This thesis investigated whether and how consumers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay for food products are affected by the number of certification seals and the level of pretension of a product benefit claim presented on the product packaging. Its objective was to find the ideal number of seals and level of claim pretentiousness where purchase intention and willingness to pay are highest and to give an explanation about consumers’ thought processes that may lead to this outcome. To this end, the role of consumers’ perception of the product quality and the manufacturer conscientiousness has been taken into consideration.
With reference to existing literature on product certification as well as concepts originating from human information processing theory and advertising research this study suspected that consumer attitudes and purchase intentions first increase up to a maximum point before decreasing again as the number of certification seals being employed simultaneously rises. The author furthermore hypothesized that consumers react negatively to a more pretentious benefit claim in terms of less favourable product and manufacturer attitudes and lower purchase intentions. The interaction effect of the number of seals and the pretentiousness of a benefit claim on manufacturer conscientiousness perception, product quality perception, purchase intention and willingness to pay was assumed to be likewise of inverted-U nature after the presence of a certification seal has offset the negative effect of a pretentious claim.
These hypotheses about the direct impact of the two types of extrinsic product attributes as well as additional hypotheses about the mediating role of product quality perception and manufacturer conscientiousness perception in the relationships between the extrinsic product attributes and consumers’ purchase intentions have been tested by means of a survey-based framed field experiment in a real-world retail environment. A factorial 5 (# of seals: 0,1,2,3,4) x 2 (claim: modest, pretentious) between-subject research design exposed grocery shoppers randomly to one of 10 different experiment conditions consisting of jars of jam of a fictive brand with a different number and combination of the 4 seals ‘BIO', ‘Bioland’, ‘Demeter’ and ‘Naturland’, and the two organic claims “Simply organic” and “More organic does not exist!”. The collected primary data has been analysed by means of multivariate Analysis of Variance and Regression Analysis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 The dilemma of brand managers
1.2 Research objective
1.3 Research relevance
1.3.1 Academic relevance
1.3.2 Managerial relevance
1.4 Research outline
2. Theoretical background
2.1 The role of certification seals as signals
2.2 The impact of multiple certification seals
2.2.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.2.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.2.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
2.3 The impact of a product benefit claim
2.3.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.3.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.3.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
2.4 The combined impact of multiple certification seals and a product benefit claim
2.4.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.4.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.4.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
3. Methodology
3.1 Research method and general research design
3.2 Pre-test
3.2.1 Determination of research stimuli
3.2.2 Data collection pre-test
3.2.3 Pre-test results
3.3 Main Experiment
3.3.1 Specific research design and main experiment stimuli
3.3.2 Data collection main experiment
3.3.2 Measurement of variables
4. Research results
4.1 Sample description and data preparation
4.2 Data reduction and exploration
4.2.1 Establishment and purification of scales
4.2.2 Comparison of questionnaire versions
4.2.3 Comparison of demographics, psychographics, product usage behaviour across experiment groups
4.2.4 Comparison of main research variables across demographics, psychographics, product usage behaviour
4.2.5 Comparison of main research variables across experiment groups
4.3 Testing the Conceptual Model
4.3.1 The direct impact of extrinsic product attributes
4.3.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
4.3.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
4.3.4 The overall cause-effect chain from extrinsic product attributes to behavioural intentions
4.4 Additional research findings
4.4.1 The impact of extrinsic product attributes on taste perception
4.4.2 The impact of extrinsic product attributes on ‘Manufacturer credibility perception’, ‘Price perception’, ‘Organicness perception’ and ‘Amount of product information’
4.4.3 Additional qualitative results
5. General discussion and conclusion
5.1 Discussion of research findings
5.1.1 The impact of multiple certification seals
5.1.2 The impact of a product benefit claim
5.1.3 The combined impact of multiple certification seals and a product benefit claim
5.2 Research implications
5.2.1 Academic implications
5.2.2 Managerial implications
5.3 Research limitations and recommendations for future research
5.4 The more the better, or too much of a good thing?
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This thesis investigates how the number of certification seals and the level of pretentiousness in product benefit claims affect consumers' purchase intention and willingness to pay for food products. The core research question explores whether an optimal number of seals exists that maximizes these consumer intentions, while also examining the mediating roles of perceived product quality and manufacturer conscientiousness.
