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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2019 Consumer-Based Strategy and Organizational Frontlines: The Role of Socially-Induced Interactions and ACortinmne oM.s Kepllehy erics on Consumer Behavior Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS CONSUMER-BASED STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL FRONTLINES: THE ROLE OF SOCIALLY-INDUCED INTERACTIONS AND ATMOSPHERICS ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR By CORINNE M. KELLEY A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Marketing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © 2019 Corinne M. Kelley defended this dissertation on April 1, 2019. The members of the supervisory committee were: Maura L. Scott Professor Co-Directing Dissertation Martin Mende Professor Co-Directing Dissertation Lydia Hanks University Representative Charles F. Hofacker Committee Member Anders Gustafsson Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii With a full, happy heart, I dedicate this dissertation to my future husband, parents, and sister. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend a most gracious acknowledgement to my co-advisors, Dr. Maura L. Scott and Dr. Martin Mende. I could never thank you enough for the kindness, support, and guidance you have provided me these past five years. I look forward to continuing to learn from such inspiring and brilliant mentors as I embark on the rest of my academic career. Again, thank you for the time you have invested in my development as a scholar, and thank you for always believing in me. I would not be where I am professionally, if it were not for you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ viii 1. INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER-BASED STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL FRONTLINES ............................................................................................................................1 2. ESSAY I. THE AMBASSADOR EFFECT: HOW INDUCING AN AMBASSADOR ROLE INCREASES CONSUMERS’ PROSOCIAL MARKETPLACE BEHAVIOR AND PATRONAGE INTENTIONS ....................................................................................................3 Conceptualizing the Ambassador Effect .....................................................................................6 Study 1: Field Experiment at a Grocery Store ............................................................................8 Study 2: Ruling Out the Alternative Explanation of Quantity ..................................................10 The Mediating Role of Consumer Warm Glow ........................................................................11 Study 3: Field Experiment in a Bowling Center .......................................................................12 Study 4: The Two Dimensions of the Ambassador Effect and Mediation of Warm Glow ......15 The Mediating Role of Consumer Group Orientation ..............................................................18 Study 5: Mediation of Group Orientation .................................................................................18 Downstream Effects on Consumer Patronage Intentions..........................................................21 Study 6: Mediation Through Warm Glow and Group Orientation and Downstream Effects on Patronage Intentions ..................................................................................................................22 The Moderating Role of Environmental Consciousness ...........................................................25 Study 7: Field Experiment in a Classroom ...............................................................................26 The Moderating Role of Firm Policy: Penalty and Reward as Alternative Incentives .............28 Study 8: Moderation of Firm Policy .........................................................................................31 General Discussion....................................................................................................................34 3. ESSAY II. THE ROLE OF OLFACTION ON CONSUMER-BASED STRATEGY AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL FRONTLINE ........................................................................................44 The Effects of Gender-Based Ambient Scents: How Feminine Ambient Scents Affect Male Consumers’ Spending on Status-Signaling Products ................................................................45 The Effects of (Non-)appetizing Ambient Scents on Consumers’ Affinity Toward Vices and Virtues .......................................................................................................................................55 4. CONCLUSION .........................................................................................................................68 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................70 A. THE AMBASSADOR EFFECT: THE CURRENT RESEARCH RELATIVE TO SELECTED EXTANT LITERATURE ....................................................................................70 B. SUMMARY OF STUDY CELL SIZES, MEANS, AND STANDARD ERRORS .................73 v C. RULED-OUT ALTERNATIVE PROCESS VARIABLES WITH MEASUREMENT ITEMS AND CORRESPONDING ANOVA RESULTS ......................................................................75 D. STIMULI FOR STUDIES 3 AND 7 .........................................................................................76 E. SUMMARY OF STUDY DESIGNS, OBJECTIVES, FINDINGS, AND HYPOTHESIS SUPPORT .................................................................................................................................77 F. GENDER-BASED AMBIENT SCENTS: THE CURRENT RESEARCH RELATIVE TO SELECTED EXTANT LITERATURE ....................................................................................79 G. (NON-)APPETIZING AMBIENT SCENTS: THE CURRENT RESEARCH RELATIVE TO SELECTED EXTANT LITERATURE ....................................................................................83 H. HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL LETTERS AND CONSENT FORMS ............................86 References ....................................................................................................................................106 Biographical Sketch .....................................................................................................................130 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1 The Ambassador Effect: Conceptual Framework ....................................................................40 2 Study 3 Results: Prosocial Behavior (Reusable Bag Usage) and Warm Glow .......................41 3 Study 4 Results: Prosocial Behavioral Intentions (Reusable Bag Usage) and Warm Glow ...42 4 Study 7 Results: Prosocial Behavior (Reusable Bottle Usage) ................................................42 5 Study 8 Results: Prosocial Behavioral Intentions (Commitment to the Policy) and Patronage Intentions..................................................................................................................................43 6 Gender-Based Ambient Scents: Conceptual Framework ........................................................67 7 (Non-)appetizing Ambient Scents: Conceptual Framework ....................................................67 vii ABSTRACT In two essays, this dissertation contributes to the emerging fields of consumer-based strategy and organizational frontline research. I examine the influence of social and atmospheric factors on consumer behavior, providing substantive and generalizable managerial insights to enhance organizational strategies at the frontline (i.e., point where the consumer and the firm meet). In Essay I, I examine how socially-induced communications (i.e., interactions) at the organizational frontline impact consumers’ prosocial behavior and store patronage; thereby, connecting OFR to consumer social responsibility. In particular, I introduce the ambassador effect as a novel, socially-induced form of pre-commitment that influences consumers’ prosociality and patronage intentions. Three field studies and five experiments show that inducing an ambassador role (by asking consumers to both (a) engage in a prosocial behavior and (b) to involve another person in the same prosocial behavior) increases consumers’ prosocial behavioral intentions and patronage intentions, beyond what previously established question- behavior effects or mere personal pre-commitments can achieve. The ambassador effect is mediated by a consumer’s enhanced warm glow and group orientation. Additionally, this research examines the moderating role of environmental consciousness, demonstrating that inducing an ambassador role increases real prosocial behavior among consumers low (vs. high) in environmental consciousness. Finally, this research investigates the interaction of the ambassador effect with firm policy (reward-based vs. penalty-based) to examine which approach is more effective at encouraging consumer prosocial behavioral intentions and patronage intentions. The results show that, in general, penalty-based