Laura Salciuviene

On What Do Consumer Product Preferences Depend? Determining Domestic versus Foreign Product Preferences in an Emerging Economy Market

ABSTRACT This study investigates consumer preferences for domestic products in an emerging economy market. We argue that consumer preferences are contingent on the level of consumer ethnocentrism, preferences for different product categories from specific country clusters and those of importers, and consumers’ previous experience with products. The findings suggest that there are significant variations in consumer evaluations of products across specific product categories, country-of-origin, and other multicues. We also find a significant influence of consumer ethnocentrism on preferences for different product categories from specific country clusters when controlling for background variables. Implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

‘Your Life When You’ve Got Everything is Different’: Forced Transformations and Consumption Practices

Purpose – By analysing the experience of homelessness, this chapter aims to understand how individuals experience involuntary life changes in uncertain contexts and analyses the role of consumption, in terms of possessions and practices, along the process. Methodology/approach – This study adopts a phenomenological approach, focusing on the homelessness experience. It involves an 18 month quasi-ethnography study in a charity that supports the homeless individuals, where interviews about their retrospective biographical accounts were performed. The data was analysed using existential phenomenological procedures. Findings – Informants’ pathways to homelessness reveal a four-stage process of forced self-transformation (initial self, forced negotiation, transition, transformed self) which takes place across two stressful situational contexts: the triggering events for transformation (i.e. that led informants to lose their home) and the persisting state of uncertainty (i.e. further survival living in the streets). Social implications – In the current postmodern times there is greater uncertainty surrounding individuals’ life changes. The consequences of the current economic crisis have threatened individuals to lose their homes. By having a better understanding of the way individuals experience this type of loss, the study brings new information about how to support them. Originality/value of chapter – This study highlights contexts where Van Genneps transformational routine may not be suitable in the current postmodern times, and provides an alternative transformational routine that takes into account the uncertainty that accompanies involuntary transformations.

Examining media effectiveness across cultures and national borders: A review and multilevel framework

We explore the ways that perceptions of media effectiveness are affected by the societal culture, organizational culture, occupational (professional) culture, individual characteristics, and technology acceptance. This is an important subject to explore, as communication is essential to organizational functioning. The continuous drive for communication to individuals in different national and organizational situations around the world, due in part to globalization, leads us to ask: which medium is perceived as the most effective for each of the tasks a manager may be called upon to perform, particularly in different cultures? In other words, is the receiver getting the message that we intend, when the receiver is not in the same situation (societal, organizational, professional, etc.) as the sender? There are contexts of shared values, rules, and experiences that affect communication; words do not have the same meaning and value across languages and cultures (Macnamara, 2004). This means that the message sent from one context may not be the message received in another. If we are not communicating the messages we intend, then our method of communicating may be efficient, but it is certainly not effective. However, there is little research on the effectiveness of media types. We develop a framework highlighting the intersection of variables salient to effectiveness: societal, organizational, and occupational culture, individual characteristics, and technology the sender? In the conclusion, we suggest future work that might be appropriate, given the increasing interest in global communication.

Antecedents of performance of multi‐level channels in transitional economies

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of channel performance in a multi‐level marketing (MLM) channel.Design/methodology/approach – Personal interviews with 105 distributors from network marketing companies operating in Lithuania, provided data for this study. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation model (LISREL).Findings – The findings suggest that trust, locus of control and shared values are moderated by channel commitment of the downstream channel members.Research limitations/implications – This study is limited to one country under investigation, therefore further research needs to be extended to other economies. Researchers might also identify additional variables affecting channel performance as well as undertake a longitudinal approach of the focal areas of commitment and channel performance.Practical implications – This study is of managerial interest, as the framework suggested in this study may be applied by MLM firms to monitor their networks and evaluate ...

Cultural antecedents to the normative, affective, and cognitive effects of domestic versus foreign purchase behavior

The paper aims to investigate simultaneous and independent effects of cognitive, affective, and normative (CAN) decision mechanisms and cultural elements on consumer purchase behavior of foreign and domestic products. The study uses a survey to collect data from 5 086 respondents across 19 nations. The findings suggest that CAN factors independently affect purchase decisions for domestic, but not always foreign goods. Collectivism and uncertainty avoidance directly and differentially affect the CAN mechanisms. By explaining the effects of CAN and cultural elements on foreign and domestic purchase behaviour and offering product positioning strategies to internationally operating business managers the study provides important research and practical implications. The originality and value of this research lies in the theoretically proposed and empirically tested model, which incorporates consumer ethnocentrism, quality importance, national identification, cultural antecedents (collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) and domestic/ foreign product purchase behaviour.

Uncovering relationships between emotional states and higher-order needs: enhancing consumer emotional experiences in computer-mediated environment

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of emotional states on higher-order need attainment in the computer-mediated environment. A survey data were collected from 404 adult visitors within the Second Life of virtual worlds. The findings suggest that the emotional states exert significant effects on attainment of higher-order needs (i.e. belongingness, esteem and self-actualization); the flow emotional state exerts a greater effect on attaining higher-order needs than the remaining emotional states of anxiety, confusion and apathy. Companies with presence in the Second Life of virtual worlds will be able to make more informed decisions when directing their efforts to enhance visitors’ emotional experiences in their virtual islands.

The negative influence of the entrepreneur’s level of higher education on the attractiveness of European SMEs as alliance partners in Brazil: the role of practical experience and international entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract Notwithstanding the contemporary relevance of alliance strategies for SME internationalisation, especially in the case of uncertain business environments, few studies have investigated human resource issues in the context of SMEs prior to alliance formation. Even more scarce are studies looking at the impact of a manager/entrepreneur’s characteristics on pre-alliance formation, despite recognition of the expected crucial role of the entrepreneur in this context and of the strong connection between an entrepreneur and their SME. Drawing on international entrepreneurship theory and empirical observations from an exploratory study, we propose a post hoc conceptual model. The exploratory empirical part of our study employs a sample of entrepreneurs from biotechnology SMEs in the United Kingdom and Germany intending to ally in a large emerging market (i.e. Brazil). Our empirical observations suggest an anomalous (at first glance) negative association between the entrepreneur’s level of higher education (a construct at the individual level) and the attractiveness of the SME as a partner firm vis-à-vis alliance formation (a construct at the firm level). Our post hoc model emphasises the role of practical experience and the corresponding levels of international entrepreneurial orientation as theorised variables mediating the observed empirical relationship. We develop theoretical propositions, and suggest practical implications and future research directions.

The Role of Online Reviews in Services Sector and Implications for Services Firms

Today, consumers share their positive and negative experiences about products and services using social media sites and online platforms provided by companies. Electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) usually spreads through social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), and it affects how consumers make their decisions on what to buy or recommend within their network (Simonson and Rosen 2014). In particular, online reviews have been noted as providing useful information (Yin and Zhang 2014) not only for other customers but also for companies searching for new ways to attract their customers to visit their websites. This chapter aims to investigate the role of online reviews in social media in the services sector and offers implications for services firms.

Linking initial beliefs, trust, perceived value and purchase intentions in the context of second hand goods sold by unknown online retailers

Online shopping is significantly increasing worldwide and is showing a continuous potential in terms of growth, security, price and shopping convenience. A constant 11 % increase in online retail revenues suggests that online orders are increasing and will grow steadily to

Consequences of Interactivity and Social Presence for Trust and Flow in the Online Luxury Goods Sector

370 billion in 2017 (Abramovich 2014). This growing trend might be also advantageous for second-hand online retailers as it has been reported that one third of consumers buy more second-hand goods compared to previous years (Chahai 2013).