MARC Record from University of Toronto

LEADER: 03267nam 2200253 4500
001 AAINR21949
005 20070827145519.5
008 070827s2006 onc|||||||||||||| ||eng d
020 $a9780494219492
039 $fnb
100 1 $aZhang, Meng.
245 10 $aTwo essays on the impact of goals on consumer behavior.
260 $c2006.
300 $a108 leaves.
500 $aSource: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-01, Section: A, page: 0273.
502 $aThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.
506 $aElectronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.
520 $aThis dissertation includes two essays on the impact of goals on consumer behavior. The first essay investigates the moderating role of regulatory focus in resolving product choice involving conflicting goals. Specifically, the results of four experiments demonstrate that when both a high-level and a low-level consumer goal are active, but cannot be satisfied by a single product, consumers with a promotion focus are more likely to choose a product that satisfies the high-level goal whereas consumers with a prevention focus are more likely to choose a product that satisfies the low-level goal. These experiments also find that these effects occur because the promotion focus and the prevention focus has different effects on the accessibility of the high-level and low-level goals, and the accessibility of goals, in turn mediates the effects on conflicting product choice.The results of five experiments show that (1) the brand-as-means is different from other brands that are perceived to be equally capable of satisfying this goal. Specifically, when the goal is activated, both its cognitive properties (e.g., activation) and its motivational properties (e.g., wanting and specific affective experience) get transferred to the brand-as-means, but not to other brands (experiment 1 to 3), and (2) when the goal is activated, the brand-as-means is more likely to be selected over other brands (experiment 4 and 5).The second essay examines situations in which there are multiple brands in a product category that consumers perceive as equally capable of satisfying an active goal. Based on the recent goal system theory in social psychology (Kruglanski et al. 2002), we propose the concept of brand-as-means and demonstrate how it differs from other brands. We conceptualize brand-as-means as a consumer's idiosyncratic way to achieve their personal goal. Others may use other brands to achieve the same goal, but these brands could vary by consumer. We further propose that the brand-as-means is a part of a consumer's goal system, whereas other brands are exclusively represented in the consumer' knowledge structure.
653 $aBusiness Administration, Marketing.
653 $aPsychology, Behavioral.
856 41 $uhttp://link.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=449770&T=F$yConnect to resource
949 $atheses MGMTS 2006 Ph.D. 13158$wALPHANUM$c1$i31761073483398$lTHESES$mROBARTS$rY$sY$tTHESIS$u11/9/2007
949 $aOnline resource 449770$wASIS$c1$i6201952-2001$lONLINE$mE_RESOURCE$rY$sY$tE_RESOURCE$u11/9/2007
949 $atheses MGMTS 2006 Ph.D. 13158$wALPHANUM$c1$i6201952-3001$lMICROTEXT$mMEDIA_COMM$rN$sY$tMICROFORM$u5/10/2007