Terry L Childers

Iowa State University | ISU · Department of Marketing and Management

This paper revisits a well‐cited and widely applied consumer scale, Style of Processing (SOP) (Childers et al., Journal of Consumer Research , 1985, 12 , 125), that has been used to investigate individual differences in processing visual versus verbal information in marketing. The scale has advanced knowledge in fields related to marketing communic...

The authors examine the influence of olfactory sensitivity on the effectiveness of olfactory imagery in advertising. Findings reveal that the use of olfactory imagery can negatively impact ratings for ads, the product advertised, and likelihood to buy, especially for individuals sensitive to smell. The authors demonstrate that the act of sniffing c...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of emotions in processing scent information in consumer research, using event-related potential (ERP)-based neuroscience methods, while considering individual differences in sense of smell. Design/methodology/approach Prior research on olfaction and emotions in marketing has reve...

Purpose This paper aims to review past papers focused on understanding consumer-related topics in marketing and related interdisciplinary fields to demonstrate the applications of electroencephalogram (EEG) in consumer neuroscience. Design/methodology/approach In addition to the review of papers using EEG to study consumer cognitive processes, t...

This paper takes a multi-method approach, combining neuroscience methods and behavioral experiments to investigate emotions triggered by olfactory-related information and related consumer decision-making outcomes. In the online context, olfactory information is limited to visual forms of triggering olfactory sensations. The effectiveness of using s...

Stevenson and Case (2005) define olfactory imagery as “being able to experience the sensation of smell when an appropriate stimulus is absent.” Olfactory imagery is a form of odor presentation in addition to actual odors. In some cases, odors associated with a product are not necessarily accessible in the marketplace. For example, products are pack...

Metacognitive theories propose that consumers track fluency feelings when buying, which may have biological underpinnings. We explored this using event-related potential (ERP) measures as twenty high-math anxiety (High MA) and nineteen low-math anxiety (Low MA) consumers made buying decisions for promoted (e.g., 15% discount) and non-promoted produ...

This research investigates whether low-literate consumers process written advertisements differently than high-literate consumers do. Consistent with resource-matching theory (RMT), the first experiment reveals that, unlike high-literate processors, when low-literate processors read ads of moderate complexity, involvement with the ad does not affec...

The authors propose a restructuring of the "food as health" paradigm to "food as well-being." This requires shifting from an emphasis on restraint and restrictions to a more positive, holistic understanding of the role of food in overall well-being. The authors propose the concept of food well-being (FWB), defined as a positive psychological, physi...

The Internet promises many opportunities for consumers who shop online. While prior studies identify problems with online access for persons with disabilities, research has not examined whether consumers with disabilities shop online similarly to persons who are not disabled. The study attempts to fill this gap in two unique ways. First, this paper...

More than 20% of the U.S. population is composed of people with disabilities. When such people interact with certain marketplaces, such as commercial Web sites, some become "consumers with constraints," and others become liberated, experiencing the freedom to search for information independently for the first time. While accessibility in physical s...

This research extends the knowledge calibration paradigm to include emotional calibration. Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of emotional calibration on consumer decision making. Emotionally calibrated consumers made higher-quality food choices, and these effects were predictive beyond cognitive ability and cognitive calibration...

Wyer and colleagues in this issue summarize an array of studies that demonstrate varied and significant effects of a series of antecedents on the relative accessibility of visual and verbal strategies in memory and the ease with which these strategies can be employed to affect comprehension and judgments. We review the studies in light of findings...

This research details the development of the Consumer Emotional Intelligence Scale (CEIS), which was designed to measure individual differences in consumers' ability to use emotional information. Scale development procedures confirmed the theoretical structure of the 18-item scale. Results supported the scale's reliability and its discriminant and...

The relationship between verbal and nonverbal modes of processing consumer information was examined in an investigation of schematic processing, a predominantly verbal mode, and visual imagery, a nonverbal method of information processing. It was found that individuals with a schema for a marketing event exhibited both a higher incidence and greate...

A model is developed and proposed to describe the underlying processing of the visual and verbal components of print advertisements. Based upon past research, the processing of these two components of print advertisements is viewed as consisting of (1) different levels of processing, (2) elaborative encoding, and (3) encoding distinctiveness. An em...

This research examines the influence of touch on impulse-purchasing behavior. We first replicate the Rook and Fisher [Rook DW, Fisher RJ. Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. J Consum Res 1995;22:305–13.] studies about the moderating effect of the normative evaluation of impulse purchase on impulse-purchasing behavior. Extending the i...

