John C. Mowen

Oklahoma State University - Stillwater | Oklahoma State · Department of Marketing

The Quality Lens Model suggests that parties in a channel relation act as though they assess product attributes through a cognitive lens that may distort perceptions of service quality. This model provides a quantitative means of analyzing and comparing channel members’ perceptions with objective measures of product or service quality.

A growing body of research examines the role of music in marketing communications. Yet, little work has been done toward developing a theoretical rationale for the process by which music influences consumers. A model is proposed that depicts the multiple types of meaning that music elicits. Literature on meaning in music and on music in marketing i...

Numerous studies have investigated the performance of frontline employees (FLEs) and how these employees influence organizational success. Because customer-perceived outcomes are important, much attention has been devoted to the customer orientation (CO) construct. The weak influence of CO on external measures, however, has led to numerous research...

The need to incorporate effort and territory situation information in salesperson performance evaluations is acknowledged widely. However, previous research has found consistently that many firms and sales researchers fail to do this. One stream of research suggests that this failure is due to a general judgmental bias called the fundamental attrib...

Cognitive biases affect the evaluation of performance in all managerial areas, and the evaluation of sales personnel is especially problematic due to its unique nature. A model of the sales force evaluation process is presented and is used to provide a framework for discussing common biases affecting the expectations of the sales manager. Suggestio...

In a factorial experiment, subjects, most of whom possessed managerial experience, were given information about a salesperson and asked to rate his ability on the job. As predicted, the subjects tended to overutilize effort information and underutilize task difficulty information in making their evaluations. The research reveals that cognitive bias...

Previous research has yielded inconclusive evidence regarding whether territory difficulty information influences evaluations of salesperson performance. Two studies were conducted to assess whether a territory difficulty bias exists. In addition, the research tested for a divergence in performance ratings depending upon whether the evaluation was...

An outcome bias occurs when an evaluator allows the outcome of a decision rather than the appropriateness of the decision to influence ratings of the decision maker. The present experiment investigated the outcome bias in a setting in which evaluators rated a salesperson's performance. Results revealed that outcome information interacted with decis...

We propose that specialty store managers, as well as outside sales personnel attached to the store, have selling responsibilities. In addition, we propose that sales personnel, as well as store managers, should have a propensity for leadership, which reflects an individual’s enduring disposition to exhibit leadership within the context of his or he...

A cognitive consistency model, based upon signed-digraph analysis, was developed to examine systematically the use of product endorsers in advertisements. On the basis of an integration of the literatures on balance theory, source effects, and attribution theory, a series of predictions which delineate a group of factors relevant to the successful...

Consumer behavior researchers have frequently employed schema theory as the theoretical underpinning of their investigations. A schema is a cognitive structure in memory representing a person's knowledge of a stimulus, which can include people's perceptions of themselves, other people, products, roles and occupations, and the situations they face....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nomological net of the construct of the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA). Design/methodology/approach – A hierarchical model of personality is employed to investigate the nomological net of CVPA. The hierarchical model incorporates both trait antecedents (e.g. the traits of ne...

The goal of this research is to investigate to what extent gamblers and stock investors share similar characteristics. Using survey data, a hierarchical model of personality is employed to compare the traits of gamblers and investors. The results reveal that gamblers and investors share five trait characteristics and differ on three traits. Cluster...

To reduce adverse customer selection, service firms are empowering employees to use decision latitude to decide whether to provide a service to a potential customer. Customer selection often requires complex decision making that involves both quantitative and qualitative customer information. The authors introduce service employees’ desire for deci...

Promotional tools and services management strategies are often intertwined with changes in the timing of payments for and receipt of products. A series of studies investigates how the timing of payments and the receipt of products impacts purchase intentions and consumer dollar valuations—e.g., how much extra customers would pay to receive a produc...

In two studies, we employed a hierarchical model of personality to examine the trait antecedents of gambling. The results revealed that a set of more abstract traits were predictive of a general gambling propensity, including materialism, body resource needs (negative), competitiveness, impulsiveness, sports fanmanship, superstition, and financial...

This empirical study evaluated the moderating effects of unit customer orientation (CO) climate and climate strength on the relationship between service workers' level of CO and their performance of customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). In addition, the study examined whether aggregate COB performance influences unit profitability. Building on multis...

The research investigated the trait predictors of the propensity to use two beautification procedures that have the potential to harm health – the propensities to tan and to obtain cosmetic surgery. The results of a survey of 231 adult consumers revealed that a different combination of hierarchically arranged traits was predictive of the two proced...

