Journal of Consumer Marketing

Joyce M. Wolburg

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641109pmid: N/A

Purpose – The intent of this article is to show why the use of Native American mascots, logos, and nicknames by sports teams perpetuates depictions that are perceived as harmful and racist by Native Americans. Design/methodology/approach – This article examines data from published research, personal correspondence, and essays by Native Americans so that non‐natives can understand the issue from the native perspective. It also calls into question previous communication efforts that may have limited the voices of Native Americans. Findings – By examining the meaning of warriors and other cultural symbols for Native Americans and by exploring the different views of sports between natives and non‐natives, the article shows why it is unacceptable to ignore the native voice. It also demonstrates that it is possible for a sports team with a native identity to successfully change its brand image. Practical implications – Marketers, consumers, owners of sports teams, universities, and members of outside organizations can be better informed as to why Native Americans have asked for an end to this practice. Marketers can also understand why the objections go far beyond political correctness and are part of a human rights issue. Originality/value – The article helps stakeholders understand why privileging a revenue stream over the impact on human rights is an example of misplaced marketing.

Sandra C. Jones; Judy Mullan

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641118pmid: N/A

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate older consumers' perceptions of the effects of direct‐to‐consumer advertising (DTCA), their views on the amount and type of information that should be provided, and their understanding of information typically contained. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 97 adult members of a social/education group, aged 55 to 87, who completed a questionnaire during the group's usual weekly meeting. There were four versions of the questionnaire; two types of medication (arthritis versus diabetes) and two ad formats (short versus long). Findings – There was little difference between the versions in the accuracy of participants' recall of key pieces of information, suggesting that providing additional information may convey little additional benefit. Participants reported limited perceived benefits of DTCA, and expressed concern that DTCA may cause people to ask their doctor for inappropriate medicines, rely more on medicines to solve their health, and become more confused. Practical implications – This study suggests that there is a need to consider consumers' perceptions of benefits and costs of DTCA when deciding whether to introduce it (e.g. in Australia) or remove it (e.g. New Zealand). Further, at least for older consumers, providing large quantities of information may increase cognitive demands without producing additional benefits. Originality/value – The majority of previous studies of DTCA have used either student samples (with manipulated salience of information) or general population surveys. This study utilised a sample of older adults, including 55 per cent with arthritis and 13 per cent with diabetes. Further, as this study used US ads with an Australian population, one can be confident that participants' knowledge of the medications was purely from the ads read and not from previous exposure.

Douwe van den Brink; Gaby Odekerken‐Schröder; Pieter Pauwels

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641127pmid: N/A

Purpose – The first objective was to find out to what extent consumers reveal an effect of strategic and tactical cause‐related marketing on brand loyalty. Second, the article seeks to assess the moderating role of consumer involvement with a product on the relationship between cause‐related marketing and brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – An experimental design with 240 participants was used. Findings – The results show that consumers perceive a significantly enhanced level of brand loyalty as a result of strategic cause‐related marketing as long as the firm has a long‐term commitment to this campaign and the campaign is related to a low involvement product. Consumers do not exhibit a significant impact of tactical cause‐related marketing campaigns – whether related to high or low involvement products – on brand loyalty. Research limitations/implications – First, all respondents were students from a western European university. Second, the experiment relied on imaginary storyboards. Third, the program dimensions were not manipulated separately. Practical implications – If companies intend to increase brand loyalty through CRM they should set up long‐lasting CRM campaigns linked to the product that shows the lowest level of consumer involvement. Originality/value – The added value of this paper is the link between cause‐related marketing programs and brand loyalty. Moreover, a distinction is explicitly made between tactical and strategic CRM programs.

Francisco J. Montoro Rios; Teodoro Luque Martínez; Francisca Fuentes Moreno; Paloma Cañadas Soriano

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641136pmid: N/A

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to determine the relative importance of the ecological attribute when other attributes referring to the functional performance of a brand are taken into account, and check the effectiveness of environmental labels. Design/methodology/approach – The paper establishes an experiment in which 352 women responsible for the household shopping are exposed to different levels of environmental information. The study analyses the effect said information has on product attitude and purchase intention. In order to transmit the information, a leaflet specifically designed for the research was used. Findings – This study confirms the presence of a positive effect of environmental associations on brand attitude, though this effect is smaller than that of other functional attributes. It also demonstrates that using independent environmental certifications strengthens beliefs in the product's ecological performance. Research limitations/implications – The use of washing powder can limit the feasibility of extrapolation of the results to other products. Therefore, a replication in other product categories is necessary/advisable. Practical implications – In the light of the results, using environmental associations certified by independent bodies is recommended. This would help improve both brand attitude and brand equity. Originality/value – This paper increases the knowledge about the precise commercial usefulness of environmental associations in relation with other attributes.

Ian Phau; Vasinee Suntornnond

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641145pmid: N/A

Purpose – The main purpose of the study is to extend Schaefer's paper by investigating how different dimensions of consumer knowledge may affect country of origin cues with an Australian sample. Design/methodology/approach – A self‐administered mail survey was used in this study. The main sample consisted of Australian residents who are aged 18 and above and may or may not be alcoholic drinkers. The mailing list was purchased from a local council consisting of a suburb of metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. The total usable response rate was 38.7 per cent. Findings – The results indicated that country of origin cues affect Australian consumers in beer evaluations despite its weak influences. It suggested that brand familiarity and objective product knowledge mediate the extent to which consumers relied on country of origin in product evaluation. However, the study found inconsistent results between different levels of objective knowledge and its effects on country of origin of manufacture. Originality/value – The paper replicates Schaefer's with extensions. Despite the inconclusive results, objective product‐country knowledge, to some extent, may distort country of origin influences on consumers. This finding yields some insight for the efficiency in market segmentation. By segmenting consumers on different levels of knowledge, the marketers will subsequently make a better decision of how brand and country of origin should be managed.

Norbert Schumacher

doi: 10.1108/07363760610641154pmid: N/A

Purpose – This paper sets out to explore how the principles developed by Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (1890‐1962), a gifted British evolutionary biologist, geneticist and statistician, can be applied in today's retail environment to estimate new customers becoming visible through your loyalty or database marketing program – customers whom we like to call “faux‐new” customers. Here, we have used the word “faux” to mean “fake” or “false” – customers who look new in the next month (because we did not observe them in the first month), but are indeed customers (because they made a purchase before the first month, a month for which we do not have data). That is, there are “faux‐new” customers and “actual‐new” customers whom we will observe in the second month. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses data and statistics from numerous loyalty‐marketing programs to support its conclusions. It investigates a technique discussed by R.A. Fisher in counting species and applies the technique toward counting customers. It showcases the Poisson distribution assumption in modeling customer frequency of purchases. Findings – The study found the technique to be robust against a large real‐world data set: the technique was predictive despite some dubious assumptions. Practical implications – When statisticians and marketers attempt to estimate new customer growth rates, they must be careful. It is tempting to estimate the monthly growth in your customer base by observing the number of customers in July, and then observe the number of “new” customers in August. In this case, however, the results would be overestimated. Many customers who transacted in August but not in July are not actually “new” customers – they are “faux‐new” customers. They could very well have transacted in April (assuming that one does not have the luxury of observing months before July). To estimate the actual number of new customers, it is necessary first to need to strip out the number of customers that were estimated “zero‐purchase,” or “faux‐new,” customers in July. Originality/value – This paper explores innovative statistical techniques for marketers and business analysts who estimate customer growth based on multiple periods of customer transactions.