This research details the development of the "Need for Touch" (NFT) scale designed to measure individual differences in preference for haptic (touch) information. The 12-item NFT scale consists of autotelic and instrumental dimensions. Results are reported that support the scale's hypothesized internal structure as well as its reliability, converge...

Haptic information, or information attained through touch by the hands, is important for the evaluation of products that vary in terms of material properties related to texture, hardness, temperature, and weight. The authors develop and propose a conceptual framework to illustrate that salience of haptic information differs significantly across pro...

This paper reports a series of experiments conducted to study the categorization of pictures and words. Whereas some studies reported in the past have found a picture advantage in categorization, other studies have yielded no differences between pictures and words. This paper used an experimental paradigm designed to overcome some methodological pr...

In this research, a conceptual framework is developed that addresses the impact of typeface semantic cues within a marketing context. Visual properties of typefaces are conceptualized as communicating unique semantic associations to individuals distinct from the content of the written words they clothe. Typeface associations are investigated across...

Motivations to engage in retail shopping include both utilitarian and hedonic dimensions. Business to consumer e-commerce conducted via the mechanism of web-shopping provides an expanded opportunity for companies to create a cognitively and esthetically rich shopping environment in ways not readily imitable in the nonelectronic shopping world. In t...

This article develops and validates measures of intergenerational communication and influence about consumption. Despite the widespread belief that parents play a pivotal role in the consumer socialization of their children, empirical research on the skills, attitudes, and preferences transmitted from one generation to the next is quite limited. On...

The objective of this research is to examine the representation of numerical versus verbal product information in consumer memory. Information about products in the marketing environment is often conveyed through numerical and verbal modes. However, consumers may either store the information that they are exposed to without modification or translat...

What is the role of touch in consumer behavior? Consumers are especially motivated to touch some products before buying them, and for some people, those high in "desire to touch", touching before buying is especially important. In addition, some situations encourage consumers to touch goods before purchasing them. How do these relate to impulse pur...

Products vary in the degree to which they are members of product categories. Understanding how product attributes influence product categorization is important for marketing decisions about product development, brand extension, and product positioning. Existing attribute-level measures of product attitude emphasize evaluation rather than categoriza...

Products vary in the degree to which they are members of product categories. Understanding how product attributes influence product categorization is important for marketing decisions about product development, brand extension, and product positioning. Existing attribute-level measures of product attitude emphasize evaluation rather than categoriza...

Numerical magnitude information, such as 32 mpg, is often specified as a number in the context of a unit of measurement for a specific attribute, whereas verbal magnitude information such as high mileage, is usually a generic descriptor that may apply to several attributes. Because of its specificity, numerical information may be easier to distingu...

The ohjective of this article is to suggest the application of fuzzy set theory to issues in scale development in marketing by conceptualizing response categories of a scale as fuzzy sets. Respondents' natural responses to scales are argued to have degrees of membership in more than one response category when a response scale does not match natural...

A conceptual framework for understanding and researching mail survey response behavior is proposed and developed around the constructs of cooperation, trust, and commitment. Survey response is viewed as the cooperative exchange of information by respondents in return for an opportunity to shape their environment. Issues related to the valuation of...

The growing importance of international marketing operations for the survival and success of an increasing number of businesses underscores the need to understand their involvement in these activities. To this end, this article proposes an eclectic and multidimensional definition as well as a new measure of international marketing involvement where...

Explored individual preferences to engage in visual vs verbal information processing. 111 undergraduates viewed 6 advertisements, completed a distractor task, and then completed a free recall task about the ads. Ss also completed measures that included the T. L. Childers et al (1985) Style of Processing (SOP) scale and the Vividness of Visual Image...

A replication and extension of a study performed by Bearden and Etzel are reported in this article. The influence of peers on individuals' products and brand decisions for products that range in their degree of conspicuousness is examined for comparable samples in the United States and in Thailand to assess the validity of the original framework ov...

Three experiments are presented that investigate the effect of using incongruent information to improve the memorability of complex marketing communications. The basic premise of the research is that incongruency is a multidimensional concept, the components of which may produce countervailing effects on memory. Drawing on research in social cognit...

A meta-analysis of prior studies of techniques designed to induce mail survey response rates was conducted. Research encompassing 184 effects (study outcomes) in 115 studies (articles) for 17 predictors of response rate was examined. The average effect size across all manipulations was r=.065, indicating an average increase of about 6.5 percent in...

