A major goal of this study is to develop and test a structural model of trial processing to help marketers and researchers better understand the dynamics of this important stage in the purchase process. No such model exists, even though prior research has demonstrated that product trial can be an important determinant of brand beliefs and attitudes. Accordingly, the authors develop a general model of how consumers process and respond to trial experiences. This trial model then is integrated with a well-known advertising model to trace how (1) consumers react when both types of information are available and (2) advertising achieves its influence on trial perceptions. The authors estimate these models for two products that vary significantly in the diagnosticity of the trial experience and discuss implications for marketing research and practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlbaJoseph W., and Wesley HutchinsonJ. (1987), “Dimensions of Consumer Expertise,”Journal of Consumer Research, 13(March), 411–54.
2.
AndersonRolph E. (1973), “Consumer Dissatisfaction: The Effect of Disconfirmed Expectancy on Perceived Product Performance,”Journal of Marketing Research, 10(February), 38–44.
3.
BatraRajeev, and AhtolaOlli T. (1990), “Measuring the Hedonic and Utilitarian Sources of Consumer Attitudes,”Marketing Letters, 2(2), 159–70.
4.
BennettPeter D., and HarrellGilbert D. (1975), “The Role of Confidence in Understanding and Predicting Buyers’ Attitudes and Purchase Intentions,”Journal of Consumer Research, 2(September), 110–17.
5.
BollenKenneth A. (1989), Structural Equations with Latent Variables.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
6.
BrownSteven P., and StaymanDouglas M. (1992), “Antecedents and Consequences of Attitude Toward the Ad: A Meta-Analysis,”Journal of Consumer Research, 19(June), 34–51.
7.
BurkeMarian Chapman, and EdellJulie A. (1989), “The Impact of Feelings on Ad-Based Affect and Cognition,”Journal of Consumer Research, 26(February), 69–83.
8.
CalderBobby J., InskoChester A., and YandellBen (1974), “The Relation of Cognitive and Memorial Processes to Persuasion in a Simulated Jury Trial,”Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 4(March), 62–93.
9.
CraikFergus I.M., and LockhartRobert S. (1972), “Levels of Processing: A Framework for Memory Research,”Journal of Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671–84.
10.
DarbyMichael R., and KarniEdi (1973), “Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud,”Journal of Law and Economics, 16(April), 67–88.
11.
DeightonJohn, and SchindlerRobert M. (1988), “Can Advertising Influence Experience?”Psychology and Marketing, 5(Summer), 103–15.
12.
DoverPhilip A., and OlsonJerry C. (1977), “Dynamic Changes in an Expectancy-Value Attitude Model as a Function of Multiple Exposures to Product Information,” in Contemporary Marketing Thought, GreenbergB.A., and BellengerD.N., eds. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 455–60.
13.
EdellJulie A., and BurkeMarian Chapman (1987), “The Power of Feelings in Understanding Advertising Effects,”Journal of Consumer Research, 14(December), 421–33.
14.
FazioRussell H. (1990), “Multiple Processes by Which Attitudes Guide Behavior: The MODE Model as an Integrative Framework,”Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 75–109.
15.
FazioRussell H., and ZannaMark P. (1978), “On the Predictive Validity of Attitudes: The Roles of Direct Experience and Confidence,”Journal of Personality, 46(June), 228–43.
16.
FishbeinMartin, and AjzenIcek (1975), Belief Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
17.
GreenwaldAnthony G., and LeavittClark (1984), “Audience Involvement in Advertising: Four Levels,”Journal of Consumer Research, 11(June), 581–92.
18.
HavlenaWilliam J., and HolbrookMorris B. (1986), “The Varieties of Consumption Experience: Comparing Two Typologies of Emotion in Consumer Behavior,”Journal of Consumer Research, 13(December), 394–404.
19.
HochStephen J., and HaYoung-Won (1986), “Consumer Learning: Advertising and the Ambiguity of Product Experience,”Journal of Consumer Research, 13(September), 221–33.
JudgeGregory G., HillR.H., GriffithsW.E., LutkepohlHelmut, and LeeTsoung-Chao (1982), Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Economics.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
22.
KennedyPeter (1979), A Guide to Econometrics.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
23.
KoriatAsher, LichtensteinSarah, and FischoffBaruch (1980), “Reasons for Confidence,”Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6(March), 107–18.
24.
LevinIrwin P., and GaethGary J. (1988), “How Consumers Are Affected by the Framing of Attribute Information Before and After Consuming the Product,”Journal of Consumer Research, 15(December), 374–78.
25.
MacInnisDeborah J., and JaworskiBernard J. (1989), “Information Processing from Advertisements: Toward an Integrative Framework,”Journal of Marketing, 53(October), 1–23.
26.
MacKenzieScott B., and LutzRichard J. (1989), “An Empirical Examination of the Structural Antecedents of Attitude Toward the Ad in an Advertising Pretesting Context,”Journal of Marketing, 53(April), 48–65.
27.
MacKenzieScott B., LutzRichard J., and BelchGeorge E. (1986), “The Role of Attitude Toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations,”Journal of Marketing Research, 23(May), 130–43.
28.
ManoHaim, and OliverRichard L. (1993), “Assessing the Dimensionality and Structure of the Consumption Experience: Evaluation, Feeling, and Satisfaction,”Journal of Consumer Research, 20 (December), 451–66.
29.
MarksLawrence J., and KaminsMichael A. (1988), “The Use of Product Sampling and Advertising: Effects of Sequence of Exposure and Degree of Advertising Claim Exaggeration on Consumers’ Belief Strength, Belief Confidence, and Attitudes,”Journal of Marketing Research, 25(August), 266–81.
30.
MehrabianAlbert, and RussellJames A. (1974), An Approach to Environmental Psychology.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
31.
MiniardPaul W., BhatlaSunil, and RoseRandall L. (1990), “On the Formation and Relationship of Ad and Brand Attitudes: An Experimental and Causal Analysis,”Journal of Marketing Research, 27(August), 290–303.
32.
OlsonJerry C., and DoverPhilip A. (1979), “Disconfirmation of Consumer Expectations Through Product Trial,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 64(April), 179–89.
33.
PetersonDane K., and PitzGordon F. (1988), “Confidence, Uncertainty, and the Use of Information,”Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 14(1), 85–92.
34.
SmithRobert E. (1993), “Integrating Information from Advertising and Trial: Processes and Effects on Consumer Response to Product Information,”Journal of Marketing Research, 30(May), 204–19.
35.
SmithRobert E., and SwinyardWilliam R. (1982), “Information Response Models: An Integrated Approach,”Journal of Marketing, 46(Winter), 81–93.
36.
SmithRobert E., and SwinyardWilliam R. (1983), “Attitude-Behavior Consistency: The Impact of Product Trial Versus Advertising,”Journal of Marketing Research, 20(August), 257–67.
37.
SmithRobert E., and SwinyardWilliam R. (1988), “Cognitive Response to Advertising and Trial: Belief Strength, Belief Confidence and Product Curiosity,”Journal of Advertising, 17(3), 3–14.
38.
WrightAlice Ann, and LynchJohn G.Jr. (1995), “Communication Effects of Advertising Versus Direct Experience when Both Search and Experience Attributes Are Present,”Journal of Consumer Research, 21(March), 708–18.
39.
WrightPeter (1975), “Factors Affecting Cognitive Resistance to Advertising,”Journal of Consumer Research, 2(June), 1–9.
40.
YiYoujae (1993), “The Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Ambiguity,” in Advances in Consumer Research, McAlisterLeigh, and RothschildMichael L., eds. Prove, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 502–506.
