rupert s l 2014 - university of regina · rupert’s land consumer behaviour symposium page 1 maps...

RUPERT’S LAND 2014 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR SYMPOSIUM

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN MAY 23 - 24, 2014

Rupert’s Land Consumer Behaviour Symposium Page 1

Maps

Main Floor Hotel Saskatchewan

Hotel Saskatchewan to Crave

Exit Hotel Saskatchewan through the main

entrance

Turn right onto Victoria Avenue

Cross Scarth Street and continue down Victoria

(that is the SaskPower building on your right)

Cross Hamilton Street and continue down

Victoria

Pass Golf’s Steakhouse on your right (the one

with the flame outside)

Crave is the next building on your right

Distance and time to destination:

About 200 m and a 2 minute walk depending on

the traffic lights


Walk around Wascana Lake (Approximately 6 km roundtrip)


Downtown Regina 1) Hotel Sakatchewan

2) Crave

3) Atlantis Coffeehouse (open F 6:30 am, S 7:30 am ‘til midnight)

4) Tim Horton’s (open 24 hrs)

5) Aegean Coast Coffee & Tea (open F 6:30 am, S 9 am ‘til 9 pm)

6) Greenspot Café

7) Cornwall Centre (shopping, Tim Horton’s, Second Cup, food court

- open 9:30 am ‘til F 9 pm, S 6 pm)

8) Casino Regina

9) Copper Kettle (greek), O’Hanlon’s (pub), and Michi (sushi)

10) Beer Brothers (resto pub) and Globe Theatre:

11) Rooftop Bar and Grill

12) Siam Kitchen (Thai)

1

7

8

3

9

11

10

12

2

4

6

5


Time Friday, May 23. Venue: Oak Room, Hotel Saskatchewan

Breakfast on your own (hotel or nearby restaurants – see )

9:00 - 9:15 Coffee, Welcome and Announcements

9:15 - 9:45 1

Standard: The Impact of Perceived Bank Service Quality on Young Adults’

Perceptions of Social Inequality and Evaluations of Credit Unions.

By Zeyu Song* and Namita Bhatnagar

9:45 -10:15 2 Standard: Revising Loyalty in Regards to its Components and Antecedents.

By Mehdi Akhgari* and Ed Bruning

10:15 - 10:30 3 Update: Arousal and the Schema Congruity Effect. By Theodore Noseworthy,

Fabrizio Di Muro* and Kyle B. Murray

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:15 4 Update: Message Content in Canadian Automotive Advertising: A

Longitudinal Comparison of Safety Messaging. By Anne M. Lavack* and

Lisa Watson

11:15 - 11:45 5 Workshop: Encountering Brand Rejection, What Makes Consumers Persist?

By Jun Yan* and Fang Wan

11:45 - 12:15 6

Workshop: The Impact of Source and the Directness of a Compliment on

Consumers.

By Donya Shabgard* and Kelley Main

12:15-1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 1:45 7 Workshop: Crowdsourcing A Better Future: The Warm Glow of Creativity.

By Anthony Paul*, Monica Popa and Lee Swanson

1:45 - 2:15 8

Standard: Accuracy vs Defense Motivations Depend on Who Am I Right

Now: Identity Salience Effects in Response to Persuasion Attempts.

By Kelley Main*, Wenxia Guo and Katherine White

2:15 - 2:45 9 Workshop: Grief and Philanthropy: Making the Connection.

By Sara Penner

2:45 - 3:15 Coffee Break

3:15 - 3:45 10

Workshop: Compliment Early but Tip Late: Economic versus Social

Consumer Influence Tactics.

By Raymond Lavoie*, Kelley Main and Wenxia Guo

3:45 - 4:15 11 Standard: The Scrapbook as an Autobiographical Memory Tool.

By Barbara Phillips

4:15 - 4:30 Announcements

4:30 - 6:15 Free Time

(For a nice walk suggestion see page 4: Wascana Lake)

6:15 - Dinner at Crave (1925 Victoria Ave) coctails: 6:15 dinner 6:30


Time Saturday, May 24. Venue: Oak Room, Hotel Saskatchewan

Breakfast on your own (hotel or nearby restaurants – See Page 5)

8:45 - 9:00 Coffee and Announcements

9:00 - 9:30

12 Standard: An Exploratory Research on Weight Loss Products Using Before

and After Appeals.

