1、購買決策的參與：消費價值觀的探索性研究每個消費者每天都會面臨作出同時購買多種產品的決定，有很多的因素在影響消費者進行購買決策參與程度，其中的一個因素是消費者在生活中的個人價值觀或者消費偏好。這些價值觀，會影響消費者在購買各種各類的產品時作出的決策。本文試圖通過訪問分別在兩個年齡組（1824歲和3035歲）的200名消費者，以了解消費者購買決策的參與度和個人價值觀之間的關系。 在貿易自由化之前，市場上的產品特點是低質量、高價格和很少的可供選擇的產品類別。隨著經濟的全球化，大量優質的具有競爭力價格的產品被提供。因此，今天的消費者可以挑選不同類別的產品。 這種選擇各種不同類別產品的行為，在消費者行為

2、研究中被稱為購買決策。因此，消費中不同的參與程度被稱為購買決策的參與。對消費者關于產品購買參與的市場研究理論的建立，可以應用于企業關于品牌定位策略和促銷策略。Laurent、Kapferer (1985)認為，應該是在與消費者的溝通中了解購買決策的認知來源，并獲得消費者在消費過程中主動觀察的動態畫面。 消費行為的研究人員一直試圖界定和描述購買參與，但一直沒有統一的想法或意見(Cohen，1983；Laurent、Kapferer,，1985；Mittal and Lee， 1989)。根據Mittal和Lee (1989)，參與被認為是反映個人與他的基本價值觀、目標和自我概念 (Engel、

3、Blackwell, 1982)的程度。同樣，Greenwald、Levitt（1984）認為，參與是指個人的相關性或相關產品的重要性。而Mitchell（1981）提出的參與是一個內部狀態變量，表示感知，興趣和誘發需求的一個特定的刺激或情境；Park、 Mittal（1985）將它作為一個目標導向的激勵能力。 從上述定義，可以將參與概括為動機、激勵、或者興趣的狀態，這種狀態存在于購買過程。它的形成動力是當前環境、產品或通訊（外部變量）和過去的經驗、自我中心值（內部變量），它會影響產品搜索的類別、過程和決策。根據Mittal、Lee （1989）的定義，參與是從需求、動機和利益上直接涉及到目標

4、對象。 因此，消費者的購買行為可以分為復雜的、習慣性的，單一的和多樣化的，取決于買方的參與程度和品牌之間的差異程度。消費者進行復雜的購買行為是因為在高的消費參與和購買的產品品牌之間有較高的差異性。單一的購買行為是因為消費者在高參與下，產品的價格高但是風險少，并且消費者看到了產品品牌之間的差別并不大。消費者購買行為趨于習慣性是因為低的消費參與和顯著的品牌差異。消費者進行多樣化的購買行為是因為低的消費參與品牌之間沒有顯著的差異。據觀察，消費者往往偏向于積極的產品信息搜索，投入大量的時間，審慎評估可用的信息，他們是高參與到購買決策中。雖然這種行為有一定的風險，但是不同的消費者，參與程度變大往往是根據

5、以下任何一個條件： 1、消費者缺乏滿足他們需要的產品的替代品的信息 2、需要大量的購買資金 3、該產品具有相當大的社會意義 4、該產品被視為具有可以提供很大的效益的潛力雖然理論研究本身似乎一直在向前發展，但是它一直難以實施，因為參與本身的概念和測量都在發生很大的變化，沒有一個唯一的，被普遍廣泛接受的含義。因為參與這個詞一直沒有被仔細地定義和概念化。有個文獻評論將參與確定為五種類型：自我參與、承諾參與、溝通、購買重要性的程度和信息的搜索。另一種觀點認為參與理論與產品廣告和購買決策有關。一些研究人員認為，人、產品和位置是參與的重要組成部分。其他定義認為低參與的購買情況下，很少對產品有關信息進行搜索

6、，在購買之前也沒有形成積極的態度。一些研究試圖區分品牌參與和產品參與，區分態度持久和參與響應。盡管缺乏關于參與的一致的定義，但是參與通常被視為重要的消費行為，被很多學者進行了關注和研究。但定義不是唯一的問題，也有測量方面的問題。研究人員認為參與是關于自我參與、風險感知和購買的重要性方面的測量。同樣，研究人員集中在行為參與方面的有關因素，如產品信息和評價的搜索等因素。一些研究者認為，參與是一個有效的決定措施。另有一些人認為，參與應該由該產品所引起的消費者的重視程度去衡量。在確定參與程度之前，研究者必須定義它到底是什么，應該是衡量自我，參與動機，參與任務，情景變量或者什么的。它是很明確的，需要被廣

7、泛接受的。 Laurent、Kapferer（1985）總結，沒有一個單一參數的可以很好地描述，解釋，或預測參與。因此，建議研究人員在分析參與時應該更充分的研究消費者的個人資料和產品類別之間的關系。因此參與有五個方面，這些方面是：他的產品感知重要性，感知誤購的消極后果的重要性、誤購的主觀概率、享樂價值的產品檔次、知覺符號產品的價值。 Engel、Blackwell、Miniard（1993）做了相關研究，提出Engel、Blackwell、Miniard（EKB）模型作為消費者行為理論框架，提出影響游客紀念品購買行為變量之間的關系。EKB模型的提出，確定產品購買決策評估過程的四個關鍵組成部件：

