Raquel Castaño

Managing Consumer Uncertainty in the Adoption of New Products: Temporal Distance and Mental Simulation

Drawing on theories of new product adoption and intertemporal choice, the authors show in cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations (Study 1) that when adoption is in the distant future, people are more concerned about performance- and symbolic-benefit uncertainties. In contrast, in the near future, the concerns are more about switching- and affective-cost uncertainties. In Studies 2 and 2a, using theories of mental simulation, the authors show that in the distant-future adoption scenario, communication strategies that promote outcome simulations are more effective in reducing performance uncertainty, bolstering positive feelings, and enhancing behavioral intentions. In contrast, in the near-future adoption scenario, communication strategies that promote process simulations are better at reducing switching cost and affective uncertainties, assuaging anxiety, and increasing behavioral intentions. The authors also find positive effects of these communication strategies on actual adoption rates and postconsumption satisfaction (Study 2) and on delayed behavioral intentions (Study 2a). In addition, these communication strategies are more efficacious in increasing behavioral intentions when uncertainty levels are higher (Study 3). The key managerial implications are that communication strategies for new products need to reduce uncertainties about costs and benefits and account for temporal distance to adoption.

Constructing identity through the consumption of counterfeit luxury goods

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the consumption of counterfeit luxury goods and identity construction. The argument is that through the consumption of counterfeit luxury goods consumers obtain real and symbolic benefits that allow them to express a desired social image and further their identity.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 37 in‐depth interviews were conducted with women who owned both originals and counterfeits of luxury fashion products.Findings – The findings highlight three main themes describing inner benefits that consumers attain with the purchase and consumption of counterfeit luxury goods: first, being efficient by optimizing their resources; second, having fun by experiencing adventure, enjoyment, and risk; and third, fooling others expecting not to be caught. But most important, through the accomplishment of these goals consumers of counterfeit luxury goods construct an identity in which they perceive themselves as “savvy” individuals.Orig...

Green consumer behavior in an emerging economy: confusion, credibility, and compatibility

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of deeper motivations and inhibitors of green consumer behavior in the context of emerging economies. Based on the findings, it aims to provide implications for marketers and policy making.Design/methodology/approach – Based on an ethnographic approach, in‐depth interviews and observational data were used to study 15 Mexican families from four urban regions of Mexico with different incomes. Thematic analysis was used to develop and validate themes and codes.Findings – The findings highlight three dominant themes related to uncertainty in the adoption of environmentally‐friendly behaviors: consumer confusion, trust and credibility, and compatibility. Overall, green behaviors seem to be ingrained in the traditional heritage of savings and frugality rather than based on strong environmental values. It is suggested that the factors that drive consumers from positive attitudes and intentions to the actual adoption of green behavi...

Green Shades: A Segmentation Approach Based on Ecological Consumer Behavior in an Emerging Economy

Despite important environmental problems in the urban centers of many emerging economies, marketers and policymakers are currently not adequately equipped with the tools and information to identify important consumer segments in regard to their pro-environmental behaviors. This research presents the findings from an empirical study with 715 Mexican consumers. A cluster analysis identifies five segments that differ not only on the intensity, but also the specific type of pro-environmental behavior. The findings suggest that marketing managers and policymakers should consider different combinations of ecological behaviors and include demographic and attitudinal variables, such as perceived consumer effectiveness and environmental and social values, rather than only focusing on high or low adoption levels of pro-environmental behaviors in general.

A matter of love: consumers’ relationships with original brands and their counterfeits

Purpose – This paper aims to explore brand personality relationships in the context of original versus counterfeit products. Specifically, it investigates consumers’ perception of both original brands and their counterfeits. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present four studies conducted with 657 Mexican consumers who own or have owned an original luxury-brand product as well as a counterfeit of the same brand. Data were analyzed through regression analyses, t-tests, correlation coefficients and one-way ANOVA. Findings – Results show that consumers who voluntarily acquire both original luxury brands and their counterfeits transfer the symbolic personality traits of the original brand to the counterfeit, experience significantly higher coincidence between their personality traits and those of the original brand and also experience a stronger overlap between their overall self-concept and the original brand’s concept than with the counterfeit’s concept, and feel higher levels of love towards the or...

