Vishal Lala

A Multidimensional Scale for Measuring Country Image

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to develop a robust scale for country image. Based on a review of marketing and nonmarketing literature, we identified seven dimensions for country image and generated items to measure each of them. We purified the scales by eliminating weak items in Study 1, and in Study 2 we evaluated the dimensional structure using a number of tests of validity. The resulting multidimensional scale operationalizes country image as a second-order factor with seven dimensions. These dimensions are economic conditions, conflict, political structure, vocational training, work culture, environment, and labor.

When Students Complain An Antecedent Model of Students’ Intention to Complain

This article explores the factors that influence students’ intention to complain following a bad classroom experience using a customer service framework from the marketing literature. An online survey was conducted with 288 participants using the critical incident approach. Results indicate that predictors of intention to complain differ based on the target of complaint behavior (school, friends, or unknown others) and the mode of complaint (in person or using the web). Specifically, the more dissatisfied students are, the more likely they are to complain to the school and to friends either in person or using the web but not to unknown others. Students complain to the school only if the effort involved is minimal and they believe the school will respond. Students complain to friends and unknown others in person if they feel the school will respond to negative press. Personal characteristics also influence intentions to complain. Students with a propensity to complain broadcast their negative experience via the web, grade conscious students tell their friends but only in person, and heavy social media users inform their friends using the web. Implications for faculty and administrators are discussed.

How Do Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants Respond Differently to Interactivity Online?: A Model for Predicting Consumer Attitudes and Intentions to Use Digital Information Products

ABSTRACT The advertising industry has devoted substantial managerial focus on digital information and entertainment. Scholarly attention, however, has lagged. The current study examined the effects of perceived interactivity on attitude and intention to use a new product (adoption intention) in the context of digital information. In particular, the authors examined differences in response between younger “digital natives,” who were exposed to the Internet in childhood, and older “digital immigrants” exposed later in life. Results revealed that the control and communication dimensions of perceived interactivity lead to more positive attitudes and adoption intentions for digital natives but not always for digital immigrants.

Impact of consumers’ effort investments on buying decisions

Purpose – This study aims to explore the effect of amount of effort invested by consumers toward the purchase of a product on the amount they will spend on the product. Authors argue that greater effort on the part of the consumer will lead to an irrational focus on sunk effort causing them to spend more. Design/methodology/approach – To explore the effect of amount of effort invested by consumers toward the purchase of a product on the amount they will spend on the product. Authors argue that greater effort on the part of the consumer will lead to an irrational focus on sunk effort, causing them to spend more. Findings – Consumers who invest more effort in buying, spend more on the product in a bid to justify their decision to invest effort in the first place. This effect is stronger in the presence of decisional control. Originality/value – Much academic research has examined adverse effects of effort spent by consumers and has sought to make things easier for consumers. This research shows that making ...

Beauty is in the Eye of the Tech Manager: How Technology Orientation and Interactive-Media Knowledge Can Drive (or Stall) Change

ABSTRACT Traditional media tools often are criticized for the waste of targeting noncustomers. Although marketing managers are aware of the potential for waste in the use of traditional media, such vehicles continue to dominate media budgets. In this article, we explored the conditions under which managers are more likely to act on their perceptions of media waste in comparing traditional media with interactive media. Based on a national survey of managers in the United States, we found that their perceptions of wastefulness of traditional marketing media on implementation of interactive-marketing technologies are contingent upon their own personal technology orientation and their hierarchical position in the organization. Specifically, perception of media waste will lead to an increase in interactive-marketing technology budgets and use if the manager is technology oriented or is in a senior management position.

Teaching Consumer Analytics in Advertising and IMC Courses: Opportunities and Challenges

Advertising effectiveness has always been difficult to measure due to its complicated impact on the bottom line. The emergence of new channels of communication such as social media, mobile and search has further complicated matters. At the same time, marketers are facing increasing pressure to measure and improve return on investment. In this context, the proper use of customer analytics to gain insights and increase efficiency is crucial. While the industry expects students to enter the workforce with adequate training in analytics, students choosing advertising and marketing majors exhibit high levels of aversion to math and statistics. In order to bridge this gap between student aversion and industry expectation, advertising and IMC courses need to incorporate customer analytics concepts into the curriculum. In this article we discuss various consumer analytics elements that can be incorporated into advertising and IMC curriculum and suggest some resources that can aid the teaching of analytics. In addition, we also discuss some of the challenges in teaching analytics and provide a few suggestions to overcome these challenges.

The Impact of Arab American Ethnic Identity on the Consumption of Culture-Specific Products

ABSTRACT. This research examines the strength of Arab American ethnic identity as well as the degree of socialization with Arab friends and family, on the consumption of culture-specific products such as Middle Eastern food, dress, and entertainment. An online survey was employed to produce a diverse sample from 230 Arab Americans. The results demonstrate that the strength of Arab American ethnic identity positively predicts the consumption of Middle Eastern food, dress, and entertainment and that this effect is amplified through socialization with other Arabs as opposed to socialization with Anglo Americans. At the same time, independent of ethnic identity and socialization, the results demonstrate that Arab Americans are more likely to consume Middle Eastern than Anglo American food but much less likely to consume Middle Eastern than Anglo American dress and entertainment. Accordingly, the present research reveals that ethnic identity and socialization with the same ethnic group are important variables that predict the consumption of culture-specific products but that, independent of those variables, Arab Americans are not nearly as inclined to consume certain culture-specific products such as Middle Eastern dress and entertainment as they are Anglo American dress and entertainment.

Interactivity: Does One Size Fit all?

The literature documenting the positive effect of perceived interactivity on consumer attitude is substantial; however differences in consumer response based on individual differences are less-studied. Interactivity takes a cognitive toll and as a result, the effect of perceived interactivity on consumer response may not always be positive. The results of a study based on a sample of 443 adults, purposively sampled for both younger “digital natives” and older “digital immigrants,” suggest that perceived interactivity in digital information products, such as digital books, leads to more positive attitudes and adoption intentions for digital natives but not for digital immigrants. This surprising result is explained by differences in the value these two groups place on active control and two-way communication, two facets of perceived interactivity. Given the importance of age as a segmenting variable, implications for practitioners are provided.