By Hamed Aghakhani*, Fang Wan and Kelley Main

9:30 – 10:00

13 Workshop: Consumer Choice Modeling: Comparing and Contrasting the

MAAM, AHP, TOPSIS and AHP-TOPSIS Methodologies.

By Yan Zhang (Crystal)

10:00 - 10:30

14 Workshop: Jealousy and the Jilted Lover: The Effect of Brand Elimination on

Consumer Attitudes Toward Brand Portfolios.

By Kendra Hart

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:30

15 Workshop: Applying Transtheoretical Model of Change to Anti-Depression

Campaigns

By Tatiana Levit, Magdalena Cismaru and Alexis Zederayko*

11:30 – 12:00

16 Workshop: The Consumption, Collecting and Sharing of Images by Males on

Pinterest.

By David Williams

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 1:30

17 (Tentative) Standard: Memorable Mishaps: Negative Events and Positive

Perceptions of Organized Tours.

By Monica Popa and Ana-Pietje Du Plessis

1:30 – 2:00

Planning for next year

Thanks and Wrap-up


The Impact of Perceived Bank Service Quality on Young Adults’ Perceptions of Social

Inequality and Evaluations of Credit Unions. (Standard Stream) By Zeyu Song* and Namita Bhatnagar

Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of perceived service quality provided by

banks on young adults’ perceptions of general societal and context-specific inequality, and

negative emotions. Specifically, we hypothesize that young adults that receive poor quality of

service from banks: (a) perceive greater levels of inequality (both at the societal level and

context-specific); and (b) experience more intense negative affect (i.e., feeling embarrassed,

angry, upset). We also explore whether: (a) perceptions of inequality, and (b) the information

source (i.e., from a friend versus ad) result in more favorable evaluations of credit unions. Three

lab experiments test these relationships. Results show increased context-specific inequality

perceptions and negative affect on receiving lower quality service. Societal income inequality

perceptions influenced preferences and recommendation likelihood of credit unions through

attitudes towards them. A key role of knowledge about credit unions was found—whereby

individuals with greater awareness provided more favorable evaluations for credit unions.

Information received from friends was also trusted more than through ads. This research has

implications for both theory and practice. From a theoretical standpoint, this research draws

connections between literatures on service quality, social inequality, and information processing.

Results found here have practical implications for the functioning both of banks as well as credit

unions. Banks need to remain cognizant of the quality of service they provide to customers

(young adults in this context) due to inferences drawn about disparities in treatment meted out to

customers and subsequent negative emotions engendered. Further, credit unions can market

themselves by: (1) providing more information to young adults, (2) using word-of-mouth

communications as information sources rather than ads, and (3) making people aware that

income disparities exist in society. Interestingly, non-Canadian nationals displayed greater

intentions to engage with credit unions via social media than did the Canadian nationals—an

important consideration as credit unions search for non-traditional target audiences while also

relying heavily on promotions that occur online and via social media.

Notes:


Revising Loyalty in Regards to its Components and Antecedents. (Standard Stream) By Mehdi Akhgari* & Ed Bruning


Consumer loyalty is generally considered the ultimate goal of relational marketing. On the other

hand, hedonic and utilitarian attitudes are important antecedents of consumer behaviour.

However, little is known about the relationship between hedonic and utilitarian attitudes and

different loyalty dimensions. This theoretical gap is the main focus of this research. For example,

the economic view argues that a price reduction leads to increased product demand based on

utilitarian attitudes, which in turn lead to behavioural loyalty (e.g. re-purchase). However, we

propose that creating hedonic attitudes (e.g. by means of signalling identity) affects attitudinal

loyalty by way of a separate channel and, consequently, impacts behavioural loyalty. Early

theorists viewed loyalty as simply behavioural (i.e., repurchase actions), while others have

suggested that a complete evaluation of loyalty should include assessment of consumer beliefs,

affects, and attitudes (Oliver, 1999). Accepted definitions of loyalty include both behavioural

and attitudinal aspects (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). For example, while repurchasing is one of

the behavioural aspects, sensitivity to some unique value is one of the attitudinal aspects (Aaker,

