Kyoko Fukukawa

An Eye for an Eye: Investigating the Impact of Consumer Perception of Corporate Unfairness on Aberrant Consumer Behavior

This paper examines why ordinary people engage in aberrant consumer behavior (ACB), and pays particular attention to the extent to which consumer perceptions of corporate ‘unfairness’ lead to a response in kind. The study examines five ethical scenarios including insurance claim exaggeration and software piracy, using data from 344 UK consumers. Ajzens theory of planned behavior (TPB) provides an initial analytical framework. The study also adopts an additional variable, perceived unfairness, referring to the extent to which an actor is motivated to redress an imbalance perceived as unfair. In comparison to TPB, the study reveals different components of ACB. Furthermore, analysis of variance indicates that consumer perceptions of unfairness by insurance companies provide a significant reason for claim exaggeration. This suggests that ACB is one form of market response to unfair corporate performance. Thus it is argued that an examination of ACB will not only help to understand which ethical aspects of corporate performance might be perceived as unfair, but also to evaluate the extent to which it contributes to a negative perception of particular industries and corporations. The closing discussion considers how a consumer negative response to corporate performance might relate to pricing, product attributes and customer relationships.

Consumer control, dependency and satisfaction with online service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a new conceptual model in an online service context. The model focuses on an important, yet often neglected customer-oriented construct, i.e., user “control”, which is embedded in consumer behaviour when accessing the internet. The study examines the relationship between control, online dependency, online encounter satisfaction and overall satisfaction. It explains the strategic implications surrounding customer control and online dependency as means for enhancing customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was developed drawing on a combination of existing and new measurement items for the constructs in question. The instrument was later pilot tested on two consecutive occasions ahead of the main survey. A random sample of Hong Kong banking consumers was approached and interviews were undertaken via telephone. The data were analysed via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses relating to the model. Findings The findings reveal positive relationships between control and online dependency, and control and online encounter satisfaction. Meanwhile control, online dependency and online encounter satisfaction lead to overall satisfaction. Originality/value This study proposes a counterintuitive argument that while online service customers gain control of the online service process, they become more dependent on it, and their control and dependency also lead to their satisfaction, at both the online service encounter level and corporate level. Drawing on the pertinent literature, this is the first study to examine the importance of two information system constructs, i.e., control and online dependency, as predictors of consumer psychological fulfilment, i.e., satisfaction. The findings confirm that control as an initiator and driver of customer satisfaction in an online context, and online encounter satisfaction, further contributes to overall satisfaction at the corporate level.

How Self-Construals Moderate the Self-Congruity Effect: A Cross-National Study (Abstract)

Self-congruity (SC) theory posits that consumers choose brands reflecting the image that consumers have of themselves (Sirgy 1982). Despite substantial research on SC (cf. Aguirre-Rodriguez et al. 2012), it is first unclear whether the SC effects (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social) hold beyond Western countries. Second, individual-level culture is yet to be considered as a moderator of the SC effects. Thus, this study first tests the four SC effects on brand attitude across Western and Eastern consumers (H1–H4). Second, we posit and test the propositions that the individual-level cultural variables self-construals (independent and interdependent; cf. Markus and Kitayama 1991) will moderate the SC effects to deliver stronger actual (H5) and social (H7) SC effects for interdependents (INT) over independents (IND) while producing stronger ideal (H6) and ideal social (H8) SC effects for IND over INT. We test our hypotheses using a survey of over 1600 non-student consumers in the USA and India. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the SC effect across with non-Western consumers.

How an Individual’s Self-Construals, Cosmopolitan and Local Orientation Affect the Impact of the Four Self-Congruity Types on Brand Attitude

Recent research questions the universality of the self-congruity effect on brand perceptions and highlights the need for further clarifying the boundary conditions of self-congruity theory. Current evidence suggests that it is individual characteristics that determine the superiority of branding strategies focused on appealing to a consumers’ actual versus ideal self-congruity. This study extends that research by modelling how four individual characteristics of value for cross-cultural market segmentation purposes (an individual’s level of independence, interdependence, and their cosmopolitan and local orientations) affect which of the four self-congruity types (actual, ideal, social, and social ideal) has the strongest impact on brand perceptions. Empirically, the validity of the conceptual framework is tested using survey data from non-student samples in the USA and India. Findings show that an individual’s level of independence and interdependence, cosmopolitan and local orientation determine which self-congruity type has the strongest effect on brand attitude. Specifically, the results show that for locals and interdependents, actual self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. In contrast, for cosmopolitans and independents, ideal self-congruity has the strongest effect on brand attitude. Interestingly, overall actual and ideal self-congruity types have the strongest effect on brand attitude for the consumer types tested. Moreover, the findings are partially validated in both countries and suggest that other factors pertaining to the USA and India may influence the self-congruity effect. The study offers practitioners with insights on which self-concept type they should try to match in their brand communications to elicit most positive brand attitude among consumers depending on their individual characteristics.