Peeter W.J. Verlegh

A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research

Despite a large body of research, country-of-origin effects are still poorly understood. Combining the strengths of a narrative review with those of a quantitative meta-analysis, our study seeks to establish a firm grounding for country-of-origin research. We review previous country-of-origin research, focusing on cognitive, affective, and normative aspects of country of origin. In a quantitative meta-analysis, we assess the magnitude of country-of-origin effects on three types of product evaluations, viz., perceived quality, attitude, and purchase intention. In addition, we develop and test hypotheses concerning the role of economic development, the impact of multi-national production, differences between consumers and industrial purchasers, and a number of methodological aspects. We find that country of origin has a larger effect on perceived quality than on attitude toward the product or purchase intention. We also find that differences in economic development are an important factor underlying the country-of-origin effect. The country-of-origin effect does not differ between industrial and consumer purchasing, nor is it affected by multi-national production. We conclude with suggestions for future research on the country-of-origin effect. Specifically, more research is needed on the symbolic and emotional aspects of country of origin, and on the role of competitive context.

The consumption of convenience foods: reference groups and eating situations

Abstract The theory of reasoned action was applied to study situational influence on the consumption of TV dinners. We investigated five situations, which were either time-related (weekdays vs weekends) or social (“dinner alone”, “dinner with family”, and “dinner with friends”). The intention to use a TV dinner decreased from “alone” via “with family” to “with friends”, but did not differ between weekdays and weekends. Subjective norms were a stronger influence on intentions than attitudes in all situations, except for “weekdays” and “dinner alone”. Primary reference groups were a stronger influence on intentions than secondary reference groups, and the motivation to comply with a particular reference group increased substantially when it joined for dinner. Consumption frequency for TV dinners was higher in households where the person responsible for meal preparation held a paid job, and it was positively related to the number of hours that this person was employed.

Language abstraction in word of mouth

This research examines the language that consumers use in word of mouth. For both positive and negative product experiences, we demonstrate that consumers use more abstract terms when they describe experiences that are in line with the valence of their product attitude. This effect cannot be explained by differences in valence between abstract and concrete language. On the receiver side, abstract language in positive word of mouth leads to (1) the inference that the sender has a more favorable product attitude and (2) a higher buying intention for the product under consideration. The reverse is found for negative word of mouth.

Global vs local brands: how home country bias and price differences impact brand evaluations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize the distinction between global and local brands, providing a more comprehensive framework, which considers both geographical distribution and ownership. It examines main and interactive effects of consumers’ perceptions of these factors, and studies how ethnocentrism (CET) and price affect brand evaluations, considering a range of price difference thresholds. Design/methodology/approach – A preliminary study (n=243) examined main and interaction effects of brand globalness and ownership on consumers’ brand quality attitudes and purchase intentions in four different product categories. The main study (n=558) further explored brand ownership effects by examining the interaction of CET and price differences. Findings – The preliminary study confirmed the distinctiveness of brand globalness and ownership. Consumers evaluated global (vs non-global) brands more positively, regardless of brand ownership (local vs foreign). The main study found that effec...

A typology of consumer strategies for resisting advertising, and a review of mechanisms for countering them

This article presents a typology of the different ways in which consumers resist advertising, and the tactics that can be used to counter or avoid such resistance. It brings together literatures from different fields of study, including advertising, marketing, communication science and psychology. Although researchers in these subfields have shown a substantial interest in (consumer) resistance, these streams of literature are poorly connected. This article aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, and serve as a starting point for future research. Our ACE typology distinguishes three types of resistance strategies: Avoiding, Contesting, and Empowering. We introduce these strategies, and present research describing advertising tactics that may be used to neutralize each of them.

Enhancing the effects of social network site marketing campaigns: if you want consumers to like you, ask them about themselves

This study assesses the consequences of consumers’ self-disclosing of identification information in interactive advertising campaigns on social network sites (SNSs), for brand, product and campaign responses. Building on social response and brand relationship theory, these effects are predicted and tested in an experiment in which consumers did or did not provide personal information to the brand by interacting with an SNS campaign, identifying consumer concern about disclosing personal information as a moderator. The results demonstrate that consumers’ self-disclosure to the brand elicits favourable attitudinal and behavioural consumer responses, especially for individuals who have relatively low online privacy concerns in the SNS context.

Strategies and motives for resistance to persuasion: an integrative framework.

Persuasion is an important element of human communication. But in many situations, we resist rather than embrace persuasive attempts. Resistance to persuasion has been studied in many different disciplines, including communication science, psychology, and marketing. The present paper reviews and connects these diverse literatures, and provides an organizing framework for understanding and studying resistance. Four clusters of resistance strategies are defined (avoidance, contesting, biased processing, and empowerment), and these clusters are related to different motivations for resisting persuasion (threat to freedom, reluctance to change, and concerns of deception). We propose that, while avoidance strategies may be triggered by any of these motivations, contesting strategies are linked primarily to concerns of deception, while empowerment and biased processing strategies are most common when people are reluctant to change.

The social sharing of emotion (SSE) in online social networks

Using content analysis, we gauge the occurrence of social sharing of emotion (SSE) in Live Journal.We present a theoretical model of a three-cycle process for online SSE.A large part of emotional blog posts showed full initiation of social sharing.Affective feedback provided empathy, emotional support and admiration.This study is the first one to empirically assess the occurrence and structure of online SSE. Social Sharing of Emotion (SSE) occurs when one person shares an emotional experience with another and is considered potentially beneficial. Though social sharing has been shown prevalent in interpersonal communication, research on its occurrence and communication structure in online social networks is lacking. Based on a content analysis of blog posts (n=540) in a blog social network site (Live Journal), we assess the occurrence of social sharing in blog posts, characterize different types of online SSE, and present a theoretical model of online SSE. A large proportion of initiation expressions were found to conform to full SSE, with negative emotion posts outnumbering bivalent and positive posts. Full emotional SSE posts were found to prevail, compared to partial feelings or situation posts. Furthermore, affective feedback predominated to cognitive and provided emotional support, empathy and admiration. The study found evidence that the process of social sharing occurs in Live Journal, replicating some features of face to face SSE. Instead of a superficial view of online social sharing, our results support a prosocial and beneficial character to online SSE.

Enhancing the effects of social network site marketing campaigns

This study assesses the consequences of consumers’ self-disclosing of identification information in interactive advertising campaigns on social network sites (SNSs), for brand, product and campaign responses. Building on social response and brand relationship theory, these effects are predicted and tested in an experiment in which consumers did or did not provide personal information to the brand by interacting with an SNS campaign, identifying consumer concern about disclosing personal information as a moderator. The results demonstrate that consumers’ self-disclosure to the brand elicits favourable attitudinal and behavioural consumer responses, especially for individuals who have relatively low online privacy concerns in the SNS context.

Linguistic Biases and Persuasion in Communication about Objects

Research on language abstraction has primarily been focused on the language that is used to describe (intergroup) behaviors, while limited attention has been given to communication about objects. This article aims to fill this gap and studies biases in language abstraction in the descriptions of interactions with objects. Study 1 demonstrated a linguistic expectancy bias in this setting: People described expectancy-congruent experiences with objects more abstractly than incongruent experiences. Study 2 examined a mediator, and provides data suggesting that expectancy-congruent (vs. incongruent) experiences were more likely attributed to the object (vs. the situation/user), and this causal inference mediated the effect of expectancy-(in)congruence on language use. Study 3 examined the impact of communication goals, and found that the goal to convince a receiver of the high quality of a product (vs. no persuasion goal) led to more abstract descriptions of positive experiences with objects and to more concrete language for negative experiences.