A Multiattribute Benefits-Based Choice Model with Multiple Mediators: New Insights for Positioning

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that consumers evaluate products according to their perceived benefits when making a choice. This article extends prior work by proposing a method that evaluates the degree to which multiple a priori defined benefits mediate product choices. The model is the first to consider process heterogeneity—that is, heterogeneity in how consumers perceive multiple attributes to positively or negatively affect multiple benefits simultaneously and the contribution of each benefit to product utility. The authors propose discrete choice experiments to holistically measure the link between attributes and benefits, as well as between attributes and choice, resulting in data that can be analyzed with a generalized probit model. The approach contributes to mediation research by offering an alternative method of handling multiple multinomial mediators and dichotomous outcome variables. An empirical illustration of bread choices shows how consumer judgments about health and value perceptions of products mediate purchase decisions. The authors demonstrate how the method can help managers (1) confirm and test existing knowledge about latent benefits, including whether they explain all the variation in choice, and (2) consider process heterogeneity to inform market segmentation strategies.

Whole Grains and Consumer Understanding: Investigating Consumers’ Identification, Knowledge and Attitudes to Whole Grains

“…Here, less than one-quarter of participants reported looking for whole grain foods specifically and almost half never looked for the term ‘whole grains’ on packaging. In research focused on multi-attribute choice modelling using bread as the example, Burke et al [ 38 ] found that whole grain was rated highly for both healthful and value for money by consumers. If more manufacturers routinely declared the percentage of whole grain content on packs, there would be a wider range of whole grain products for consumers to easily identify, providing the greatest opportunity to improve consumption patterns of whole grain foods across the population.…”

Going healthy: how product characteristics influence the sales impact of front-of-pack health symbols

“…Private labels Consumers tend to have intuitions regarding the healthiness of private label products, as they judge private label products as unhealthier than their national brand counterparts. The presence of a private label brand on a product has been found to have a negative impact on the perceived health benefits of the product (Burke et al, 2020;Consumer Reports, 2010). However, objectively, this is not always true (Consumer Reports, 2010).…”

What attracts teachers to rural and remote schools? Incentivising teachers’ employment choices in New South Wales

“…Several methods and models have been developed to account for differences in individual preferences (e.g. Burke et al, 2020), but also individual differences in choice variability (e.g. Burke & Reitzig, 2007;Fiebig et al, 2010; Islam et al, 2007;Magidson & Vermunt, 2007;Swait & Louviere, 1993).…”