Big brands, big cities: How the population penalty affects common, identity relevant brands in densely populated areas

Matherly, Ted; Arens, Zachary G.; Arnold, Todd J.

doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2017.10.001

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Roering and Block (1976) examined consumers' search behavior depending on population density and found consumers living in more (vs. less) densely populated areas to spend less time searching for information, while also making fewer shopping trips and visiting a smaller number of stores. More recent research has indicated that experimental manipulations of population density can alter consumers' brand choices, with consumers exposed to high (vs low) population density cues being more inclined to avoid common brands to signal uniqueness in identity-relevant product categories (Matherly et al, 2018). Our findings align with these latter results, as luxurious brands are commonly characterized by uniqueness and identity relevance (Berger and Health, 2007;Chan et al, 2012).…”

Section: Implications and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Our findings align with these latter results, as luxurious brands are commonly characterized by uniqueness and identity relevance (Berger and Health, 2007;Chan et al, 2012). Thus, the results by Matherly et al (2018) may, at least partially, have been driven by consumers' greater desire to acquire status-signaling goods under conditions of high (vs. low) population density. This interpretation seems plausible given that consumers tend to be particularly prone to engage in conspicuous consumption in public (vs. private) settings when there are others around to impress (Goenka and Thomas, 2020;Griskevicius et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2020).…”

Section: Implications and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…To remedy these shortcomings and provide more compelling evidence for our theorizing, Study 2 exposed participants to visual cues of either high or low population density (cf. Matherly et al, 2018;Sng et al, 2018;Sng and Ackerman, 2020) to test whether experimentally manipulated perceptions of population density could also affect attitudes toward brands deemed to differ on the luxury dimension.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Population density has been identified as an ecological factor with important behavioral implications (Ellis et al, 2009, Matherly et al, 2018Sng et al, 2018).…”

Section: Population Density and Conspicuous Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Populated Places and Conspicuous Consumption: High Population Density Predicts Materialism and Preferences for Luxury Goods

Otterbring¹,

Tan²,

Folwarczny³

2021

Preprint

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Purpose: Population density has been identified as an ecological factor with considerable behavioral implications. The present research aimed to examine whether country-level differences in population density and even the mere perception of more (vs. less) populated places can shift consumers’ preferences in the luxury goods domain.Design/Methodology/Approach: One intuition study and two main studies with a total sample of over 1,700 consumers tested whether country variations in, and experimental manipulations of population density (high vs. low) exerted downstream effects on consumers’ self-reported materialism levels, purchase patterns, and preferences for luxury goods. Findings: Contrary to the lay beliefs expressed by consumers in an intuition study, Study 1 found British consumers to hold more materialistic values and to be more inclined to consume luxury goods than their American counterparts, with the United Kingdom having eight times higher population density than the United States. Study 2 experimentally manipulated consumers’ perceptions of population density and revealed that pictorial exposure to high (vs. low) population density cues resulted in more positive (vs. negative) attitudes toward brands perceived as more (vs. less) luxurious, with this effect being driven by more negative attitudes toward brands deemed to be less luxurious.Originality: The results contribute to the growing stream of literature on population density and indicate that this (geo-) demographic factor can exert important yet counterintuitive effects on consumer behavior.

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Section: Implications and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Implications and Suggestions For Future Researchsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Population density has been identified as an ecological factor with important behavioral implications (Ellis et al, 2009, Matherly et al, 2018Sng et al, 2018).…”

Section: Population Density and Conspicuous Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Populated Places and Conspicuous Consumption: High Population Density Predicts Materialism and Preferences for Luxury Goods

Otterbring¹,

Tan²,

Folwarczny³

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In recent years, festival and special event (FSE) marketing has gained popularity in China due to the increasing perceptions of the potential financial benefits of events to the host city's economy, including creating employment and encouraging visitation to the host city (Barclay, 2009;Getz, 2012;Chen, Qu, & Spaans, 2013;Tsaur, Tu, Yen, Wang, & Liang, 2017;Ferrari & Guala, 2017;Matherly, Arens, & Arnold, 2018;Parent, Rouillarda, & Naraineam, 2017), and enhancing the city's competitiveness and creating a destination brand (Lee & Arcodia, 2011;Choi & Cho, 2016;Cheng, Wong, Wearing, & McDonald, 2017;Merrilees, Miller, Ge, & Tam, 2018). Other potential social benefits such as building social networks and social capital within communities are also recognized (Arcodia & Whitford, 2006;Dwyer & Fredline, 2008); FSE has also resulted in improving residents' involvement in green initiatives (Wong, Wan, & Qi, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Residents’ Perceptions, Attitudes and Behavioral Intention Toward Festivals and Special Events: A Pre-Event Perspective

Schein²,

Ravi

et al. 2018

Journal of Business Economics and Management

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This article reports the results of research investigating residents’ perceptions, attitudes and behavioral intention (BI) toward sports festivals and special events (FSE) from a pre-event perspective. A structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized. Two sets of theoretical frameworks have been employed for this study: Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Social Representation Theory (SRT). A quantitative analysis was utilized. Using structural equation modeling (SEM). The authors have identified a strong association between media influence and FSE image evaluation; FSE image evaluation and residents’ perceptions; residents’ perceptions and attitudes; and residents’ attitudes and behavioral intention. However, the study found that social interactions do not have a significant impact on FSE image evaluation. The practical application of this research is that event planners should use media to promote FSE to local residents. This article concludes with the management implications for FSE planners and organizers. Future studies can build on the findings of the paper to generalize this China model for adaption to other countries.

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Too close for comfort? The impact of salesperson‐customer proximity on consumers' purchase behavior

Otterbring

Kristensson

2021

Psychology and Marketing

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Across a series of lab and field studies, with a total sample of over 1200 participants, we investigate how the physical proximity between salespeople and customers can impact store loyalty, purchase intentions, and actual spending. An initial survey among a representative sample of retail salespeople reveals that they associate close physical proximity between employees and customers with positive consumer outcomes, an intuition that dovetails with prior research documenting the positive influence of such proximity on purchase intentions, particularly in nonexpressive consumption contexts. Contrary to this work, we demonstrate, across four studies in which proximity was both measured and manipulated, that store loyalty, purchase intentions, and actual spending behavior are negatively impacted when consumers encounter a salesperson who is standing close by (vs. farther away), particularly in expressive consumption contexts. Psychological discomfort mediates this effect, such that consumers experience greater discomfort when a salesperson is standing close by, which in turn decreases spending. Importantly, this phenomenon is moderated by identity relevance, such that the negative influence of salesperson‐customer proximity specifically emerges when consumers think about products in terms of their ability to express their identities. These findings carry important implications for retailers operating in expressive consumption contexts.

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Big brands, big cities: How the population penalty affects common, identity relevant brands in densely populated areas

Cited by 9 publications

References 54 publications

Populated Places and Conspicuous Consumption: High Population Density Predicts Materialism and Preferences for Luxury Goods

Populated Places and Conspicuous Consumption: High Population Density Predicts Materialism and Preferences for Luxury Goods

Factors Influencing Residents’ Perceptions, Attitudes and Behavioral Intention Toward Festivals and Special Events: A Pre-Event Perspective

Too close for comfort? The impact of salesperson‐customer proximity on consumers' purchase behavior

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