William R. Darden

Work and or Fun: Measuring Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Value

Consumer researchers growing interest in consumer experiences has revealed that many consumption activities produce both hedonic and utilitarian outcomes. Thus, there is an increasing need for scales to assess consumer perceptions of both hedonic and utilitarian values. This article describes the development of a scale measuring both values obtained from the pervasive consumption experience of shopping. The authors develop and validate the scale using a multistep process. The results demonstrate that distinct hedonic and utilitarian shopping value dimensions exist and are related to a number of important consumption variables. Implications for further applications of the scale are discussed. Copyright 1994 by the University of Chicago.

Consumer self-regulation in a retail environment☆☆☆

Abstract The importance of retail store design and merchandising policies rests in the ability of the physical retail environment to alter shopper reactions and behavior. Previous research documents relationships between physical store environments, shopper emotions, and subsequent shopping behavior. Research presented in this paper extends this research by considering the role of consumer self-regulation as a moderator of relationships between shopping emotions and consumer evaluations of the shopping experience. Structural equations analyses support this assertion and suggest disparate outcomes depending upon ones self-regulatory tendency. Results also show that feelings of dominance, previously dismissed as unimportant, significantly alter shopping behavior among those low in self-regulation.

Exploring the Concept of Affective Quality: Expanding the Concept of Retail Personality

Abstract Recently, there has been increasing attention paid to the affective side of consumer and patronage behavior. Whereas previous store image studies have focused primarily on its traditional cognitive or functional antecedents, this paper more fully accounts for a stores personality by considering its perceived affective, as well as functional, quality. A study is described which provides evidence that affect associated with retail environments is an important element in defining more fully the meaning of an environment in consumers semantic networks. In addition, the study demonstrates a fairly strong degree of relatedness between affective quality and consumer perceptions of a stores more tangible or functional characteristics. Implications and extensions of this exploratory research are discussed.

Good and bad shopping vibes: Spending and patronage satisfaction

Abstract This research addresses appropriately evaluating resource investments aimed at improving customer mood through atmospherics. A structural equations approach is used on a sample 375 mall consumers to test relevant hypotheses. The results of the study suggest that consumer emotions have a “dual” impact. Whereas consumers in-store mood does influence spending, it has a considerably greater effect on customer satisfaction with the retailer. Further, the study shows that negative shopping moods affect satisfaction with greater efficacy than do positive moods. Implications for developing customer loyalty and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Negative Emotions in Marketing Research: Affect or Artifact?

Abstract How similar are positive and negative affect? Are happiness and unhappiness opposite ends of the same continuum? Empirical marketing research generally reports separate positive and negative self-report consumer emotions. Recent research in social psychology calls this distinction into question and reasserts the bipolarity of human emotions. Despite the recent interest in consumer emotions among marketing researchers, the marketing literature has not addressed the issue directly. Two studies n = 334 and n = 335 are reported that investigate this issue. The results suggest that positive and negative consumer emotions may sometimes, but not always, be distinct, and more importantly, suggest further studies. Additionally, evidence is presented that suggests that the respondent task may moderate correlations between positive and negative consumer emotions.

An action strategy approach to examining shopping behavior

Abstract The theory of planned behavior posits that individuals formulate intentions and actions plans prior to performance of the act. Although research addresses the formation of intentions, marketers focus less attention on understanding how individuals create action strategies. The purpose of this article is to introduce a theory of action and action strategies to marketers and apply the theory to shopping behavior.

Salesperson Stereotypes, Consumer Emotions, and their Impact on Information Processing

This study examines salesperson stereotypes and their effect on the selling environment. After reviewing relevant literature, the authors advance a hierarchical structure of salesperson stereotype categories. Experimental results suggest that stereotypes influence consumer emotions, and these emotions then mediate the relationship between stereotype activation and subsequent consumer cognitions.

Consumer intentions to use a service category

Even though service marketers are interested in influencing customer choice at the service provider level (i.e. the service brand level), the decision to patronize a particular service firm seldom occurs until after the customer decides to use a service provider in the first place. Ultimately, this initial “make‐or‐buy” purchase decision – the decision to use a service category – restrains customer decisions at the service provider (brand) level. To enhance our understanding of customers’ service category decisions, a double cross‐validation approach was employed to investigate the applicability of a service category choice model which we adapted from Howard’s work on consumer decision making. Our model, which was tested with two different service categories, was supported.

Freight transportation carrier selection criteria: Identification of service dimensions for competitive positioning

Abstract Deregulation has seriously impacted the competitive climate of the transportation industry. Competition for customers has manifested itself in a recognition by transportation providers that they must understand the needs of different types of customers in order to create service attribute bundles tailored to specific customer segments. The research reported here is based on a study of a Midwest freight transportation market. A methodology for segmenting transportation markets on the salient transportation service dimensions utilized in the selection of specific providers of transportation is presented. The findings suggest that six natural groups of transportation service users exist, with the differences among the segments largely explained by five service dimensions.

The role of consumer sympathy in product liability suits: An experimental investigation of loose coupling

Abstract Are the disproportionately increasing costs of product liability generated , at least in part, by consumers themselves? An experiment is reported that tests the idea that consumer-juror and product liability plaintiff characteristics are a major source of “decoupling” pressures, causing departures from due process in favor of social process. Support was found for a central mediating role of consumer-juror sympathy for product liability plaintiffs. Sympathy was found to mediate the relationship between plaintiff financial situation and extent of verdict and between defendant-firm financial status and extent of verdict. The paper concludes with support for the hypothesis that consumer-juror sympathy is a major source of judicial decoupling, leading to the present trends in product liability law. The article suggests that the model specification be enlarged to include other key factors that could impact verdict, such as consumer-juror sympathy for the defendant and locus of control. This research track could help business to design strategies for longrun profit maximization, while better meeting their obligations to society.