Timmy H. Tseng

Consumer evaluation in new products: the perspective of situational strength

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the interaction between branding strategies, levels of perceived fit and consumer innovativeness on the evaluation of new products from the perspective of situational strength. Design/methodology/approach – Two experiments were conducted to empirically test the hypotheses. Findings – A significant three-way interaction of branding strategy, perceived fit and consumer innovativeness on the evaluation of the new products was found. A significant two-way interaction of branding strategy and perceived fit was also found. Situational clarity fully mediates the relationship between branding strategy and consumer product evaluations at various fit levels. Practical implications – The theory of situational strength may shed light on the selection of target market when managers launch new products. Innovative consumers are the target market for the new products under new branding or low fit sub-branding; under brand extension or high fit sub-branding, consumers are the targ...

The Mediating Roles of Brand Engagement and Brand Psychological Ownership in Brand Co-creation

This study examines the psychological mechanism of brand co-creation effect from the perspective of interpersonal relations. We propose a theoretic model that depicts the influence of feedback valence of other people’s comments on consumers’ proposal of new product marketing plan in a brand co-creation project. We argue that brand psychological ownership and brand engagement mediate the relationships between feedback valence and behavioral intentions for the new products and the parent brand. Also, the moderating roles of co-creation task involvement and participating unit are examined. A between-subject experimental design was conducted. The results confirm our mediating hypotheses and indicate that the brand co-creation activities can be explained from the perspective of interpersonal relations. Also, the results indicate that the effect of feedback valence on brand engagement is salient when consumers have high task involvement and when they participate individually, not in a group.

Facilitation of consumer loyalty toward branded applications: The dual-route perspective

Abstract Although many brands develop mobile applications (apps) to build relationships with consumers, most branded apps fail to retain consumers’ loyalty. This study examines the facilitation of consumer loyalty toward branded apps (continuance intention, in-app purchase intention, and word-of-mouth intention) from the dual-route perspective. One route is the affective (relationship) route, where brand benefits (functional benefits, experiential benefits, symbolic benefits, and monetary benefits) drive parasocial interactions between consumers and the brand, which, in turn, influences branded app loyalty. The other route is the utility route, where system characteristics (system quality and information quality) affect perceived usefulness, which, in turn, facilitates branded app loyalty. An online survey was conducted, and the research model was empirically tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings support the dual-route perspective according to which both affective and utilitarian paths facilitate branded app loyalty. The key theoretical contribution of this study is that it moves beyond the utilitarian path and finds the affective (relationship) path to give a more complete picture of the facilitation of consumer loyalty in the branded app context. A strategy is provided to suggest to practitioners how to design branded apps to facilitate consumer loyalty.

Consumer’s Response to Negative Corporate Social Responsibility Event—The Perspective of Construal Level Theory: An Abstract

Communicating CSR performance and fostering a better CSR image on consumer’s mind is crucial to a company’s competiveness in the current era. However, seldom research examines how consumers process CSR information from the perspective of construal level theory (CLT). Based on CLT, this research conducts a 2 (spatial distance) × 2 (social distance) × 2 (thinking style) between-subject experiment to examine the joint effects of psychological distances of a negative CSR event and consumers’ thinking styles (abstract versus concrete) on their CSR image deteriorations toward the company. The results indicate that negative CSR events in both far and near countries equally worsen CSR image. Furthermore, spatial distance and social distance of the negative CSR event interact to influence CSR image deterioration. Less image deterioration due to closer social distance toward the company is more salient when negative CSR events occur in a home country than in a foreign country. Moreover, when consumer’s thinking style is more often at an abstract level, the negative CSR event occurring in foreign country, compared to that in home country, results in higher CSR image deterioration. Based on the findings, this study suggests companies avoid negative CSR events even in a foreign country as negative CSR events in spatial distance still worsen the CSR image of the company. In addition, companies can shield the damage of negative CSR events by building better relationships with consumers in home country because consumers with supportive attitudes toward the company tend to generate counterarguments toward negative events when the events occur in a familiar environment. Finally, since CSR image deterioration is high when there is a match between the spatial distance of the negative CSR event and the construal level of consumer’s thinking style, companies can lower the impacts of negative CSR event by making it less fit to consumers’ construal level. Companies may communicate negative CSR events occurring in remote countries with a more concrete way while in home country with a more abstract way.

Can’t Live Without Smartphones: Device Attachment as a Dual Route Process Promoting Consumer Loyalty

Smartphone sales has grown massively and the sales are expected to one billion in 2013 (Deloitte 2013) that are simply due to the fact that smartphone users are anticipated to exceed 192 million by the year 2016 (eMarketer 2012). Many consumers admit to being overly attached to their smart phones and about 37 % of adults and 60 % of teenagers show addictions to their smart phones (Swallow 2011). Given that attachment is crucial in determining consumer satisfaction and loyalty (e.g. Chaudhuri and Holbrook 2001, Park et al. 2010); it would seem advisable to make an effort to investigate the role of emotional attachment of smart phones.