The authors propose that superstitions are employed as a heuristic device and that they influence a variety of consumer behaviors. Previous research has assessed superstition by investigating specific superstitious beliefs. The present research advances the literature by developing a general measure of a propensity to be superstitious. In a two-stu...

Cognitive appraisal theory is used to investigate the influence of perceived competitive climate in the retail store upon the relationship between three role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity, role conflict, and family–work conflict) and job efficacy, job satisfaction, and the self- and supervisor-rated performance of retail professionals. Results in...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the functional motive and trait antecedents of four forms of gambling – slot machines, skilled card games, sports betting, and participating in marketing promotional games such as sweepstakes and contests. Design/methodology/approach A hierarchical model of motivation and personality (3M model) was e...

Four problems occur in the scale development process: (a) defining the construct, (b) drawing items from multiple domains, (c) identifying dimensions, and (d) showing nomological validity. In order to minimize these problems, the authors propose a general hierarchical model (GHM) that provides an organizational structure for placing many of the ind...

The paper examines the effects of usage goal (i.e., hedonic versus utilitarian usage), whether the consumer is offered a discount or the ability to trade-in the old product, and tightwadism on the likelihood of replacing a still-functioning product. Supporting previous research, the results revealed that the likelihood of replacing a still-function...

Adventure travel represents an interesting form of consumer behavior that has seen tremendous growth as a segment of the tourism industry. In Study 1, we employ a hierarchical model of personality to identify the personality traits predictive of a broad measure of adventure travel. In Study 2, we distinguish several types of travel, including soft-...

Numerous scales have been developed to measure constructs relevant to consumer behavior, marketing, and management problems. Until recently, there has been no theory or model capable of providing an organizational structure for understanding the relationships among these numerous constructs. This paper presents the 3M Model of Motivation and Person...

Aggressive and distracted driving are two related consumer misbehaviors that jeopardize those on roadways. Responding to the call of Stutts et al. to investigate the human element in driving misbehavior, we employed the 3M Model of Motivation and Personality as a hierarchical model framework to identify a set of personality traits predictive of agg...

A study was performed to compare the personality characteristics of healthy eating and exercise behavior. The results revealed that a hierarchical model of personality accounted for significantly more variance than a version of the Five-Factor Model. The predictors of health and exercise behaviors were similar. In each case, the need for body resou...

We investigated the antecedents of volunteer behavior within a hierarchical model of motivation and personality. In Study 1, we developed measures of altruism and volunteer orientation and combined them with three additional traits to predict a set of volunteer behaviors. In Studies 2 and 3, we added six functional motives for volunteering identifi...

Several scholars have noted the importance of relationship marketing and the critical role that salesperson knowledge plays in the formation of buyer-seller relationships. However, research on salesperson learning motivations has been relatively scarce compared with research on firm-level learning orientations. One promising stream of research in t...

A study was performed to compare the personality characteristics of healthy eating and exercise behavior. The results revealed that a hierarchical model of personality accounted for significantly more variance than a version of the Five-Factor Model. The predictors of health and exercise behaviors were similar. In each case, the need for body resou...

The consumer trait and characteristic identification, and corresponding relationship to the genetically modified food product’s negative reactions was determined from a 354 respondent, 130 item mailed survey. The survey and partially mediated model from Mowen’s 3M Model of Personality and Motivation explained how personality traits influence geneti...

This study investigates the hypothesis that different personality traits influence fear responses to advertising appeals for two types of driver safety behavior. An experiment was conducted in which personality traits taken from the 3M model of motivation and personality (Mowen, 2000) were employed to predict fear responses to advertisements that t...

Implementation of the marketing concept in service firms is accomplished through individual service employees and their interactions with customers. Although prior research has established a link between service-worker customer orientation and performance outcomes, little research has addressed other potentially important outcomes of customer orien...

Using a hierarchical personality model approach, the trait of competitiveness was investigated in 3 studies. The results revealed that competitiveness may be positively associated with consumer behaviors occurring in three contexts: (a) besting others directly in contests (e.g., playing sports), (b) besting others indirectly through vicarious exper...

Using a hierarchical personality model approach, the trait of competitiveness was investigated in 3 studies. The results revealed that competitiveness may be positively associated with consumer behaviors occurring in three contexts: (a) besting others directly in contests (e.g., playing sports), (b) besting others indirectly through vicarious exper...

In two exploratory studies, a hierarchical model of personality was employed to investigate a number of possible trait antecedents and consumer-behavior–related consequences of superstition. One of the interesting findings was that the antecedents of superstition include a lower need for learning among older adults, higher levels of sports interest...

