Leona Tam

Changing circumstances, disrupting habits

The present research investigated the mechanisms guiding habitual behavior, specifically, the stimulus cues that trigger habit performance. When usual contexts for performance change, habits cannot be cued by recurring stimuli, and performance should be disrupted. Thus, the exercising, newspaper reading, and TV watching habits of students transferring to a new university were found to survive the transfer only when aspects of the performance context did not change (e.g., participants continued to read the paper with others). In some cases, the disruption in habits also placed behavior under intentional control so that participants acted on their current intentions. Changes in circumstances also affected the favorability of intentions, but changes in intentions alone could not explain the disruption of habits. Furthermore, regardless of whether contexts changed, nonhabitual behavior was guided by intentions.

Recovery voice and satisfaction after service failure: an experimental investigation of mediating and moderating factors

Past research studies on service failures and recovery have conceptualized “voice” in terms of customers having an opportunity to air complaints after failures occur. In contrast, the authors introduce the concept of recovery voice , which entails a service provider asking a customer (after a failure has occurred) what the firm can do to rectify the problem. In a scenario-based experiment carried out in an airline setting and in a hotel setting with 216 and 208 participants, respectively, it was found that customers perceived greater procedural justice when offered recovery voice, which resulted in higher overall postfailure satisfaction. It was shown that perceived procedural justice mediated the effect of recovery voice on overall satisfaction. Furthermore, recovery voice had a greater impact on perceived procedural justice for established customers with long transaction histories than for new ones with short transaction histories. Managerial and research implications based on these findings are also presented.

The psychology of password management: a tradeoff between security and convenience

Despite technological advances, humans remain the weakest link in Internet security. In this study, we examined five password-management behaviours to answer questions about user knowledge of password quality, motivation behind password selection and the effect of account type on password-management behaviour. First, we found that users know what constitutes a good/bad password and know which common password-management practices are (in)appropriate. Second, users are motivated to engage in these bad password-management behaviours because they do not see any immediate negative consequences to themselves (negative externalities) and because of the convenience–security tradeoff. Applying Construal Level Theory, we found that this tradeoff can be positively influenced by imposing a time frame factor, i.e. whether the password change will take place immediately (which results in weaker passwords) or in the future (which results in stronger passwords). Third, we found a time frame effect only for more important (online banking) accounts.

Not All Repeat Customers Are the Same: Designing Effective Cross-Selling Promotion on the Basis of Attitudinal Loyalty and Habit

Not all repeat purchases are created equal. They can be driven by both positive reaction toward a brand (i.e., attitudinal loyalty) and automaticity triggered by non-brand-related contextual cues (i.e., habit). Combining the loyalty literature with recent habit research, the authors suggest ways to distinguish the two drivers of repeat purchase and examine how they affect consumer response to cross-selling promotions. In Study 1, the authors propose a method to derive individual-level habit strength from consumer transaction records and demonstrate the influence of both attitudinal loyalty and habit on repeat purchase. Studies 2a and 2b then show that attitudinal loyalty facilitates cross-selling, whereas habit has the opposite effect. Finally, in Study 3, the authors suggest a specific promotional design that works better for habitual consumers than for those with attitudinal loyalty and demonstrate that ignoring these two underlying drivers can lead to unintended negative consequences on consumer behavior. This research adds to a richer understanding of repatronage and yields important managerial insights into more effective cross-selling to repeat customers.

The relationship between human capital, value creation and employee reward

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between human capital (HC) and value creation and employee reward. HC is an important component of intellectual capital (IC). There is growing interest in how IC can be used to create organizational value. This paper addresses the need for critical analysis of IC practices in action. Based on data gathered from three annual surveys at Australia’s second largest public sector organization, the paper introduces psychological contract (PC) as new HC factors, and develops a method to measure HC in terms of value creation (work activity) and employee reward (pay). The findings have practical implications for managers in using the paper’s HC measurement to achieve strategic alignment (SA) of the workforce. Design/methodology/approach – The research was based on data gathered from three annual surveys (2009-2011) of staff at Australia’s second largest public sector organization. A total of 248 questionnaires were completed. Three independent vari...