1991; Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001; Oliver, 1999). Although it has been empirically shown that

attitudinal loyalty influences behavioural loyalty (Bandyopadhyay & Martell, 2007), the fact is

that little is known about the relationship. To investigating this theoretical gap, we will identify

and test several dimensions of attitudinal and behavioural loyalty in a comprehensive model to

investigate not only the relation to each other but also the effect of various hedonic and utilitarian

attitudes, and trust on each component of attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. In the proposed

study, attitudinal loyalty components include (1) relationship satisfaction, (2) continuance

commitment, (3) emotional attachment/ affective commitment to the product/service/or brand,

and (4) identification. Behavioural loyalty components include (1) repurchase intention, (2)

word-of-mouth (advocacy), and (3) co-operation. Thus, our theoretical model proposes to

explain in detail how specific hedonic and utilitarian attitudes impact several dimensions of

attitudinal and behavioural loyalty through the mediation of trust. Our research propositions will

focus on the specific logical linkages between hedonic and utilitarian attitudes, and attitudinal

and behavioural loyalty, mediated by trust.

Notes:


Arousal and the Schema Congruity Effect. (Update Stream) By Theodore Noseworthy, York University

Fabrizio Di Muro*, University of Winnipeg

and Kyle B. Murray, University of Alberta

The schema congruity effect – commonly referred to as the Mandler hypothesis or the moderate

incongruity effect, suggests that an individual achieves an optimal level of arousal when an

object is slightly incongruent (moderate incongruity), thus allowing the individual to successfully

assimilate the object into their existing schema. However, when incongruity levels rise past a

certain point (extreme incongruity), a person’s ability to make sense of the object diminishes

quickly (Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989), which often leads to negative evaluations. In this

research, we examine the interplay between level of arousal (i.e., the intensity of a particular

mood state) and the schema congruity effect. The results of this research illustrate that

consumers’ state of arousal when examining incongruity will influence whether or not the

schema congruity effect will manifest.

Notes:


Message Content in Canadian Automotive Advertising: A Longitudinal Comparison of

Safety Messaging (Update Stream) By Anne M. Lavack*, Thompson Rivers University

and Lisa Watson, University of Regina

To avoid government regulation, it is often in an industry’s best interest to make voluntary

changes to its advertising. The Canadian automotive industry recently chose to implement a

Voluntary Agreement that eliminates the portrayal of unsafe driving in automotive advertising.

The present study examines portrayals of speed and unsafe driving in Canadian automotive

advertising at two separate points in time, before and after the implementation of the Voluntary

Agreement (2006-07 vs. 2011-12). Automotive ads in TV, newspapers, and magazines were

analyzed to determine the extent to which messages focus on unsafe and aggressive driving

versus safety. Results were compared across television and print media. The implications for

advertising regulation, consumer behaviour, and public policy will be discussed.

Notes:


Encountering Brand Rejection, What Makes Consumers Persist? (Workshop Stream) By Jun Yan* and Fang Wan


This research aims to find out consumers' brand engagement (approach or avoidance) when they

encounter rejection (blatant rejection or subtle rejection) from a brand that is product-focused or

identity-focused for them. We firstly categorize and define brand rejection in blatant mode and

subtle mode, which could trigger different goals for different consumers – ego defense for the

identity-focused consumers who have received blatant rejection, unfulfilled goal realization for

products-focused consumers, and self-achievement for self-focused consumers who have

received subtle rejection. With different goals and focuses, consumers would choose their

engagement towards the rejecting brand, persist or not.

Notes:


The Impact of Source and the Directness of a Compliment on Consumers. (Workshop Stream) By Donya Shabgard* Faculty of Arts, Psychology, University of Manitoba

and Kelley Main, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

The purpose of our study is to extend prior research, which demonstrated that participants

preferred a direct (face-to-face) instead of an indirect (overheard) compliment from a sales clerk.

