Consumer Choice Behavior during a Social Disruption

  • 1028 Views
  • 193 Downloads

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

This paper explores the relationship between an external socio-disruptive factor and consumer product and brand decision-making behavior. The social disruption was physical relocation, which resulted in a radical change in the toilet system, which had implications for toilet cleaning product and brands used. By using a sample calculator, a probability sample of 384 households from Cosmo City, South Africa were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The data from 332 respondents (86% response rate) were analyzed using various inferential statistical analysis techniques to test three hypotheses. Multiple regression path coefficients demonstrated positive and significant changes β=1.709,  p<.0005 in the desired brand benefits following the social disruption, and that there were no significant differences β=-0.601,  p<.027 between households that switched brands and those that did not. The findings underscore the importance of recognizing that consumers re-evaluate their brand choices, leading to significant brand switching in cases where the social change has a radical effect on brand usage. The results also indicate that ‘out-of-market’ changes such as a radical social change have the same impact on consumer brand behavior and brand choice, as “in-market” disruptions such as the introduction of an innovative brand. The findings have strategy implications for marketers of toilet cleaning products in particular and consumer goods in general.

view full abstract hide full abstract
    • Figure 1. Hypothesized model
    • Table 1. Reliability of the research instrument
    • Table 2. KMO and Bartlett’s test
    • Table 3. Output of factor analysis
    • Table 4. Rotated factor analysis
    • Table 5. Brand switching – binominal test results
    • Table 6. Reasons for switching brands
    • Table 7. Reasons for choosing a brand
    • Table 8. Outcome of regression analysis
    • Aaker, D. (2014). The First Step in Building a Brand. Marketing News, 20-21.
    • Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., Leone, R. P., & Day, G. S. (2013). Marketing Research – International Student Version (11th ed.). Singapore: Wiley and Sons.
    • Ahearne, M., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Gruen, T. W. (2005). Antecedents and Consequences of Customer-Company Identification: Expanding the Role of Relationship Marketing. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(3), 574-585.
    • Akerlof, G. A. (1997). Social Distance and Social Decisions. Econometrica, 65(5), 1005-1027.
    • Al-Kwifi, O. S., & Ahmed, Z. U. (2015). An Intellectual Journey into the Historical Evolution of Marketing Research in Brand Switching Behaviour – Past, Present and Future. Journal of Management History, 21(2), 172- 193.
    • Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2007). Marketing: An Introduction (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
    • Babie, E. (2013). The Practice of Social Research (13th ed). Wardsworth: Cengage Learning.
    • Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer-company Identification: A Framework for Understanding Consumer’s Relationships with Companies. Journal of Marketing, 67, 76-88.
    • Bernard, H. R. (2014). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (7th ed.). California: Sage Publications Inc.
    • Blackwell, R., Miniard, P., & Engel, J. (2006). Consumer Behaviour (10th ed.). New York USA: Thomson Higher Education.
    • Burns, A. C., & Bush, R. F. (2014). Marketing Research (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Publication.
    • Bush, A. C. (2013). Marketing Research (7th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
    • Catalin, M. C., & Andreea, P. (2013). Brands as a Means of Consumer Self-Expression and Desired Personal Lifestyle. Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 10(9), 103-107.
    • Chang, C., & Dibb, S. (2012). Reviewing and Conceptualising Customer-Perceived Value. Marketing Research, 12(3), 253- 274.
    • City of Johannesburg (2015). Cosmo City a Thriving Suburb.
    • Dellaert, B. G. C., & Haubl, G. (2012). Searching in Choice Mode: Consumer Decision Processes in Product Search with Recommendations. Journal of Marketing Research, XLIX, 277- 288.
    • Department of Human Settlement (DOHS) (2012). Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme.
    • Department of Human Settlement (DOHS) (2014a). Human Settlements 20-year book 2004–2014,
    • Department of Human Settlement (DOHS) (2014b). Annual Performance Plan, 2015–2016.
    • Elbedweihy, A. M., & Jayawardhena, C. (2014). Consumer-Brand Identification: A social Identity Based Review and Research Directions. The Marketing Review, 14(2), 205-228.
    • Erics, A., Unal, S., Candan, F. B., & Yildirim, H. (2012). The Effect of Brand Satisfaction, Trust and Brand Commitment on Loyalty and Repurchase Intentions. Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 58, 1395-1404.
