Scholarly Work - Business
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/9306
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Item International expansion of retailers: the role of technical expertise, alliances and allocation of resources in economic crises(2019-05) Sung, Eunyoung (Christine); Goebel, TaiEconomic downturns are often viewed as threats to prosperity and the challenges they can pose for international retailers are well documented. However, the potential opportunities of economic downturns are less well understood. In this paper, we ask whether or how these environments might actually afford occasions for strategic market adjustment, in the form of international expansion to new markets. Specifically, drawing on resource-based theory and game theory, we consider how a firm\'s financial performance during international expansion in a downturn may be predicted by its engagement in three modes of knowledge transfer. We consider knowledge transfer enabled by: 1) long-term investment in technical expertise; 2) formation of alliances in the local target market; 3) focused allocation of firm resources. Based on cases from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the 2007 US recession and the 2009 European Sovereign Debt Crisis, we developed propositions to guide future research on international expansion during economic downturns.Item Motivators of Prestige Brand Purchase: Testing Cultural (In)stability of Measures Over Time Across the United States, Poland, and South Korea(2019) Sung, Eunyoung (Christine); Calantone, R.; Huddleston, PatriciaThis paper encompasses two studies of how cultural dimensions help us understand consumers’ motivations to buy prestige brands in the global market. In Study 1, we investigated the effects of social interaction factors on prestige brand purchase in the U.S., Poland, and South Korea. The study model was conceptualized using individualism as a cultural characteristic, drawn from Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory. Consumers from these three countries represented high, medium, and low levels of individualism (N=1816). Two data analysis procedures were conducted. After strict measurement equivalence tests, we tested our SEM and confirmed that public self-image mediates the relationship between social belonging and prestige brand purchase preference. For two countries, we found differences in social belonging effect, such that consumers with low social belonging were more likely to show high prestige brand purchase behavior. In Study 2, we tested cultural (in)stability of measures (motivators) over time using two data sets (total N= 3,622). Of these countries, we found that only South Korea has shifted its values over time and demonstrated intergenerational differences in prestige brand purchase preference.Item Department vs. Discount Store Patronage: Effects of Self-image Congruence(2018-05) Sung, Eunyoung (Christine); Huddleston, PatriciaPurpose This paper explores the antecedents and consequences of consumers’ need for self-image congruence on their retail patronage of department (high-end) and discount (low-end) stores to purchase name-brand products in two product categories, apparel and home décor. It also compared online to offline shopping and considered two mediator variables, frugality and materialism. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzed the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM) and MANOVA. Study 1 suggested the model using secondary data, and Study 2 measured and confirmed the relationships using scenario-based online survey data. An MANOVA test was used to compare the shopping behavior of consumers with high and low need for self-image congruence. Findings A strong causal link was found between concern with appearance and need for self-image congruence, and a positive relationship between need for self-image congruence and high- and low-end retail store patronage offline and online. While the group with high (vs low) need for self-image congruence was more likely to patronize department stores, unexpectedly, both the high and low self-image congruence groups were equally likely to shop at discount stores. Practical implications The findings suggest that marketing messages focusing on concern for appearance may succeed by tapping into consumers’ need for self-image congruence with brand product/retail store images. Results also showed that consumers with high self-image congruence often patronize discount retail stores, suggesting marketing opportunities for low-end retailers. Originality/value Because consumers with high need for self-image congruence patronize both department and discount stores, it is suggested that self-image congruity may be multi-dimensional. The current study is also the first to examine structural relationships to test patronage behavior between department and discount stores offline and online.Item Department vs discount retail store patronage: effects of self-image congruence(2018-05) Sung, Eunyoung (Christine); Huddleston, PatriciaPurpose This paper explores the antecedents and consequences of consumers’ need for self-image congruence on their retail patronage of department (high-end) and discount (low-end) stores to purchase name-brand products in two product categories, apparel and home décor. It also compared online to offline shopping and considered two mediator variables, frugality and materialism. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzed the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM) and MANOVA. Study 1 suggested the model using secondary data, and Study 2 measured and confirmed the relationships using scenario-based online survey data. An MANOVA test was used to compare the shopping behavior of consumers with high and low need for self-image congruence. Findings A strong causal link was found between concern with appearance and need for self-image congruence, and a positive relationship between need for self-image congruence and high- and low-end retail store patronage offline and online. While the group with high (vs low) need for self-image congruence was more likely to patronize department stores, unexpectedly, both the high and low self-image congruence groups were equally likely to shop at discount stores. Practical implications The findings suggest that marketing messages focusing on concern for appearance may succeed by tapping into consumers’ need for self-image congruence with brand product/retail store images. Results also showed that consumers with high self-image congruence often patronize discount retail stores, suggesting marketing opportunities for low-end retailers. Originality/value Because consumers with high need for self-image congruence patronize both department and discount stores, it is suggested that self-image congruity may be multi-dimensional. The current study is also the first to examine structural relationships to test patronage behavior between department and discount stores offline and online.Item Consumer‐based brand equity: Comparisons among Americans and South Koreans in the USA and South Koreans in Korea(2008-02) Jung, Jaehee; Sung, Eunyoung (Christine)Purpose – The purpose of this study is to measure and compare the consumer‐based brand equity of apparel products by three consumer groups across cultures – Americans in the USA, South Koreans in the USA, and South Koreans in Korea. Also examined was cross‐cultural effects of brand equity on purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 300 college students were recruited for the survey from local universities and organizations in the USA and South Korea. The MBE and OBE models were used to measure brand equity of the three apparel brands (i.e. Polo, Gap, and Levi's). Findings – Among the elements of brand equity, the perceived brand quality and brand awareness/association reported by American college students were significantly greater than those reported by South Koreans in the USA and Korea. For both South Korean groups, brand loyalty was the most important element of brand equity. In the relationship between elements of brand equity and purchase intention, brand loyalty showed positive correlation with purchase intention across all three consumer groups. Research limitations/implications – Further research might include more apparel brands in different price points. An investigation of the prices of various apparel brands in different countries will be useful for cross‐cultural comparisons. Originality/value – With a lack of brand equity studies on fashion products and even fewer studies of cross‐cultural comparisons in brand equity, this study should be valuable information for firms branding their products and making marketing strategies from the global perspective.Item Twenty Years after Reunification: Comparing Young Consumer Decision-Making Processes for Electronic Products in the Former East and West Germany(2011-07) Sung, Eunyoung (Christine); Huddleston, Patricia; Uhrich, SebastianThis article measures and compares influences on purchasing decisions for electronic products among consumers from the former East and West German states. The study is framed using Cohort Theory. To investigate whether changes in the economic system influences consumer behavior, two consumer groups are included: Germans in the former East Germany and former West Germany. The study found that the former West Germans are more likely to be influenced by the opinions of others than East Germans. Brand loyalty is influential for both of the two German groups. In addition, the two German groups had more similar attitudes toward advertising compared to their parents' cohort groups of 20 years ago. The study also found that Inglehart's Cohort Theory applies to the case of German reunification.