Participants watch a video in which they are asked to imagine shopping for a pair of pants and

are complimented either directly (face-to-face) or indirectly (overheard) by either a sales clerk or

another consumer. The participants’ perceptions of the source did not significantly differ across

conditions and responses to the flattery (i.e. ratings of the pants and store) were not positive in

any particular condition. Finally, participants did not differ in their perceptions of which

compliment was more expected/usual. However, gender differences and cross-cultural

differences were found with response to flattery on perceptions of the source and the product.

Notes:


Crowdsourcing A Better Future: The Warm Glow of Creativity. (Workshop Stream) By Anthony Paul* (with Dr. Monica Popa and Dr. Lee Swanson)

Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan

Crowdsourcing refers to garnering ideas or services from masses of individuals, often via the

internet, for the advancement of social causes. For example, Cancer Research UK employs a

smartphone app called Play to Cure: Genes in Space to crowdsource cancer research to gamers.

Players who navigate a virtual obstacle course in a spaceship are essentially finding the best way

to navigate through actual DNA data related to tumors. The novelty of the crowdsourcing

domain offers intriguing avenues for scholarly work, as theory-building in this area is

challenging and sorely needed. Our paper identifies and tests factors that can facilitate the

success of crowdsourcing efforts. From the charitable donations literature we draw the idea that

individuals' contributions to causes are enhanced when a self-benefit is present, even if it's

merely in the form of "warm glow"—the positive feeling people get from helping others. In the

context of crowdsourcing, the potential for personal benefits can be much more concrete. For

example, women involved in a crowdsourcing effort to find the cure for a disease that commonly

affects females may experience direct benefits later in life, in effect contributing to their own

future. The primary aspect we are examining is whether individuals are more(less) likely to

create innovative solutions to the problem if the potential for experiencing direct benefits is high

versus low. Furthermore, we explore whether the potential for direct benefits impacts the

individual's interest in the social cause, and likelihood to donate money to the cause. The

relationship between crowdsourcing creativity and subsequent monetary donations to the cause is

interesting considering that competing predictions can be made: the relationship can be assumed

positive (i.e., the more creative individuals are in their attempts to find solutions for the social

problem, the higher their involvement and likelihood to donate to the cause) or negative (based

on the licensing effect: someone who has already helped the cause through the creative

crowdsourcing effort may consider that s/he has done enough and it is not necessary to make

monetary contributions). Using an experimental study that involves tasks related to social

innovation for the benefit of Alzheimer/memory loss patients, we investigate the above-

mentioned aspects of crowdsourcing along with a range of additional factors and individual

differences.

Notes:


Accuracy vs Defense Motivations Depend on Who Am I Right Now: Identity Salience

Effects in Response to Persuasion Attempts. (Standard Stream) By Kelley Main, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

Wenxia Guo, City University of Hong Kong

and Katherine White, University of British Columbia.

The current research examines how an individual’s role influences their responses to persuasion

attempts. In particular, we focus on how agents and consumers differentially respond to

persuasion attempts. Overall, we find that agent responses to persuasion attempts are more

consistent with accuracy motivated processing and trust judgments of the agent involved in a

persuasion attempt are more responsive to information concerning ulterior motives. In contrast,

consumer responses to persuasion attempts are more consistent with defense motivated

processing and trust judgments are less responsive to information suggesting the role of ulterior

motives. We also demonstrate the underlying mechanism for these responses and in the final

study show a moderating variable that lessens the defensive reaction of consumers.

Notes:


Grief and Philanthropy: Making the Connection (Workshop Stream) By Sara Penner


Have you ever made a donation in lieu of flowers when someone has passed away? Have you

ever noticed a plaque somewhere, on a rock, building, or walkway, inscribed with a message in

someone’s memory? In Canada, 6 million of these gifts are made every year totaling $6,000,000

(CSGVP, 2010 and Turcotte, 2012). Why is grief motivating people to be philanthropic?

