Consumer Confusion: a Test of the Behavioural Perspective Model
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CONSUMER CONFUSION: A TEST OF THE BEHAVIOURAL PERSPECTIVE MODEL by Ioanna Anninou A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Cardiff University Marketing and Strategy Section of Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University September 2013 DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed ……… ……………………. (Ioanna Anninou) Date ……16 September 2013….. STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed ……… ……………….…. (Ioanna Anninou) Date ……16 September 2013…... STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. Signed ……… …………………. (Ioanna Anninou) Date ……16 September 2013….. STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ……… ………………… (Ioanna Anninou) Date ……16 September 2013….. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has been the result of both personal and academic interest towards consumer emotions (especially the case of consumer confusion) and rule-governed behaviour. It is the product of discussions (on practical and theoretical aspects) with both Professor Gordon Foxall and Dr. John Pallister, who as my supervisors, I would like to deeply thank for their support throughout this project. They have both been great advocates of this attempt, offered constructive criticism, corrections and encouragement, in order for the final form of this thesis to be realised. It goes without saying that the greatest gratitude for the implementation of this task should be attributed to the research participants, who contributed to the quantitative study and pilot tests and spent some of their personal time, views and in many cases valuable resources for the completion of this task. I would also like to thank both the account and project manager of the online research panel for the great help they offered with this project. Dr. Mirella Yani-de-Soriano supported this study especially with comments on the first drafts of the questionnaire and the quantitative analysis of the data. Dr. I. Christodoulou and Dr. A. Piterou have also facilitated the process of pilot test data collection and I would like to express my gratitude to them. Several academics who participated in the 2nd Biennial AMS Doctoral Consortium commended on early proposals of the thesis and it has been a pleasure meeting them. Both Lainey Clayton and Elsie Philips from the PhD office have always been kind and helpful, even when times were difficult. My warm thanks also go to other PhD students (friends) at Cardiff Business School and especially my flatmate at Cardiff, Anastasia, with whom we have taken this long PhD journey together. Last and foremost a great thank you to my family. Especially my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law and nephew have given me their unequivocal support. My husband, Theo, had to deal with all of my daily problems and times that my confidence was tested. Without his support this study would not be realised. No words seem enough to express my gratitude to him. iii ABSTRACT In light of the increasing academic and practical importance of consumer confusion, more theoretical and empirical inquiries are necessary in order to comprehend this concept. This study extends the notion of confusion by adopting the idea of self- based rules. Confusion can be defined as a self-based track (or better a rule for the lack of rules and norms, a special case of anomy). As a rule, there is a differing language that can be used to describe it– the first, extensional, deals with confusion as an overall response to physical and social stimuli and the other, intentional, deals with it in terms of individual understanding and beliefs. This study uses the theoretical principles of the Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM) as its primary device. The current state of the BPM dictates the use of an extensional language (BPM-E). The model will be extended and placed within the framework and study of an intentional explanation (BPM-I). The explanatory or interpretative role that confusion can play in these models will be described. Specific research hypotheses that correspond to these explanations have been developed. In order to implement these objectives a main quantitative survey (N=260) which provided data on 520 consumer situations, has been informed by a meaningful in the produced results pilot-exploratory study (N=7) and multiple qualitative (N=10) and quantitative (N=56) pilot tests and discussions with knowledgeable and lay participants. Multiple regression and ANOVA indicate significant main effects when Mehrabian and Russell’s affective scales and different kinds of confusion (similarity-complexity) are used to predict approach-avoidance behavioural responses. Additionally, support is provided for the patterns expected from the affective and behavioural variables when these are applied to other situations beyond the original eight contingency categories of the BPM. The main contribution of this study lies with the inclusion of an aversive consequence of shopping situations in the BPM and the extension of the model towards embracing and applying intentionality. Overall, this study supports the supposition put forward by Foxall (2004; 2007a; 2007b; 2013) that the intentional BPM can add and extend the explanatory power of the extensional model. KEYWORDS: Retail settings, Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM), intentional behaviourism, utilitarian and informational reinforcement, consumer confusion, rule-governed behaviour, self-based rules. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ III ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................IV TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. V LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ X LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................. XIII ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................... XIV 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1. Sustainable Retailing– Environmental Concerns ......................................................................... 2 1.2.2. Multichannel Shopping on the Rise ............................................................................................. 3 1.2.3. Changing Consumer Behaviour ................................................................................................... 4 1.2.4. Retailtainment .............................................................................................................................. 5 1.2.5. Market Dominance ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.6. Overall Evaluation of the Retail Environment ............................................................................. 6 1.3. Research Problem ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.4. Research Purpose and Objectives ............................................................................................... 13 1.5. Research Hypotheses .................................................................................................................... 14 1.6. Justification of this Research ....................................................................................................... 16 1.7. Research Methodology ................................................................................................................. 17 1.8. The Contributions of this Thesis.................................................................................................. 18 1.9. Thesis Structure and Order ......................................................................................................... 19 1.10. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 22 2. THE NATURE OF CONFUSION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH ................................... 23 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2. Previous Treatments of Emotional Words ................................................................................