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Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of music tempo on impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. It finds that fast (vs slow) tempo music increases impatience. This occurs because fast (vs slow) tempo music makes temporal distance, and hence the waiting time until the receipt of delayed benefits, feel subjectively longer.Design/methodology/approach The study tests the hypotheses through four laboratory experiments.Findings In Studies 1a (N = 88) and 1b (N = 98), the results demonstrate that when participants listen to fast (vs slow) tempo music, they judge temporal distance to be longer. In Study 2 (N = 94), the results demonstrate that when participants listen to fast (vs slow) tempo music, they become more impatient when considering a smartphone purchase. In Study 3 (N = 218), the results demonstrate that when participants listen to fast (vs slow) tempo music, they become more impatient when considering a gift certificate, and that this delay discounting effect is attributable to the change in their temporal distance judgment.Research limitations/implications The current research reports a novel factor that influences impatience in intertemporal decisions and temporal distance judgment.Practical implications This research provides useful guidelines for retail managers and marketers regarding the effect of background music in stores.Originality/value This is the first study demonstrating a music tempo effect on temporal distance judgment and impatience in intertemporal tradeoff decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the value to consumers of the brand name element for established brands, given that the focus in the literature has been on new brands. To accomplish this, conceptual development was initially undertaken to illuminate the links between the brand name element and the brand entity and to provide a theoretical framework for looking at changes in value of the brand name element to consumers over time. Design/methodology/approach – A conjoint analysis experimental approach was used. This involved consumers making trade-off decisions between changes in brand name and changes in price for established brands, where they were active purchasers. This approach enabled isolation of the brand name element and obtained the relative value of the brand name element for each participant. Findings – The mean value obtained for the importance of the brand name element for established products appeared to show substantial importance to consumers. However, further analysis identified a position where the majority of participants placed little value on the brand name element and a smaller but material group perceived its value as of overwhelming importance. Originality/value – This paper advances branding theory through clarification of the relationship between the brand name element and the brand entity. It provides theoretical argument and empirical data for the value of the brand name element to the consumer differing between established and new brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper investigates how respondents to conjoint experiments process information and choose among product profiles, and how this varies with their knowledge about the product. Models for estimating conjoint attribute weights are almost exclusively based on principles of compensatory decision making. The paper aims to explore to what extent and in what way these basic principles of conjoint modelling are violated. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from a verbal protocol study where 18 undergraduate students each performed a total of 28 stated choice tasks while "thinking aloud". Findings – Results show that cognitive operations consistent with compensatory decision rules constitute a majority of the total number of operations performed across tasks and respondents. However, few respondents exhibited a consistent use of compensatory-type processes throughout their choice sets. Results suggest that individual preferences interact with characteristics of the choice sets to instigate changes in information processing. It also appears that complete strategies are seldom used. Finally, respondents' knowledge about the product influences the cognitive operations that respondents use in solving conjoint tasks. Research limitations/implications – Results are based on responses from 18 undergraduate students, which makes generalizations hard. Practical implications – One implication of this work is that one should apply a more flexible model framework to allow detecting the existence of non-compensatory strategies. Originality/value – This paper is one of few which aim to implement findings in behavvioral decision research within the context of conjoint analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Limit conjoint analysis (LCA) and Vickrey auctions (VA) are methods for measuring willingness-to-pay (WTP) currently under discussion. However, there are hardly any studies comparing the approaches in terms of their applicability and validity. This paper aims to analyze the differences in WTP elicited by the two methods and their validity in high and low involvement situations. Design/methodology/approach - Data were obtained from 179 online interviews conducted in Germany. Differences in the WTPs elicited were analyzed with a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. For the validation part, a χ² test of independence was used. Findings - The results indicate differences depending on the method applied and the involvement situation. Additionally, the study indicates that for low involvement products VA performs better while for high involvement situations the results are not as clear. In terms of validity, both methods do not show satisfactory results. Research limitations/implications - In order to generalize the findings further WTP comparisons should be done with other survey objects, samples and measurement approaches. The contribution of this paper is to show that there are significant differences in WTP measurement depending on the method used and the involvement of consumers. Practical implications - Marketing researchers and practitioners are advised to pay special attention to the choice of method when measuring the WTP for a specific product. VA should be preferred in low involvement situations. LCA should not be used in situations where consumers are not interested in the product. Originality/value - The study presented is the first paper to tackle the issue of influencing factors of WTP measurement systematically. * [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing number of firms that use direct mail, it is important to develop methods to improve response rates. Better selection methods are useful for this improvement; determining the important characteristics of the mailing and constructing an optimal design is another way to improve the response. In this paper we focus on the latter. A framework is presented to obtain the optimal direct mail design. We propose and compare two ways of data collection, one in an experimental setting and one in a field-experimental setting. Both approaches are illustrated with an empirical application for a