Download Consumers with Functional Purchase Motivation Are More Focused

Global Journal of Emerging Trends in e-Business, Marketing and Consumer Psychology (GJETeMCP)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
Consumers with Functional Purchase Motivation Are More Focused
on Marketing Activities than Word of Mouth as the Most Useful
Information Source1
Hyeyoung Oh,
Dept. of Consumer Information Science,
Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea.
E-mail: [email protected]
Sungsook Kim,
Dept. of Consumer Information Science,
Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea.
E-mail: [email protected]
_____________________________________________________________________
Abstract
While word of mouth(WOM) is regarded as a key ingredient in product success, little is
known about the given content of WOM. At the point of purchase, consumers can be affected
more by advertisements than WOM. So, we expected that the most useful information sources
can affect the consumer’s purchase motivation (functional vs. emotional) and these attitudes
may be related to cultural differences based on the country. The results confirmed our
expectations that consumers with emotional purchase motivation prefer WOM over
advertisements as the most useful information source, but consumers with functional
purchase motivation prefer advertisements at the point of purchase.
_____________________________________________________________________
Key words: purchase motivation, WOM, information searching, information resource,
cultural differences
1
The authors gratefully acknowledge support for this survey data was provided by Samsung’s
Global Marketing Institute
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Global Journal of Emerging Trends in e-Business, Marketing and Consumer Psychology (GJETeMCP)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
1. Introduction
For decades, word of mouth (WOM) has been recognized as a key influencer in
consumer’s purchase decision-making, with studies showing its impact on individuals to be
greater than advertising (Nguyen and Romaniuk 2014). Receiving positive WOM was
considered to be superior to marketing activities from the company side, like sales talk, due to
its trustworthy nature(Buttle, 1998; Nguyen and Romaniuk 2014).
When people are faced with the purchase of a new technology product, at that moment, is
the most influential information source is still WOM?
Previous research paid attention to WOM as a strongly neutral and trustworthy
information source. However, when information searches through the Internet and web sites
became more common, researchers keenly felt the necessity of a distinction between
trustworthy sources of information and trustworthy information resources.
In the past, consumers trusted WOM completely when compared to marketing activities
from the company side, including sales talk, because marketing activities were considered to
be too commercialized sweet talk. In the case of recent new products based on scientific
technology, sometimes WOM is something less trustworthy. In this case, one of the most
accurate information sources is commercial advertisements from the company side because
marketing communication goals focus on newly developed product details and functions
together with demonstrations of the new features.
Since searching for information via the Internet on web sites has become mainstream,
studies for WOM enlarged to online word of mouth (e-WOM), but marketers can easily
influence major e-WOM sources of information, like power bloggers, SNS and content
providers for commercialized web sites.
With this background, this study aims to investigate the effects of WOM for technologybased products when consumers are faced with the decision making for the purchase of new
products, and which factors influence their decision making process.
2. Theoretical Background and Research Questions
2.1. Consumer’s Information Search Behavior
During the consumer’s purchase decision-making process, information search is one of
the most important factors. The studies of information search were developed from the studies
of decision theory of information search amounts (Stigler, 1961) to the studies of information
search behaviors (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard, 1986), and these previous studies proved
information searching affect product purchase decision making.
When consumers think they enough experience purchasing similar products or enough
knowledge about the products, they just reflect on internal information to make the optimal
choice, but when consumers do not have enough knowledge related to the product they would
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Global Journal of Emerging Trends in e-Business, Marketing and Consumer Psychology (GJETeMCP)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
like to purchase or feel the risk of failure in their decision making, they search for additional
information externally. Also, when consumers consider purchasing highly technical products
like electronic goods, to make an optimal choice external information searching needs to be
increased more.
As per the study of Beatty and Smith (1987), the consumer’s searching of information is
affected by previously acquired knowledge and by their involvement level. Otherwise, the
variables influenced by the amount of information consumer’s searched were marketing
environmental factors, purchasing situation factors, underlying benefits recognized by
consumers, the consumer’s level of knowledge, purchase experience history of success or
failure, personality factors, situational conflicts, price issues, and so on.
