Nancy Stanforth

Cohort perception of luxury goods and services

Purpose – This research aims to investigate differences between cohorts and perceptions of luxury goods and services.Design/methodology/approach – A survey asked participants to rate goods to determine their perceptions of luxury. Participants also provided information concerning elasticity and motivations for purchasing goods and services. A total of 347 participants in three age groups completed the questionnaire.Findings – The study shows that there are significant differences between cohort groups in their perceptions of luxury goods and services, especially between the oldest and youngest cohorts. The elasticity measures showed that for all three cohorts, certain goods and services were inelastic and, therefore, were considered not to be luxury goods. The reasons why people buy goods they do not need varied between cohorts.Research limitations/implications – The results of the study may not be generalizable to other groups of consumers because it was a convenience sample.Practical implications – The ...

Motivations for Television Shopping: Clothing Purchase Frequency and Personal Characteristics

The overall purpose of the research was to determine if motivations for shopping from television shopping channels differ as a function of clothing purchase frequency or shopper personal characteristics. A national random sample of 6,000 television shoppers was purchased from a market research firm. Surveys were mailed and 1,598 usable questionnaires were returned. MANCOVA and ANCOVA revealed that age, education, and sex of respondent were all related to motivations for shopping from television. Education was negatively related to television shopping motivations. Older shoppers and women had higher motivation scores than younger shoppers and men, respectively. After adjusting for shopper personal characteristics, analyses revealed that frequent clothing shoppers had higher motivations for shopping from television than either infrequent clothing shoppers or nonclothing shoppers. Infrequent clothing shoppers also had higher motivation scores than nonclothing shoppers.

Luxury Perceptions: A Comparison of Korean and American Consumers

Abstract The market for luxury goods and services has been one of the important segments of the markets for the past 10 years. This market has a global audience with consumers buying similar products in many different locations. Global marketers are faced with the task of targeting goods and services to consumer groups with a diversity of preferences. Marketers need to be aware of the way in which culture influences perceptions of goods and services. This study investigates the global market, comparing collectivist/individualistic cultures (Korean/American consumers) and age-groups on perceptions of luxury and necessity. This study compares 662 Korea and U.S. consumers on perceptions of luxury/necessity, motivations to buy things they do not necessarily need, and elasticity of categories of goods and services. Six hundred and sixty-two female participants completed the questionnaire. Participants were from both the U.S. (340) and South Korea (322). Ages ranged from 20 to 84 years of age. One-fourth of the participants were over 53 years of age, one-fourth were 25 or younger. Half the participants were between 26 and 52 years of age. Four age-groups were established, with participants over 53 comprising the oldest group, those between 36 and 52 years of age in the second oldest group, those between 25 and 35 comprising the third group and those under 25, the youngest group. The key results of the study show that there are differences between age and cultural groups. In order to see relationships in the data, the 30 categories were factor analyzed by culture to determine their underlying dimensions. Three factors were found as Traditional Luxuries, Modern Luxuries and Safety and Security Goods and Services. The ratings for each of the factors were summed and entered into two independent ANOVAs. There was no expectation of an interaction between age and culture. Age-group had a main effect on the ratings for Modern Luxuries and Safety and Security Goods and Services. Culture had a main effect on ratings for all three factors, with Korean participants giving the safety and security factor higher ratings than did U.S. participants. U.S. consumers were more likely to decide to make purchases to improve the quality of life, for pleasure, beautifying the home, for relaxation, and entertainment than were Korean consumers. Korean consumers were more likely to decide to make purchases because of status, as a self-gift, on an impulse, or for emotional satisfaction than were U.S. consumers. Korean consumers in all age-groups rated status as a more important factor in their decisions than did U.S. consumers. U.S. consumers rate entertainment as important, particularly for younger consumers, while Korean consumers in all age-groups rated it similarly and not as important. Age-group also influenced motivations to buy. Younger consumers tended to decide to make a purchase for pleasure, status, entertainment, satisfaction and on impulse. Younger consumers were less likely to buy for beautifying the home. Overall, individualistic consumers tend to indicate that when the decision is made to buy things they don’t necessarily need, the enjoyable aspects of consumption are more important than for collectivist consumers. The youngest age-group also rates the enjoyable aspect as more important than do older age-groups. Culture and age-group play an important role in economic elasticity of categories for these participants. Findings include differences between cultures and age-groups on which goods and services are considered ‘things that are not necessarily needed’ and motivations to buy. This study gives new insights to global marketers in developing marketing plans for collectivist and individualistic target markets in this global market.

