Mehdi Mourali

Individualistic orientation and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence

Purpose – Interpersonal influences play a major role in shaping consumer choice decisions. This is particularly evident in the case of services, where intangibility and variability add to the decision difficulty. While all consumers are susceptible to interpersonal influence, people differ in the extent of their susceptibility to interpersonal influence, with some individuals being chronically more susceptible to social influence than others. Seeks to speculate in this paper that, in addition to individual differences, susceptibility to interpersonal influence also varies systematically across cultures with varying degrees of individualism‐collectivism.Design/methodolog/approach – Hypothesis is tested by investigating and comparing the structure, properties, and mean levels of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale across samples of French and English Canadian consumers.Findings – It is found that: French Canadians are significantly more susceptible to normative influence than English Canadia...

Consumer Adoption of New Products: Independent Versus Interdependent Self-Perspectives

In five studies, the authors examine the impact of an independent (vs. interdependent) mindset on consumer adoption of new products. Study 1 demonstrates that consumers in a predominantly independent (vs. interdependent) culture are more willing to adopt really new products, whereas consumers in a predominantly interdependent (vs. independent) culture are more willing to adopt incrementally new products. Studies 2 and 3 conceptually replicate these findings using situationally activated mindsets and demonstrate that this effect is driven by the perceived fit between the products newness level and the optimal level of distinctiveness consumers want. Finally, Studies 4a and 4b show that the presence of distinctiveness-dampening cues (i.e., popularity cues) and distinctiveness-enhancing cues (i.e., scarcity cues) can reverse the effect of self-perspective such that the independent self becomes less willing to adopt really new products and more willing to adopt incrementally new products than does the interdependent self. These findings offer practical implications for managing innovation adoption in both domestic and international marketplaces.

Is CSR Important for All Types of Fans?: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility in Sport

In the past years, corporate social responsibility gained a lot of popularity from researchers and managers around the world. Its influence on consumer behavior has made it an element of strategic importance for the diverse companies that compete on the market. This situation is not different for sport professional teams that are embracing a multitude of forms of socially responsible activities (Irwin et al. 2003). Professional teams leaders have built CSR strategies for both social and commercial purposes (Mintzberg 1984). Although CSR practices have been a growing part of marketing literature, investigation in relation with the sport domain is quite limited and recent. Given this perspective, this research examines the impact of the perceived social responsibility of a specific team on consumers’ responses. In addition, the authors want to demonstrate the moderating effect of the type of groups of fans on the benefits stimulated by a team’s CSR initiatives.

Toward a Better Understanding of Crowded and Scarce Sporting Events: Do Fans think as much as they Feel?

Recent studies (Tombs and Mc Coll-Kennedy, 2003; Rosenbaum and Massaiah, 2007; Machleit et al., 2000, Eroglu, Machleit and Barr, 2005) underline the importance of considering different types of crowding (human versus spatial) when interpreting results on a crowd’s impact. They also insist on the potential moderating role of the service encounter and the values at stake (leisure versus utilitarian) (Eroglu, Machleit and Barr, 2005).

“One Size Fits all in the Global Marketing Classroom…Not Really” Impact of Students’ National Culture and Acculturation Levels

Student ratings of instructors have received considerable attention in academia due to their use in annual reviews, promotion and tenure decisions, and course assignments. As a result, instructors (for better or worse) often contemplate utilizing various tactics and strategies that might increase student satisfaction. While personal characteristics of the instructor (e.g. enthusiasm) are undoubtedly related to student ratings, the research in this area suggests that all instructors, regardless of personal characteristics, can enhance student satisfaction through various structural mechanisms, such as improved course design or influence tactics, hence developing their teaching style.

Satisfied in a Crowded Service Situation? Cross-Cultural Comparison of Reactions to Crowd

The growing position occupied by experiential products and services in marketing research (Holt, 1995; Wakefield and Blodgett, 1994), as well as several concerns made about the lack of managerial direction to solve or use crowding issues (Stewart & Cole, 2001; Eastman & Land, 1997), contribute to the importance of this topic. Indeed, our modern life, in which population in cities grows fast, reinforces the importance of adequately understanding social and psychological processes involved in crowd issues.