to fully delimit the dimensional structure related to the utilitarian motivations for online consumption. First, an in-depth literature review is carried out, in order to allow the proposal of an aprioristic base structure of eleven categories of utilitarian motivations. Next, qualitative analyses (focus groups and personal interviews) are applied to assess and eventually refine the structure of utilitarian motivations proposed after the literature review, their labels and respective measurement scales. Finally, this qualitative phase concludes with ten motivational categories and 46 items. Then, quantitative analyses (exploratory and detailed confirmatory factor analyses) are applied, based on a questionnaire administered to a sample of 667 Internet users, to keep refining and to eventually validate both the dimensional structure of motivations and the related measurement scales. Finally, a structure of 9 utilitarian motivations (and corresponding set of 36 items) is established, with the following labels: assortment, economy, convenience, availability of information, adaptability/customization, desire for control, payment services, anonymity, and absence of social interaction. The nomological validity of this structure is satisfactorily tested using a second-order factor model. The article finishes by discussing some implications for practitioners.

Consumer Preferences for Olive-Oil Attributes: A Review of the Empirical Literature Using a Conjoint Approach

During the last decade, olive oil consumption has experienced a major breakthrough in the world, not only in producing countries but also among those who are not. Undoubtedly, this growth in consumption is a consequence of the consolidation of a cultural phenomenon established between the main producing countries (Spain, Italy and Greece), owing to the so-called Mediterranean diet1; a food concept that provides important health benefits and of which olive oil is one of the main components. The recent recognition of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — it has declared to the Mediterranean diet ‘the intangible cultural heritage of humanity’— offers promising perspectives for the Mediterranean diet in the coming years.

Psychological elements explaining the consumer's adoption and use of a website recommendation system: A theoretical framework proposal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand, with an emphasis on the psychological perspective of the research problem, the consumers adoption and use of a certain web site recommendation system as well as the main psychological outcomes involved.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of theoretical modelling.Findings – A conceptual model is proposed and discussed. A total of 20 research propositions are theoretically analyzed and justified.Research limitations/implications – The theoretical discussion developed here is not empirically validated. This represents an opportunity for future research.Practical implications – The ideas extracted from the discussion of the conceptual model should be a help for recommendation systems designers and web site managers, so that they may be more aware, when working with such systems, of the psychological process consumers undergo when interacting with them. In this regard, numerous practical reflections and suggestions are presented.Origi...

Drivers of Sustainability Strategies in Spain’s Wine Tourism Industry

Confusion about what constitutes sustainability and the lack of incentives are two major factors interfering with the expansion of sustainability efforts in Spain’s wine tourism industry, according to a survey of forty-nine wine practitioners at forty-six small- and medium-size Spanish wineries. The study identified the following four overall strategies: (1) reducing waste and toxicity, (2) highlighting sustainability in products and regulations, (3) sustainability in energy consumption, and (4) developing new sustainability-related business opportunities. The fact that these strategies are heavily weighted toward production may be a function of the nascent state of Spain’s wine tourism but also because the structured interviews were more heavily weighted toward production issues. On balance, the study indicates that more education about sustainability, both for producers and tourists, should be paired with economic incentives to encourage greater sustainability in Spain’s wine tourism industry.

Using standard CETSCALE and other adapted versions of the scale for measuring consumers’ ethnocentric tendencies: An analysis of dimensionality

The consumer ethnocentrism tendencies scale (CETSCALE) was developed by Shimp and Sharma in 1987 to measure consumer ethnocentrism. It is one of the most commonly used scales in the marketing literature. As well as the original 17-item version, there are many empirical applications using other adapted versions of CETSCALE. These versions differ in terms of the number (and composition) of items, incorporating additional items and even accounting for the nationality of the foreign products under study. Some of these papers question the unidimensionality of such a scale. We intend to analyse the dimensionality of the CETSCALE. In order to do this, an extensive review of previous studies that have considered CETSCALE—whatever the version—is developed. In addition, we analyse the dimensionality of an adapted version of the CETSCALE including the product category (vegetables) under study. Our results support the multidimensionality of the CETSCALE.

Online versus Offline Promotional Communication: Evaluating the Effect of Medium On Customer Response

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of online versus offline promotional communication is an important marketing issue. This study estimated the effect of online versus print promotional communication on customer response. It employed a field experiment comparing the effectiveness of print versus online store flyers to evaluate the memory and actual shopping behavior of more than 9,000 retail customers. Evidence shows that print and online flyers achieved equal results in terms of purchase behavior and memory. The findings thus suggest that retailers and brands can focus on cost and reach when making investment decisions about print and online advertising.

How Assortment Composition Affects Consumers’ Intentions to Buy PL

Recent professional publications show that national brand (NB) delistings are not uncommon in food retailing. However, retailers’ boycotts of individual brands might have negative consequences. This paper analyses how offering an ‘only-Private label (PL)’ or ‘PL and NB’ assortment influences consumers’ intentions to buy PL. Our research is based on a controlled online experiment with a large existing consumer panel in the American market owned by IRI Worldwide. Our results suggest that both the number of NBs and the proportion of high-equity NBs contained in a given assortment are aspects of interest for retailers to take into account when designing their product offer.