Cross‐border shopping: family narratives

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework on the experience of cross‐border shopping. This experience is constructed on narratives, rituals, and intergenerational transfers that move beyond the simple description of experienced events to provide explanatory frameworks of family identity construction.Design/methodology/approach – Nine in‐depth interviews are conducted with three generations of North Mexican women from three families who shop frequently across the border.Findings – The findings highlight different processes associated with the experience of cross‐border shopping. First, each family works throughout the years to construct its own identity using the tales of their shared experiences. Second, an intergenerational transfer of knowledge going from grandmothers to mothers to granddaughters in each family occurs as result of the experiences lived together. Third, common knowledge is developed both by Mexican consumers and North American retailers that translates into particular...

User intention and consumer needs of packaged mobile data services in Mexico

This investigation contributes to understand direct and indirect variables that influence consumer adoption of various data services from the consumers perspective: entertainment, information, communications, and commercial transactions. We use structural equations and a Lancasterian demand to determine loads of variables in a technology adoption model with uncertainty and marginal prices that consumers are willing to pay for enhanced services, applied to Mexico. Additional to the structural equations, we find that the consumer is willing to pay up to US

Daily use of time, personal characteristics and experienced well-being

50 monthly for premium services. The paper also gives directions for further research in adoption of enhanced technologies in emerging economies.

Wine consumption in new and expert consumers: the case of Mexico

Purpose This paper aims to seek to provide a more comprehensive view of the determinants of experienced well-being by incorporating personal characteristics suggested to be significant predictors of global well-being, such as income, materialism, religiosity, community mindedness and sleep quality (Diener et al., 1999; Frey and Stutzer, 2002), as well as time-use activities (Kahneman and Krueger, 2006) and contextual elements, such as day of the week (Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter, 2003; Kahneman et al., 2004a) and the presence of companions, into a single model of predictive experienced well-being using the day reconstruction method (Kahneman et al., 2004a). Design/methodology/approach The authors applied the day reconstruction method to a sample of 1,823 episodes from 104 undergraduate students at a private university in Mexico to determine time assignment and emotional experience. Data were analyzed using a panel data regression model. Findings It is currently accepted that experienced well-being depends on how people assign their time; however, the results suggest marginal and interaction effects between time assignment and sharing activities with others. Individuals experience an increase in well-being when any activity is done with others, independent of the valence or the duration of the activity. Also, while money does not produce higher well-being, the share of the budget that is spent with others does cause people to experience more well-being. Finally, the results indicate that personal characteristics are equally important to experienced well-being. Research limitations/implications The sample was restricted to students; thus, to achieve external validity, it is necessary to replicate this analysis within different populations as well as groups of different ages and occupations. Originality/value The authors provided an integrative model of experienced well-being that combines personal characteristics, time assignment and contextual factors. In addition, this model provides a more accurate gauge of the impact of personal characteristics on well-being than previous studies by controlling for time assignment and by measuring the impact on experienced, rather than global, well-being.

Consumer behaviour and coping strategies in an economic crisis: evidence from Mexico

Wine consumption in Mexico is low when compared with global consumption. However, the buying growth rate in 2012 was one of the highest in the world. In addition, expert forecasts position the country as a major new centre of consumption in the medium term. Very few academic studies have explored wine consumer behaviour in this country. This paper seeks to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of Mexican behaviour regarding the purchase and consumption of wine. It also explores the differences in perceptions and motivations between two groups of Mexican consumers, connoisseurs and aspirational/new wine consumers. Interviews were conducted with consumers to find differences in the significance of wine between these two groups. For the connoisseurs, drinking wine is associated with self-directed pleasure, whereas for the aspirational/new wine consumers, drinking wine means fulfilling aspirations. In members of both groups, we found important wine consumption inhibitors.