Actually consumer’s information searching behaviors were classified by the resources of
information, not the amounts of information. Previous studies show that consumers
selectively choose information sources based on the various purchasing situations, not
considering all of the possible information resources.
The factors affecting consumer’s characteristics for selecting information resources is age,
educational status, income levels, occupation, and other demographic characteristics
(Newman and Staelin 1972) and the study of Choi & Ra(2012) distinguished between the
factors influencing information search amounts and influencing the choice of information
resources. They asserted that the consumer’s propensity to make purchases based on
emotional or functional motivating factors affected the amount of information searching, and
demographic characteristics affected the consumers’ preference when selecting information
sources.
In the case of re-purchase, the consumer’s information searching behaviors may depend
on the perception of product experience related to cognitive values about the product because
consumers perceived product values based on their own experiences (Steenkamp & Geyskens,
2006). Holbrook (1996) asserted that consumer’s perceived values were made by
consumption experience not purchase history. Consumption experience can separate
utilitarian experience from functional view and practical and cognitive view, and hedonic
experience from emotional view. This consumption experience influenced motivations to
purchase (Bayllys, 1958; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982; Steenkamp & Geyskens, 2006).
Especially, emotional experiences affected the building of core consumption experiences and
utilitarian experiences affected the support of functional consumption goals as tools (Shankar,
Smith, & Rangaswamy, 2003).
This study wanted to prove that purchase motivation (functional direction vs. emotional
direction) affects consumer’s behavior for selection of information sources.
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An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
2.2. Information Sources at the Point of Purchase
Consumers’ information sources can separate WOM by family, friends or other personal
relationships; commercial resources from the company side like advertisements and, sales
talk; and neutral information sources like consumer reports (Westbrook & Fornell, 1979;
Engel et al., 1982).
WOM occurs when consumers informally discuss products, services and brands (Arndt,
1967; Charlett et al., 1995).
The research of East and Lomax (2005) showed that the most frequently used information
resources were WOM (31%) and advertisements (14%) among twenty three product
categories. Product information from WOM is not always correct because it based on the
consumer’s personal experience with bias and is not controlled by the manufacturer. So,
comparing advertisements together with exact product information like sales talk, brochures,
and demonstration of use; WOM is not focused on the product itself but focused on the
information providers. WOM as product information is not perfect and a limited information
resource.
The study of Jang et al (2012) classified consumer’s purchase decision making process
into two stages. The first stage is searching for information focused on general information
related to e-WOM like comments after purchase and consumer reviews, but the second stage
is focused on in-store commercial recommendations including sales talk as product expertise.
Jang et al (2012) asserted e-WOM and in-store commercial marketing activities from the
company side are used sequentially, but it is very difficult to distinguish between general
information searching and crucial information searching.
Our study focused on the consumer’s purchase motivation based on their own personal
characteristics such as the information resources that affected their decision when they want
to purchase something. Consumers who have emotional purchasing motivation were moved
by WOM which focuses on information providers they consider trustworthy, but others who
have functional purchasing motivation were moved by advertisements from the company side
as objective information for highly technical products. Our research hypotheses are below:
H1. Consumers who have emotional purchase motivation prefer WOM compared to
advertisements as the information sources prior to the point of purchase.
H2. Consumers who have functional purchase motivation prefer advertisements over
WOM as the information sources prior to the point of purchase.
2.3. The Effect of Cultural Difference by Country
Cultural differences by country affect how people feel regarding purchase motivation
(Morris and Peng, 1994; Menon et al.,1999) and their reactions to marketing activities from
the company side(Chun-Tung and Corkindale, 1998).
