Sanjukta Pookulangara

Explaining multi‐channel consumer's channel‐migration intention using theory of reasoned action

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how attitudes and subjective norms predict channel migration across the three channels based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA).Design/methodology/approach – A self‐administered questionnaire was administered to the participants comprised of staff, faculty, and students from four different universities in the southern and midwestern USA. The survey instrument was administered online and a total of 503 completed surveys were obtained.Findings – TRA was successful in predicting channel‐migration intention in brick‐and‐mortar stores, catalogues, and the internet. Utilitarian beliefs were more relevant in predicting attitude toward channel migration for all three channels. Normative beliefs for bricks‐and‐mortar stores and catalogues were significant in predicting subjective norms, the relationship was negative. Attitude and subjective norms were the predictors of the channel‐migration intention for all three channels.Research limitations/implications – Th...

Media influence, fashion, and shopping: a gender perspective

Purpose – Promotional media and gender have been shown to influence purchase and shopping channel choice. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of media influence, fashion consciousness, and fashion leadership on shopping channel choice in regard to gender. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered using a convenience sample of male and female students at a Southwestern University in the USA. A total of 408 surveys were used for analysis. The data were factor analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software and a structural equation model was developed to test the hypotheses. Findings – The results indicate that while the media influence factor of mass media positively influences fashion consciousness for both males and females, personalized media only indicated significant influence on male fashion leaders. In addition, both male and female consumers indicated that fashion leadership influenced non-traditional over traditional retai...

Using structural equation modeling to understand the impact of Bollywood movies on destination image, tourist activity, and purchasing behavior of Indians:

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of Bollywood movies on destination image, tourist activity, and purchasing behaviors of Indian viewers. Surveys were administered in a face-to-face format in New Delhi, India, to a convenience sample of over 600 respondents. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to test the hypotheses and explore causal relationships. Findings identified a profile of Bollywood movies viewers, sources of information used to determine destination choice, and the level of involvement among viewers in foreign travel. Additionally, this study explored the relationships between Bollywood movies and tourist motivations and the propensity to participate in activities featured. Findings indicated that engagement in Bollywood movies has a positive impact on both hedonic and utilitarian involvement factors and that utilitarian involvement positively impacts destination awareness. Furthermore, destination awareness has a positive impact on tourist activity but not consumption behaviors at a destination. However, activity behavior does positively influence tourist consumption behavior.

Indian consumers’ mall patronage intentions: impacts of shopping motivations, subjective norms, materialism, and self-efficacy

While Indian malls are proliferating, 80% are ailing. Why is this? There are a number of possible explanations, including the inability to compete with unorganized retailers and an inadequate understanding of the evolving influences that impact Indian consumer behavior. Using a mall intercept technique, this study investigated antecedents to Indian consumers’ mall patronage intention. SEM analysis suggests that the impacts of motivation, subjective norms, materialism and self-efficacy on mall patronage intention reflect evolving Indian consumer behavior.

Intent to purchase from 3-D virtual environments: An exploratory study

Despite the challenging economy, online retail in the United States and western Europe is continuing to have double-digit growth. Regardless of retailer size, the Internet offers an affordable alternative to opening a brick-and-mortar store and provides innovative ways of doing business. However, the evolution of the Internet as a shopping channel is not without drawbacks. Online store lacks interactivity and fails to create the store ambience achieved in a physical store, which can detract from the overall shopping experience. Thus, to ensure success, retailers are exploring various avenues to create a deeply immersive online shopping experience. One such platform is the creation of stores in virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL). This virtual world represents a shared space with a 3-D graphical environment in which several users can simultaneously interact with each other and perform activities similar to those they perform in the real world. This study examined the main features of 3-D stores which could possibly attract and engage consumers in shopping in online 3-D virtual environments. Control and two-way communication influenced purchase intention on SL. Two-way communication influenced both control and the shopping enjoyment variable. Atmospherics influenced shopping enjoyment. Implications for academics as well as retailers have been provided.

