In this research, we conceptualized brand anthropomorphism as a property of branded products in regards to the extent to which these objects are perceived as if they were actual human beings. Then, we developed a scale of brand anthropomorphism that captures the multidimensional nature of the construct. The proposed scale is composed of three dimensions, two of which assess the extent to which the external appearance of a branded product resembles the lineaments of a human body and the physiognomy of a human face, and a third dimension, which assesses the extent to which such a product reflects how consumers perceive themselves. Results across two empirical studies showed that the scale is robust, as it passed several validity tests, and demonstrated its predictive power over brand personality and brand loyalty. Our scale is the first proposed in brand anthropomorphism research to receive empirical validation, thus offering theoretical and operational implications.

This research investigated how the use of a prominent versus subtle branding strategy and status consumption affect consumers’ intention to buy luxury products across emerging and mature markets. To this end, an experimental study with consumers in India (emerging market) and the United States (mature market) was conducted. The results suggest that Indian (but not U.S.) consumers with a higher status consumption tendency are more willing to purchase prominently branded luxury products than subtly branded ones. On the other hand, U.S. (but not Indian) consumers with a lower status consumption tendency are more willing to purchase subtly branded luxury products than prominently branded ones. The paper discusses these findings, highlights their contribution to luxury research, and illustrates their practical value for luxury companies interested in targeting mature and emerging markets.

Sustainability is a central issue for people’s well-being, but companies often fail in communicating and selling “green” products. This paper shows that using negative frames in communications activates a sense of shame in consumers, which in turn leads them to choose green products and develop pro-environmental attitudes.

This paper deals with older consumers’ cognitive age (i.e., the age they feel), which is self-assessed as systematically lower than their chronological age (i.e., their actual age). Such a tendency would lead older consumers to display attitudes and purchasing behaviors which are not typical of people of their real age. Two studies show that cognitive age is not an immutable construct but varies according to its context of reference, so that the same individual may feel different ages under different circumstances. Results demonstrate that the declared cognitive age is affected by the physical environment, the social references, and the product categories which the consumer is using when self-assessing it. Furthermore, the tendency of older consumers to feel younger is stronger when these consumers are pursuing in these contexts hedonic rather than utilitarian goals. These findings provide novel inputs for the development of appropriate ways to measure cognitive age and to deal with it when targeting senior consumers and positioning hedonic vs. utilitarian goods.

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the latent determinants of the purchasing intention for fashion luxury goods. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 40 in-depth interviews were conducted with Italian customers in a fashion luxury goods store in Italy. Qualitative research was employed in data collection using the laddering technique and the Means-End Chain (MEC) analysis. Findings – Results showed that consumers buy luxury fashion goods mainly to match their lifestyle, thus satisfying their inner drives. The hierarchical value map resulting from the data collection and elaboration demonstrates that self-confidence and self-fulfillment are the main hidden final values when buying and consuming luxury goods. Implications for marketers are related to tailoring products, brand values and communication messages to the subjective, self-rewarding and “internalized” consumption sought after by consumers. Originality/value – The contribution of the study is based on the use of the laddering technique and the Means-End Chain (MEC) analysis for investigating latent determinants of purchase intention for fashion luxury goods. Moreover, the study examines this topic in the Italian market, which represents a relevant instance of mature market for fashion luxury goods.

The present research is aimed at establishing how farmers can be encouraged to adopt irrigation water saving measures. By developing and implementing an extended version of the well-known Theory of Planned Behavior, we considered farmers’ propensity to adopt innovations and their water footprints. In a sample of 150 Italian farmers, we found that favorable attitudes towards water saving measures, and the orientations of environmental associations and public bodies favorably influence farmers’ intentions to adopt water saving measures. Farmers’ innovativeness and water footprints also exert a significant influence on their adoption intentions. The paper also discusses the contribution of these results to the previous literature and highlights practical implications for policy makers interested in promoting the adoption of irrigation water saving measures.