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Global Journal of Emerging Trends in e-Business, Marketing and Consumer Psychology (GJETeMCP)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
Cultural differences by country have been shown to be associated with differences in
perceptions and attitudes towards purchase decision making processes together with
advertising and marketing activities (Chun-Tung and Corkindale, 1998). Generally Asian
countries with oriental cultural backgrounds reveal more emotional motivation than Western
countries since Asian people are more focused on relationships. According to Michon and
Chebat(2004), both utilitarian and hedonic shopping behaviors are affected by cultural
differences and personal traits.
The effects of cultural difference by country on purchase motivation and information
searching attitudes towards WOM or advertisements in purchase decision making processes
have not been studied yet. We anticipate cultural differences in several regions, but hesitate to
specify further. Our study advances whether purchase motivation (emotional vs. functional)
affects the selecting of information sources at the point of purchase, but the effect of cultural
differences by country can influence that effect.
So, our study can provide evidence that cultural differences by country have a strong
influence on information searching attitudes.
H3. Cultural difference by countries moderates the effect of purchase motivation and
selection behavior for information resources at the point of purchase.
3. Collecting the Data
3.1. Respondents
Support for this research data was provided by Samsung’s Global Marketing Institute as
the Global U&A Study for air conditioners among the general population. It included data
from three countries: Russia, Thailand and Australia.
Participants aged 20 to 55 in all countries were purchase decision makers or influencers in
purchasing their digital devices and home appliance. Sample balancing at the country level
by census demographics based on age and gender.
The method for data collection in Australia was via an online panel survey, and in Russia
and Thailand data was collected during face-to-face interviews.
The total respondents by country were 500 participants from Russia, 509 participants
from Thailand, and 550 participants from Australia. The data was collected by TNS which is
a multinational market research institute.
All participants had air conditioners but for more accurate analysis, we focused on the
participants who had recently purchased air conditioners within the past two years only. So,
finally we used a total of 725 valid samples: 123samples from Russia, 235 samples from
Thailand and 367 samples from Australia. They had all purchased air conditioners within the
past two years.
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Global Journal of Emerging Trends in e-Business, Marketing and Consumer Psychology (GJETeMCP)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
3.2. Procedure
All participants received constructive questionnaire which is tested previously by their
language. First of all, participants checked owned electronic products and after that, they were
asked about their own air conditioner which had recently purchased air conditioners within
the past two years only. They answered about usage and attitude questions for air conditioner
and for information searching behavior when they choose that product. After that, they
marked about their consumption attitude related purchase motivations.
3.3. Key Variables
The research design was 3countries (Russia, Thailand, Australia) X 2 purchase
motivations (functional vs. emotional) full factorial between subject designs.
Participants response all information sources when they purchase air conditioner and
check the most useful information source too. We recoded all information sources based on
the two different analysts by separately and double check again.
Purchase motivation and useful information sources were asked of participants and
recoded as below in table1.
Table1: Recoded Key Variables
Purchase
Motivation
Functional
Emotional
recode
The previous one stopped
working (broken)
The previous one was not
working well
Change in family or situation
I wanted to have one with
better performance
The price decreased enough
I wanted one with bigger
capacity
Etc.,
It was an impulse purchase
After I saw it in an
advertisement via media
(TV, Internet, magazine,
etc.,)
I wanted to have a brand new
one that just came out
I didn’t like my appliance
and wanted to buy a new
one
My appliance didn’t fit well
into the intended space
design
Etc.,
Information
Source
WOM
Ads
recode
Friends or family
recommendation
Product expert’s
recommendation
Consumer reports
Web blog/social networks
Online discussion forum
Newspaper/magazines articles
or
editorial
Mass media advertisement
Sales person’s recommendation
Brochures/leaflets in store
Product displays or
demonstration
at store
Shopping/retailer web page
Product specific web page
Advertisement on Internet, etc.,
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2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
4. Results and Discussion
As expected, the participants who had emotional purchase motivation preferred to select
WOM as the most useful information source and participants who had functional purchase
motivation preferred to select advertisements, and these results were significant (χ2 =20.022,
p=.000). Participants who had functional motivation selected advertisements more (52.4%)
than WOM (47.6%), but others who had emotional motivation selected WOM(64.5%) over
advertisements(35.5%).
