Richard L. Divine

Analysis of the healthy lifestyle consumer

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the healthy lifestyle consumer by examining demographic, personal value and psychographic antecedents.Design/methodology/approach – A cluster analysis was used to divide consumers into healthy and unhealthy lifestyle segments based on their diet and exercise behavior. A logistic regression analysis was then run on these segments to test the impact of 17 hypothesized antecedents.Findings – Results indicate that people who maintain a healthy lifestyle tend to be female, older, more educated, place less importance on the value of “excitement”, have a greater tendency to plan ahead and tend to experience less role overload.Research limitations/implications – One limitation is that the response rate of the mail survey used to collect data was only 28.8 percent. Another limitation was that the specific types of diet and exercise behavior used to classify respondents into clusters did not encompass the full range of diet and exercise option...

Required Internship Programs in Marketing: Benefits, Challenges and Determinants of Fit

Although research indicates that internships offer numerous benefits to students, very few marketing programs require their students to complete one. This paper outlines and discusses the key issues marketing departments should consider when deciding whether or not to establish an internship requirement. In particular, the paper discusses the benefits of internships, the challenges departments are likely to face if they require one, and the key determinants of whether or not an internship requirement represents a good fit for a particular department.

Segmentation Analysis of the Volunteering Preferences of University Students

The purpose of this article is to explore how universities can increase volunteering among their students. To accomplish this objective, conjoint anlaysis was undertaken to determine the different underlying needs and preferences that drive the volunteering behavior of students. From this data, four need‐based segments are identified and discussed. Strategies are then formulated to meet the needs and preferences of each segment as a means to increase volunteering on campuses.

The influence of price on the relationship between involvement and consideration set size

This study examined the relationship between involvement and consideration set size for a product category featuring wide variability in the price and quality of choice alternatives. The use of a heterogeneous choice domain is considered important because it gives consumers the opportunity to make price and quality tradeoffs in the selection of their consideration sets. The results indicate that in such a choice context, the total effect of involvement on consideration set size is positive. A path analysis of the data indicates the reason for this positive relationship was that high-involvement subjects set wider latitudes of acceptance for price and thus were more likely to consider the more expensive models in the choice domain.

Determinants of Small Business Interest in Offering a Wellness Program to Their Employees

Abstract Data from a survey of small business managers were analyzed in order to identify the main determinants of how interested they were in offering a wellness program to their employees. The results indicate that interest in offering a wellness program is more a function of perceived effectiveness than it is related to the issue of whether the benefits these programs provide are relevant to the needs of small businesses. The results also suggest that humanitarian motives have a greater influence on small business interest in wellness than do financial motives.

Conjoint Analysis of Study Abroad Preferences: Key Attributes, Segments and Implications for Increasing Student Participation

ABSTRACT An adaptive conjoint analysis was performed on the study abroad preferences of a sample of undergraduate college students. The results indicate that trip location, cost, and time spent abroad are the three most important determinants of student preference for different study abroad trip scenarios. The analysis also uncovered four different study abroad need-based segments. In order to increase study abroad participation rates it is recommended that universities determine which of these segments they want to target, and then develop a set of study abroad offerings and communication strategies custom designed to address the particular needs of each targeted segment. Recommendations on how to market to each segment are provided.

Antecedents of Student Attitudes toward Computers

The purpose of this study was to examine the causal impact of different hypothesized antecedents of student attitudes toward computers. The results indicate that, although student attitudes toward computers are significantly affected by both confidence/non-anxiety and perceived usefulness, confidence/non-anxiety has a stronger relationship.

Affinity for Quantitative Tools: Undergraduate Marketing Students Moving beyond Quantitative Anxiety.

Marketing students are known as less likely to have an affinity for the quantitative aspects of the marketing discipline. In this article, we study the reasons why this might be true and develop a parsimonious 20-item scale for measuring quantitative affinity in undergraduate marketing students. The scale was administered to a sample of business majors at a midsized university. The scale developed yielded a four-factor solution: Confidence, Enjoyment, Marketability, and Importance. Using multivariate analysis of variance, we test whether there are significant differences in quantitative affinity by gender, major, internship completion, class standing, and class completion. The findings suggest that marketing majors are less likely to enjoy the quantitative aspect of their major, but on completing a marketing research course their appreciation for the importance of quantitative tools increases. Internship completion has no effect on the undergraduate marketing students’ quantitative affinity. Our study complements extant literature by providing a parsimonious scale for assessing quantitative affinity specially adapted to the marketing students and analyzing the characteristics associated with students’ scores. Suggested teaching strategies, based on the findings, are included.

Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis of the Local Coupon Preferences of Millennials

This article explores the local coupon preferences of the 18–29-year old market. Choice-based conjoint analysis was used to determine Millennials’ local coupon needs and preferences. From this data, three need-based segments were identified and discussed. The findings indicate that while overall, millennials are resistant to receiving coupons for local businesses through their cell phones, there is one segment that is receptive to this method of coupon delivery method.

Have the Mobile Coupon Preferences of Millennials Changed

ABSTRACT In 2007, the authors delivered a web-based survey to a sampling frame of 18 to 30 year olds. Choice-based conjoint analysis was used to determine their local coupon preferences. The findings indicated that Millennials, in general, were resistant to receiving coupons for local businesses through their cell phones. In this article, the same survey was delivered to a sampling frame of Millennials in 2014. Choice-based conjoint analysis was again used to examine the couponing preferences of Millennials and statistical analysis was conducted to determine if these preferences have significantly changed over the last seven years.