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Attitude Versus Involvement: Predicting Ethically And Socially Responsible Consumption Behavior, Sacha Joseph-Mathews, Nicole Bieak-Kreidler

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Critics argue that the value gap (difference between what consumers say they care about and what they actually choose to purchase) suggests that ethical consumption is not as important as consumers imply. There is much talk about the ethical consumer “myth’ as consumers often claim to be interested in purchasing ethically and socially responsible products yet sales figures for green products often do not exceed 5% total product sales in any one category with organic fruits and vegetables being the one exception. Traditional models use consumer attitudes to the environment as a predictor of ethically and socially responsible consumption behavior …

Attributes, Ethical Attitudes And Behaviors Of Tax Evaders In A Permissive Collection Society, Yusuf M. Sidani, Abdul Jalil Ghanem, Mohammed Y. A. Rawwas

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Tax evasion remains a fascinating research topic, as it is more often committed by individuals considered by society to be “ethical.” The purpose of this study is to explore the various attitudes of tax evaders and examine them in relation to their personal moral philosophies. The results of the current study found that tax evaders possessed several attributes, and their personal moral philosophy attitudes (idealism or relativism) influenced their ethical behavior. Idealism was found to be negatively associated with self-interest tax evasion behavior while relativism had the opposite effect. Idealism was also found to be positively related to tax evasion …

Gerald Sandusky And Penn State Child Sex-Abuse Scandal: A Case Of Administrative Non-Action Leading To A Severe Crisis., Ania Izabela Rynarzewska

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Penn State/Sandusky scandal was one of the most controversial and publicized cases of 2011 and 2012. A high profile university football coach sexually abused 10 boys over period of 16 years. A problematic part of this case is that the university administration knew about coach’s behavior but did nothing to stop it. Sandusky was sexually abusing minors predominantly on the premises of The Penn State University over a period of 16 years. On June 22, 2012 Sandusky was found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of sex abuse of 10 boys while on October 9 he was sentenced to 30-60 …

An Examination Of British Charity Shop Shoppers, Robert Montgomery, Ariana Murray

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

An increasing number of nonprofit organizations are developing charity shops to raise resources to support their charitable efforts. The United Kingdom currently has 9000 charity shops that take in annual revenues of 300 million British Pounds. Such stores seek donated merchandise . . . sell it . . . and use the proceeds to support philanthropic endeavors. As such, achieving a better understanding of charity shop shoppers can enhance performance of the charity shop which will, in turn, provide greater resources for helping others. The purpose of this study is to examine the processes by which charity shop shoppers: (1) …

Putting On A Happy Face: How Emotional Labor Impacts Frontline Service Employees, Anita H. Whiting

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

This study investigates emotional labor and its impact on frontline service employees (FSE). Emotional labor is defined as the stress of regulating one’s emotional displays in response to display rules (Diefendorff and Gosserand 2003). FSE experience emotional labor as they regulate their inner or felt emotions in order to display the appropriate emotions to the customer. Displaying appropriate emotions to customers is very important to service organizations because it affects customer affect and evaluation of service quality (Pugh 2001). Unlike previous research which focuses mostly on the customer’s experience during a service encounter, this paper focuses on FSE and their …

The Role Of Empathy In The Benefits Sought From Volunteering, David J. Burns

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Increasing needs for volunteers have led many nonprofit organizations to seek to understand the benefits sought by individuals from volunteering. This study examines empathy. Empathy is believed to be one of the causes of individuals engaging in helping or prosocial behavior, an activity which includes volunteering. What role does empathy play in the benefits sought by individuals from volunteering? The objective of this study is to examine this question. The relationship between empathy and benefits sought by collegiate business students from volunteering are explored. Individuals who possess relatively higher levels of empathy appear to be more likely to participate in …

Digital Word-Of-Mouth And The Gender Implications, Deborah H. Lester, Andrew M. Forman, Dolly D. Loyd, Tyra A. Burton