    • Fearon, J. D. (1999). What is Identity? As We Now use the Word. University of Stanford.
    • Hair, J., Robert, B., & Ortinau, D. (2006). Marketing Research Within a Changing Environment (3rd ed.). Irwin: McGraw Hill.
    • Hedstrom, P. (2006). Dissecting the social: On the principles of analytical sociology (6th ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
    • Kapeller, J., Schutz, B., & Steinerberger, S. (2012). The Impossibility of Rational Consumer choice: A Problem and Its Solution. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 23, 39-60.
    • Kaswengi, J., & Diallo, M. F. (2015). Consumer Choice of Store Brands across Store Formats: A Panel Data Analysis Under Crisis Periods. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 23, 70-76.
    • Klipfel, J. A., Barclay, A. C., & Bockorny, K. M. (2014). Self- Congruity: A Determinant of Brand Personality. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 8(3), 130-143.
    • Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2009). Marketing Management (13th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Ltd.
    • Kressmann, F., Sirgy, M. J., Herrmann, A., Huber, S., & Lee, D. J. (2006). Direct and Indirect Effects of Self-image Congruence on Brand Loyalty. Journal of Business Research, 59(6), 955-964.
    • Lam, S. K., Ahearne, M., & Schillewaert, N. (2012). A Multinational Examination of the Symbolic-Instrumental framework of Consumer-brand identification. Journal of International Business Studies, 43(3), 306-331.
    • Lam, S. K., Ahearne, M., Hu, Y., & Schillewaert, N. (2010). Resistance to Brand Switching When a Radically New Brand is Introduced: A Social Identity Theory Perspective. Journal of Marketing, 74(6), 128-146.
    • Landa, R. (2006). Designing Brand Experiences. USA, Thompson Delmar Learning.
    • Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2013). Practical Research: Planning and Design (5th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
    • Malhotra, N. K. (1993). Marketing Research – An Applied Orientation. Prentice Hall: New Jersey.
    • MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2011). Construct Measurement and Validation Procedures in MIS and Behavioural Research: Integrating New and Existing Techniques. MIS, 35(2), 293-334.
    • Mankiw, G. N. (2006). Essentials of Economics (3rd ed.). Australia: South-Western Publications.
    • Marchant, L., Prescott, P., & Jackson, N. (2011). An Improved, Practical Model of Consumer choice. International Journal of Market Research, 54(1), 71-92.
    • MarketLine (2014a). MarketLine Industry Profile: South Africa - Household Products. October 2014, Reference Code: 0044-2080.
    • MarketLine (2014b). Supermarket Private Labels: Growth following Economic Downturn.
    • Nikic, M. (2012). When Do Consumers Switch Brand? The Impact of Demographics and Lifestyle on Benefits Sought and Brand Switching. University Wien.
    • Peter, P. J., & Olson, J. C. (2010). Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy (9th ed.). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
    • South African Advertising Research Foundation (2015).
    • South African Institute of Race Relations. (2012). South African Survey”: Living Conditions and Communication.
    • Satz, D., & Ferejohn, J. (1994). Rational Choice and Social Theory. Journal of Philosophy, 91(2), 71-87.
    • Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L. (2007). Consumer Behaviour (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
    • Schiffman, L. G., & Wisenbli, J. L. (2015). Consumer Behavior (11th ed.). Toronto: Pearson Education Limited Ed.
    • Shukla, P., Banerjee, M., & Adidam, P. T. (2013). The Moderating Influence of Socio-demographic Factors on the Relationship Between Consumer Psychographics and the Attitude Towards Private Label Brands. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 12, 423-435.
    • Solomon, M. R., Russel-Bennett, R., & Previte, J. (2012). Consumer Behaviour, Buying, Having, Being (6th ed.). Australia: Pearson Publications.
    • Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R. (2011). Making Sense of Cronbach’s Alpha. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 53-55.
    • Warrens, M. J. (2015). Some Relationships between Cronbach’s Alpha and the Spearman-Brown Formula. Journal of Classification, 32, 127-137.
    • Whelan, S., & Davies, G. (2006). Profiling Consumers of Own Band National Brands Using Human Personality. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13, 393- 402.
    • White, K., & Dahl, D. W. (2007). Are All Out-groups Created Equal? Consumer Identity and Dissociative Influence. Journal of Consumer Research, 34, 525-536.
    • Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and methods (5th ed.). California: Sage Publication.
    • Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business Research Methods (9th ed.).
Related Articles

  • The processing of advertising: does a consumer’s level of materialism make a difference?

