Srinivas Durvasula

A Cross-National Assessment of the Reliability and Validity of the CETSCALE

Though numerous calls have been made for the cross-national validation of measures used in international research, they have gone mostly unanswered. Recent research suggests that one construct and ...

A Framework for Conceptualizing and Measuring the Involvement Construct in Advertising Research

Abstract Adequately conceptualizing and measuring the involvement construct Has been one of the most controversial topics in advertising research. This task is especially important given the many involvement-driven frameworks (e.g., the elaboration likelihood model) now being advanced in advertising. The present study proposes a framework that closely scrutinizes the involvement constructs antecedents, state properties, measures, potential confounds, and consequences. Four emerging research streams in involvement are presented in the context of the framework. Implications for researchers attempting to manipulate and measure involvement in experimental advertising research are provided.

Assessing the Cross-National Applicability of Consumer Behavior Models: A Model of Attitude toward Advertising in General

Examining the cross-national applicability of consumer behavior constructs and models is becoming increasingly more important. In this study, procedures for testing the cross-national applicability of models are illustrated. Specifically, the authors specify a model of attitude toward advertising in general and test its cross-national applicability with data from the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, Greece and India. The results suggest that the relationships proposed in the model are applicable and similar in strength across the five countries. Copyright 1993 by the University of Chicago.

Consumer Decision Making Styles: A Multi- Country Investigation

Argues that profiling consumer decision‐making styles has importance to marketers, advertisers and consumer affairs specialists, but developing an approach to quantify such profiles has been problematic. Reports the application of an instrument known as the consumer style inventory (CSI) to measure these profiles for samples of consumers from Greece, India, New Zealand and the USA. Indicates, from the results, that the instrument seems more applicable to higher income countries than to developing ones. Discusses implications regarding use of the instrument and cross‐cultural issues.

Digital Piracy of MP3s: Consumer and Ethical Predispositions

Purpose – Illegal downloading of music has become an inexorable and rampant activity particularly among college students who have been little deterred by industry legal actions. The purpose of this research is to examine the present state of downloading and how ethical orientation and attitudes towards MP3 piracy impact such activities. The paper also aims to use ethical scenarios as a way of understanding the ethical reasoning in illegal downloading.Design/methodology/approach – Key research questions are proposed that are related to illegal downloading. A sample of 364 university students was used to examine each research question. Statistical results are reported.Findings – The results clearly show that downloading continues at a high rate today driven by a strong belief that it is not ethically wrong. Ethical orientation was found to be positively associated with awareness of the social cost of downloading, consequences of downloading, and ethical belief in downloading. Ethical scenarios show that eth...

Money, Money, Money – How do Attitudes Toward Money Impact Vanity and Materialism? – the Case of Young Chinese Consumers

Purpose – China is undergoing a radical change as the forces of industrialization and modernization transform its society. Money is taking on an increasingly important role, particularly among young Chinese, as the Western ideals of individualism and hedonism thrive. The goal of this research is to understand attitudes towards money in China and how these attitudes affect elements of consumer behavior such as materialism and vanity.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a well‐accepted scale (with several dimensions) to explore attitudes towards money. Research questions examine how the dimensions of attitudes towards money affect materialism and achievement vanity. The sample comprises 127 young Chinese consumers. Statistical results based on confirmatory factor analysis as well as path analysis are reported.Findings – The findings clearly show that attitudes towards money in China are not monolithic; instead there are variations among young Chinese. Materialism is affected by the power‐prestige an...

Consumer decision making styles in retailing: evolution of mindsets and psychological impacts

Purpose – India has undergone dramatic change in its retail markets since economic liberalization in 1992. The authors aim to use the framework of consumer decision making styles to investigate longitudinally how these styles have changed from 1994 to 2009. They also conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2009 data to determine whether decision making styles are shaped by psychological variables: perceived time pressure, shopping opinion leadership, shopping self-confidence, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and materialism. Design/methodology/approach – The eight different consumer decision making styles were measured with instrument by Sproles and Kendall. The psychological variables were measured with established instruments with adequate reliabilities. The survey was administered to young adults. The Indian samples from 1994 and 2009 were matched allowing for comparisons. Findings – The longitudinal analysis showed that four of the eight decision making styles changed statistica...

A double‐edged sword: understanding vanity across cultures

Purpose – Based on their size, disposable income, and purchasing power, generation Y (Gen Y) consumers are viewed as the Holy Grail for marketers. Conversely, some of this groups behavior disturbs public policy officials, particularly when dealing with issues such as poor financial planning, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. The key question for both marketers and policy makers is what is the best way to understand the Gen Y segment? The vanity concept is used in this study as a way to understand the Gen Y consumer segment. The purpose of this paper is to examine vanity perceptions (cross‐nationally and by gender) as well as social and business implications with vanity.Design/methodology/approach – Key research expectations are proposed that are related to cross‐cultural and gender differences on vanity perceptions. A sample of approximately 125 Gen Y consumers in two eastern and two western cultures was used to find support for the research expectations. Statistical results are reported.Findings – The resul...

Beyond service attributes: do personal values matter?

Purpose – Service firms constantly look for ways to differentiate their offering. Recently, personal values have emerged as a way to understand how customers fulfill deeper needs when consuming a service. This paper aims to examine how personal values operate in the evaluation of higher education services. Like other services, marketing has become essential to higher education as universities compete aggressively for students and differentiate their service offerings. Although attribute‐based measures such as SERVQUAL provide useful information to service providers, personal values may offer a deeper understanding of how customers judge the quality and desirability of an educational institutions services. This study seeks to determine whether personal values in higher education affect perceptions of overall value, satisfaction, and behavioral outcomes including loyalty and intention to recommend.Design/methodology/approach – A survey measured student personal values, service quality, satisfaction, and be...

The Effects of Advertising Distinctiveness and Message Content Involvement on Cognitive and Affective Responses to Advertising

Abstract This paper examines how advertising distinctiveness influences cognitive and affective responses to advertising under varying levels of message content involvement. Major findings indicate facilitative effects of distinctive (versus nondistinctive) ad stimuli on net ad execution cognitive responses, net source cognitive responses, attitude-toward-the-ad, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions under low message content involvement. Unexpectedly, net product argument cognitive responses are greater for low message content involvement subjects under distinctive (versus nondistinctive) ad conditions. Under high message content involvement, however, cognitive and affective responses are not affected by distinctive ad conditions, as expected. Alternative explanations and implications for advertising research are discussed.