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Consumers can now easily access data and exchange sentiments regarding products and services on an unprecedented scale, and often in real time, through digital connections. The Internet and mobile technologies have made sharing of information and opinions among consumers easier than ever. The capacity of online participants to inspire and transform perspectives has been touted to surpass the radical potency of television when it entered the consumer’s province during the 50’s. Men and women use social media sites to learn about new products, to become smarter shoppers and to feel good about a purchase they might have already made. College …

Examining Organizational Justice In The Context Of Lmx And The Effect Of Lmx On Trust And Job Performance, Yong-Ki Lee, Sally Kim, Mun-Hyun Son, Min-Seong Kim

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

Services marketing and organizational behavior researchers have studied factors that have a positive influence on employees’ job performance. They viewed that the manager’s role in dealing with his/her subordinates is critical in producing the desired outcomes such as employee job performance. This study based on organizational justice and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, presents and tests a model, in which relationships among justice, LMX, trust, and job performance are examined. More specifically, the study examines the impact of organizational justice on the quality of LMX and the effect of LMX on employees’ attitudinal and behavioral aspects (trust and job performance). The …

Delivering Quality Customer Service: The Interactive Effects Of Employee Job Resourcefulness And Organizational Support, Shawn F. Clouse, Simona Stan, Nader H. Shooshtari

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

While front line customer service employees’ motivation and ability to provide high quality customer service is paramount for firm performance, it is unclear how employees’ internal resources may interact with organizational support. This paper advances a theoretical model for the possible interactive effects between customer service employees’ job resourcefulness and the external resource support provided by the organization, in the form of formal training, informal coaching, and rewarding mechanism, in determining the employees’ levels of commitment to customer service quality and the development of customer service skill proficiency. An exploratory study conducted on a sample of 98 student employees at …

Tension And Energy: Components Of Arousal And Their Effect On Intention To Give, Robert E. Pitts, Julia E. Blose, Rhonda W. Mack

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2013

In the current study we explore a multidimensional conceptualization of arousal to better understand the effect of donation appeals incorporating negative messages on intention to give. More specifically, an experiment is conducted to determine whether varying the level of message negativity has an impact on donor intentions to give where the mechanism by which intentions increase is examined. Using structural equation modeling, the relationship between message negativity, two dimensions of arousal (tension and energy) and intention to donate is estimated. We collected data using the background of an on-campus fund raising program for abused Afghani women held at a mid-size, …

Ethics In Retail Buying And Sales: Perceptions Of Future Retail Personnel, David J. Burns

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Unlike many other industries, collegiately educated individuals pursuing a career in retailing often find themselves involved in both buying and selling activities and/or interacting with those who do during their careers. As a result, policies enacted by a retailer which affects one of these two environments will likely affect the other. Perceptions of potentially ethically troublesome situations and practices in buying were found to be strongly related to perceptions of potentially ethically troublesome situations and practices in selling. The only exceptions concern socialization between retail salespeople and their peers and/or management, and whether vendors service small accounts. It appears that …

Projecting Integrity: Online Branding For Nonprofits, Lisa Witzig, Perry Haan

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Internet usage has grown precipitously in the last decade, and the implications for marketing are deep and profound for nonprofit organizations. Web sites and online social networking are becoming increasingly important for nonprofits, and the concept of brand personality is another powerful marketing technique that enhances these organizations’ marketing strategies. This study examined the intersection of online branding, brand personalities, and nonprofit organizations, and assessed whether the presence of online branding techniques at a nonprofit’s Web site is associated with a donor’s perception of the nonprofit’s personality. The results of the study demonstrated that online branding is significantly important for …

Identifying Potential Student Blood Donors By Personality Traits, Harold Ogden, Brian Mascarenhas, Milen Minchev, Emilie Pelletier, Ryan Slanley

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

A convenience sample of 149 university students was surveyed on their attitudes and behaviors toward blood donation and with a scale of twenty four personality trait items. These items reduced to a seven- factor structure. The data were divided into two groups of high and low-likelihood of blood donation which were compared on factor means. Differences were seen on the “Concern for Others” and the “Down to Earth” factors although not all items in a factor were different and differences were seen in some non- significant factors. Applications of these finding are suggested.

