ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: Marketing
- Creators: Samper, Adriana
- Creators: Shen, Wei
Description
When consumers fail in their environmental, dieting, or budgeting goals, they may engage in a consumer confession about their goal-inconsistent behavior. This dissertation seeks to understand how confessions about consumer goal transgressions affect subsequent consumer motivation and behaviors. Results from a series of five experiments reveal that after reflecting about a past transgression, Catholics who confess (vs. do not confess) about the focal transgression are more motivated to engage in subsequent goal-consistent consumer behaviors. However, results reveal no such effects for Non-Catholics; Non-Catholics are equally motivated to engage in goal-consistent consumer behaviors regardless of whether or not they confessed. Catholics and Non-Catholics differ on the extent to which they believe that acts of penance are required to make amends and achieve forgiveness after confession. For Catholics, confessing motivates restorative, penance-like behaviors even in the consumer domain. Thus, when Catholics achieve forgiveness through the act of confession itself (vs. a traditional confession requiring penance), they reduce their need to engage in restorative consumer behaviors. Importantly, results find that confession (vs. reflecting only) does not provide a general self-regulatory boost to all participants, but rather that confession is motivating only for Catholics due to their beliefs about penance. Together, results suggest that for consumers with strong penance beliefs, confession can be an effective strategy for getting back on track with their consumption goals.
ContributorsMathras, Daniele (Author) / Mandel, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Cohen, Adam B. (Thesis advisor) / Morales, Andrea C (Committee member) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
When consumers make experiential purchases, they often have to decide between experiences that contain many or few features. Contrary to prior research demonstrating that consumers prefer feature-rich products before consumption but feature-poor products after consumption, the author reveals a reversal of this effect for experiences. Specifically, the author hypothesizes and finds that consumers prefer feature-poor experiences before consumption (a phenomenon denoted as `feature apprehension') but prefer feature-rich experiences after consumption. This feature apprehension occurs before consumption because consumers are concerned with the uncertainty associated with attaining a satisfying outcome from the experience. Manipulating the temporal distance with which consumers view the experience can attenuate this effect. Additionally, locus of control and social signaling moderate consumers' post-consumption preference for feature-rich experiences. The author proposes several recommendations for consumers and providers of experiences.
ContributorsMiller, Chadwick Justin (Author) / Samper, Adriana (Thesis advisor) / Mandel, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Sinha, Rajiv K (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation uncovers the negative aspects of aesthetics by examining when and how enhanced product and payment aesthetics can backfire and lead to unfavorable consumer responses. The first essay examines the downstream effects of nondurable product aesthetics on usage behavior and consumption enjoyment. Across a series of field and lab experiments, I document an inhibiting effect of aesthetics on consumption. I find that highly aesthetic products elicit greater inferences of effort in their creation, and that people have an intrinsic appreciation for such effort. Because the consumption process indirectly destroys the effort originally invested to make the product beautiful, people reduce consumption of such products because usage would involve destroying something they naturally appreciate. Further, I show that in cases where individuals do consume a beautiful product, they exhibit lower consumption enjoyment. These negative post-consumption outcomes are driven in parallel by concerns over having actually destroyed the effort that made the product beautiful as well as the decrements in beauty that become visible when aesthetic products are made less attractive through consumption. The second essay investigates how the aesthetics and design of a payment (e.g., beautiful gift card packaging) can influence the purchase experience. Three field and lab experiments reveal the negative impact of beautified payments on spending and purchase satisfaction, particularly in situations where usage involves compromising its aesthetic appeal. Specifically, when consumers must damage a payment’s appearance before using it (e.g., ripping gift card packaging), they are less likely to use that payment, and experience lower purchase satisfaction when they do, an effect driven by the pain of payment. In doing so, I identify aesthetics as a novel antecedent to the pain of payment that carries important consequences for spending behavior, purchase satisfaction, and the overall customer experience. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
ContributorsWu, Freeman (Author) / Morales, Andrea C. (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Thesis advisor) / Dahl, Darren W. (Committee member) / Fitzsimons, Gavan J. (Committee member) / Mandel, Naomi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
In this study I investigate the factors that may influence consumer preference and choice in China’s home interior decoration industry. With the fast development of information technology such as the internet in China, it becomes increasingly important to have a more precise understanding of consumer preference and choice in home interior decoration decisions so that companies in this industry can provide better services to meet customer needs. Using survey data from a sample of potential customers and a sample of existing customers of a large home interior decoration company, I find that (1) internet has become the mostly used channel by consumers to gather information about home interior decoration, (2) design style is the most influential factor in consumers’ choice of home interior decoration company, and (3) consumers are more likely to choose home interior decoration companies to provide full services when they are between 35 to 45 years old or above 55 years old, when it is the first time for them to purchase a real estate property, and when they are located in the Eastern region of China. Findings of this study can help home interior decoration companies better understand customer needs and preferences, facilitate changes in their marketing and sales strategies, and consequently strengthen their competitive advantage．
ContributorsYang, Jin (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Zhang, Anmin (Committee member) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This research investigates the conditions under which people use consumption choices to signal accurate versus enhanced information about themselves to others. Across five studies, I demonstrate that activating a self-verification, as opposed to self-enhancement, motive leads consumers to choose products that signal accurate information about a self-view, even when this view is negative. I replicate this finding across several self-view domains, including physical attractiveness, power, and global self-esteem. However, I find that this effect is attenuated when consumers have a high fear of negative social evaluation. My findings suggest that this type of consumption, in which choice is driven by the desire to be seen accurately (vs. positively), can explain abundant real-world behavior; contradicting the notion that consumers choose products primarily for self-enhancement.
