Psychology and Marketing Articles Analysis - Essay Example

?Annotated Bibliography: Marketing and Psychology Annotated Bibliography: Journal of Psychologyand Marketing 1. Wu, L. and Lin, J. (2012). The Match between Information Control and Motivation in the Online Context. Psychology and Marketing, 29(11), 822-835 The authors reveal that e-commerce experts have for a long time worked to take advantage of existing internet technological characteristics to enhance the experience of consumers online. It is imperative to note that the number of online consumers has significantly increased over the years. The situation presents great market potential which is yet to be fully exploited. Consumers ought to have an easy time when looking out for information in addition to wise decision making as regards to online shopping. There are quite a number of online shops on the internet. This scenario presents varying alternatives for the consumer to choose from. Furthermore, the internet provides numerous levels of information control over the same medium. The authors have therefore developed this study with an aim to examine this particular characteristic relative to the consumers’ ability to make wise decisions when shopping online. A relevant hypothesis in this case is that the level of information control ought to be in tandem with the level of motivation in order to enhance the quality of online consumers’ decisions. A common observation has always been that consumers who are highly motivated tend to look up for relevant information. Consequently, the higher the degree of information control, the higher the chances of proper decision making by consumers. On the other hand, consumers who are lowly motivated are not willing to search for information. The authors through the study have employed an experimental type of methodology. A total of 171 participants took part in the experiment voluntarily. At the end of the day, the results revealed that consumers who are highly motivated tend to make better decisions on condition that information control is maintained at high levels. The results also revealed that low-motivation consumers made better decisions relative to low levels of information control as compared to high levels of information control. In conclusion, the results reveal great support for the study’s hypothesis. 2. Schuldt, J.P., and Koonrath, S.H. (2012). The Right Angle: Visual Portrayal of Products Affects Observers’ Impressions of Owners. Psychology and Marketing, 29(10), 705-711. Schuldt and Koonrath (2012) assert that the observers’ impression of product owners have for a long time been influenced by consumer products. Advertisements play a vital role with regard to portraying the image of a product. Consumers are known to make their purchase decisions on the basis of advertisements. It follows that a consumer will be attracted to a more appealing advertisement thus his/her decision to purchase the product or not. However, the angle of visually portraying the products in advertisement may be overlooked. The authors base their study on the hypothesis that portraying a similar product from different points of view can result into various associations as regards color impressions of the owner and product in analogous ways. The authors have also drawn lessons from the first study which indicated how Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) were rated ahead of sedans on the basis of their power related traits. The SUV can be termed as a dominant and powerful type of automobile. Such associations work to influence the impressions on the owners of the products. In this case, a person who owns an SUV has a higher status as compared to another who owns a sedan as much as the two are relatively costly commodities. In other words, the society closely associates with the SUV owner thus easily respects the owner. This suggests that visual portrayal goes beyond product evaluation such that more specific impressions relating to their respective owners. Lastly, primed traits usually affect impressions as long as they are in line with other information relative to the target. 3. Fleck, N. and Korchia, M. (2012). Celebrities in Advertising: Looking for Congruence or Likability. Psychology and Marketing, 29(9), 651-662 Celebrities all over the world have signed endorsements with various companies/organizations and institutions alike, for the purposes of advertisement. Celebrities are known to command reasonably stronger ties with the target audience. This in turn results into maximized advertising effectiveness and hence increased sales. They assist in building brand awareness, resurrect failing brands, attract new customers, position a particular brand, as well as, influencing the purchasing patterns of consumers. This process starts by making the right choice of a celebrity to feature in the advertisement. Fleck and Korchia (2012) reveal that it takes quite some time, resources and effort to find a suitable celebrity for the endorsement. It is not apparent that any celebrity will be a good endorser. Quite a number of factors have to be considered beforehand. A common trend has always been that popular celebrities are preferred as endorser. Their popularity means that they are well known hence the advertisement is highly likely to reach out to a bigger audience. From an academic and more cognitive point of view, however, the celebrity and the brand have to be congruent. These two factors should complement each other in order to achieve advertisement effectiveness. This claim is backed by the cognitive and affective theories. It is a sure way to achieve endorsement effectiveness in addition to the likability of a particular celebrity. The three factors have a significant impact in relation to the effectiveness of the advertisement. This in turn defines purchase intention of the consumer, as well as, brand beliefs. 4. Gnambs, T. and Batinic, B. (2012). A Personality-Competence Model of Opinion Leadership. Psychology and Marketing, 29, (8), 606-621 An opinion leader refers to a person whose behavior and ideologies act as a model to other people. He or she is an agent who actively uses the media, in addition to translating the meaning of messages. Their messages influence the behavior and attitudes of their subjects. It is, therefore, wise to communicate through opinion leaders when advertising. This move helps to speed up the acceptance of the message being relayed by the advertisement. Consequently, whoever accepts his or her opinion has no choice but to hold the opinion leader in high esteem. Gnambs and Batinic (2012) assert that opinion leaders serve as ‘a central consumer segment for targeted marketing strategies’. In other words, opinion leaders work to influence markets; hence advertisers rely on them to relay testimonials. The study investigates respective psychological profiles of 417 German consumers by modifying the aspect of opinion leadership into a domain-specific and generalized component. The authors have integrated opinion leadership into a comprehensive hierarchical framework relative to human personality. The two major sources of domain-specific opinion leadership emphasized by the result include personality and competencies in the form of influencer traits and product specific knowledge respectively. The study further reveals other traits including typical intellectual engagement, big five of personality in addition to self-efficacy. It is imperative to note that the various effects of the above mentioned personality traits on domain-specific opinion leadership (DSOL) are partially resolved by objective knowledge, as well as, opinion leadership in a generalized context. References Wu, L. and Lin, J. (2012). The Match between Information Control and Motivation in the Online Context. Psychology and Marketing, 29(11), 822-835. Schuldt, J.P., and Koonrath, S.H. (2012). The Right Angle: Visual Portrayal of Products Affects Observers’ Impressions of Owners. Psychology and Marketing, 29(10), 705-711. Fleck, N. and Korchia, M. (2012). Celebrities in Advertising: Looking for Congruence or Likability. Psychology and Marketing, 29(9), 651-662. Gnambs, T. and Batinic, B. (2012). A Personality-Competence Model of Opinion Leadership. Psychology and Marketing, 29, (8), 606-621. Read More