Access Type
Open Access Dissertation
Date of Award
January 2017
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Management and Information Systems
First Advisor
Attila Yaprak
Abstract
As the world moves towards global economic interdependence and international cultural exchanges, more firms are looking towards expansion into overseas markets, to take advantage of emerging business opportunities and available resources. For a firm, that plans to sell its offerings in any foreign market, it is important to understand the consumer behavior and idiosyncrasies predominant in that market, to be more informed, competitive, and successful. Extant research on the dynamics and drivers of consumer’s buying behavior in a global market place has primarily focused, either on the impact of consumers’ personal predispositions, or the influence of brand/product related perceptions, or yet external factors, such as prevailing social, cultural, political, or business environment, on behavioral outcomes. There is a dearth of studies, which have considered the collective impact of factors that drive the buying preferences of consumers, a more realistic scenario, in any purchase scenario. The influence of these factors may also get differentiated across product category involvement (high vs. low), or/and by brand ownership (domestic vs. foreign), particularly in context of global brands. Besides, process elucidations about the mechanisms that transform individual predispositions and consumers’ brand perceptions into specific behavioral responses, need to be further explored. This research is an effort to shed some light on the drivers of consumer’s purchase behavior in a multi-dimensional perspective, using two product categories viz. midsize sedans and sportswear, involving, a domestic and a foreign global brand, using different sets of respondents in two separate studies. It investigates, which among the focal personal traits or/and the focal brand attributes, individually or as a group, has a stronger influence on behavioral outcomes, through formation of specific attitudes, using the “Attitude Theory” perspective as the main conceptual anchor. Further this research identifies consumer traits or(and) brand perceptions that drive a specific behavioral outcome more strongly than others, in totality. The mediating effects of brand attitudes are examined, contingent upon the individual’s characteristics and brand evoked attributes, on elicitation of behavioral outcomes. A comprehensive conceptual model is proposed with description and dimensions for each construct of interest, their relationships defined, and testable propositions suggested, in view of relevant theoretical background and established research findings. Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) is used to ascertain the plausibility of the proposed model, and paths and strength of relationships, and model generating approach used to determine the best fitting model, for each data cell. Survey data is used across the four cells in each study, in the domains of brand ownership (domestic vs. foreign) and product category involvement (sedan vs. sportswear). The paths, strength of relationships between constructs, mediators, and outcome variables are compared, for differences within and between the cells, and across two studies. Research contribution, managerial implications, limitations, and avenues of future research are also discussed.
Recommended Citation
Naseem, Nayyer Naseem, "Global Brands And Drivers Of Consumers’ Purchase Behavior: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective" (2017). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1852.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1852