This study analyzes the impact of ethical motivations, food safety and health-related concerns on purchasing intentions of habitual and less frequent consumers of organic food. A sample of 291 subjects was surveyed through a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and classified either as “regular” or “occasional” purchasers of organic food according to their buying frequency. Results show different determinants of intention for the two groups of subjects: ethical motivations affect the purchase intentions of regular consumers, whereas food safety concerns influence the purchase intentions of occasional consumers. Implications are discussed.

Implementing Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) in residential buildings is one of the most effective ways of decreasing household energy consumption. The present research adopts an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior e which includes attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and environmental concern e to investigate the antecedents of households’ intention to adopt and willingness to pay for EEMs. The research was conducted in a Southern Italian region that has intensively promoted the adoption of renewable and energy-saving technologies. The results show that attitude is the main determinant of households’ intention to adopt and willingness to pay for EEMs. However, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and environmental concern have their own positive effects based on the income level, education, and age of household subgroups. The results have practical implications for companies and policy-makers interested in promoting EEM adoption and encouraging sustainable development.

This study investigates whether a visible signal of physical decay – specifically, the lack of front teeth – may represent an antecedent of a deterioration of the elderly consumers’ buying behaviour. To this end, the study compares the purchase decision-making process, shopping motivations, emotional states arising from the shopping experience, and materialistic tendency of elderly consumers missing their front teeth with those of elderly consumers who do not display this lack. Findings reveal that the former consumers are likely to engage in unplanned purchases, pursue erratic goals, experience high levels of arousal when shopping, and are more materialist than the latter ones. Furthermore, the same consumers reported that the quality and quantity of their consumptions decreased since they lost their front teeth. Such results derive from the negative social perception of physical deterioration and call for marketing approaches aimed at improving these consumers’ quality of life.

Lo spostamento di una vasta quota di popolazione a segmenti più maturi di classi di età costituisce insieme una sfida e un’opportunità per le strategie di marketing delle imprese. Gli anziani controllano una gran parte della ricchezza delle famiglie, contribuiscono in maniera significativa ai consumi nazionali e condizionano fortemente le scelte aziendali con i loro modi di consumare. Alla vigilia d’una nuova economia dominata dagli ultra-sessantenni («economic gerontology»), il volume si propone una rassegna sistematica di tutti gli studi mai pubblicati sul comportamento di consumo degli anziani nelle riviste accademiche internazionali di marketing, pubblicità e psicologia dei consumi, dall’epoca delle prime ricerche in argomento ai giorni nostri. In particolare, oltre quarant’anni di letteratura sono analizzati sulla base delle diverse fasi del processo di consumo: dalla fase di pre-acquisto, costituita dal riconoscimento delle specifiche esigenze di consumo, la ricerca di informazioni e la valutazione delle alternative, fino alle fasi di acquisto (utilizzo) e post-acquisto (valutazioni e disposizioni successive all’utilizzo dei beni). L’esposizione è corredata dall’uso di tavole sinottiche che illustrano, per ciascuna referenza, le metodologie di ricerca applicate, le variabili indagate e la tipologia di campione, al fine di presentare, in maniera organica e riassuntiva, i risultati raggiunti.

Marketing researchers employ the Five-Factor Model to describe branded products through attributes used for human personality. Marker attributes used to elicit brand personality dimensions can also influence consumers’ intention to purchase. Two connected studies, carried out on two samples of 91 and 557 subjects, respectively, show that brand personality-marker attributes predict intention to purchase, but only to the extent that such attributes are vivid and, in particular, when they elicit emotional responses (i.e., when they are emotionally interesting). These findings have several implications for people involved in developing strategies for persuasive communication.

