This paper extends prior research on consumer knowledge beliefs and word-of-mouth transmission. Findings from four studies suggest that people compensate for unfavorable discrepancies between their actual and ideal consumer knowledge with heightened efforts to signal knowledgeability through the...

Business ought to understand their customers' needs and wants, if they want to remain successful in a competitive market place. Therefore, this chapter introduces its readers to market research as tourism businesses continuously require information on their customers. In this light, a well...

There is a substantial literature in medical journals examining the marketing and promotional efforts of pharmaceutical firms. This literature is generally critical of those efforts, focusing on the negative aspects of promotion. Although the literature is expressed in empirical and scientific...

This chapter discusses the intersection of social relationships and consumer behavior. It describes close personal consumer-to-consumer connections such as friendships, romantic relationships, and familial relationships, primarily in the form of dyads but also considering groups, which are...

Four studies examine the influence of attaching a seemingly insignificant Post-it note to a survey packet on the likelihood of completing the survey. Participants who received a packet with an affixed Post-it note request had significantly higher return rates than participants who received the...

The behavioral implications of large discounts have been viewed from two opposing perspectives. From an attribution perspective, a large discount signals low quality and decreases the overall appeal of the product, but from a motivational account, a large discount seems attractive and increases...

In communication, information, and other industries, three-part tariffs are increasingly popular. A three-part tariff is defined by an access price, an allowance, and a marginal price for any usage in excess of the allowance. Empirical nonlinear pricing studies have focused on consumer choice...

Celebrity endorsement research studies how the characteristics of firms and celebrities featured in promotional campaigns influence consumer attitudes and firm value. Before these campaigns are launched, firms and celebrities first negotiate at length to sign a celebrity endorsement contract....

Trademarks are indeed about information, but trademark doctrine misunderstands trademarks’ information function. Trademark doctrine takes a broadcast view in a networked world. Rather than a world where a single source transmits messages to a passive public, we live in a world where many...

Direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals has led to questions of whether consumers benefit from the additional drug information, or are harmed by being induced to pursue prescriptions that are unnecessary or even dangerous. We conducted an empirical study of the relation between...