ContributorsBrannon, Daniel Carlos (Author) / Mandel, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Morales, Andrea (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This dissertation explores conditions under which food messages backfire among consumers leading them to engage in behaviors that are opposite to what was intended by the messages. The first essay shows when and how food-related warnings can backfire by putting consumers in a state of reactance. Across three studies, I demonstrate that dieters (but not nondieters) who see a one-sided message focusing on the negative aspects of unhealthy food (vs. a one-sided positive or neutral message) increase their desire for and consumption of unhealthy foods. In contrast, dieters who see a two-sided message (focusing on both the negative and positive aspects of unhealthy food) are more likely to comply with the message, thereby choosing fewer unhealthy foods. My research suggests that negatively-worded food warnings (such as PSAs) are unlikely to work – nondieters ignore them, and dieters do the opposite. Although preliminary, the findings also suggest that two-sided messages may offer a better solution. The second essay shows how certain messages advocating for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can backfire by activating consumers’ thoughts about risk of GMOs. Across four studies, I demonstrate that strong anti-GMO (but not weak anti-GMO) consumers who see a pro-GMO message claiming that GMOs are safe for human consumption (vs. a neutral message) perceive higher risk from GMOs, resulting in more unfavorable attitudes toward GMOs and lower intentions to consume GMOs. My research also suggests that a pro-GMO message claiming that GMOs are beneficial will be more effective in persuading both strong and weak anti-GMO consumers.
ContributorsPham, Nguyen (Author) / Mandel, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Ketcham, Andrea M (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Marketers have extensive data on consumers used to enhance value for consumers. However, the same segmenting, targeting, and positioning practices that provide value for unique, specific consumers, can also create the conditions to discriminate against groups with any given characteristic. In this research I examine this tension by unpacking contexts surrounding (a) who feels discriminated against in response to contrasting marketplace treatment and (b) who is still overlooked, despite all marketers seem to know about consumers. Specifically, in Chapter 1 I examine how men’s and women’s responses to the common practice of gender-based price variation differ. I find that women view higher prices for themselves as signals of gender discrimination that are unfair, which negatively impacts many brand outcomes (i.e., choice, purchase likelihood, competitor patronage). In contrast, men are less attuned to the prices as signals of gender discrimination because they are more likely to endorse free market principles, and so their perceived price unfairness and subsequent brand responses are not as negatively impacted. I find that these effects persist across utilitarian and hedonic items, across products, services, and experiences, across temporary and permanent price differences, and is specific to gender-based price variation, not gendering alone or price differences alone.
In Chapter 2, I examine marketplace stereotypes of people with disabilities, an understudied group despite being the largest global minority. In this research, I reveal the disability preference stereotype, the inference that individuals with disabilities prefer utilitarian, over hedonic items, even though hedonic enjoyment is important to the well-being commonly sought as part of the human experience. These inferred preferences are misaligned with the actual preferences of disabled consumers. This bias occurs even when observers are informed that the product is a gift, when provided substantial information about the target consumer’s hedonic interests, and when the items are completely unrelated to disability (e.g., a documentary versus reality television streaming channel). This suppression of hedonic interests and pursuits can be mitigated if the target’s perceived need for support is attenuated through improvements in environmental accessibility.
