Vytautas Dikčius

Automobile Country of Origin Related Associations in Lithuanian Market

Abstract Automobile is a high‐involvement product that typically requires significant buyers attention when purchased. It is typical that country of origin (COO) of a purchased car is considered among other product characteristics. hough COO concept is analysed for decades, many factors allow to explore this issue again. First, globalization factors influence importance of COO. Second, products have certain specifics, and COO is not equally influencing buyers’ decisions in all cases. Third, countries have some stereotype images, which vary among different groups. And finally, buyers themselves are ‘products’ of certain historical and economic developments of their environment, which predetermine their beliefs and associations. Analysis of attitudes about automobile COO and related associations among Lithuanian middle‐level managers represents specifics of a country that was fully exposed to products of the international automotive industry just for about a decade.

Typology of measures of children engagement in parental purchase decisions

Purpose Although there is a common agreement that children participate and impact parental purchase decisions, the research results are rather inconsistent. One of the reasons for the differences in the findings could be attributable to different operationalisations of a child engagement variable in surveys. This study aims to classify the instruments used to measure children engagement in parental purchase decisions and to develop a typology of these instruments. Design/methodology/approach In total, 67 articles that reported details and results of the surveys where a variable of children engagement in family decisions was operationalised were selected on a systematic basis. In total, 82 measures were extracted, reviewed and assigned to the particular category. Findings The typology of measures of children engagement into parental purchase decisions was developed. The features of particular measures, as well as their applicability for different types of child engagement measurement, are discussed. Research limitations/implications The sample of articles was limited to nine major scholarly databases and framed for 1985-2015, excluding conference presentations, dissertations, studies and other types of primary research publications. Practical implications The analysis demonstrates that authors who had seemingly similar or the same purpose of measuring variable of child engagement into parental purchase decision in fact have used different measures. The differences in measures tend to produce different size of engagement effect. The proposed typology will support scholarly community in establishing more clear definitions and measures of children engagement in parental purchase decision domain. Originality/value The typology of measures of children engagement into parental purchase decision is the first attempt to introduce systematised approach toward different domains within the field and their measurement.

Adolescent Influence on Parental Purchase Decisions: Typology of Innovative Products

Purpose – There is common agreement that children’s influence on parents to purchase products depends on the product category (products for a child vs. products for the family; minor everyday purchases vs. shopping goods). However, purchasing an innovative product in the presence of an adolescent, compared to the purchase of traditional products, creates a special context in which an adolescent might be considered a substantial source of expertise with diverse levels of impact on parents. The current research aims to demonstrate the magnitude of adolescents’ impact on parents when purchasing innovative products, and to cluster the products based on the size of the impact and the level of the perceived innovativeness. Specific characteristics of clusters and the implications for marketers are discussed. Design/Methodology/Approach – An Internet panel was used to survey parents and adolescents from Lithuania on their assessment of the level of innovativeness and the level of children’s influence on the purchasing 14 product groups. Within each group, an innovative product preselected on the basis of qualitative interviews was paired with the usual product in the category. Later, the products were clustered by the level of innovativeness and the adolescents’ impact on parents. Findings and implications – The products were clustered to demonstrate important implications for marketers, namely, where the influence of adolescents on parental purchase decisions is stronger and where it is weaker. Limitations – An examination of selected products shows the interrelationships between their perceived innovativeness and the impact of adolescents on their parents’ purchase; however, the findings could be tested on a larger range of products. The innovativeness of the particular product is time and place bound. Originality – To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to cluster the products based on their innovativeness and the adolescents’ impact on parents in the purchasing process.

Child Participation in Family Purchasing Process: Evidence from Lithuania

It is well acknowledged that children influence purchasing decisions within a family, and this influence is widely observable in societies of various types. However, there are some ‘grey zones’ that require additional exploration. Just a modest number of researchers have been interested in the analysis of the child’s influence or participation in various phases of the purchase decision-making process. The existing studies suppose that its strength depends on the phase of the decision-making process, product type, several contextual factors and (perhaps) on the family structure. At the same time, the combination of a specific external context and family parameters offer possibilities of additional insights.