Table 2: The Most Useful Information Sources by Purchase Motivation
N (%)
WOM
Ads
Total
χ
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Functional
207(47.6%)
228(52.4%)
435(100.0%)
20.022
(p=.000)
Emotional
187(64.5%)
103(35.5%)
290(100.0%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Also, the most useful information source by country was different as per hypothesis3.
2
Russia and Thailand had very similar preferences in selecting the most useful information
source. These countries preferred WOM over advertisements as the most useful information
source, but Australia preferred advertisements more at the point of purchase as shown in
table3.
The difference was significant (χ2 =13.445, p=.001).
Table 3: The Most Useful Information Source by Country
N (%)
==================================================================
WOM
Ads
Sum
χ2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Russia
77(62.6%)
46(37.4%)
123(100.0%)
Thailand
142(60.4%)
93(39.6%)
235(100.0%)
13.445
(p=.001)
Australia
175(47.7%)
192(52.3%)
367(100.0%)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By the way, the results about purchase motivation by country are quite interesting
because they show different patterns of motivation construction and these differences were
significant (χ2 =12.685, p=.002) as shown below in table 4.
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2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
Table 4: Purchase Motivation by Country
N (%)
==================================================================
Countries
___Motivation
.
Total
χ2
Functional
Emotional
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Russia
87(70.7%)
36(29.3%)
123(100%)
Thailand
122(51.9%)
113(48.1%)
235(100%)
12.685
(p=.002)
Australia
226(61.6%)
141(38.4%)
367(100%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By country, purchase motivation affected the selection of useful information sources as
expected, but the direction is not clear. The two-way interaction is significant regarding
Country by Motivation ( F(2, 719)=5.211, p=.006) as shown below in table5.
It confirms that our hypothesis3 is accepted.
Table 5: The Most Useful Information Source by Purchase Motivation and Country
==================================================================
Country
Functional Motivation
Emotional Motivation
__ .
Case
WOM
Ads
Case
WOM
Ads
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Russia
87
56.3%
43.7%
36
77.8%
22.2%
Thailand
122
61.5%
38.5%
113
59.3%
40.7%
Australia
226
36.7%
63.3%
141
65.2%
34.8%
Total
435
47.6%
52.4%
290
64.5%
35.5%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We expected that the most useful information sources can be affected by the consumer’s
purchase motivation and these attitudes may be related to cultural differences based on the
consumer’s nationality. The results confirmed our expectations.
In summary, consumers with emotional purchase motivation prefer WOM over
advertisements as the most useful information source, but consumers with functional purchase
motivation prefer advertisements prior to the point of purchase.
Based on the previous researches, consumers hesitated to use commercial information
sources which have persuade intention to purchase but actually our research findings were
little bit different when the consumers who have functional purchase motivations. They prefer
commercial information sources such as advertisements, sales talk at store over WOM as per
product expertise’s recommendation especially for technological products. Also, these
findings were different by the country. We think that these differences were based on the
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2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
cognition about expertise information. When consumer faced on the new innovated products,
they need more specified information and demonstration in store and some kinds of
information were depended on manufacturer because of technology base. So, in the future
study, we should develop different information search behaviors when consumers faced on
the innovative products or not.
Another interesting finding was difference between regions. We think that this result was
based on the area culture but still research more.
5. Limitations and Future Research
Based on these results, we can find quite interesting marketing implications for
the point of purchase. Until now, previous research focused on the consumer’s
information search for trustworthy sources, but actually advertisements can more
strongly affect consumers with functional purchase motivation at the point of
purchase. It means that if in-store marketing activities can more expertise in
information support, it can be a more powerful driver when persuading customers to
make the purchase.
Even though there are quite interesting marketing implications, the limitations of
this study are based on the survey data, not the controlled conditions of the
experiment. Also, we cannot separate the consumer’s decision making process from
their information searching behavior.
In the near future, we can launch more precise research in other countries to prove
the hypothesis again.
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An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3170)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 3
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