ContributorsVan der Sluis, Helen (Author) / Morales, Andrea C (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Thesis advisor) / Mandel, Naomi (Committee member) / Lamberton, Cait (Committee member) / Dahl, Darren (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description汽车行业属于国家支柱型产业，创造了高额的产值，增加了就业岗位。随着汽车生产行业竞争日趋激烈的趋势影响，汽车经销商在未来会出现明显的分化，并且逐步向头部集中。基于这样的行业背景，本项研究开展汽车经销商整体经营和盈利能力等方面的详细深入分析，即系统整合汽车经销商业务运营层面和财务层面数据，结合统计研究方法，对经销商盈利能力进行系统且详实归因分析，从而试别驱动盈利能力的关键业务要素。其研究成果能够完善对行业发展规律和经营模式系统性理解，从而进一步指导该领域的相关业务实践，提高经销商整体经营业绩。本课题通过四个阶段来开展经销商整体经营与盈利归因的相关研究。首先，本课题梳理了中国汽车消费行业发展的历史，同时阐述样本期内（2018-2020年）国内宏观经济和汽车消费市场的特征进行，并介绍X品牌汽车经销商的地理分布、资质和业绩评级体系、自身经营特征以及汽车生产商对经销商扶持政策等方面。在第二阶段，本课题聚焦研究假设、模型与方法，通过对X品牌汽车经销商的业务结构和运营管理开展分析，并逐步识别影响经销商盈利的关键指标变量，并提出研究假设和相关模型（即时间序列模型和面板回归模型）。在第三阶段，本课题首先开展经销商相关信息整体性统计分析，获得关键业务指标在样本期内动态特征，并结合时间序列回归模型探讨各项业务指标对经销商整体盈利能力的影响程度。在第四阶段，本课题采用（个体）固定效应的面板回归模型来研究不同组别（控制）条件下经销商盈利能力的影响因素以及其盈利能力对这些因素的敏感程度，从而更深入和全面地揭示影响经销商盈利能力的潜在因素。
基于上述四阶段的研究结果，本研究进一步就提升经销商盈利能力展开讨论，并提出相应对策。本课题相关结论仅从X品牌汽车经销商经营和财务数据进行定性和定量分析获得，但衷心希望本研究的成果能够对汽车经销商改善经营业务方面能起到实践上的借鉴和指导意义。
ContributorsPan, Guangxiong (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Wu, Fei (Thesis advisor) / Zhu, Qigui (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Using a combination of laboratory experiments, field experiments, and secondary data, this dissertation examines how cross-cultural differences (e.g., thinking style and self-construal) influence the way consumers cope with self-discrepancies (essay 1) and willingness to digitally enhance their appearance (essay 2). The first essay investigates when and why consumers cope with a self-discrepancy by purchasing products in domains that are important to their self-worth, but unrelated to the self-discrepancy (i.e., fluid compensation). I identify thinking style as an important factor that influences fluid compensation and demonstrate that people with a temporarily activated or dispositional holistic thinking style are more likely to engage in fluid compensation than people with an analytic thinking style. This phenomenon occurs because, by perceiving parts as more functionally related to a larger whole, holistic (vs. analytic) thinkers are more likely to view fluid compensation as instrumental to enhancing global self-worth. Holistic (vs. analytic) thinkers’ greater propensity to engage in fluid compensation, in turn, better enables them to restore their global self-worth. The second essay examines how cultural differences in self-construal impact consumers’ willingness to engage in digital beauty work (e.g., use photo-editing apps to make oneself look better in an image). Building on prior research that shows interdependents see more overlap between themselves and others, I propose and demonstrate that consumers with an interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal also see greater overlap between their own different selves (beautified and true self). More importantly, this effect only occurs when they see both the actual self and the beautified self, side-by-side (e.g., joint presentation mode), but not when consumers see only the beautified self in isolation (e.g., separate presentation mode). This heightened overlap between the beautified self and the true self, in turn, increases willingness to digitally enhance appearance. Together, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of how cultural values shape consumers’ views of the self and consumption preferences to satisfy their goals and motivations, and it helps marketers and policy-makers design interventions to increase consumer well-being and to achieve more success in global market.
ContributorsWang, Qin (Author) / Mandel, Naomi (Thesis advisor) / Lisjak, Monika (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Morales, Andrea C. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Individuals regularly share information about the leisure activities in which they participate, and often do so in a public manner (e.g., personal biographies, social media). Little research has examined the potential consequences of sharing such information. Across five lab experiments and one quasi-experiment utilizing Twitter data, I demonstrate that when people share information about participating in multiple leisure activities, others perceive them as having greater eudaimonic (e.g., meaning, fulfillment) and hedonic (e.g., happiness, satisfaction) well-being. These perceptions of well-being, and particularly eudaimonic well-being, have important positive implications, even in domains where leisure activities might be expected to serve as a negative signal. Specifically, individuals perceived as having higher eudaimonic well-being are viewed as more appealing in professional contexts. This effect is attenuated if the activities themselves are associated with lower well-being. The present research reveals the ironic effect that highlighting how one spends time outside work can increase one’s professional standing. I further demonstrate that well-being is not simply a positive outcome for individuals but can be a diagnostic tool utilized in interpersonal relationships, including professional relationships.
ContributorsDaniels, Michelle Elizabeth (Author) / Morales, Andrea C (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Thesis advisor) / Mandel, Naomi (Committee member) / Luce, Mary Frances (Committee member) / Kristofferson, Kirk (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021