Are Nonprofits Choosing The Right Type Of Website, Dave Mcmahon, Samuel Seaman

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

The authors review the issues confronting nonprofit organizations and describe the types of websites to consider by size of the organization and focus of the organization. An analysis is done on an initial population of 609 organizations. The managerial implications address possible ways to optimize the use of resources for small and larger organizations.

The Influence Of Increasing Transaction Price To Facilitate Direct Charitable Contribution On Consumer Product Choice, Michael Levens

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

The study of embedding direct charitable contributions into a purchase transaction through increasing product price can enhance opportunities for charitable organizations to proactively approach companies with cause marketing proposals. Typically the case for cause marketing is built on goodwill and the potential for future revenue or profits for the partner company. If increasing product price to include a direct donation can be shown to possess consumer utility, business cases for cause marketing activities are enhanced for all parties involved. The basis for this research is the convergence between the concepts of cause marketing, individual giving, donation behavior, the shopping process …

College Students' Choice Criteria Of Retail Banks, Charles Blankson, Trang Phuc Tran

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

The purpose of this research is to develop a scale identifying American college students’ choice criteria of retail banks. It is an exploratory study that complements extant studies on retail bank selection. The reliability of the scale was assessed using exploratory factor analysis and serves as a prelude to further empirical validation analysis. The results present four distinct factors important in the selection of retail banks, namely, "convenience", "competence”, “recommendation by parents" and "free banking - no bank charges". It concludes by discussing managerial contributions, limitations and future research directions.

The Role Of Cognitive Dissonance In A Service Setting, Young (Sally) K. Kim

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

While numerous studies used the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain consumer behavior, there is no study as of today that applied the theory to the service industry to investigate the role of cognitive dissonance in influencing important marketing-related variables such as perceived value and trust. This study examines the relationship between cognitive dissonance and relationship variables (trust and value) and proposes a model to understand how consumers process information facing a negative word-of-mouth message that is incongruent with their existing belief and how cognitive dissonance affects their behaviors. The proposed model is tested using data collected via mail survey …

Effectiveness Of Price Bundling In An Entertainment Setting, Raj Arora, Charles R. Stoner

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

This study examined the effectiveness of price bundling and whether that effectiveness varied by the discount format utilized. Exploring a movie-dining bundle in the entertainment setting, the study revealed that the bundle was preferred over individual item purchases. Mixed results were noted for the format preferences, and these are addressed in the discussion.

Attitudes Towards Consumer Transgressions In The Marketplace, Sam Fullerton, Larry Neale

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

A sample of 815 adults drawn from the general American population provided their perception of the appropriateness of 12 questionable consumer actions in the marketplace. The scenarios investigated ranged from illegal actions such as inflating one’s losses when filing an insurance claim to actions that while not illegal, may raise questions of ethics. The 12 scenarios exhibited a wide range of mean responses on the six-point scale thereby supporting an often stated premise that consumer ethics is situational in nature. An array of commonly employed demographic questions was also included on the Internet-based survey, and differences of opinion were documented …

Prisoner Recidivism: A Question For Social Marketing, Joseph R. Stasio Jr.

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Our society is today grappling with a myriad of social, political and economic problems in a time of greatly reduced and very costly resources. All of these problems are connected, in some way, with each other. It is the very nature of societies and this interconnectedness must be understood and appreciated, because, if left unheeded, the consequences can be quite dramatic.

With the advent of social marketing, society now has proven methods of effectively attacking these problems to create many types of desired social changes. Prisoner recidivism is just such a problem. It has intense social, political and economic ties …

At The Intersection Of Politics & Consumption: A Review Of Ethical Shopping In America, Julie M. Pharr

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

This paper condenses the existing literature on ethical shopping in the United States with the goal of providing an up-to-date review of the topic. It profiles the ethical shopper and distinguishes the various institutions and instruments of political consumerism evident in the Fair Trade movement. It also provides recommendations for more rigorous study of moral consumer behavior and implications for implementing fair trade marketing strategies.