Proposes and tests a new approach for developing message themes and segmenting markets, termed the message development through personality segmentation – MDPS. This new tool, based on Mowen’s 3M model of motivation and personality, is used to identify a network of key personality traits that may be used as segmentation and message development varia...

In a series of three studies, a four-level hierarchical model of personality was employed to identify the antecedents and three validating criteria of a newly developed trait labeledjob resourcefulness (JR). JR is defined as an enduring disposition to garner scarce resources and overcome obstacles in pursuit of job-related goals. Across three servi...

The need for effective financial planning interventions has recently increased, as members of the baby boom generation near retirement. In the present study, the efficacy of three different retirement seminars was evaluated one year following intervention. The retirement seminars focused on either (1) information about financial planning and invest...

Prior research indicates that market orientation is associated with positive outcomes for firms. For service organizations, a market orientation is implemented largely through individual service workers. The authors investigate the mediational role of customer orientation in a hierarchical model of the influence of personality traits on self-rated...

This study investigates the possibility that a limited set of basic personality traits may underlie dispositions to bargain and to complain. A hierarchical model of personality was employed to investigate the relationship between cardinal-, central-, and surface-level traits and their influence on behavioral intentions. A sample of adult respondent...

In this research urban legends are viewed as diffusing through the consumer environment as part of a resource exchange process. Using the 3M model to develop categories of analysis, a content analysis of 100 urban legends was conducted. Three categories of variables were coded: the resource types depicted as exchanged in the stories; whether the re...

Purpose: Economists predict that in the coming decades an unprecedented number of American baby boomers will enter retirement lacking adequate resources. The present investigation was designed to examine the factors that influence individuals' financial preparedness for retirement. Design and Methods: A total of 230 participants each completed a mu...

Economists predict that in the coming decades an unprecedented number of American baby boomers will enter retirement lacking adequate resources. The present investigation was designed to examine the factors that influence individuals' financial preparedness for retirement. A total of 230 participants each completed a multifaceted questionnaire on t...

The study details the psychometric properties of a time orientation scale initially developed in the United States and examines this scale not only in the United States but in two trading partners with maximally different time orientations, China and Mexico. The scale is compared across the three countries by examining the number of factors that em...

An experiment was conducted to examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and patients’ freedom to choose a physician and the outcome of a health service encounter. Each construct with corresponding measurements is discussed and their relationship with satisfaction is reviewed. Hypotheses were developed and tested for each relationship u...

This research examines how variations in consumers' connectedness-separateness (C-S) self-schema, which refers to an individual's perceptions of others as an extension of self or of the self as distinct from others, may explain cultural and gender-level persuasion effects. Results from a cross-cultural experiment demonstrate that a connected advert...

For this paper, the presence or absence of an absurd image was manipulated in a simulated print advertisement for a fictitious brand of wine cooler. Consumers' prior attitude toward wine coolers was hypothesized to moderate the effectiveness of absurdity in advertising. Consumers' cognitive responses were hypothesized to mediate the impact of absur...

An experiment was conducted to examine the impact of patients' freedom to choose a physician and health locus of control on patient satisfaction. The experiment was set within the scenario of a patient suffering from a lengthy viral infection after visiting a health clinic for the first time. All constructs with corresponding measurements are discu...

This chapter proposes that the need to compete impacts consumption behavior as well as work behavior. After describing the development of a need to compete scale, the chapter presents empirical work demonstrating that the construct meets the four requirements for a compound trait. First, it is unidimensional. Second, the scale has excellent interna...

This chapter introduces the 3M-a new Meta-Theoretic Model of Motivation and Personality. The 3M integrates control theory, evolutionary psychology principles, elements of trait theories, and a hierarchical approach to personality to provide an integrated account of how personality interacts with situations to influence feelings, thoughts, and behav...

In the study the 3M Model was employed to predict a surface level measure of healthy diet behaviors. In addition to using the eight elemental traits in the 3M, the hierarchical model employed the compound level trait of self-efficacy and the situational level traits of health motivation (Moorman and Matulich 1993) and health innovativeness. The str...

A scale designed to measure the need for activity was developed. Within the 3M Model, the construct is conceptualized as a compound trait representing the extent to which an individual is chronically active doing things. Across five studies, the trait was found to meet three of the four criteria for a compound trait. Meeting criteria one and two, t...

Study 1 employed the 3M’s elemental traits and a measure of “interest in romantic chivalry” to predict preferences for four movie genres. The multiple regression analysis revealed a good ability of the Model to account for variance in liking for romance, action/adventure and science fiction genres but not for the drama category. In addition, Study...

