FEATURE PAPER

The Motivations of Enduring Product Involvement

The following paper was written by Kevin J. Cumiskey of Eastern Kentucky University and was presented at the 2011 Association of collegiate Marketing Educators Meeting.

Abstract

Enduring involvement (EI) has been studied vigorously in the consumer behavior literature. Extant research has operationalized EI as high-versus-low or present-versus-not present. However, it is believed that EI is a more complex construct that has multiple motivations. The author utilizes seven EI motivations proposed in earlier research and an additional motivation to identify the number of underlying factors of enduring product involvement. This research reports six motivations of EI for consumers across three product categories. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships of these six dimensions on overall enduring involvement. The results demonstrate significant findings for both advertising and marketing communication.

Introduction

Enduring involvement (EI) has been a widely applied concept within consumer behavior for a number of years. The EI construct has been applied to topics such as advertising effectiveness, opinion leadership, innovativeness, search activity, price sensitivity, and decision processes (Bloch, Commuri, and Arnold, (Working Paper)). Although there have been various definitions and conceptualizations in the involvement literature, researchers generally agree that EI reflects the level of ongoing interest in a product category and may vary widely from one individual to another (Bloch and Richins 1983; Celsi and Olson 1988; Higie and Feick 1989; Zaichkowsky 1985). Certain individuals will exhibit very little EI for a given product category while others will become highly-involved consumers, even to the point of becoming product enthusiasts who join clubs or subscribe to magazines and newsletters devoted to the product category.

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TIP OF THE WEEK

Using Technology to Support Customer Relationship Management

Long-term transactional relationships with customers are built on good information, and a logical time to gather helpful data is during direct customer contacts, such as when a product is being sold. Customers may be contacted in many ways, including phone calls, letters, personal interactions, e-mail-even text messages. As mentioned earlier, the ability to maintain one-on-one contact with customers has always been a competitive advantage for small firms. To make this connection even easier, numerous software packages containing word-processing, spreadsheet, and database tools are also available to assist in supporting customer contacts.

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-On this season's firstAmerican Idol, new judge Steven Tyler will reveal that he is 107.

When I tell my husband: "Take the kids for a haircut and make sure it's not too short because I want to take their picture for our holiday card," he will hear: "Take the kids for a haircut and make sure the skin on the top of their head shows."

A cupcake store will open and no one will go. (It could happen.)

A little girl will accumulate enough Burrito Elito points [from the restaurant's customer loyalty program] to win the Cal Tort pony that she's always dreamed of, and I will have to explain to her that Cal Tort ponies don't exists -she should have read the fine print.

"I'm not sure I had any expectations [for the website]," says Felix. "But since I put out a goofy, monthly newsletter that most people seem to like, I thought at the very least I could keep conveying that goofy mom-and-pop feel via the Internet." And this has worked well to help her build favorable relationship with customers. "People feel like they have a personal connection with us -and that's something the big chains are never going to have which helps to identify the restaurant's strengths and weaknesses. And, says Felix, "I get a lot of funny/strange e-mail that I get to use in the newsletter. . . . I ran out of things to say about burritos about 6 years."

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Hawaii International Conference

The 12th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business will be held from May 24-27, 2012 at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Honolulu, Hawaii. The submission deadline for papers has been extended to Feb. 17, 2012. For more information,click here.

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The Allied Academies will hold its Spring 2012 international meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Presentation dates will be Wednesday April 4 through Friday April 6, 2012. Conference Paper Submissions and Registration are due by March 5. Base registration, on or before March 5, is $300, late registration after that date will be $350. For more information,click here.

North American Research Symposium

You are invited to attend The 22nd Annual North American Research Symposium on Purchasing and Supply Chain Management March 15-15, 2012 in Hilton Phonix/Chandlery, Arizona. For more information,click here.

ICSB

International Council for Small Business will be holding its International World Conference during June 10-13, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. For more information,click here.

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