Academic literature, exploring donor motivations, shows negative-state relief and altruism as

two major internal motivators. The desires to help others or relieve one’s own feelings of anger,

sadness, fear and nostalgia have been shown to drive giving behavior. But grief is a complex

multifaceted emotion and the current literature does not fully explain why people choose to make

charitable donations while they are going through their own grieving process. Through my

exploratory research I found there are 3 mechanisms that explain this behavior and the

mechanisms are related to how close or far the donor’s relationship with the deceased was.

Through qualitative and quantitative research I will explore memorialization, self-induced

negative state relief and other-induced negative state relief for close, moderate and far

relationships. Study one will be qualitative in-depth interviews with people who have made these

gifts. Study two will be a survey of a larger group of people who have made these types of gifts.

Study three will broaden the participant group to those who may or may not have made an in

memorial gift. This research will fill a gap in the academic literature on donor motivations and

help us more fully understand this commonly experienced human behavior. Filling this gap will

build a more fulsome foundation and allow future research to successfully build on the findings.

Understanding the motivations behind this type of giving will also allow nonprofit organizations

to more appropriately and effectively work with these donors at a very difficult time in their life,

ultimately harnessing the power of philanthropy in the grieving process and positively affecting

philanthropy as a whole.

Notes:


Compliment Early but Tip Late: Economic versus Social Consumer Influence Tactics. (Workshop Stream)

By Raymond Lavoie, Kelley Main

Department of Marketing, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

and Wenxia Guo

Department of Marketing, City University of Hong Kong

This research explores how consumers can successfully influence service agents by juxtaposing

the effectiveness of tipping with social influence tactics. The results from a field study suggest

that consumers can manage the level of service they receive and their relationship with a server.

Preliminary findings suggest that social influence tactics may work better than tipping early in

the interaction in regards to achieving better service and relationship development. The

discrepancy between the tactics is attenuated towards the end of the interaction. Future research

will explore the potential moderating role of denomination to mitigate the negative effect of

economic influence. The implications of influence tactics for the server, the customer and the

organization are discussed.

Notes:


The Scrapbook as an Autobiographical Memory Tool. (Standard Stream) By Barbara Phillips


This study explores how consumers collect, preserve, and then reconstruct autobiographical

memories through material possessions. The context for this study is the popular hobby of

scrapbooking, the practice of preserving photographs and other mementos in an album decorated

with narrative and ornamentation. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty women who

scrapbook as a hobby. Through these interviews and an examination of their albums, the

Possession Memory Framework was constructed to describe three activities: collection of

memory, preservation of memory, and reconstruction of memory, and one outcome: nostalgia.

The framework adds richness to the understanding of possessions and autobiographical memory,

and has implications for the study of product disposal, cherished possessions, and digital

memory aids.

Notes:


An Exploratory Research on Weight Loss Products Using Before and After Appeals. (Standard Stream)

By Hamed Aghakhani*, Fang Wan and Kelley Main


Marketers often employ highly attractive models or product endorsers in their advertisements

with the expectation that an attractive person in an advertisement will have a positive effect on

both ad and product evaluations (Belch, Belch, & Vilareal, 1987). Advertisements with their

overwhelming reliance on female idealized images can act as an important cultural or social

agent that may exacerbate, or possibly contribute to a constant wrestling with body image among

women. Media researchers provided converging evidence from content analysis of a variety of

media outlets that the thin ideal is prevalent and spotlights unrealistically thin models (e.g.,

Davis, Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanganan,1993; Van Zoonen , 1994;). This conclusion

of thin female ideal has sparked much research on how young women were victimized by this

norm and engage in problematic eating behaviors (e.g., Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, &

Thompson, 1980). However in this paper, we investigate how this implicit endorsement of thin

female ideal norm can affect how consumers evaluate weight loss products targeted at both men

and women. Our focal proposition is that weight loss products targeted at women compared to

those targeted at men will be evaluated more positively. We argue that consumers’ endorsement

of thin female ideal will make them less likely to activate persuasion knowledge (whether the

product is safe) when they evaluate weight loss products for female consumers than by male

consumers.