Data were collected from 325 respondents from Sweden and the United States. Measures were taken of the 3M’s elemental traits, task orientation, competitiveness, sports interest, and sports participation. The results revealed that sports participation was predicted by a measure of sports interest. In turn, sports interest was associated with higher...

The chapter first summarizes the meta-theory and the major findings presented in this book. Next, it evaluates whether the 3M makes a contribution to the fields of consumer behavior and personality psychology. The chapter then identifies and discusses five possible criticisms of the 3M. A particular focus of the chapter concerns the status of the 3...

This chapter reports the development of a scale to measure the need for play. Based upon a series of studies, the three-item scale was found to meet the four criteria for a compound trait. First, it was unidimensional. Second, it had good internal reliability (mean coefficient alpha =.82.) Third, a combination of elemental traits accounted for 42.0...

The chapter presents a newly developed compound level trait designed to measure enduring dispositions to set goals and complete tasks. Closely related to achievement motivation, the four-item measure of task orientation is shown to fulfill the requirements of a compound trait. The scale has excellent internal reliability and is unidimensional. Acro...

Two studies are reported that investigate the ability of the 3M to answer three research questions related to compulsive buying among consumers. The first research question asked: what is the relationship of compulsive buying to competitiveness? The results revealed a weak negative relationship between competitiveness and compulsive buying when the...

This chapter derives the theoretical structure of the Meta-Theoretic Model of Motivation and Personality (the 3M). It first reviews background literature on control theory-based models of motivation. Next, it examines work on hierarchical personality models and evolutionary psychology. From this work it is proposed that personality traits differ in...

Two studies were conducted that investigated the construct of extraversion and its relationship to the 3M model. The results revealed that extraversion, as operationalized by Saucier (1994) and Eysenck and Eysenck (1985), is a compound level trait. The 3M Model traits predictive of the Saucier measure were: introversion, the need for arousal, emoti...

A new scale called the need for learning was developed to measure individual differences in information resource needs. A three-item construct emerged from the scale development efforts, which possess satisfactory internal validity (mean coefficient alpha = .75). In five studies, confirmatory factor analytic techniques were employed to evaluate its...

Chapter 3 presents the empirical development of the scales to measure the eight elemental traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeability, neuroticism/stability, material needs, arousal needs, and physical needs. The chapter first provides an overview of previous efforts to identify a set of basic personality traits. I...

Two studies were conducted investigating the surface level trait of bargaining proneness and its relationship to the situational level trait of value consciousness. In Study 1, the bargaining proneness scale was developed and shown to have good convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. In addition, it was found that value consciousness, co...

A three-item measure of general self-efficacy was developed. Based upon the analysis of data collected from three studies, the construct was found to meet the four criteria for a compound trait. Meeting criteria 1 and 2, the measure was found to be unidimensional and to have acceptable internal reliability. Meeting criterion 3, a combination of ele...

Two studies are reported that test the 3M Model’s ability to identify traits from which message themes can be derived that influence and persuade target markets. The approach, called PERMS, involves developing a structural model that identifies the elemental, compound, and situational traits predictive of the surface trait measure of interest. The...

Two studies are presented that investigate alternative measures of frugality. Study 1 found that a newly developed measure called “tightwadism,” in conjunction with impulsiveness, bargaining proneness, materialism (negative relationship), and emotional instability accounted for substantial variance (R2 = 47.9) in a two-item measure of the tendency...

Borrowing from Allport (1961), we propose a hierarchical approach in which cardinal psychological traits predict central traits, which in turn predict surface traits. The hierarchical perspective was employed to investigate the surface trait of compulsive buying among college students—a growing problem at U.S. universities. In Study 1, traits from...

This study investigates factors influencing the diffusion of negative information via word-of-mouth communication of urban legends in the consumer environment. An experiment was conducted in which three aspects of a recent urban legend were manipulated: the intent of the central character (altruistic vs negative), the outcome of the story (positive...

Using the work of earlier human needs researchers as a theoretical base, the Consumer Resource Exchange Model (CREM) has been developed. The model is based upon the concept that consumers seek to manage four fundamental resources in order to satisfy their needs. This paper is a partial replication of earlier work on the CREM and extends the stream...

An evolutionary approach is used to develop a resource exchange model of consumer needs and actions. Two studies are reported and differences in consumer resource needs are empirically tested. The results of the research program provided evidence of the underlying dimensions of the model and the internal reliability of the scale.

A framework for relationship marketing in the professional service context is presented. It proposes that relationship marketing is composed of three parts: a vertical relationship between a firm and its client, an internal relationship within a firm, and a horizontal relationship between a firm and other social publics in the business environment....