charity institution, referring to the development of an optimal design of an envelope and a letter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to identify a typology of corporate misconduct affecting trust; to test the relative ability of individual misconducts to reduce trust and; to explain differences in how individuals respond to corporate crises.Design/methodology/approach The main research design uses conjoint analysis. Respondents (n = 404) rated eight combinations of six types of misconduct, identified from prior work on trust as likely to reduce trust. Initial levels of trust were established by varying both country of origin and product type.Findings The importance ranking for the six types was consistent across most conditions, with “bending the law” and “not telling the truth” as the most salient and “acting unfairly” and “acting irresponsibly” as the least salient in damaging trust. The characteristics of the respondent influenced the effect size.Practical implications As loss of trust represents loss of reputation, understanding how and when the framing of misconduct damages trust is important in managing reputation risk. The impact of any report of misconduct can be moderated if attributed by a company, the media or the individual, to a type that is less damaging to trust.Originality/value This study adds to our understanding as to why individuals respond differently to corporate misconduct, and contributes to prior work on reputation damage. The typology of corporate misconduct developed and tested here offers a different framework for researchers and practitioners with which to explore loss of trust and to develop existing crisis communication theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this study is to examine whether consumers demonstrate a multi-dimensional understanding of sustainability in their decision-making and addresses the situational influence of confidence and compromise on sustainable product choices. Design/methodology/approach -- Using three choice-based conjoint experiments the authors examined the importance of sustainability, compromise and confidence to consumers across two contexts. Two-step cluster analyses were used to segment consumers based on the importance scores. Findings -- Data indicates that the environmental dimension of sustainability is the most influential followed by economic and social. The responses suggest three distinct segments identified as self-focused, trend motivated and reality driven that demonstrate significantly different characteristics in their approach to sustainable products. Research limitations/implications -- Current research tends to focus on the environmental dimension, while paying little heed to the economic and social dimensions. This research indicates that consumers consider all three dimensions when making sustainable product choices and highlights that differences may emerge with respect to product utility. Practical implications -- Firms must be aware that consumers differ in the importance they place on sustainability. The reality-driven segment is the most attractive segment, as they are highly engaged and are willing to invest time in understanding the complexities of sustainability. The trend-motivated segments are more fickle with superficial knowledge, and the self-focused segments are self-serving in their orientations and use price as a key decision variable. Originality/value -- The paper addresses an important oversight in the sustainability literature. It provides both a theoretical contribution to advance marketing research and a practical contribution that may be of interest to those trying to market sustainable products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The importance of packaging design and the role of packaging as a vehicle for consumer communication and branding are necessarily growing. To achieve communication goals effectively, knowledge about consumer psychology is important so that manufacturers understand consumer response to their packages. this paper aims to investigate this issue. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines these issues using a conjoint study among consumers for packaged food products in Thailand, which is a very competitive packaged food products market. Findings - The conjoint results indicate that perceptions about packaging technology (portraying convenience) play the most important role overall in consumer likelihood to buy. Research limitations/implications - There is strong segmentation in which packaging elements consumers consider most important. Some consumers are mostly oriented toward the visual aesthetics, while a small segment focuses on product detail on the label. Originality/value - Segmentation variables based on packaging response can provide very useful information to help marketers maximize the package's impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses whether consumer segments based on relational aspects, service aspects, or price aspects have different preferences concerning these three key decision-making variables when buying a car. In addition, assesses consumer segments resulting from simultaneously incorporating relationships, service package, and price. Investigates a large sample of Mitsubishi drivers in The Netherlands emphasizing consumers' trade-off between dealer relationship, service package and price. Conjoint analysis showed that dealer relationships (as opposed to price) represent a very important decision-making variable when buying a car and consumer preferences concerning relationships provide a useful instrument for segmenting markets. Cluster analyses on the basis of three aspects simultaneously revealed that some consumers do value relationships, while others emphasize the service package in their purchase, both opposed to the third segment that is most probably not inclined to be loyal to a car dealer at all. Clearly indicates that different consumer segments can be distinguished on the basis of preferences for relationships and service packages rather than on the basis of price. This knowledge enables car dealers to use their resources more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the use of conjoint measurement (CM) in marketing management, through which a product or service can be viewed as a collection of attributes. Product design concentrates on the assessment of the appropriate product. Therefore, information on the relative importance of these attributes for the intended user is crucial for effective product design. Marketing planning involves the integration of often conflicting goals. In this sense, a balance must be sought between objectives such as market share, profit, sales growth percentage, return on investment and retail coverage. In view of the potential of conjoint measurement, it is no wonder that it has gained increasing adoption among both academicians and marketing managers. It is estimated that over 300 commercial CM applications have been carried out. This article ties to bridge the information gap by presenting the essentials of conjoint measurement in fairly non-technical terms. After introducing some of the concepts that underlay the use of conjoint measurement, the actual method has been briefly described.