Impact of Fashion Orientation on Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Consumer Behavior

The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of fashion involvement, fashion consciousness, and shopping enjoyment on non-Hispanic White and Hispanic consumers’ selection of shopping channel. The U.S. Hispanic consumer base is rapidly growing, which makes them an important group to study and understand. Surveys were analyzed from 451 students at a Southwestern university in a region where more than half of the population self-identify as Hispanic. The data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL, and the hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model. The results of this study indicate differences in shopping behavior between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White consumers with fashion consciousness exhibiting a greater influence on enjoyment for Hispanics than non-Hispanic Whites. In addition, non-Hispanic Whites preferred Fashion Discounter Patronage, whereas Hispanics preferred Department Store Patronage above other shopping channels.

Can Divine Intervention Aid in Domestic Violence Prevention? An Analysis of Bystanders' Advertising Attitudes and Reporting Intentions in India

ABSTRACT The research explores how religious symbols can be used in advertising to encourage bystander intervention in the context of domestic violence. Using symbolic interactionism as the theoretical framework, a 4 (Ad type: Control vs. Visual vs. Verbal vs. Visual/Verbal) × 2 (Religiosity: Low vs. High) between-subjects experimental design was conducted to assess impact on attitudes toward the ad and intention to help. A national sample (N = 402) of Hindu adults from India was recruited. The findings suggest level of religiosity is critical to the process with highly religious individuals displaying higher levels of involvement, concern for others and willingness to report abuse. No significant differences were found across visual and verbal religious symbol conditions. Implications for advertisers and government agencies are presented.

Studying the impact of religious symbols on domestic violence prevention in India: applying the theory of reasoned action to bystanders' reporting intentions

ABSTRACT Using the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the study examines the process of religious beliefs, social norms and attitudes toward women to predict peoples intentions to intervene when confronted with domestic violence. Drawing from a nationwide sample in India and the religion of Hinduism, the structural equation modeling (SEM) findings show support for the hypothesized models. The religious symbol primed ones level of religiosity, generating positive ad attitudes and intentions to report domestic violence. For both ads, beliefs in gender equality and social norms about helping were critical to reporting intentions. More importantly, the study extends the TRA by showing religions relevance in public service persuasion. The study provides both theoretical and managerial implications as well as avenues for future research.

“Like” Me: Shopping, Self-Display, Body Image, and Social Networking Sites.

Ideals of beauty and product information are transmitted via sociocultural channels, including social media. Through the framework of objectification theory, we examined the relation of involvement on Facebook to women’s internalization of appearance ideals, psychological well-being, and their intentions to make online purchases. Participants were 796 female college students who completed online measures regarding internalization, sources of beauty information, social comparisons, body satisfaction, self-esteem, purchases referrals, and purchase intentions. Using structural equation modeling, we found that passive Facebook usage influenced the women’s internalization of societal beauty ideals, which was related inversely to the women’s satisfaction with their bodies and self-esteem. Active Facebook usage had direct effects on attention to friends’ referrals and purchase behaviors. Purchase intentions also were influenced by referrals, the importance they placed on social media outlets as sources of information about fashion and appearance, and a more positive self-image. Findings suggest that women’s intentions to make online purchases are determined through their involvement in social media, their friendship connections, and the extent to which their self-perceptions have been affected by sociocultural processes.

Culture and Social Media: Changing Service Expectations

Technology has dramatically changed consumer expectations, especially with regard to customer service. Information technology has created an innovative way for people to communicate and interact with both each other and organizations. In particular, social networking websites have become a popular virtual meeting place for consumers to converge and share information. Social media allows consumers to voluntarily post personal information, upload photographs, send and receive messages, join groups, and blog at will. Consumers are increasingly turning to computer-mediated communication to mine the information they need for decision making. Consumers now have the means to communicate their opinions about products and companies to other consumers, “like themselves,” at a critical point in the sales cycle, i.e., at the beginning.