Notes:


Consumer Choice Modeling: Comparing and Contrasting the MAAM, AHP, TOPSIS and

AHP-TOPSIS Methodologies. (Workshop Stream) By Yan Zhang (Crystal)


While making decisions, consumers are often confronted with choosing between multiple

product and brand alternatives that may be viewed as specific bundles of attributes/criteria.

Researchers, attempting to understand this decision-making process, employ multi-criteria

decision making (MCDM) models in a variety of ways for predicting ultimate brand choice. This

thesis compares and contrasts four types of MCDM models within a laptop brand choice

context—specifically, the Multi Attribute Attitude Model (MAAM; Fishbein 1967), Analytical

Hierarchy Process (AHP; Saaty 1980), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal

Solution (TOPSIS; Hwang & Yoon 1981), and a mixed AHP-TOPSIS model (Ghosh 2011;

Bhutia & Phipon 2012). While Fishbein’s MAAM model evaluates brand choice by multiplying

attribute belief ratings with their importance weights, the AHP does a pair-wise comparison to

elicit relative weights of brand attributes and alternatives. The TOPSIS method, on the other

hand, proposes that consumers choose brands that are nearest to (i.e., the shortest distance from)

their ideal brand solution as well as the farthest from (i.e., the greatest distance from) their worst

solution. Advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods are reviewed, and a mixed

AHP-TOPSIS method that addresses some of the drawbacks is proposed here.

Notes:


Jealousy and the Jilted Lover: The Effect of Brand Elimination on Consumer Attitudes

Toward Brand Portfolios. (Workshop Stream) By Kendra Hart

Bissett School of Business, Mount Royal University

Many companies use their corporate brand to endorse differentiated product brands in their

multi-brand portfolio, establishing a sense of brand relatedness (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000;

Jing, Dawar, & Lemmink, 2008). However, despite the benefits offered by such relatedness, little

research examines what happens when these linkages are removed. For example, management-

focused scholars suggest that brand elimination is an important part of brand portfolio strategy

(Varadarajan, DeFanti, & Busch, 2006), arguing that only a small number of brands account for

the bulk of a firm’s profits. Thus, managers must prune brand portfolios of under-performing

brands and free up financial resources to reinvest in stronger brands. However, despite scholarly

interest in the creation and growth of brands, scant research follows through to the end of the life

cycle to investigate consumer reactions to brand elimination. Given many brands’ focus on

encouraging consumers to emotionally invest in brand relationships, it follows that studying

consumer reactions to brand elimination could be valuable for decision makers. I begin with an

investigation into consumer reactions to brand elimination by drawing upon consumer

commentary from the GM-Saturn brand community after the company’s decision to eliminate

the Saturn brand. Analysis of consumer conversations revealed an expected demonstration of

disappointment and sadness, as well as anger towards the company for making the decision.

However, of particular interest was a recurring theme through which consumers articulated a

sense of personal rejection and subsequent animosity towards other brands that remained in the

GM portfolio. Such anger at the company’s decision to eliminate their preferred brand was

redirected towards brands like Chevrolet and Buick, in an attempt to denigrate them by

questioning the legitimacy of their survival and discredit their worth. Such observation served as

the inspiration for a theoretical model wherein I synthesize literature on self-brand overlap, self-

protection, attitude functions and brand portfolios as cognitive structures to suggest how certain

consumers might interpret a favoured brand’s elimination as a form of personal rejection and

subsequently engage in a self-protection motivated backlash towards surviving brands within the

corporate portfolio. Two experiments have been conducted in an effort to find experimental

evidence for these claims. Experiment 1 was an exploratory study designed to assess the degree

to which consumers high (vs. low) in self-brand overlap perceive the company’s decision to

eliminate a preferred brand as a form of personal rejection and ostracism. Results showed the

high overlap consumers perceive the company’s decision as a personal rejection of them, while

those low in self-brand overlap do not have this perception. Experiment 2 used a different

manipulation in an attempt to replicate the rejection finding and establish it as a mediator for

subsequent devaluation of alternative brands in the brand portfolio. Only partial support for the

rejection perception was found. Future directions are discussed.

