Monica D. Hernandez

Hispanic Attitudes Toward Advergames

Abstract Advergames are gaining recognition around the world as a new, captivating, and persuasive environment among advertisers. Despite its growing popularity, very little is known about the formation of attitudes toward advergames in emerging economies. The objectives of our study were the refinement and empirical testing of a model of the reactions generated by exposure to advergames among Mexicans, Peruvians, and Americans. A series of experiments revealed that Hispanics exhibited positive attitudes toward advergames. Intrusiveness was found as the factor accounting for most of the negative attitude toward advergames. Lack of congruence was found to be a precursor of intrusiveness. Interestingly, although ads in games were perceived as more intrusive, they were perceived as less irritating. Implications for advertisers are discussed.

A Model of Flow Experience as Determinant of Positive Attitudes Toward Online Advergames

Advergames are gaining recognition as a captivating environment. Although several flow models have determined online games usage, no previous model has explored determinants of positive attitudes toward advergames. The objectives included development and empirically testing of a model of flow experience and its determinants of attitudes toward advergames. Positive attitudes toward advergames were partially explained by the flow experience. The model revealed that challenges offered by the gameplay were an important predictor of flow, followed by telepresence and players’ skills. Contrary to expectations, arousal significantly impacted attitudes toward advergames but not flow. Implications for advertisers and web developers are discussed.

Superstitious beliefs in consumer evaluation of brand logos

In todays unpredictable market environment, superstition may be deployed by a consumer in controlling and predicting particular market conditions with uncertain information. Particularly, when consumers encounter a brand logo without experiencing a companys service or consuming its products, superstitious beliefs may serve to fill the void of the unknown to evaluate the brand logo and judge the services or products. Our purpose is to examine the role of various superstitious beliefs in the way consumers process information and link their beliefs to brand logos.

Investigating the effect of arousal on brand memory in advergames

Purpose – Previous work examining the effect of emotional responses (arousal) in the online context has addressed one type of emotional data, relying only on self‐reporting. This paper aims to investigate the effect of arousal on short‐term brand memory in the context of advergaming, comparing both qualitative (observed behaviors and physiological data) and quantitative (self‐reported data) approaches.Design/methodology/approach – Observed behaviors and physiological data were recorded during exposure to brand placements using an electrocardiogram machine. Qualitative results were compared to self‐reported data measured via a post‐exposure paper‐and‐pencil questionnaire.Findings – The results revealed that the impact of physiological measures on memory was the most salient. The most robust finding was the negative effect of physiological measures on recall scores.Research limitations/implications – As a laboratory procedure, the method is susceptible to some limitations. First, the similarity of the distr...

Determinants of children's attitudes towards “advergames”: the case of Mexico

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors contributing to positive attitudes toward advergames among later elementary school children in Mexico.Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was conducted via experiments in an elementary school computer lab followed by a paper‐and‐pencil questionnaire.Findings – Regression analysis revealed that entertainment and sociability positively related to positive attitudes toward advergames, whereas escapism was found to be negatively related. The most robust finding was the significant effect of entertainment on attitudes. Interestingly, Mexican children perceived entertainment and sociability as closely related. In sum, they claimed that they play online games for fun or as a means to socialize, but not to get away from their responsibilities.Research limitations/implications – The games selected for the study promote global brands of an international corporation with considerable time in the market. Future work could develop local or hypothe...

Escaping the corner of death? An eye-tracking study of reading direction influence on attention and memory

The authors aim to examine the effect of location-driven logo placement on attention and memory on the web addressing differences between individuals that read unidirectionally (left-to-right [LTR]) versus bidirectionally (both right-to-left and LTR).,Using an eye-tracking approach combined with traditional verbal measures, the authors compared attention and memory measures from a sample composed of bidirectional (Arab/English) readers and unidirectional readers.,The findings reveal that unidirectional and bidirectional readers differ in attention patterns. Compared to bidirectional readers, unidirectional readers pay less attention to the logo on the bottom right corner of the webpage based on verbal measures. The eye-tracking data of the two groups further identify differences based on total hits and duration time. Unidirectional LTR readers demonstrate higher fluency in feature-based attention whereas bidirectional readers show higher fluency in spatial attention.,The authors expand on scarce research on reading direction bias effect on location-driven stimuli placement in online settings. They contribute to the understanding of the differences between unidirectional and bidirectional readers in their cognitive responses (attention and memory) to organization of marketing stimuli.