Two studies were conducted to assess separateness-connectedness (SC) as a new message variable and as a new individual difference variable in advertising. Study I began the process of developing a Separateness-Connectedness scale based on a sample of 140 college students (97 Westerners and 43 non-Westerners, 81 males and 59 females) attending a mid...

The purpose of the study was to find out what people in rural Oklahoma know and understand about managed care. A fourteen-statement survey instrument was developed. A panel of managed care professionals were asked to participate to provide a "standard" to compare the responses of the general public. The survey was administered to the general public...

The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as: the psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives; the psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment; the behavior of consumers while shopping or making other...

A model is proposed for understanding the impact of the use of animals in advertising. The model proposes that the culturally constituted world is composed of a variety of entities that can be given symbolic meaning. These symbols and their meanings are linked to products and then communicated by the media to the consumer. A content analysis of app...

The authors propose that an individual's capacity to plan and delay consumer decisions may impact purchases within personal selling situations. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of postponing or expediting a payment for a car on purchase intentions. A scale, developed to categorize future- and present-time oriented individuals,...

A field experiment was conducted in which managers selected between two differentially risky candidates for an open sales position. Decision frame (gain or loss) and time until decision outcome (close or distant) were manipulated. As predicted by the Mowen and Mowen (1991) time and outcome valuation (TOV) model, an interaction occurred between deci...

Previous research has shown that respondents who are exposed to multiple sources featured in an advertising appeal engage in more diligent processing of the message arguments than those who are exposed to a single message source presenting the same basic appeal. Other research has demonstrated that the persuasive advantage of an appeal can be signi...

The authors conducted a field experiment in which emergency-room patients of a metropolitan hospital were either given or not given an expected waiting time to see a physician. Patients were then surveyed through the mail on their satisfaction and perceptions of service quality. The results revealed that satisfaction levels were higher when patient...

Prior to making important decisions, marketing managers go through an evaluation process in which available alternatives are compared. Yet, no systematic discussion of the evaluation process exists in the marketing literature. This article reviews the marketing and behavioral decision theory literature in order to identify factors that may cause er...

Prior to making important decisions, marketing managers go through an evaluation process in which available alternatives are compared. Yet, no systematic discussion of the evaluation process exists in the marketing literature. This article reviews the marketing and behavioral decision theory literature in order to identify factors that may cause er...

This research empirically investigated a phenomenon that may influence the exchange relationship between public policy makers and consumers—the tendency of consumers to exhibit an outcome bias in their evaluations of a public policy maker who makes a decision under uncertainty. An outcome bias occurs when evaluators assess performance based upon th...

Both marketing managers and consumers must make decisions for which the good and bad outcomes may occur at various points in time in the future. A model of time and outcome valuation (TOV) is developed and shown to expand and complement a variety of marketing models and theories, including exchange models, salesforce motivation models, and decision...

Both marketing managers and consumers must make decisions for which the good and bad outcomes may occur at various points in time in the future. A model of time and outcome valuation (TOV) is developed and shown to expand and complement a variety of marketing models and theories, including exchange models, salesforce motivation models, and decision...

An experiment was conducted to test hypotheses concerning the impact of single-play versus multiple-play decisions made under risk in a simulated industrial purchasing setting. Results revealed that when a decision had multiple plays (e.g., purchase 100 personal computers), decision makers combined probabilities and outcomes to form their risk perc...

This article proposes that consumer purchase behavior may be viewed from three perspectives — the decision making, the experiential, and the behavioral influence. The decision-making perspective holds that buying behavior results from consumers' engaging in a problem-solving task in which they move through a series of stages. The experiential persp...

This paper presents results of three studies testing whether decision bias due to framing, found in consumer purchase contexts, also would occur in a business setting. In the first study, business-student subjects displayed framing-induced decision bias just as subjects had in an earlier study by Tversky and Kahneman [12]. When the consumer problem...

Performance evaluation of salespeople is examined from an attribution perspective in a field study involving sales managers. Findings support the presence of an attribution bias. Effort significantly influenced sales managers' evaluations, but task difficulty had no measurable effect on performance appraisal.

Performance evaluation of salespeople is examined from an attribution perspective in a field study involving sales managers. Findings support the presence of an attribution bias. Effort significantly influenced sales managers’ evaluations, but task difficulty had no measurable effect on performance appraisal.

Tested the effects of goal level and type of incentive system on the task performance of 124 undergraduates in an arithmetic task. The assigned goal level was either easy, moderately difficult, or difficult to reach. ANOVA results supported the hypothesis that in high goal conditions, Ss' performance would be differentially affected by the type of...