Previous research has found that a sales manager's supervisory behavior can influence salespeople's job attitudes and behaviors. A unique feature of many sales jobs that may reduce the impact sales managers have on sales personnel is that salespeople usually work alone. Researchers in organizational behavior have identified a variety of substitutes...

Most insurers use agents to market their products and services. Thus, agents have a major role in the financial success of an insurer. A key concern of insurance sales supervisors should be how to engender favorable attitudes and effective performance from their agents. This paper reports the results of an investigation that focused on the relation...

Virtually all forms of marketing communications rely on a combination of verbal and nonverbal elements to convey the intended message. Within the store, manu- facturer point-of-purchase displays, packages, and re- tailer on-site merchandising materials often feature col- orful graphic and visual elements along with verbally oriented elements to att...

Many advertisers believe the pictorial and verbal components of an ad should convey the same meaning. Based on theoretical and empirical evidence from a variety of areas, three experiments were conducted that show superior recall for ads in which the picture and copy convey discrepant information about product attributes when the picture and brand...

A field test was used to assess the efficacy of pay per view (PPV) and how PPV compared to pay cable programming and vidéocassette recorder (VCR) rentals. Owners of VCRs perceived PPV differently than did nonowners of VCRs. Differences were observed along the dimensions of convenience, ease of operation, control, and perceived value. PPV perception...

Researchers in organizational behavior posit that supervisors can influence subordinates' affective and behavioral responses. Certain individual, task, and organizational characteristics, however, may serve to substitute for, neutralize, or supplement a manager's influence on employees' job responses: these characteristics are referred to as “subst...

Continued interest in diffusion theory and product innovation research necessitates the sound measurement of such constructs as opinion leadership. The author assesses the psychometric properties of the King and Summers self-designating scale of opinion leadership and proposes a modified scale of opinion leadership. The revised scale is found to ha...

Continued interest in diffusion theory and product innovation research necessitates the sound measurement of such constructs as opinion leadership. The author assesses the psychometric properties of the King and Summers self-designating scale of opinion leadership and proposes a modified scale of opinion leadership. The revised scale is found to ha...

The examination of individual differences in consumer information processing is an emerging area of research within both marketing and consumer behavior. In this article, we report on two studies that focus on ability versus preference for imaginal or visual processing. The first study assesses the psychometric properties of frequently used measure...

Investigated 2 techniques to identify respondents to mail surveys, self-identification and sponsor identification. Also tested were a cover letter message explaining the reason for identification, as well as the use of labelled and computer-printed transmittal envelopes. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,500 Ss. Treatment conditions significantly aff...

Based on three explanations of imagery effects on memory, hypotheses regarding the conditions under which pictorial ads are or are not remembered better than verbal-only ads are generated and tested. The memorability of brand names semantically related to product class was tested in pictorial versus verbal-only form under various conditions. The re...

Intrafamily decision making relative to auto insurance purchasing was examined for a U.S. sample of 1,327 families. The husband was found to be primarily responsible for making two of the more important auto insurance decisions - company selection and premium payment. The wife's involvement in these decisions was found to be contingent on her contr...

Proponents of deregulation have suggested that several industries should lose their antitrust exemptions and operate within a competitive atmosphere. An important assumption underlying deregulation arguments is that consumers will respond to price differentials in a manner that encourages price competition among supplier firms. This assumption is o...

Two mail surveys were conducted to test experimentally the effect of using appeals and postscripts to stimulate response to mail surveys. The results indicate that use of appeals presented as postscripts does not improve survey response. In one study, differences in response rates between treatment groups were observed, but in comparison with a con...

Two mail surveys were conducted to test experimentally the effect of using appeals and postscripts to stimulate response to mail surveys. The results indicate that use of appeals presented as postscripts does not improve survey response. In one study, differences in response rates between treatment groups were observed, but in comparison with a con...

A 2 x 2 factorial experiment was designed to test the impact on mail survey response rate resulting from variations in paper trim size and number of printed pages in the questionnaire. ANOVA findings suggest 8 1/2 x 11" paper trim size produces a better response rate than an 8 1/2 x 14" paper trim size. Use of a one-sheet (front and back) versus a...

A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was designed to test the impact on mail survey response rate resulting from variations in paper trim size and number of printed pages in the questionnaire. ANOVA findings suggest 8½ × 11″ paper trim size produces a better response rate than an 8½ × 14″ paper trim size. Use of a one-sheet (front and back) versus a two-sh...