False recall of brands in advergames: a cross-country comparison

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to answer whether there is a difference between retrieving memory by using recall or false recall of brands in an interactive and imagery-rich environment such as advergaming, and there are differences in memory in the same context if the languages of proficiency are based on the same script (e.g. alphabetic/alphabetic such as Spanish/English) versus cross-script (e.g. logographic/alphabetic, such as Chinese/English). Design/methodology/approach – A series of international experiments addressed memory of brand placements in advergames – via correct and false recall – across groups of bilinguals from China, Mexico and South Korea. Findings – The most salient finding of this study revealed advergame interactivity increased false memory more pronouncedly in the proficient groups (“experts”), supporting the notion of increased false recall as a result of feelings of accountability that experts naturally experience. Research limitations/implications – The proce...

Do Individualists Complain More than Collectivists? A Four-Country Analysis on Consumer Complaint Behavior

ABSTRACT Understanding the consumer complaint patterns of response and the cultural underpinnings of their characteristics may facilitate the customization and timing of response to such consumer demands. We investigated complaint behavior differences between collectivist and individualist societies. Specifically, our study compared three consumer complaint patterns of response (voice, private response, and third party) across the individualism/collectivism continuum. We opted for the mall intercept technique in surveying our participants in four countries (United States, Egypt, Mexico, and Turkey). Our most salient findings revealed that the individualist consumer is very likely to demand redress and very likely practice speaking to others about their dissatisfaction. Collectivists would avoid the product before switching companies. All participants who voiced their dissatisfaction privately showed significant exit intentions. Interesting differences were also found among collectivist countries. Managerial implications are annotated.

Effect of intergroup-based emotions on attitude towards cross-ethnic products

Purpose While researchers have argued that multicultural marketplaces are conceptually different from other types of marketplaces, the marketing literature has only recently begun to develop multicultural perspective studies, and very little research has been done to examine intergroup complexities in consumption contexts (Demangeot et al., 2015). The purpose of this study is to fill this research gap by developing and empirically testing a research model to examine the effects of socio-political constructs and intergroup-based emotional variables on consumer decisions to consume cross-ethnic products. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire designed to assess the effects of socio-political constructs and intergroup-based emotional variables on consumer decisions to consume cross-ethnic products was developed and administered to 294 students at a Midwestern US university. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) techniques. Findings Results indicate that all path coefficients are significant. Social dominance, intergroup anxiety and intergroup experience were found to be important predictors of intergroup tolerance and, importantly, intergroup tolerance was found to significantly affect consumer attitude toward cross-ethnic products. Research limitations/implications In terms of limitations and future research implications, this research suffers from inherent limitations associated with self-reported survey research in a limited geographic region. Accordingly, study respondents may not be representative of consumers across the nation or the world, the respondents may not have understood the questions in the intended manner, and reported intentions may not reflect actual behaviour. This study was conducted among college students, but other target segments may have different intergroup experiences and perceptions of ethnic products. Practical implications Findings from this research suggest that firms offering ethnic products can increase crossover consumption appeal by implementing marketing communication programmes that integrate cultural forums and event tactics to promote positive intergroup experiences and tolerance among their multicultural customers. Social implications Regarding policy implications, public policymakers and social thinkers may use the findings of this study as a prism to better explicate intercultural dealings among multicultural consumers. The contention of this study about public policy implications is supported by Neal et al.’s (2013) perspectives on how consumption situations can serve as a lens for explicating intergroup emotions in multicultural marketplaces. Originality/value This is one of only a few studies in marketing to assess the effects of socio-political constructs in a consumption context. This is the first known study to underscore the importance of intranational ethnic differences and assess the effects of socio-political and intergroup-based emotional variables on attitude to consume ethnic products, specifically.

Consumer responses to East‐West writing system differences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it aims to review East‐West writing system (cross‐script) differences and summarize previous work examining the cross‐script effect on consumer responses. Second, it aims to describe the implications for international marketing and cross‐cultural studies. Third, it seeks to propose specific questions for future research.Design/methodology/approach – First, the paper presents a critical literature review of studies investigating cross‐script differences influencing consumer attitudes, memory, and information processing. Based on the provided integrative analysis, future directions are indicated for areas relying heavily on written communication, such as international marketing communications, internet marketing, international branding, and cross‐cultural consumer research.Findings – Despite the pervasive nature and importance of written language, scant research has addressed differences between East/West consumer responses attributable to native scri...