Notes:


Applying Transtheoretical Model of Change to Anti-Depression Campaigns. (Workshop Stream) By Tatiana Levit, Magdalena Cismaru

Paul J.Hill School of Business, University of Regina

and Alexis Zederayko*

Experimental and Applied Psychology, University of Regina

We propose the TTM: Transtheoretical Model of Change (Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross,

1992) as a theoretical framework for creating successful anti-depression initiatives. We test the

theory by conducting content analysis of national campaigns that call for behavioural changes in

depressed people. We find that TTM allows construction of stage-relevant messages that target

people at different stages of readiness of change. Such targeting makes anti-depression

campaigns more effective and persuasive.

Notes:


The Consumption, Collecting and Sharing of Images by Males on Pinterest. (Workshop Stream) By David Williams


Pinterest is a very new social media platform and overall there is scant research specifically

dedicated to the phenomenon. While research is emerging on issues involving to the usage of

Pinterest by women, research into the male usage of Pinterest is virtually non-existent.

Therefore, using a grounded theory approach based on twenty semi-structured interviews with

active male Pinterest users, this study seeks to explore and substantiate a number of issues

concerning the male usage of Pinterest: It will assess if the gender role expectations and norms of

males in face-to-face, on-line communications, and communications on social networking sites

apply to Pinterest. It will seek to unearth the motives of males for pinning, collecting, and

sharing images, commenting on them and naming, assembling and organizing boards. Pinterest

users are overwhelmingly female and the media have quickly seized upon the gendered use of

Pinterest and a number of Pinterest clones specifically targeting males have emerged. Therefore,

is there a stigma regarding males using Pinterest and why does this ‘gender gap’ exist? Pinterest

appears to have low degree of sociality compared to other social media platforms, such as

Facebook and Twitter. The images pinned are the focal point and users’ profiles seem less

informative and more peripheral. Therefore, is male usage of Pinterest largely a solitary activity

and a form of self-expression of the digital self? Is it ‘networked individualism’ among an arms-

length community of relatively anonymous strangers? Pinterest has recently launched a number

of brand friendly monetizing initiatives to encourage e-commerce. These include promoted pins,

rich pins that automatically attach pricing and availability to pinned content, price drop-

notification and guided search. It is presumed that these will make Pinterest, which has been

described as a digital shop window an even more alluring communications and marketing

channel for brands and e-tailers within social commerce. Therefore, Pinterest’s role and

influence on males’ buying decisions will be examined. Finally, other relevant theoretical

constructs will be unearthed as the data is collected and interpreted.

Notes:


Memorable Mishaps: Negative Events and Positive Perceptions of Organized Tours. (Standard Stream; Tentative)

By Monica Popa and Ana-Pietje Du Plessis


Do you have one those travel stories? The one where the tour van got stuck, your group got lost,

the AC broke when you most needed it, or you ended up in a Taiwanese hospital... You had the

time of your life anyway and it’s become one of your favourite memories. The present research

explores whether and how objectively negative events / mishaps can contribute to the emergence

of positive impressions of organized trips. Prior literature has focused on either positive factors

contributing to positive evaluations, or negative aspects leading to negative impressions of travel

experiences. We highlight that there might be a fruitful middle ground of inquiry, whereby

mishaps and facing adversities can actually lead to extremely positive and memorable travel

experiences. Furthermore, the bright side of negative travel aspects calls into question

mainstream models of satisfaction, suggesting that 1) these models may not hold in certain

tourism domains and 2) customized frameworks of satisfaction need to be developed for the

travel context, drawing and building on a variety of research streams (e.g., attribution theories,

self concept, social bonding). Toward the development of a new theoretical framework, we

conducted three exploratory studies consisting of interviews with professionals in the tourism

industry and customer feedback from clients of those organizations, interviews with individuals

who took part in organized tours, and short stories from consumers who shared insights about

their memorable travel experiences. Our findings indicate that the existing efforts of travel

companies to strictly control all aspects of the trip and prevent the emergence of mishaps is

highly misguided, as in fact negative events have the power to turn the experience into "the best

trip". Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Notes:

rupert s l 2014 - university of regina · rupert’s land consumer behaviour symposium page 1 maps...

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