Julie A. Ruth

Gift receipt and the reformulation of interpersonal relationships

Sherry (1983) defines reformulation as the final stage of gift exchange, during which a newly presented gift can impact the relationship between giver and recipient. To date no one has examined exactly how gifts can affect relationships or what aspects of gift exchange contribute to realignment of the giver/recipient relationship. Using depth interviews and critical-incident surveys, our study explores how the recipients perceptions of the existing relationship, the gift, the ritual context, and his or her emotional reactions converge to affect relationship realignment. We identify six relational effects of gift-receipt experiences. Further, we examine gift-receipt experiences that have a consistent impact in the short and long term, and those where the meanings and relational effects appear to change over time. Implications for future research are also discussed. Copyright 1999 by the University of Chicago.

Promoting a Brand's Emotion Benefits: The Influence of Emotion Categorization Processes on Consumer Evaluations

Research in psychology has demonstrated that people have a shared knowledge of emotion categories. Building on this research and our understanding of categorization processes, this article proposes a mechanism by which consumers utilize information about a brands “emotion benefits” in forming attitudes. The results of 2 experimental studies show that (a) consumers’ processing of a brands emotion benefit information is consistent with categorization processes such that emotion category congruity effects are large in basic—versus subordinate—level conditions, (b) associating a brand with certain emotions can influence brand and ad attitudes without necessarily eliciting emotions during exposure to advertising, (c) emotion category congruity “works” through attitude-toward-the-ad and emotion benefit beliefs in influencing brand attitudes, and (d) subjective product category knowledge moderates the strength of these effects. Taken together, these results explicate the process by which a knowledge-based consideration of a brands emotional benefits can influence consumers’ beliefs about the brand and brand attitudes.

Green Eco-Seals and Advertising Persuasion

Although advertisers present assurance or certification cues to burnish their “green” credentials, the impact of such “eco-seals” on persuasion is not well understood. We examine consumer characteristics (environmental concern and brand familiarity) and advertiser-controlled characteristics (the seal and advertising appeal) to understand conditions under which eco-seals are more or less persuasive including effects on attitudes and intentions. Based on the Persuasion Knowledge Model, we hypothesize and present experimental results showing that consumers with high versus low environmental concern perceive eco-seals differently, depending on brand familiarity, eco-seal source, and ad appeal. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for green marketing strategy and messaging.

A Family Systems Interpretation of how Subsistence Consumers Manage: The Case of South Africa

How do people with few material resources manage their consumption lives? We address this question by investigating the consumption practices and processes of 27 subsistence consumers in South Africa. These individuals are economically active, underserved consumers who either had in the past or have today few resources in terms of income, employment, and education; most of these consumer–informants grew up in and/or live in urban townships populated by poor black South Africans. Our interpretation is based on family systems theory and centers on analyses showing that subsistence consumers enact strategies to cope with the chronic stress of resource allocation needs for the family that outpace resource generation. The repertoire of strategies includes: (1) adhering to resource generation opportunities, (2) accessing new resources, (3) talking to family members, (4) trying and striving, (5) sacrificing, and (6) risking. These strategies are discussed in light of family systems theory, consumer behavior research, and marketing to subsistence consumers.

And now, goodbye

While most sponsorship research focuses on the initiation and maintenance of properties and the brands that sponsor them, little is known about how brands fare when they terminate sponsorship relationships. Building on balance theory and attribution theory, we examine contextual characteristics that mitigate negative effects of sponsor exit, including the brand’s motives for sponsorship, sponsorship duration and the number of sponsors supporting the event. The results of two experimental studies show that, although exit generally harms attitudes towards the exiting brand, contextual characteristics along with the consumer’s involvement with the domain of the event shape differential consumer responses to sponsor exit. The findings have implications for sponsorship theory as well as practical implications for sponsored properties and the brands they seek to attract and maintain as sponsors.

Analysis of the Value of Celebrity Affiliation to Nonprofit Contributions

Nonprofit organizations rely on contributions to achieve mission-based objectives. While many determinants of contributions have been uncovered (e.g., fundraising budget, organization age, and operational efficiency), little is known about the role that celebrity affiliation plays in generating contributions. Using a sample of more than 500 industry-diverse charities with known celebrity affiliations, we find support for the celebrity-lift hypothesis—that celebrity-affiliated nonprofits are associated with increased contributions. We also find that celebrity affiliation has a substitution effect such that fundraising expenses are lower at celebrity-affiliated organizations.

Product-agency benefits: Consumer perspectives and strategic implications

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore the product-agency benefits that emerge as consumers interact with products, and how these benefits shape consumer experiences and marketing-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Sixty-one depth interviews were conducted, and 78 written narratives were collected from informants, which explored how products had changed consumers’ lives. The authors applied the tenets of grounded theory in the analysis of their text, creating abstract categories or tropes that reflected consistent patterns in their consumers’ experiences. Findings – The findings support that the conceptualization of agentic benefits should be broadened. The research identifies five salient product-agency benefits: regulation, clarification, transcendence, discovery and growth. Research limitations/implications – Prior conceptualizations of agency in marketing focus almost solely on control, yet the authors find that multiple product-agency benefits emerge, supporting the need fo...

Restructuring Japanese Business Through Kyosei: Capitalizing on International Strategic Alliances at the Consumer Level

Japan of the “post-bubble era” is the object of much reflection and speculation pertaining to risutora or restructuring of the economy. This study provides a novel, analytical perspective on the fundamental issues involved in the shift of momentum that characterizes Japan business and economic restructuring. After examining the economic and corporate dimensions of the transitional forces that shape Japan’s restructuring process, this study focuses on two powerful, yet often ignored, agents of change: the emergence of a new class of collaborative mandates, kyosei, and the rise of consumer power. The study further emphasizes the importance of planning and managing corporate-level restructuring activities with the interests of end-users in mind, by demonstrating empirically the significance of strategic alliances, as a corporate restructuring option, on consumers. The results show that consumers’ impressions of alliances with Japanese firms have a strong effect on future attitudes toward each partnering brand.

Social foundations of emotions in family consumption decision making

Although emotions are believed to be socially constructed and important features of family life they are little understood in the context of families making consumption decisions. Our research focuses on understanding individual and social aspects of emotions, including whether parents mirror each others emotions during family consumption decisions. Our Social Relations Model analyses provide evidence consistent with hypotheses that anger and frustration in family consumption decision making are interdependent, and incorporate individual and relationship levels, bidirectionality, and reciprocity. Additionally we find that the mirroring of these emotions between the parents is pervasive, occurring across spending, model/make, and final decisions involved in buying a new car. Our theory and findings provide insights into how families share emotions during consumption decision making and provide a foundation for future investigations on discrete emotions, emotion mirroring and contagion, and family decision making.