The purpose of this paper is to analyze information processing mechanisms as they operate in multi-member (household) decision making units. Based on 400 Information Display Board (IDB) experiments conducted separately with husbands and wives in eight different product categories, the research data bank allows a systematic analysis of similarities and differences in the amount and nature of information as well as information acquisition strategies used by couples.
Information Display methodology is a laboratory procedure which consists in presenting subjects with an array of product information and permitting them to acquire as much or as little information as they wish, before, arriving at a purchase decision in a simulated shopping situation.The present paper presents and discusses the results obtained from an analysis of about 500 IDB experiments collected as part of an extensive research program on consumer information processing.
The paper examines some of the problems involved in teaching consumer behavior in management education programs in Europe. These stem in large measure from the current embryonic stage of research in consumer behavior in Europe, which make it extremely difficult to develop a course directly relevant to the European context. Course content and organization is frequently based on U.S. experience. This gives unsatisfactory results from a teaching standpoint in terms of arousing student interest and involvement as well as posing a number of issues in relation to course content and relevance. Some steps towards improving this situation are suggested. Improved collaboration between management and academics is urged as critical in accomplishing this, and some possible formulas for collaboration are outlined. Some ideas for a course outline and for creating "alive" course material, getting students involved in observing behavior, conducting experiments in supermarkets, are discussed.
The object of the present paper is to conduct an overview of the main problems associated with the use of multidimensional scaling analysis in marketing, in order to: 1. Recognise their essential dimensions; 2. Present an account of the elements of resolution currently available and; 3. Submit several suggestions that may lead to a better understanding of these problems. The idea of this paper arose from the observation of a surprising contrast between, on the one hand, the present success achieved by these methods in marketing and, on the other hand, the existence of a number of basic problems, not yet resolved, that are implicitly or explicitly present in their implementation and application. In this paper the emphasis is thus deliberately put on the problems raised by these methods at the point of their utilisation rather than that of their development or their technical features.
The object of the present paper is to conduct an overview of the main problems associated with the use of multidimensional scaling analysis in marketing, in order to: 1. Recognise their essential dimensions; 2. Present an account of the elements of resolution currently available and; 3. Submit several suggestions that may lead to a better understanding of these problems. The idea of this paper arose from the observation of a surprising contrast between, on the one hand, the present success achieved by these methods in marketing and, on the other hand, the existence of a number of basic problems, not yet resolved, that are implicitly or explicitly present in their implementation and application. In this paper the emphasis is thus deliberately put on the problems raised by these methods at the point of their utilisation rather than that of their development or their technical features.
Within the context of brand image measurement, this paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of two methodological procedures selected for their widely different approaches towards the measurement problem. More specifically, spatial configurations derived from attribute data, a procedure requiring a pre-specification of the image dimensions, are compared with maps obtained from non-metric multidimensional scaling of similarity data, a procedure not requiring such a pre-specification. Systematic variation is introduced both in data collection instruments and space reducing techniques. The basic finding is that of a substantial level of convergence between the results obtained by means of the two measurement methods. Finally, the paper discusses the conceptual, methodological, and managerial implications of such a finding.