Kenneth C. Gehrt

Situational, consumer, and retailer factors affecting Internet, catalog, and store shopping

Most research related to consumer choice of retailers emphasizes retailer attributes and/or consumer characteristics. Since many retail formats, including online retailing, have emerged in recent years, knowledge of how consumers select retail formats must be updated. A source of influence that has been examined to a very limited extent for store retailers but not for emerging retail formats is situational influence. From a modern interactionism perspective, this study investigates the influence of situational as well as consumer and retailer factors on preference for online, catalog, and store formats. Key results show that situational factors have significant influence on online and catalog format selection and perceptions of attributes that are crucial to that selection.

Emergence of online shopping in India: shopping orientation segments

Purpose – This study aims to explore Indian online shopping via the concept of shopping orientations.Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were collected from 536 consumer panel members. Online shopping segments were identified by using a two‐step process that clustered respondents in terms of the similarity of their scores across four shopping orientations.Findings – Three segments were identified: value singularity, quality at any price, and reputation/recreation. The quality at any price and reputation/recreation segments were the predominant online shoppers. Although their orientations toward shopping differed, their behaviour, web site attribute ratings, and demographics were very similar except for occupation (managerial versus clerical, respectively). The finding that the value singularity segment is not the pioneer online shopper in India contrasts with the early online shoppers in the USA, who were often motivated by price.Research limitations/implications – This is the first empirical study to u...

Attitude and behavior regarding pleasure travel among mature consumers: a socialization perspective.

Abstract Socialization Theory guides this studys examination of factors that influence mature consumers attitudes and behavior regarding pleasure travel. The study examines the extent to which social structural variables are related to mature travelers interaction with socialization agents, and how social structural and developmental variables are related to their attitudes, past travel behavior, and future travel intentions. Data (n = 182) were collected via mailed questionnaires. A series of multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses. The findings reveal that socialization theory serves well in explaining attitude, behavior, and intentions regarding pleasure travel. Socialization agents, social structural variables, and attitudinal components are identified and their relationships with past travel behavior and future travel intentions are assessed.

Situational segmentation in the international marketplace: the Japanese snack market

The study demonstrates the viability of situational segmentation in a market outside the USA. A number of situational segmentation studies in the USA have examined the snacking market. This study examines situational segmentation opportunities in the context of the Japanese snacking market. The study attempts to delineate a situationally‐defined market structure for a broadly defined array of snack products. This is done by characterizing 18 snacks in terms of pertinent situational factors via dummy variable regression analysis; and grouping the snacks in terms of the similarity of their situational characterizations via cluster analysis. The study reveals four multi‐product snack segments, including solitary snacking cluster, socializing ensemble cluster, high gravity socialization cluster, and morning home snack. The results show that situational segmentation is as effective in complementing more traditional segmentation approaches in Japan as it is in the USA.

Situational Influcence in the Internationa Marketplace: An Examination of Japanese Gift-Giving

This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program. Within the theoretical framework of modern interactionism, the study focuses on the influence of situational factors on Japanese gift-giving market, a market rife with subtle nuance and arcane conventions. ANOVA is used to examine the significance and the magnitude of situational influence on Japanese gift-giving behavior and regression analysis is used to examine in greater detail the nature of the situational influence. The findings show significant situational main and interaction effects and demonstrate an ability to transcend product-based segmentation methods by identifying products that, although they are dissimilar from a product attribute perspective, satisfy similar needs and are directly competitive from a situational perspective. The study is among the first to examine situational influence outside of the US market.

Student and Professor Similarity: Exploring the Effects of Gender and Relative Age

The authors examined student responses to faculty traits. Earlier findings revealing a preference for male instructors were obtained before female faculty and students were prevalent on college campuses and may have reflected a male demographic similarity effect. It was hypothesized that students would more favorably evaluate faculty who were similar in gender and in relative age (as reflected in faculty rank). As anticipated, female students evaluated female lower ranked faculty most favorably, and male higher ranked faculty least favorably. However, male students showed mixed effects. Although their evaluations were more favorable for lower ranked male faculty, they unexpectedly did not degrade higher ranked female faculty. Discussion focuses on gender-related causal factors and implications.

Understanding Preference for High-Speed Rail Service: A Consumer Logistics Perspective

This study uses consumer logistics theory as a framework to identify factors that may critically affect usage of high-speed rail for intercity business travel. The study is based on data gathered from 398 air travelers who were traveling for business purposes. LISREL is used to develop a measurement model that includes four consumer logistics functions: safety, connections, on-board amenities, and information. The final structural model shows 1) two of these functions, safety and connections, both positively related to travel effectiveness and efficiency and 2) effectiveness and efficiency both positively related to high-speed rail service usage intention. The model also shows that it is efficiency of high-speed rail rather than effectiveness that is most strongly related to usage intentions.

Competitive Market Analysis of U.S. Apples in the Japanese Market

Data were collected from Japanese housewives to compare the competitiveness of nUS and Japanese apples. The Fishbein model provided a theoretical framework for nthe comparison in which consumer attitudes were measured. Although the results nrevealed that Japanese apples were perceived to be generally superior to their US ncounterparts, several avenues to enhance US competitiveness were suggested. nThese involved three attributes on which US apples enjoyed a slight advantage over nJapanese apples (ipout -of-season alternative,ls ilfair price,lt and inready-to- eatla). nThere were also several attributes on which US apples faced a slight but potentially nsurmountable disadvantage.

Integrating user perception and experience into the technology acceptance model: An empirical investigation of online payment service innovation

This study expands the traditional TAM by considering two mediators between innovation characteristics and the adoption of online payment services: perceived use efficiency and perceived use effectiveness. It also proposes the influential paths from innovation design characteristics to innovation adoption through user perceptions and experience in order to better understand how to design an acceptable innovation and identify the targeted consumer segments. This study developed experimental websites and simulated innovation characteristics to test the hypotheses. The results indicate significant mediating effects of perceived use efficiency and perceived use effectiveness on the relationship between innovation characteristics of the online payment websites and the adoption intention to use the new service. These results of the experiments support the expanded conceptual framework for TAM with two pathways—one innovation characteristics-based and the other user perceptions-based—connecting to the acceptance of new technologies. Collectively, for predicting the adoption of online payment services, the mediating model is more effective than the direct effect model of innovation characteristics in a traditional TAM.