Browsing by Author "Dennis, Charles"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    A cross-national study of evolutionary origins of gender shopping styles: she gatherer, he hunter?
    (SAGE, 2018-10-19) Dennis, Charles; Brakus, J. Joško; García Ferrer, Gemma; McIntyre, Charles; Alamanos, Eleftherios; King, Tamira
    By investigating gendered shopping styles across countries, the authors explore whether the differences between male and female shopping styles are greater than the differences in shopping styles exhibited by consumers across countries. With a conceptual model, this study tests an extant convergence hypothesis that predicts that men and women should grow more similar in their shopping styles as traditional gender-based divisions in wage and domestic labor disappear. The results of a survey of shopping behavior across 11 countries indicate though that men and women are evolutionarily predisposed to different shopping styles. These differences in shopping styles also are greater in countries with higher levels of gender equality. Empathizing, or the ability to tune in to others’ thoughts and feelings, mediates shopping styles more for women; systemizing, or the degree to which a person possesses spatial skills, mediates shopping styles more for men. These results suggest that gender-based retail segmentation is more strategically relevant than country-based segmentation. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for international marketing theory and practice.
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    Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions
    (Springer, 2020-10-09) Francioni, Barbara; Curina, Ilaria; Dennis, Charles; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Alamanos, Eleftherios; Bourlakis, Michael; Hegner, Sabrina M.
    Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni’s intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (n = 318) and Italian (n = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations.
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    Myopia, customer returns and the theory of planned behaviour
    (Westburn Publishers, 2008-02-01T00:00:00Z) King, Tamira; Dennis, Charles; Wright, Len Tiu
    As a prevalent and growing form of customer behaviour, deshopping is on the rise. Retailers' focus on good customer service and the offering of lenient returns polices has led to the growth in this fraudulent behaviour of customers in returning goods. This paper considers retailer myopia in the context of dishonest customer returns, applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) using a quantitative questionnaire with 535 female consumers. The findings highlight the extent of the behaviour with 50% admitting to partaking in deshopping. The TPB variables can be utilised to manage and prevent deshopping. The results indicate that currently these customers perceive it to be easy to deshop as there are no consequences with the result that such behaviour continues to grow. If retailers were less myopic they would monitor returns more thoroughly and make it less easy for such customers to get away with undesirable deshopping behaviour. The paper makes recommendations for retailers to manage or alter perceived behavioural characteristics for customers, which in turn, would reduce tendencies for dishonesty in customers returning goods for refunds. Retail myopia is evident with deshopping behaviour with consequences for retailers in time, effort and costs.
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    The pandemic consumer response: a stockpiling perspective and shopping channel preferences
    (Wiley, 2022-06-02) Papagiannidis, Savvas; Alamanos, Eleftherios; Bourlakis, Michael; Dennis, Charles
    Covid-19 has changed consumer behaviour, probably forever. Initial consumer stockpiling led to stockouts, threat and uncertainty for consumers. To overcome shortages, consumers expanded their use of channels and many consumers started buying online for the first time. In this paper, we aim to address important research gaps related to consumer behaviour during the pandemic and especially stockpiling. Our paper starts by presenting the findings of our pre-study, which used social media to elicit or confirm potential constructs for our quantitative models. These constructs complemented the protection motivations theory to explain stockpiling behaviour, forming the basis for study 1, the stockpiling preparation stage and study 2, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic disruptor on customer service logistics and lockdown shopping channel preferences. For studies 1 and 2 we gathered data via a UK online panel-structured questionnaire survey (n = 603). Results confirm that consumer-driven changes to supply chains emanate largely from consumer uncertainty. Lockdown restrictions led to consumers feeling socially excluded, but enhanced consumers’ positive attitudes towards shopping online and increased consumers’ altruism. In response, consumers stockpiled by visiting physical stores and/or ordering online. Lockdown restrictions led to feelings of social exclusion but, importantly, stockpiling helped to minimize consumer anxiety and fear and even increase wellbeing.
