Reto Felix

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...

I believe therefore I care: The relationship between religiosity, environmental attitudes, and green product purchase in Mexico.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of intrinsic religious orientation (IRO) on environmental attitudes (EA) and green product purchases (GPP) in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses structural equation modeling to analyze the survey results of 242 consumers from Northern Mexico. Findings – The results of the study show a significant influence of EA on purchasing green products. In addition, the findings suggest that consumers with higher levels of IRO have a higher propensity to buy environmentally-friendly products, but do not show more favorable attitudes toward the environment than less-religious consumers. Research limitations/implications – The study relies on a convenience sample from Northern Mexico. Further, the study relies on self-reported measures of green product purchase (GPP) and future research should incorporate real purchases of green products in addition to self-reported measures. Practical implications – The findings of the study imply that ...

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.

Multi-brand loyalty: when one brand is not enough

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to provide a deeper, constructivist account of multi-brand loyalty. Previous literature has acknowledged the existence of multi-brand loyalty, but described it from a narrow, rational and primarily utilitarian point of view. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on open-ended, depth interviews. Data were labeled, coded and classified into different topics, and thematic analysis was used to identify three dominant themes. Findings – Multi-brand loyalty emerged in three forms: biased, specialized and perfect substitutes. These relationships may undergo dynamic transformations over time. Further, family tradition and perceived freedom were identified as two important motivations for consumers to be loyal to more than one brand. The managerial implications address suggestions on how companies can avoid that consumers become loyal to several brands instead of maintaining single-brand loyalty. Originality/value – The study is the first to address multi-brand ...

Executive Insights: Market Orientation of Mexican Companies

This study suggests that companies from a sample in an industrialized region in northern Mexico are confident about their level of overall market orientation but that differences in their customer and competitor orientation exist. The authors test market orientation for its relationship to several other variables, such as company size, type of product, and use of a marketing plan, and they discuss the implications for marketing theory and practice.

Gender Issues in Consumer Materialism: The Case of Mexico

Materialism has been identified as highly relevant for consumer behavior and therefore has been investigated extensively. This article extends previous research by investigating materialism in Mexico, a country relatively high in masculinity and substantially different from the United States and other Western markets. Specifically, the article takes interest in gender differences for materialistic values and thus contributes to research in role differences in masculine countries. Results show young, male, educated individuals to be significantly higher in materialism than their female counterparts. Further, the study reveals that although the overall concept of materialism may be applied to the Mexican context, perception patterns among Mexican participants of different aspects of materialism are very different from U.S. individuals.

Market Orientation Plus: Antecedents and Consequences of Market Orientation and Corporate Social Responsibility in Mexico

ABSTRACT The evolution of the market orientation (MO) concept toward stakeholder-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been recognized recently. Nevertheless, the two variables remain conceptually and operationally different, and very little is known about the relationship between MO and CSR. The current study addresses this question empirically by embedding measures of MO and CSR into a framework of antecedents and consequences in the context of an emerging economy (Mexico). The results show that companies with high levels of MO also attain high levels of CSR. Further, CSR partially mediates the relationship between MO and corporate reputation and fully mediates the relationship between MO and employee commitment. Informal organization has a positive influence on MO and fully mediates the relationship between innovation and MO. The findings may encourage companies in emerging economies to implement CSR initiatives without fearing that their focus on customer and competitor orientation will be negatively affected.

Understanding Youth Culture: Techno Music Consumption at Live Events in Spanish Speaking Countries

Abstract Techno music is an important part of contemporary youth culture. This study investigates this phenomenon by means of an Internet-based survey. Survey results suggest that the atmosphere at techno music events is generally perceived as friendly and that techno music does not promote aggressive feelings or emotions on the part of participants. Attitudes toward drug use at techno events and the role of the Internet in the downloading of music are also investigated. Overall, the results lead to the hypothesis that there may be two different segments of techno music consumers: one segment of more active and risk-taking individuals and a second segment of more introverted listeners who are less inclined to use drugs and prefer to obtain techno music from traditional channels rather than the Internet.

Rationale and strategies of Latin American companies entering, maintaining or leaving US markets

Foreign direct investment by Latin American companies in the USA is growing and significant. Yet, the characteristics of and trends in these investments, and the strategies used by these companies to either enter or exit the USA as well as to maintain their presence are little understood. This paper explores and illustrates the entry, maintenance, and exit strategies exemplary companies from Latin America use when they become involved in US markets. A sample of Mexican companies that concentrate in manufacturing industrial goods and prefer partnerships as the entry mode to US markets is used. In addition, this paper describes the patterns of direct investment, asset ownership, gross product, and intra‐firm B‐to‐B trade of Latin American companies in the USA.

Twenty-Five Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: An Empirical Revisit of West German Consumers' Attitudes Toward Products and Brands from Former East Germany

ABSTRACT More than 25 years after the German reunification, data show that products/brands from the eastern regions of Germany (“Neue Länder”) still do not have significant shares in the countrys western part (“Alte Länder”). To analyze potential reasons for this phenomenon, our current study replicates a previous study that investigated selected attitudes of Alte Länder consumers toward products/brands from the Neue Länder. It is shown that factors such as consumer ethnocentrism, product judgment, willingness to buy, and economic animosity continue to influence consumer behavior and as such our study offers potential explanation for the failure of Neue Länder products/brands in the western regions of Germany.