“Misurare la soddisfazione” è la sfida di approfondite ricerche e l’obiettivo di molte strategie di marketing. L’assunto di base è che un consumatore soddisfatto tende a reiterare i suoi comportamenti d’acquisto, a parità di ogni altra condizione o vincolo. Tradizionalmente, la soddisfazione è stata misurata come l’esito di un raffronto positivo tra le attese sviluppate prima dell’acquisto e i risultati ottenuti con l’utilizzo del bene acquistato. Tuttavia, nelle società di oggi, con la prevalenza dei consumi simbolici su quelli materiali, la frammentazione delle richieste del mercato, la vicinanza in tempo reale alle comunità di clienti, il rapporto instaurato coi beni acquistati non è quasi mai solo razionale, ma assume i connotati di un’esperienza totalitaria, emotiva e coinvolgente. Questo lavoro parte dall’assunto che la soddisfazione derivi, piuttosto che dalla specifica performance del prodotto, dalla valutazione dell’intera esperienza di consumo, dal momento in cui il prodotto è scelto a quello in cui ci si disfa. Sulla base di un innovativo approccio, il Modello conoscenze-speranze, essa è vista come un incremento dello stock di benessere soggettivo, esito di un raffronto con quanto razionalmente atteso ed emotivamente sperato. In quest’ottica, la soddisfazione risulta connessa con gli aspetti delle esperienze legati alla curiosità, alla divergenza, alla capacità di comportarsi e relazionarsi e, al contempo, con gli aspetti più propriamente sensoriali, simbolici ed estetici del consumo, che fanno appello alle emozioni più profonde ed agli affetti delle persone. Il volume è articolato in quattro parti – a vantaggio di quanti, studiosi e operatori, desiderino misurare con validità scientifica e rigore la soddisfazione nei diversi ambiti di consumo. Nella prima, sono passati in rassegna i principali studi sulla soddisfazione, come base per una revisione critica del paradigma tradizionale realizzata con la proposizione del nuovo modello interpretativo. Nella seconda parte, è sviluppata la scala di soddisfazione derivante dalle esperienze di consumo, rispettivamente, in rapporto ai prodotti shopping, convenience, specialty e ai servizi. Nella terza parte, sono presentate delle applicazioni della scala in campo bancario, assicurativo e distributivo, oltre che in relazione ad un costrutto alternativo collegato, la customer delight, concludendo con una rassegna sistematica degli effetti comportamentali, positivi o negativi, e delle conseguenti strategie di marketing da parte delle imprese. La quarta parte, infine, fornisce una vasta appendice didattica contenente tutti i passaggi statistici, gli output e i comandi del software SPSS-PASW, per condurre le analisi contenute nel volume.

This research advances current knowledge about art infusion, which is the ability of art to favorably influence the assessment of consumer products. In particular, the research investigates the effectiveness of artworks that evoke their creators’ most recognizable style in luxury advertising. The research encompasses three studies – two conducted online and one in a real consumption situation. The first study explores the effect that a recognizable vs. non-recognizable painter’s style has on consumers’ judgments about luxury products. The second and third studies explore the moderating roles of desire to signal status and desire for distinction, respectively, which are relevant to advertisers interested in targeting these individual differences. Advertisements that incorporate artworks that evoke a painter’s most recognizable style enhance the advertised products’ perceived luxuriousness. Consumers with a higher desire to signal status exhibit greater purchasing intention in response to recognizable artworks. By contrast, consumers with a higher desire for distinction exhibit greater purchasing intention when the painter’s style in the featured artwork is less recognizable. The results provide marketers with suggestions on how to select and incorporate visual artworks into luxury brand communication: They could focus on recognizable vs. non-recognizable artworks based on whether their main goal is to communicate status or distinctiveness. This research offers novel insights into the practical value of art infusion by showing when and for whom the beneficial effects of pairing art with luxury products are more likely to occur.

