Editorial

Citation

Leventhal, R.C. (2013), "Editorial", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2013.07730daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 30, Issue 4

If there is one factor that we as marketers can be certain of, is that the consumer can be compared to a moving target. In a world where the consumer is constantly being challenged to make a decision as it concerns products/services, the selection process that the consumer faces is fraught with all kinds of messages being targeted towards them so that they can make the “correct” decision in terms of buying and using a company’s products or services. This global phenomenon never seems to slow down. In fact with the increase in the use of social media in order to “spread the message”, we have become a true 24/7 marketplace.

Wisenblit, Priluck and Pirog examine parental styles based on levels of nurturing and authoritarianism to determine mothers’ awareness of children’s media exposure, likelihood of setting media and consumption limits and communications with children about commercial messages. The factors that influence mothers to intervene and limit children’s media and consumption behavior also affect attitudes toward regulation of food related advertising. From a marketers’ perspective nurturing mothers represent a barrier to reaching children with persuasive messages. Such mothers not only limit access, but also train children to be skeptical of advertisers. Marketers who deal honestly with customers will be more successful in appealing to nurturing mothers and their market-savvy children.

Chan, Tsang and Leung investigated consumers’ attitudes toward advertising by medical professionals in Hong Kong, and how the attitudes varied among different demographic groups. Misleading information and increasing costs as a result of advertising were two areas of concern that were identified. Medical professionals should put emphasis on providing consumers with relevant information of their services, expertise, and qualifications to assist consumers’ information search. Medical professionals should refrain from using price appeal.

Zhou, Thøgersen, Ruan and Huang studied the role of personal values as moderators of the antecedents of consumers’ “green” buying intentions in the context of Chinese consumers’ inclination to buy organic food. The study results reveal that as the food safety problem in China is getting more severe and environmental issues are increasing on the political and public agendas, the consumption of organic food is being increasingly advocated by both the government and food producers, as a healthy and environmentally-friendly alternative, which may also contribute positively to the development of the economy.

Dianoux, Hermann and Zeitoun examine the influence of direct comparative advertising on brand information processing and purchase intentions compared with that of indirect comparative advertising in non-forced exposure conditions. This research provides evidence that the comparative ad that cites the name and price of the leading brand increases purchase intentions for the sponsored brand, more than an equivalent that uses brand X. This effect operates through an increased probability of message processing, which in turn enhance the perceived compelling character of ad content.

Ha, John, John and Kim examine the change in expectations and attitudes toward a brand over time. As consumers are able to change their previous judgments with information provided by a firm or dealer, the study examines the moderator effects of such new information in an expectation-attitude model with temporal and crossover effects. As consumer expectations and attitudes change over time, marketers should continually review and revise the information to meet the information needs of the shopper. The results suggest that as a market gets more competitive and as consumers revise their salience of product attributes, it is critical that the marketer update information that they provide the customer.

Prendergast and Lam describe the shopping experiences of males and females. The central research question is what does shopping mean for males and females? The sub-question related to this central research question is what are the differences in male and female experiences in shopping? Although the study dealt solely with Hong Kong shoppers, the authors determined that, based on the evolutionary instincts of consumers, retailing tactics can be developed to cater for the needs of males, females and couples.

Li and Murphy develop a conceptual framework that explains how prior consumer satisfaction with each alliance partner affects consumer attributions (i.e. credit or blame) directed toward each partner for both highly satisfying and less-than-highly-satisfying alliance experiences. The authors findings can help firms better understand how consumers respond to alliance encounters. Practical insights include distinct advice for Host versus Guest partners in partner selection and resource commitments to alliance platforms.

In this issue you will also find our Book review section highlighting some key books.

Richard C. Leventhal