Arjun Chaudhuri

The Effect of Affect and Trust on Commitment in Retail Store Relationships

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:00:35 PST

This paper extends the study of relational exchange to retail markets. We propose that certain individual level determinants (perceived differences between stores and prior experience) are determinants of store commitment. Store trust and store affect are also modeled as intervening variables in the process. Survey data of consumers at a retail store with an affective environment provide evidence that experience is both directly and indirectly (through trust) related to store commitment, while perceived differences is indirectly related to store commitment through both trust and affect generated by the store.

Consequences of Value in Retail Markets

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:50:14 PDT

We suggest that merchandise value, affect and two types of loyalty are related in the retail domain. Based on ideas from cognitive psychology on the structure of value we suggest that merchandise value is directly related to repurchase loyalty but indirectly related to attitudinal loyalty via the construct of store affect. Additionally, our model proposes that attitudinal loyalty is related to willingness to pay a price premium while repurchase loyalty is not. We also control for the effects of store familiarity and convenience. We test our hypotheses in three studies and find that, in general, our model is well supported at the level of both individual consumers and stores. Additionally, we find that perceived retailer differentiation moderates the effect of merchandise value on store affect.

Emotional Responses on Initial Exposure to a Hedonic or Utilitarian Description of a Radical Innovation

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:50:13 PDT

Recent research advocates the importance of emotions in new product development. We investigate whether initial exposure to either a hedonic or utilitarian description of an innovation increases willingness to try the innovation. We extend Wood and Moreau's (2006) expectations-emotions-evaluation model to include the role of arousal, perceived risk (a negative evaluation), and willingness to try. We find that the model is significantly different for hedonic and utilitarian descriptions of a radical innovation (automated highway). We also find that the effect of arousal on positive (optimism) and negative (anxiety) emotions is greater for hedonic rather than utilitarian descriptions. Finally, we replicate our results using real-world descriptions of two radical innovations. We discuss our results and provide managerial implications and limitations of our research.

Can Hedonic Store Environments Help Retailers Overcome Low Store Accessibility?

Ashley Christy et al. — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:50:12 PDT

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the relationship between store accessibility, store type, and commitment. Based on commodity theory, we predict and test whether the hedonic level of a store interacts with store accessibility to change the relationship between store accessibility and store commitment. Results of a field study indicate that the negative effect of low store accessibility on store commitment is dampened in stores that have higher hedonic attributes. The results are replicated in a laboratory experiment, which rules out an alternative hypothesis for the effect. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behavior

Arjun Chaudhuri — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:49:12 PDT

Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behavior provides new insights into the effects that emotion and rational thought have on marketing outcomes. It uses sound academic research at a level students and professionals can understand. – Publisher description.

A Macro Analysis of the Relationship of Product Involvement and Information Search: The Role of Risk

Arjun Chaudhuri — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:49:11 PDT

The relationship of the importance and hedonic dimensions of product involvement to information search is analyzed. Four different models of the role of perceived risk in this relationship are compared and tested. It is expected that perceived risk will mediate the effect of the dimensions of product involvement on information search. Previous investigations have used individual consumers as the units of observation and have, therefore, limited the generalizability of their results to a few products at best. In contrast, the study reported in this paper attempts to determine the relationships of interest with products as the units of observation. It is found that perceived risk fully mediates the effect of the importance dimension of product involvement on information search but not of the hedonic dimension. The effect of hedonic involvement on information search is direct.

Product Class Effects on Brand Commitment and Brand Outcomes: The Role of Brand Trust and Brand Affect

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:29:30 PDT

The authors extend the study of relational exchanges to consumer markets using brands as the units of analysis. They propose certain product-class determinants (perceived differences between brands, hedonic and utilitarian values, brand-choice risk) as determinants of brand commitment and brand outcomes (market share, advertising-to-sales ratio). With special relevance to the phenomenon of relational exchange, brand trust and brand affect are modelled as intervening variables in the process. Aggregate data based on 137 brands are compiled from four separate surveys of consumers and brand managers. Controls in the study include the brand's age, share of voice, level of differentiation and number of competitors. Hypotheses are tested and largely supported for the effects of interest, leading to implications for the formulation of marketing strategy.

The Effect of AIDS Awareness on Condom Intention Among Truck Drivers In India: The Role of Beliefs, Feelings and Perceived Vulnerability

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:29:28 PDT

The relationships between certain communication effects were examined in a social marketing context. Data were collected on acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) awareness, beliefs, negative feelings and perceived vulnerability, the frequency of sexual episodes with sex workers and condom use intention among 250 truck drivers in India. The results indicated that beliefs and feelings mediate the effect of AIDS awareness on condom use intention. Although there was a significant relationship between the frequency of sexual episodes and perceived vulnerability, their effects on condom use intention were non‐significant. However, there was some evidence that the relationship between the frequency of sexual episodes and intention to use a condom was negative. Implications for social marketing communications and future research are discussed.

Affect, reason, and persuasion

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:21:17 PST

Presents a study of responses to advertisements in order to provide insights into the interplay of affective and analytic-cognitive aspects of the persuasion process.

How Brand Reputation Affects The Advertising-Brand Equity Link

Arjun Chaudhuri — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:21:15 PST

A model of the process of brand equity is proposed that depicts brand reputation as a mediator of the effect of brand advertising, brand familiarity, and brand uniqueness on brand equity outcomes. Brands are used as the unit of analysis in determining the relationships between consumer-level perceptions of brands and market-level data on brand advertising and brand equity outcomes such as market share and relative price. Path analysis of the brand-level data strongly validates the model. It is also shown that brand reputation is a separate construct from brand attitudes and that it performs better than brand attitudes in explaining the effect of brand advertising on brand equity outcomes.

The Chain of Effects from Brand Trust and Brand Affect to Brand Performance: The Role of Brand Loyalty

Arjun Chaudhuri et al. — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:21:13 PST

The authors examine two aspects of brand loyalty, purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty, as linking variables in the chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance (market share and relative price). The model includes product-level, category-related controls (hedonic value and utilitarian value) and brand-level controls (brand differentiation and share of voice). The authors compile an aggregate data set for 107 brands from three separate surveys of consumers and brand managers. The results indicate that when the product- and brand-level variables are controlled for, brand trust and brand affect combine to determine purchase loyalty and attitudinal loyalty. Purchase loyalty, in turn, leads to greater market share, and attitudinal loyalty leads to a higher relative price for the brand. The authors discuss the managerial implications of these results.