The effects of ethical framing on consumer price perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate one of the potential cues that may influence the price consumers are willing to pay for products. This paper seeks to investigate the use of ethically framed marketing efforts in influencing price perceptions among consumers of health and beauty productsDesign/methodology/approach – The exploratory online experiment was completed in two parts: the first with 84 participants and the second with 61 participants.Findings – Results show that consumers expect prices to be much higher when the product is produced under ethical conditions but they are willing to pay only slightly more for ethically produced products.Research limitations/implications – The participants were a convenience sample and thus the results are not generalizable. While being socially responsible is an end in itself, consumers may not allow the firms to increase prices to cover the increased costs of production. It is not apparent that consumers fully expect to share in the cost of a so...

Evaluation of absolute luxury: Effect of cues, consumers’ need for uniqueness, product involvement and product knowledge on expected price

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of product description cues as a way to differentiate luxury products for the absolute luxury consumer and the effect of individual traits such as need for uniqueness, product involvement, and product knowledge on consumers’ perceptions of expected price. Design/methodology/approach An adult sample of 253 female US consumers were recruited for an online survey. Findings Consumers’ need for uniqueness was related to their level of clothing involvement, which in turn was related to clothing knowledge. Fashion clothing involvement was positively related to participants’ product knowledge which in turn positively influenced participants’ perceived change in expected price of products in response to various product descriptors or cues related to absolute luxury products. In addition, younger consumers were found to be more involved in fashion clothing than older consumers. Originality/value This study extends the research into the luxury market and identifies elements of the marketing mix which might be manipulated to better inform potential customers about the luxury product. The study further emphasizes that product descriptors or cues can have an impact on price judgments, especially for highly involved and knowledgeable consumers. This is especially important to academicians as well as marketers since high fashion involved consumers have often been seen as drivers, influential, and legitimists of the fashion adoption process.

To (or not to) label products as artisanal: effect of fashion involvement on customer perceived value

Purpose This paper aims to understand whether product descriptor cues related to artisanal qualities can help marketers to delineate their clothing product offerings to consumers by influencing consumers’ perceived product values and the effect (if any) of consumers’ fashion clothing involvement on such value perceptions. In today’s intensely competitive market environment marked by minimal product differentiation, marketers are often using the terms artisan, handcrafted or similar to indicate that their products are different, produced with care, are of higher quality and even premium. Design/methodology/approach For the study, a 2 (Involvement: High/Low) × 4 (Cues: Control/Artisan-made/Part of a curated collection/Handcrafted) × 2 (products replications: Jeans/Handbags) mixed model repeated measures experiment was designed. A sample of 487 adult female US consumers was recruited using a market-based research firm. Findings Results indicated that framing luxury products as artisanal using product descriptor cues influenced the perceived value of these products. Moreover, consumers’ fashion involvement positively influenced their perceived value for artisanal luxury products. Originality/value The study is one of the few attempts in understanding the value of artisanal luxury products. Given the importance of the artisanal luxury industry to the global economy, focusing on how consumers perceive the value of artisanal luxury products is important to marketers and practitioners as well as academicians. From a theoretical perspective, the study indicates fashion involvement as a predictor of consumers’ perceived value, thereby filling a gap in literature. The study used two different product categories to aid in generalizability of the results.

Corporate social responsibility and career decisions

Person–organisation fit looks at the compatible fit between applicants’ values, goal, traits and that of an organisation. The purpose of this research was to further understand the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as it relates to person–organisation fit and job selection choices of postgraduates. A self-report survey was completed by 247 students at three US universities offering fashion programs. Students were asked to respond to four separate scenarios each with two distinct positions from which to choose. Students overwhelming (77%) choose positions paying lower salaries with better working conditions and higher levels of CSR over positions that treated potential employees in a less desirable manner and did not place a high value on CSR. The students reacted adversely to accepting a position where a potential employer valued physical appearance over forward thinkers, profits over CSR and long hours over community service. This study supports the need for firms to establish sound CSR policies that can be evaluated in the public, thereby attracting new college graduates to seek employment.