    Steven Lysonski , Srinivas Durvasula , Ruth Rayner doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.13(1).2017.02
    Innovative Marketing Volume 13, 2017         Issue #1         pp. 11-23 Views: 4655 Downloads: 902 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯ

    Materialism has been given great attention in the consumer behavior literature. How materialistic tendencies are shaped by advertising has also been documented. Yet, the impact of consumers’ materialism on their perceptions of ads is not clearly understood. The goal of this research is to examine the relationship between an individual’s materialism and his/her perceptions of various kinds of advertising. Using four specific advertising appeals (i.e., interpersonal, prestige/status, achievement, and appearance-related), attitudes toward the ad, and thoughts elicited by the advertisement were measured and compared across high and low materialism groups. Significant differences were found between respondents from the two groups with respect to the evaluation of each type of appeal. When prestige/status, achievement, and appearance-related appeals were used in advertising, they were evaluated more favorably by consumers with high levels of materialism than by consumers with low levels of materialism. In contrast, advertising that used an interpersonal appeal was viewed more favorably by consumers with low levels of materialism. The results of this research provide implications for marketers on three perspectives: the furthering of our conceptualization of the materialism construct, the design of promotional communication for specific target markets, and the public policy dimension of targeting consumers more vulnerable to certain appeals.

  • Influence of the dimensions of CSR activities on consumer purchase intention

    Vinod SharmaORCID Researcher ID, Jeanne PouloseORCID Researcher ID, Subhasmita MohantaORCID , Liza Elizabeth AntonyORCID doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.14(1).2018.03
    Innovative Marketing Volume 14, 2018         Issue #1         pp. 23-32 Views: 2735 Downloads: 434 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯ

    Over the years, the number of organizations investing in CSR activities has increased considerably. This increase is partially attributable to the intention of the organizations to give back to the society to repair and reduce the loss their intentional or unintentional actions might have caused to the environment. The government’s decision to make it mandatory for businesses to invest a small part of their net profit in social welfare activities has also helped nudge the organizations towards CSR activities. However, the question whether this investment influences customers’ intention to purchase the product in any manner remains an unresolved paradox. Limited researches have been conducted in this area to explore and establish the relationship if any between CSR and consumer purchase intention. This research focuses on the five different factors of CSR comprising of loyalty, morality, awareness, behavior and environment, which are identified from the previous literature. With the help of these factors, the authors researched and established the relationship between them and consumer purchase intention. In this descriptive research, the research questionnaire was distributed to 1500 respondents, using convenient sampling method, out of which 319 responses were finally obtained for the analysis purpose. After testing the reliability and validity of the data, the five hypotheses were tested using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). It was found that all the five hypotheses were supported and thereby acknowledged the significant influence of CSR related activities performed by companies on the consumer purchase intention. The CSR driven morality is emerging to be the most important dimension that appears to influence the consumer purchase intentions. These finding will help decision-makers to formulate their promotion activities in such a manner that it aligns with the value system of the consumers and increase the overall consumer base.

  • A review on household energy consumption behavior: how about migrated consumers?

    Ebru AcunerORCID , M. Özgür KayalicaORCID Researcher ID doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ee.09(4).2018.02
    Environmental Economics Volume 9, 2018         Issue #4         pp. 8-21 Views: 2450 Downloads: 827 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯ

    This paper reviews the literature on energy consumption behavior for both domestic and migrated/displaced population and aims to recommend crucial policy measures for creating awareness on the energy efficiency. Consumers’ adoption to the efficient usage of energy varies depending on demographic, behavioral and situational dynamics in their households and societies. The regional or national strategies to implement efficient technologies for the consumer engagement are crucial to change their behaviors. Migrants affect the energy usage patterns in the host country due to their different usage behaviors. Any type of measures for migrated population should include available, acceptable, accessible and affordable energy efficiency applications to engage them with the domestic population.

Download Preview
Close
Problems and Perspectives in Management
Problems and Perspectives in Management