- Impact of multiple certification seals on consumer perception
- Influence of product benefit claim pretentiousness
- Interaction effects between certification seals and benefit claims
- Mediating role of perceived product quality
- Mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 The dilemma of brand managers
Consider a consumer standing in front of the jam shelf in a supermarket deliberating about which strawberry jam to choose. On approaching the set of options, the consumer notices that a dozen of different brands featuring different designs, sizes, prices and claims are available. One claims to be diet and low-calorie, another to be organic and of 100% natural origin and a third wants to be “The brand of the year 2013”. While the brand top right additionally carries the German governmental organic seal and the European Union organic certification logo, the one bottom left displays the Fairtrade logo. But wait, over there is a brand that shows the Demeter, the Fairtrade and the FSC seal.
Will the consumer choose the jam with the most certification seals, since it appears to be approved by several objective third-parties and therefore is likely to be a conscious product of good quality, even if the consumer does not know the brand? Or will she select the product with the certification seal that she is most familiar with and trusts most? Or will she, sceptical about the benefits of the unknown brand and the credibility of certification seals, in the end simply select the brand, which she knows from her childhood and which she has always been satisfied with, even if this brand does not demonstrate a seal?
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the research context, specifying the key dilemma faced by brand managers regarding certification strategies, and defines the primary research objective and questions.
2. Theoretical background: This chapter reviews existing literature on certification as a signal and establishes the theoretical framework, developing hypotheses regarding the impact of multiple seals and benefit claims on consumer behavior.
3. Methodology: This chapter describes the research design, including a pre-test to determine optimal stimuli and the setup of the survey-based framed field experiment for the main study.
4. Research results: This chapter presents the empirical findings, covering data preparation, statistical analysis, and the evaluation of the conceptual model based on the collected survey data.
5. General discussion and conclusion: This final chapter interprets the research findings, relates them to existing literature, discusses academic and managerial implications, and identifies research limitations and future study recommendations.
Keywords
certification seal, benefit claim, signalling, consumer decision process, purchase intention, willingness to pay, product quality perception, manufacturer conscientiousness perception, information processing, product packaging, advertising, brand management, organic food, consumer behavior, market research
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
The thesis investigates the effectiveness of product certification seals as a marketing tool, specifically examining how the number of seals and accompanying benefit claims influence consumers' purchase intentions and their willingness to pay for food products.
What are the primary themes addressed?
The research centers on consumer signaling theory, the impact of multiple quality signals, the role of perceived product quality, and the influence of manufacturer conscientiousness on consumer decision-making.
What is the central research question?
The main question is: Is there an optimal number of certification seals on the packaging of an unknown food product that maximizes consumers' purchase intention and willingness to pay?
Which methodology was employed for this research?
The author conducted a survey-based framed field experiment in a real-world retail environment (a supermarket in Augsburg, Germany), using a factorial design (number of seals x claim pretentiousness) to test the hypotheses.
What aspects does the main body cover?
The main body reviews the theoretical background, details the experimental methodology (including a pre-test), presents the statistical analysis of the experiment results, and discusses the implications of these findings.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include certification seals, benefit claims, purchase intention, willingness to pay, product quality perception, manufacturer conscientiousness, and signaling theory.
How did the researcher ensure the results were not biased by existing brand knowledge?
The experiment used a fictitious brand, "JamJam," which was pre-tested to ensure that consumers were unfamiliar with it and that the label did not inadvertently evoke strong preconceived associations.
How does this thesis contribute to managerial practice?
The results advise marketing managers that a "multi-seal" strategy is not necessarily an effective way to boost sales, as consumers often struggle to process multiple seals or do not assign them significant value, suggesting that focusing on the product and label quality might be more beneficial.
- Citar trabajo
- Stefanie Eimesser (Autor), 2013, Certification Seals. The more, the better, or too much of a good thing?, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/300161
