Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2012 Paradoxes and consumer decision-making Carolyn Popp Garity Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Garity, Carolyn Popp, "Paradoxes and consumer decision-making" (2012). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3370. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3370 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. PARADOXES AND CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in The Interdepartmental Program in Business Administration (Marketing) by Carolyn Popp Garrity B.B.A., University of Cincinnati, 1993 M.B.A., American University, 1997 December 2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my husband, Dan Garrity, who was always there to support me through this process and always encouraged me to continually work on this dissertation. I would not be where I am today without him. I will be forever grateful. I would also like to thank my children, Maddie and Keenan, who were so good at rolling with the punches and giving mommy space when she really needed it. Dr. Bill Black, thank you for being a wonderful dissertation chair. You have put forth so much time and effort to help me succeed that I do not know what I would do without you. You are a great mentor and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to receive your guidance. You are especially skilled at giving criticism in such a way that I felt lucky to have it, and I know it made my work exponentially better. I would also like to thank Dr. Alvin Burns, Dr. Timothy Chandler and Dr. Judith Folse for serving on my dissertation committee. Thank you so much for your recommendations, questions and time spent helping me complete my dissertation. Thank you also for providing fresh eyes and alternative viewpoints when it was needed. To my parents, who taught me to follow my dreams. When that advice failed, your pride in my endeavors always kept me moving forward. Well, your pride paired with a gentle helping of guilt if I gave up. In addition, I would also like to thank all of the LSU marketing professors for teaching me all that I have learned this program and for offering a supportive and encouraging environment. I would also like to thank all of the marketing doctoral students, especially my cohort and personal support network (Elle, Katie, and Nobu), to the cohort who helped get me started (Anna Mousumi, Mazen, Yana, and Sandeep) and to those later cohorts who helped keep me going (Dora, Jie, Stephanie, Linda and Jacob). I have really enjoyed having fun with you all both inside and outside of the classroom. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ II LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... VIII ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. IX ESSAY ONE: THE SIMILARITIES, DIFFERENCES, RELEVANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER PARADOX, AMBIVALENCE, AND MIXED EMOTIONS .......................... 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 Overview of Essay One .......................................................................................................2 Issues To Be Addressed .......................................................................................................3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................3 Paradox ................................................................................................................................3 Related Literature Streams .................................................................................................10 Research Questions ............................................................................................................15 METHOD ................................................................................................................................15 Sample................................................................................................................................16 Interview Guide .................................................................................................................16 Textual Analysis ................................................................................................................17 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................20 General Paradoxes .............................................................................................................20 Technology Paradoxes .......................................................................................................21 IMPLICATIONS AND THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION ................................................23 ESSAY TWO: MEASURING TECHNOLOGY PARADOX ..................................................... 27 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................27 Issues To Be Addressed .....................................................................................................27 MEASUREMENT CONCERNS IN PAST RESEARCH .......................................................28 Mixed Emotions Measurement ..........................................................................................28 Ambivalence Measurement ...............................................................................................29 Summary ............................................................................................................................30 RESEARCH METHOD AND STUDY RESULTS ................................................................31 Study Context.....................................................................................................................31 Overview of Research Studies ...........................................................................................33 Objective 1: Paradox Types and Item Generation .............................................................33 Objective 2: Identification of Method to Capture Paradox ................................................39 Study 2: Final Test of Paradox Measures ..........................................................................53 iii OUTCOMES............................................................................................................................69 ESSAY THREE: DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF PARADOX............................................................................................. 70 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................70 Issues Addressed ................................................................................................................70 Research Gaps ....................................................................................................................71 PROPOSED FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................71 Conceptual Model ..............................................................................................................71 Context for This Research .................................................................................................71 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .....................................................................................................73 Research Question 1: What Are the Antecedents of Paradox? ..........................................73 Research Question 2: What Are the Outcomes of Experiencing Paradoxes? ....................85 Research Question 3: When People Feel the Tensions Associated with Paradox, What Coping Strategies Do They Employ? ..........................................................................96 OUTCOMES..........................................................................................................................101 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX A: QUALITATIVE INTERVIEW SCRIPT .......................................................... 116 APPENDIX B: CODING GUIDELINES ................................................................................... 120 APPENDIX C: INITIAL STATEMENTS ................................................................................. 122 APPENDIX D: ITEM DESCRIPTIONS FOR EXPERT