This study introduces and tests a framework to show the influence of national-level cultural and sociodemographic variables on banner advertising effectiveness. The authors analyze online survey data from 7775 respondents from 34 countries using hierarchical linear modeling and also analyze click-through rates from 2192 users from 26 countries. The findings show that banner advertising effectiveness in terms of attitudes toward banner advertising and intention to click on banner ads varies along Hofstede's cultural dimensions of individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity. In particular, consumers from individualist countries show less acceptance of banner advertising than those from collectivist countries. The acceptance of Web banner advertising is related to the consumers’ click behavior. Individual-level variables contribute only marginally to explain banner advertising effectiveness, which strengthens the significance of the direct effects of national-level cultural variables. The findings suggest that marketers should view banner advertising, though largely standardized when targeting a global audience, as a culture-specific issue.

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Based on cultivation theory, self-concept theories, and gender research, this study investigates the influence of TV viewing on female and male consumers' perceived body images and related consumption behavior. The results show that TV viewing biases social perceptions of body images; however, TV viewing does not impact men's consumption behavior. For women, in contrast, TV viewing increases the real–ideal self discrepancy, which, in turn, leads to consumption behavior in order to achieve ideal bodies. For both groups, TV viewing increases body dissatisfaction; also, general beliefs about body images influence related behavior. The results provide some interesting contributions to theory and practice. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Cultivation theory, Body images, Media effects, Beauty-related consumption,

Distinctive product design is a cornerstone of sustainable branding. Ideally, consumers will be able to identify brands by product design without seeing any logos. Once companies have established strong associations between product designs and brands in consumers’ minds, they seek protection against imitation as well as consistency in product lines. This research discusses methods for measuring consumers’ abilities to identify brands by product design. Study 1 shows that brand identification depends on the evaluation mode that the identification task evokes. Compared to a task that presents products side by side (comparative mode), participants are more likely to confuse copycats with an original design when they see only one product (noncomparative mode). Study 2 replicates findings of Study 1, demonstrating some robustness of effects across three countries (United States, Spain, Germany) and across three different product categories (beer, smartphones, cars). Study 2 further investigates how familiarity with the product influences brand identification. Although consumers with high (compared to low) familiarity are more likely to accurately identify an original product in a noncomparative evaluation mode, they are also more likely to confuse a copycat with the original product in this mode. Overall, this research extends knowledge about brand identification by product design and provides information brand managers may need for legal decisions in trademark or design patent cases. This research also provides information for brand managers making decisions regarding new product development, for example, product line extensions.

User entrepreneurs rely on regular consumers when starting their business, for example, when raising creative and financial support. This research examines regular consumers’ opinions with regard to the future business performance of green vs. non-green user entrepreneurs. We build on previous consumer behavior research on consumers’ performance perceptions. Specifically, consumers perceive products that use green, environmentally friendly technologies as having inferior performance compared to products that use traditional technologies. We investigate whether this so called “sustainability liability” effect can also be found in consumers’ perceptions of green user entrepreneurs’ performance. We ran an online scenario experiment with regular consumers who assessed the business performance of several (green vs. non-green) user entrepreneurs. Results reveal a “sustainability asset” effect for perceptions of green user entrepreneurs, such that consumers with strong environmental values perceived the business performance of green user entrepreneurs as superior compared to non-green user entrepreneurs. Consumers with weak environmental values perceived green and non-green entrepreneurs as equally performant. We discuss possible explanations of our findings. Furthermore, we propose potential consequences of our results both for consumers’ intentions to support user entrepreneurs as well as for user entrepreneurs’ motivation to engage in green innovations.