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    The role of brand attachment and its antecedents in brand equity in Higher Education: an extended abstract
    (Springer, 2017-01-07) Dennis, Charles; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Alamanos, Eleftherios; Bourlakis, Michael
    In an increasingly competitive higher education sector, universities face significant challenges when it comes to recruiting new students. Recruitment is only the beginning of a long-term relationship that higher education institutions (HEI) need to cultivate, not only while students attend the programs, but also beyond graduation. Previous studies highlight the need for research in relation to the power that comes from successful branding and the implications for HEIs (Dholakia and Acciardo 2014). This paper aims to contribute to an underdeveloped area in the literature related to brand attributes and their importance in the context of the higher education sector (Chapleo 2010). Specifically, the research objective is to examine the influence of HEIs’ brand identity, brand meaning, and brand image on brand equity as a result of forming strong attachment, commitment, trust and overall satisfaction from the vantage points of students and graduates; representing major research gaps identified in contemporary literature. Specifically, the first main aim of this work is to investigate whether universities’ positioning strategies should continue focusing on building prestige or whether strategies aimed at improving student satisfaction could have more positive effects on brand equity. The second aim of this work is to examine whether the perceived by the students brand equity of an institution is different for students and graduates. The third main aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between attachment strength and satisfaction.
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    The role of brand attachment strength in higher education
    (Elsevier, 2016-02-15) Dennis, Charles; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Alamanos, Eleftherios; Bourlakis, Michael
    This paper examines the effect of brand attachment and its antecedents on commitment, satisfaction, trust, and brand equity in the context of higher education institutions. The findings from an online survey with students and recent graduates (n = 605) in the United States indicate that brand meaning is the main antecedent of brand attachment strength that affects satisfaction, trust, and commitment as well as brand equity. The effect of the brand attachment antecedents on satisfaction is stronger for current students whereas the effect of brand attachment antecedents on commitment is stronger for recent graduates. The effect of attachment strength on brand equity is also stronger for recent graduates. The paper also highlights practical implications for higher education managers and policy makers.
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    Toward a framework for identifying attitudes and intentions to music acquisition from legal and illegal channels
    (Wiley, 2017-03-09) Dilmperi, Athina; King, Tamira; Dennis, Charles
    Technological developments have had a profound effect on modern music acquisition, allowing people to share music over the Internet for free. The research identifies the antecedents of consumers’ attitudes and intentions to acquire music from various channels. The paper reports findings of a structured questionnaire survey of university students in the United Kingdom and Greece (n = 511). Using structural equation modeling, the authors conclude that consumers’ intention to acquire music via a legal channel is influenced by idolatry (IDL), the perceived quality of music (PQM), the perceived likelihood of punishment (PLP; digital legal channel only), and their subjective norm. On the other hand, intention to acquire music via an illegal channel is influenced by the perceived benefits of piracy. The price of legitimate music was only significant for the illegal street vendor channel, whereas IDL had a positive effect on illegal downloading. Gender had moderating effects on PLP and attitude, and income-moderated attitude and intention from P2P platforms. The findings carry important implications for academic researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
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    Value co-creation through multiple shopping channels: The interconnections with social exclusion and well-being
    (Taylor & Francis, 2017-09-25) Dennis, Charles; Bourlakis, Michael; Alamanos, Eleftherios; Papagiannidis, Savvas; Brakus, J. Joško
    This study examines consumers’ value co-creation via several shopping channels including a traditional out-of-home shopping channel and “smart” channels where consumers use a computer, a mobile phone, or social media. It focuses on the effect that value co-creation has on consumers’ shopping behavior as well as on the perceived contribution of a shopping channel to their well-being, with a focus on individuals who perceive themselves as being socially excluded, particularly by mobility disability. The project was carried out in the United States using an online survey (n = 1,220). Social exclusion has a positive statistically significant effect on respondents’ self-connection with all channels; for many socially excluded respondents the shopping channel has an important role in their lives. Self-connection with the channel has a positive effect on value co-creation and there is a positive relationship between value co-creation and the perceived contribution of the channel on well-being. When consumers help other individuals in their decision making they not only create value for the retailer and for other customers but also contribute positively to their own well-being. Importantly, for smart shopping channels where consumers use a computer or a mobile phone, the effects of value co-creation on the perceived contribution of these channels to consumer well-being are stronger for shoppers with a mobility disability than for those without such a disability.