This paper aims to assess the extent to which the perceived images and personalities of places mirror their prevalent production orientations, or “vocations”. It also investigates the factors that shape the expectations and desires of residents, tourists, local firms and export markets, as well as these users’ overall place experience. Six hundred questionnaires containing both closed-ended and open-ended questions were administered in four local territorial systems (LTSs) of a Southern Italian province. Data were analyzed by using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Results showed that place image mirrors the respective productive orientation for only one of the examined LTSs. Meanwhile, for all four LTSs, place image was congruent with place personality. The generalizability of the results is limited, as the research focused on LTSs located in a specific geographical area. The paper provides suggestions regarding the formulation of marketing policies aimed at improving the willingness of residents, tourists, local firms and export markets to use the products/services/resources of the studied LTSs. Communication and branding strategies that leverage the personality traits of the examined LTSs are also illustrated in the paper. By examining the coherence among place image, personality, and prevalent vocation, this research addresses a neglected area of investigation. This study is one of the few that provides empirical evidence of misperceptions of the actual production orientation of places.

This study introduces a new model of credibility for websites: graphical interfaces, functioning as bi-directional channels of communication that enable both users and computers to communicate. In the proposed model, website credibility is based on (i) Context of fruition: situational factors and internal characteristics of users, measured by level of involvement (Zaichkowsky, 1994); (ii) Stimuli: inputs that attract the attention of users as interpreted through their memory schemata. These enable users to generate prototypes – representative models of a particular membership category – and examples – imitative models of a membership category; and (iii) Mental schemata: unconscious cognitive representations, based on knowledge structures. These enable one to differentiate between users who are experts – individuals who possess these schemata – and those who are novices – individuals who do not (Guido, 2001). Results obtained from two experimental studies showed that credibility should not be considered an objective characteristic ascribed to its source, but a subjective one, deriving from users’ cognitive and motivational processes.

This study adds to the research on disgust by proposing a theoretical framework encompassing contamination-based, moral, and structural disgust dimensions. The study empirically assesses the impact of these three dimensions on consumers’ purchase intentions for different product categories. The study investigates consumer reaction to disgusting stimuli related to attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness products by means of closed-ended questionnaires administered to three consumer samples. Contamination-based disgust reduces the intention to purchase expertise and trustworthiness products. Similarly, structural disgust reduces the intention to purchase expertise and trustworthiness products. Moral disgust seems to have a positive effect on the intention to purchase attractiveness products. Marketing strategies for expertise and trustworthiness products should emphasize their pureness and capacity to match consumer expectations, respectively. Ad hoc strategies centred on moral disgust could be designed for attractiveness products. This study proposes a new conceptualization of consumers’ disgust and shows that the identified disgust dimensions have different effects on consumer intention to purchase attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness products.

The aim of the present study is to examine the role of ethical dimensions and product personality in the purchasing intention of organic food products. The Prospect method (Caprara, Barbaranelli and Guido 2000), which integrates the Five factors model of personality (FFM, cf. Digman 1990) and the Theory of planned behavior (TPB, Ajzen 1991) extended to an ethical dimension, was employed, by using a Structural Equation Modeling approach. Results showed that moral norms – i.e., personal beliefs regarding what is right or wrong (Parker, Manstead and Stradling 1995) – can be considered the main motivator of purchasing intention, and they are, in turn, affected by subjective norms and product personality traits of Naturalness and Authenticity. Marketing implications for firms operating in the organic food industry are discussed, in their intent to shift from a “niche” market to a broader diffusion of these products.

How do social cues in the immediate environment affect older consumers’ tendency to feel younger? And what is the impact of this tendency on consumption? This research investigates the malleability of older consumers’ feel-age and the underlying mechanisms by focusing on the influence of contextual social cues and the downstream effects on consumption behavior. Five experiments provide evidence that the mere presence of young social cues triggers an identity threat for older consumers; and feeling younger is a way to protect the self from negative stereotypes associated with aging. By contrast, young consumers are relatively immune to age-related social cues. Whereas the presence of young social cues magnifies older consumers’ tendency to feel younger, this effect is attenuated when the young social cues are less desirable or when the older consumers possess higher self-esteem. The greater tendency to feel younger in the presence of young social cues increases older consumers’ choice of contemporary over traditional products, especially among those with lower self-esteem. Theoretical insights and practical implications are discussed.