Marketing Seminar（2016-02）

Title: Effect-driven vs. theory-driven: two approaches toward doing consumer research

Speaker: Shen Hao , Chinese University of Hong Kong

Time:Wednesday, 30 March. 13:30-15:00

Location: Room217, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract:

Two projects conduct consumer research using different approaches. In the first project, which is effect-driven, we investigate cross-cultural differences in food perception. We show that although Chinese people tend to engage in holistic processing while making an impression of food taste, Americans are more likely to process food information analytically. As a result, Americans perceive food to be more favorable if information about food ingredients is available to them than if not, whereas this effect is mitigated or reversed for Chinese people. In the second project, which is theory-based, we investigate whether offline versus online word of mouth can generate different effects on the brand that consumers discuss. One difference between offline and online word of mouth is that offline word of mouth is more likely to be conveyed orally, whereas online word of mouth is more likely to be communicated by writing. We show that consumers are more likely to invoke the self when discussing a brand orally as compared to writing an online review of it. Consequently, they feel more connected to the brand in the former case.

Introduction:

Hao Shen is Associate professor of marketing at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Shen’s research interests include: the effect of mood, the effect of procedural knowledge, culture, and sensory marketing. His research has been published in journals such as Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology (applied), Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He won young contributor award from Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2008, and was named as Marketing Science Institute (MSI) 2015 young scholar.