Emerald | European Journal of Marketing

CONSUMERS’ INTERNAL CATEGORIZATION STRUCTURES. AN ADDITIVE TREE ANALYSIS

Raquel Chocarro, Margarita Elorz, Jose Miguel Mugica — 2012-05-25 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The mere presence of categories, irrespective of their content, positively influences the satisfaction of choosers who are unfamiliar with the choice domains. In the present research our main goal is to analyse how a complex product category is categorized internally by consumers, with and without price information available, and explore the effect of product involvement and category knowledge on such structures within the wine category .Design/methodology/approach - Additive tree analysis allows us to visualize the perceptual structure of complex sets of alternatives and the Multinomial Logit Model enables us to analyze the influence of these inherent personal characteristics.Findings - The results show that consumers organize information on red wines and rosés according to a "type?Origin" cognitive construct and use "price", if available, as a third attribute. Consumers comparing red wines and white wines organize the available information according to a "type" construct in which "price", even if available, plays no role. Subjects with a greater knowledge of the category exhibit more complex structures. Research limitations/implications - A broader database would be necessary to draw further conclusions with respect to the specific category of wine. Another possible limitation may arise from the chosen set of alternatives. There are more red wines among the stimuli for the survey. As a result of this numerical imbalance between the red wines on the one hand and the rosé/white wines on the other, the red are perceived to be more similar to each other. It would therefore useful in future research to try to obtain the same number of alternatives for each attribute level. Meanwhile, research on other product categories would be useful to provide further validation of these findings. Practical implications - The main implication of our findings for retailers is that an understanding of the internal categorization structures underlying consumers’ product similarity judgements will enable them to organize their shelf space layout to match the way it is processed by consumers. Furthermore, our findings suggest that high-knowledge consumers may be selectively targeted by using store layouts arranged on the basis of complex structures, while low-knowledge consumers may be selectively targeted using store layouts organised on the basis of simple structures. Originality/value - The main contribution of this paper to the existing literature on perceptual organization is an analysis of the influence of price on respondents’ internal categorization structures, when price is considered a key variable in the formation of consumers’ impressions of a product. Furthermore, in the novel context of the wine category, we describe the moderating effect of two variables, involvement and knowledge, on the results of previous literature on perceptual organization. These two variables have potential as segmentation criteria to enable category managers to tailor their products to target markets. Secondly, though no less importantly, we accompany the qualitative additive tree methodology used to derive the perceived structures with an analysis of variance to achieve a more objective interpretation of the additive trees.

Modeling Quality Commitment in Service Organizations: An Empirical Study

Mehmet Demirbag, Sunil Sahadev, Erdener Kaynak, Aziz Akgul — 2012-05-25 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The paper attempts to model the antecedents and consequences of quality commitment among employees in a service organization.Design/methodology/approach - The conceptual model based on extant literature on quality commitment is empirically validated through a study among employees in a Turkish consultancy firm which is involved in servicing SME's. Structural equations modeling framework is employed to assess the validity of the model.Findings - The conceptual model finds reasonable support through the study. All the proposed antecedents and consequences are found to be linked positively as per the propositionsResearch limitations/implications - The study is based on one organization; future studies could validate the model through studies in other organizations as well as in different emerging marketsOriginality/value - Having developed a model for quality commitment in service organizations, the paper critically examines the issue of employee commitment to quality in a service organization of an advanced developing country and test it empirically.

The service elimination decision-making during the service life cycle: Some pilot empirical evidence

Paulina Papastathopoulou, Spiros Gounaris, George J. Avlonitis — 2012-05-25 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose - The paper offers a preliminary insight into the issue of whether service providers eliminate their offerings in various stages of their life cycle, and if so, whether elimination decision-making differs depending on the service’s life cycle stage.Design/methodology/approach - Data were secured by means of a structured questionnaire which was completed through personal interviews. Respondents answered all questions having a recently eliminated service in mind. The initial calls and follow-up efforts generated 164 usable responses (49,8% response rate).Findings - A service may be eliminated from a service provider’s portfolio in any stage of its life cycle. Further, in terms of precipitating circumstances, evaluation factors and elimination strategies, the service elimination process differs depending on the stage of the service life cycle that the elimination decision is taken.Practical implications - The most important implication is service providers eliminate services not only as a response to a crisis possibly caused by drops of sales volume, but also for other reasons. In this respect, service portfolio rationalization and particularly service elimination may result as a consequence of strategic management decisions taken for positive (eg. development of a new service) or negative (eg. competitive actions) reasons. Within this framework, the service life cycle (SLC) model, as a strategic tool for analysis and decision-making, may well serve to guide the rationalization process.Originality/value - The research questions of the study have been examined for tangible products, but this is the first relevant study that is conducted in a service context.