Serving yourself: value self-creation in health care service

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the concept of value self-creation and provides a formal definition for this concept. The paper suggests that it sits within an overall continuum of value creation that includes value delivery and value co-creation. Design/methodology/approach A proposed model of value self-creation was developed and empirically tested in a health care self-service, bowel screening. An online, self-completion survey was administered to Australian men and women aged 50 years and above, as this represents the primary target population for bowel screening. Findings The results of the structural equation modelling in AMOS suggest that consumers can self-create value, leading to desired outcomes of satisfaction with the consumption experience and behavioural intentions to engage with the self-service again in the future. The findings provide empirical evidence to suggest that consumers’ behavioural contributions represent the most important consumer contributions in self-service, followed by cognitive contributions. Originality/value The study provides an empirically validated model of value self-creation in health care self-service. Much of the existing research on value co-creation has concentrated on traditional service types and is ill-placed to explain the value creation processes in self-services. This study offers originality by addressing this gap and demonstrating to service managers how they can manage consumer contributions towards a self-service and facilitate value-self creation, even though they are not present during the consumption stage of the consumption process.

Saving in Cycles How to Get People to Save More Money

Low personal savings rates are an important social issue in the United States. We propose and test one particular method to get people to save more money that is based on the cyclical time orientation. In contrast to conventional, popular methods that encourage individuals to ignore past mistakes, focus on the future, and set goals to save money, our proposed method frames the savings task in cyclical terms, emphasizing the present. Across the studies, individuals who used our proposed cyclical savings method, compared with individuals who used a linear savings method, provided an average of 74% higher savings estimates and saved an average of 78% more money. We also found that the cyclical savings method was more efficacious because it increased implementation planning and lowered future optimism regarding saving money.

Seek or destroy? Examining value creation and destruction in behaviour maintenance in social marketing

ABSTRACT This article presents an empirical investigation of how behaviour maintenance is supported or hindered through value creation and destruction in social marketing. Using a longitudinal, netnographic approach, we identify and examine the key facilitators and barriers encountered during the maintenance of physical and mental health behaviours. Data were collected over a 12-week observation period via Twitter from a sample of 242 participants. A total of 5212 tweets were analysed using content and thematic analysis facilitated by NVivo software program. The findings identify key barriers to and facilitators of behaviour maintenance at the individual level (downstream), meso level (midstream), and policy level (upstream) that have an influence on value creation and destruction in social marketing. These findings demonstrate the importance of employing a strategic and integrated approach to social change management.

To Change or Not to Change: How Regulatory Focus Affects Change in Dyadic Decision-Making

Successful innovation requires teams to embrace and enact change. However, team members often differ in their preferences for change. We examine how regulatory focus affects dyadic teams’ tendencies to enact change across an array of repeated brand management decisions. Understanding such tendencies is important, since the innovation process is characterized by a series of investment decisions typically made by teams, yet prone to significant biases. Regulatory focus theory provides a framework for understanding the dominant motivations driving decision-making during goal pursuit. It argues that individuals operate under either a promotion or prevention focus, influencing preferences for stability vs. change. We develop a set of hypotheses regarding regulatory focus match vs. mismatch in teams and their effects on the relative tendency to enact change in decision-making. In the context of dyads involved in a complex management simulation consisting of multiple decision cycles, we empirically demonstrate that a promotion focus match is associated with greater levels of change in decisions than a prevention focus match, regardless of the type of goal pursuit strategy prescribed to dyads. Under regulatory focus mismatch, however, dyads are guided by the goal pursuit strategy (vigilant vs. eager) provided to them, which in turn informs their propensity to implement change.

Studying Consumer Habits in the Field: Some Suggestions for Conducting Industry-Supported Research

In this note, we add voice to Herziger and Hoelzel’s (2017) compelling case on the shortcomings of investigating consumer habits using hypothetical choice scenarios. We elaborate on the importance of conducting real-world consumer habits research and suggest some ways to do so. We posit that five fundamental characteristics of consumer habits make them particularly appropriate for field investigations and less suited to lab-based studies. We suggest that field studies of consumer habits are best carried out in cooperation with companies or non-profit organizations. Based on our own experiences conducting academic research through industry collaborations, we provide consumer psychologists with some suggestions for initiating and conducting industry-supported research successfully.