Julie Lee

The Effect of Global Company Animosity on Global Brand Attitudes in Emerging and Developed Markets: Does Perceived Value Matter?

Country-level animosity effects on foreign products from disliked countries are fairly well understood, but little is known about the role of global company animosity (GCA). Such understanding is important in a world increasingly dominated by global brands that are rapidly losing their associations with individual countries. This study proposes a nomological net that features GCA and perceived value of global brands (PVGB) as “dual process antecedents” to global brand attitudes and mediators of four relevant exogenous constructs (consumer ethnocentrism and localism through GCA and cosmopolitanism and materialism through PVGB). Using nonstudent consumers, the authors test the model in three diverse national markets ranging from emerging to developed: Brazil, South Korea, and Germany. The results show support for the importance of PVGB as a counterbalance to GCA in Brazil and Germany. The dominance of the PVGB path in South Korea is due to the countrys unique socioeconomic milieu. Although replication is warranted, international marketing managers should benefit from strategic consideration of the antecedents and pathways from GCA and PVGB to global brand attitudes.

Exploring consumer beliefs about wool apparel in the USA and Australia

The wool industry has responded to the decline in wool’s share of the textile market with innovations in production, processing and marketing that are aimed at increasing consumer demand for wool apparel. However, little is known about whether consumers’ beliefs about wool apparel reflect these innovations and whether consumers’ beliefs are uniform or vary in different markets. This exploratory study investigated consumers’ beliefs about wool apparel in three different locations (New York and Colorado in the USA and Western Australia). The findings indicate that both positive and negative perceptions of garment attributes are related to perceived garment value, as illustrated in the proposed model. Further, beliefs about wool were found to vary dramatically depending on context.

Testing and Extending Schwartz Refined Value Theory Using a Best–Worst Scaling Approach:

The theory of human values discriminated 10 basic values arrayed in a quasicircular structure. Analyses with several instruments in numerous samples supported this structure. The refined theory of human values discriminates 19 values in the same circle. Its support depends on one instrument, the revised Portrait Values Questionnaire. We introduce a forced choice method, the Best–Worst Refined Values scale (BWVr), to assess the robustness of the refined theory to method of measurement and also assess the distinctiveness and validity of a new animal welfare value. Three studies (N = 784, 439, and 383) support the theory and the new value. Study 3 also demonstrates the convergent and discriminant validity of the 19 values by comparing the BWVr, the revised Portrait Values Questionnaire, and value-expressive behaviors and confirms the test–retest reliability of BWVr responses. These studies provide further information about the order of values in the value circle.

Making sense of consumers’ wool apparel preferences

In an attempt to keep pace with changing demand for wool apparel, the wool industry has increasingly focused on developing technologies to measure consumers’ physical response to wool apparel as a means of predicting their preferences. However, it is unclear whether such technologies alone will predict consumer preferences as they do not take into account the broad range of attributes that consumers use to evaluate wool apparel. This study explored how consumers integrate their perceptions and expectations of wool apparel attributes during garment evaluation. The findings indicate that the evaluation of wool apparel is a more holistic and dynamic process than previously considered. Consumers evaluate new wool garments by extracting sensory cues and interpreting and integrating those cues with past experiences. It is proposed that experimental garment testing research be combined with interpretive research techniques to develop a more accurate picture of consumers’ response to wool apparel.