Editorial

Citation

Leventhal, R.C. (2009), "Editorial", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2009.07726daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 26, Issue 4

What do consumers like/prefer in terms of products or services? A simple question, but one that presents numerous problems and/or opportunities to companies around the world. We could view this as the engine that helps to drive marketing strategy. All too often marketers think that they have ascertained what they consider to be key information as it pertains to the consumer, and then use this information to develop and/or further refine their marketing efforts. However, a marketing strategy that may have been effective in previous efforts may yield results that are less than optimal, or even disappointing, especially as it affects the anticipated return on investment for those dollars that have been committed to the marketing effort. Yet after all is said and done, we are faced with still trying to understand what drives/motivates the consumer to respond to the marketplace.

Powers and Valentine investigate the impact of consumer satisfaction survey respondents’ demographics, satisfaction level and behavioral intentions on response rates and item completion rates. The authors present the argument that ensuring the accuracy of consumer satisfaction data is invaluable to an organization as the findings are the basis for which many important decisions are made. It is imperative that marketing managers must be certain of accurate and unbiased results so that the necessary key operational changes can be made.

Sun, Horn and Merritt introduce and test a path model that explores the effects of Hofstede’s cultural value dimensions upon consumers’ intentions to eat a healthy diet through the mediation of their public self-consciousness, The authors determined that individualism and uncertainty avoidance had negative impacts upon public self-consciousness, which in turn had a positive influence upon consumers’ intention to eat a healthy diet. These findings are most relevant for international fast food chains, as a cross-cultural understanding of factors explaining consumers’ intention to eat a healthy diet will affect those chains that intend to promote healthy foods and other nutritional products in the international market.

Sudbury and Simcock provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market. It utilizes variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioral variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the current marketing literature. The authors create a model that could be used for targeting various segments within the ageing consumer marketplace; guidelines are also provided as to how said segments might be reached.

Podoshen explores the concept that better understanding the role of ethnicity is key for marketers in multicultural nations such as the USA. Many ethnic groups retain a great deal of collective memories and experiences based on past events. The author focuses in on the buying process of American Jewish consumers in relation to the purchase of German products, more specifically automobiles. The author looks at the variables of acculturation and closeness to the Holocaust as possible factors in the purchase decision. These findings may be of value to those companies that may have been involved in war or other similar actions.

Lee, Murphy and Neale use the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to test how customer loyalty intentions may relate to subjective and descriptive norms. The authors also determine whether consumption characteristics – product enjoyment and importance – moderate norms-loyalty relationships. Subjective norm related to loyalty intentions significantly with high enjoyment, whereas descriptive norm was significant with low enjoyment. Only subjective norm was significant with low importance. These findings may be of importance to those companies that are marketing mobile products to the younger consumers.

Gofman, Moskowitz and Mets explore different approaches to optimizing websites based on consumer preferences. The develop an approach that allows for the testing of a large number of web page prototypes with consumers and finds real optimal solutions on an aggregated, segmented and individual basis, which could yield a true one-to-one marketing effort. The authors demonstrate how to optimize consumer website experiences.

In this issue of Journal of Consumer Marketing you will also find our Book Review and Computer Currency sections.

Richard C. Leventhal