The problem examined in this study was the nature of compulsive purchasing behavior. Three proposed models depicting this behavior as a learned adaptive response to anxiety and/or depression, an addiction, and a personality disorder were introduced and discussed in Chapter I. Background information concerning the areas examined in the models was presented in Chapter II. The research methodology was discussed in Chapter III and the findings of the research presented in Chapter IV. A summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations were presented in Chapter V.

The purpose of this research was to examine how the intervening variable of comparative well-being (which is how persons view their age, financial resources, and health compared to others of their own age) will enhance the significance of the relationship between selected demographic and psychographic variables and perceived risk. Specifically, the research investigated the structural relationship between comparative well-being in four different statistical models: (1) as an independent predictor of perceived risk; (2) as an intensifier of the psychographic and demographic predictors of perceived risk; (3) as a covariate of perceived risk; and (4) finally, as a jointly dependent variable with perceived risk. This approach was pursued in an effort to enhance the traditional marketing use of demographic and psychographic variables in predictingconsumer buying behavior. The data for this study were gathered as part of a national consumer-panel mail survey utilizing approximately 3,000 households. The research instrument was a self-administered questionnaire which collected demographic, psychographic, and perceived risk information from purchasers of apparel wear. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation analysis, factor analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The findings have identified the importance of how consumers position themselves in society, based …

The purpose of this research was to conduct an exploratory study of the information processing utilized by incubator-housed manufacturers during channel member selection. The study included the evaluation of the decision models used by the manufacturers as well as criteria used in the selection process. The study was specifically designed to achieve the following objectives. First, the research was to identify the evaluation modes used by the manufacturers as either compensatory or noncompensatory. Second, the study was to evaluate the effect of the task on the selection of the evaluation model(s) used during the channel member selection process. Third, the study was to evaluate the effect of the selected decision strategy on the amount of information used during the decision process. Finally, the study was to identify and examine the importance of the criteria used by the manufacturers in the selection process. The methodology in this study consisted of primary research using protocol analysis as the main data gathering technique. A ranking instrument was also mailed to the respondents prior to the protocol session. The population for the study was identified as all manufacturers located in publicly-sponsored business incubators. A total of 235 incubators were in existence with approximately 47 …

The objectives of this dissertation were to: (1) discover whether commenters and non-commenters on an international marketing questionnaire differ based on sociodemographic, nationality, and personality characteristics; (2) determine whether commenters with greater life satisfaction are more likely to provide positive comments; (3) determine whether commenters differ in response styles due to their national background; and (4) discover whether commenters differ (based on sociodemo-graphic, nationality, and personality characteristics) in their propensity to comment on the design rather than on other questionnaire issues. An exploratory design was used to satisfy these objectives.

This dissertation focuses generally on consumer behavior, and particularly on consumer attitudes toward products of foreign origin for the purpose of developing a theory that will assist in explaining and predicting this phenomenon. Existing research in the area of country of origin effects upon consumer attitudes toward foreign-made products demonstrates significant methodological limitations such as single cue approaches., The major objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the development of a theory based upon the expectancy-value attitude concept to better explain and predict consumer attitudes toward products of foreign origin. To achieve this objective, the research attempts to overcome the limitations identified in attitude research and specific methodological deficiencies in research focusing on attitudes toward products of foreign origin by: 1. utilizing the expectancy-value approach; 2. basing operationalization of the attitude concepts on Likert-like scales and subjective conditional probabilities; 3. measuring the operationalized attitudes both directly and indirectly via beliefs and evaluations; 4. simultaneously including multiple extrinsic cues; 5. including pictorial cues in the questionnaire; and 6. performing and reporting validity and reliability tests. The general model developed in this research, representing the theory of attitudes toward products of foreign origin is the Foreign Product Attitude Model (FPAM). This …

The problem of this investigation was to make an exploratory examination of the distribution practices of apparel manufacturers as perceived by apparel retailers. Specifically, the purposes of this study were to identify those areas of perceived conflict between women's apparel retailers and apparel manufacturers from the viewpoint of the retailer, determine if there was a relationship between select retailer variables and the quality of service that retailers perceived apparel manufacturers were giving, determine whether some merchandise classifications were perceived by retailers to be greater problem areas than other merchandise classifications, to determine factors contributing to the enhancement of perceived conflict within apparel marketing channels, and to suggest remedies that would improve apparel channel relationships. The report concluded with the presentation of an apparel retailer expectation model and suggestions for additional research.