8、信念，態度，評價標準和意向。此外，影響產品的評價的個體特征，包括個性，生活方式、動機、價值觀、規范和參考群體（Engel、Blackwell、Miniard 1993）。在此模型的基礎上，實證模型制定了上述研究，納入購買決策的參與和紀念品評價影響的變量。消費者的一般特征，如個人的價值觀和對其他文化的態度，預計到影響他們旅行的具體特點（旅游業風格）。從上述研究中預測，個人的價值觀，反過來也會影響三種產品的購買決定，即房子、汽車和娛樂用品。 從上面的回顧，它可以將影響購買決策的參與可視化，并制訂個人的價值觀和購買決策參與之間的關系。在這里的個人的價值觀的偏好會指導他們的生活。Rokeach（197

9、2）定義的個人的價值觀值為一個持久的信念，有一個特定的行為或存在狀態模式，個人和社會是可能存在相反的行為或狀態或逆向模式。從這個定義，它是明確的，有不同的價值，過程值和終端值。過程值是結束的手段，他們指導行動的預期目標，但如果他們違反意愿創造了痛苦、憤怒和內疚的感情。另一個過程值，如道德價值觀，人際關系。同樣終端值是有關指導個人行為的終止狀態或所期望的目標，可能有個人或社會取向。如果一個人內心和諧和感恩，那么重點就是放在個人內部的水平，而如果一個人內心是給世界和平與平等，然后重點的方向是對人際關系。因此可以這樣理解，這兩種類型的價值觀影響一個人做任何活動（Kalhe，1983； Rokeach

10、,，1968，1973）。許多研究都發現，價值觀在時間上是一致的或持久（Beatty，1985）的。方法論 分析：這是一個使用探索性研究的調查方法，找出購買決策的三個影響因素如年齡、價值觀、產品類別。 示例：它包括200個lndore 和Allahabad的受訪者。在1824歲和3034歲年齡組，采用隨機抽樣技術。平均年齡的受訪者是18.27年和32.76年分別。 措施：兩個工具被用來衡量受訪者個人價值和購買決策的參與。該工具由Kahle（1983）測量上9點規模，“1”=非常不重要到，“9”=非常重要。使用Mittal（1989）開發的工具來衡量購買決策參與，它包括四個項目范圍從“1”=最不

11、關心，“7”=高度關注與響應。數據的收集是有一定的管理措施，確保受訪者他們閱讀問卷每個部分的指示說明，確保完成問卷所有題目，確保他們給予每個產品類別答復。 數據分析：對數據進行分析，使用t檢驗和相關分析，包括每個產品類別，跨年齡組和重要價值。結果與討論 從表1顯示，不同的兩個年齡組在房子以及汽車產品的購買決策的參與差異上是不顯著，既不在0.05的水平，也不在0.01的水平。這可能是因為事實上，在他們的生活中購買房子和汽車對年輕人和中年人在支付上有同等的重要性，因為它涉及巨大成本和長期投資。而購買娛樂用品，兩個年齡組之間的在0.01水平上有顯著性差異，普遍認為，因為年輕一代更重視樂趣和享受。 結

12、果在表2顯示,將高度的責任感和成就感做為受訪者一種價值觀，發現這類消費者在所有產品類別比較和決定時有較高的購買參與，這種價值觀表現為消費者的自我尊重和安全。由此可以得出結論，成就感是影響購買決策參與的，因為它是一個最終狀態（標記為終值），每一個人都會去努力實現（Rokeach，1982）。 同樣，比較個人價值對整個配對產品類別的影響，很明顯在表2看出在房子和娛樂用品上，受訪者在以安全為主導的價值時，在0.01水平的水平上，購買決策參與方式之間存在顯著性差異。可以推斷，人們無法通過購買娛樂來獲得安全，而可以通過購買房子獲得安全，因為房子在每個人的生活中是非常關鍵的。 同樣的受訪者以成就感為主導的

13、價值觀時，在購買房子和汽車用品是有較高的購買決策。可以看到這么一個事實，住宅是每一個人生活需要的基本部分，而汽車始終也是一個價格比較高的商品，人們很重視這兩樣產品，所以在支付時也會相對重視。 調查結果還顯示，對于許多常規的低參與的購買，這部分購買行為具有買方價值不大，交易成本低的特點。事實上，這個過程可能是完全自動的。 而對于普通客戶的交易，買方獲得的產品或服務的一部分是在一些努力的情況下實現的，買雜貨和空中旅行的費用往往是這種類型。在這里，買方必須施加一些合理的努力來獲取貨物或服務，并需要額外的服務才能順利進行。客戶努力增加意味著買家在購買過程中的獲得更高的既得利益。 最后，高級客戶的交易成

14、本發生時，需要顧客在購買過程中大量的投資。對于消費市場，他們高參與消費商品有房子，汽車或兒童的醫療保健等。對于這些產品，消費者投資大量時間，精力和金錢，此時完善的交易規則和服務是非常重要的。 因此，可以得出結論，購買決策的參與是依賴于交易成本以及買方擁有價值。結論 這項研究結果清楚地表明，個人價值觀顯著影響各種產品的購買決策參與，尤其是房子。這兩個年齡組的研究中，對個人是至關重要的價值觀：被充分尊重，安全感，自尊，成就感的九個值進行了測量。雖然很明顯地從這項研究中得出價值觀影響各種產品的購買決策參與，但還需要進一步研究，找出受訪者價值體系是否存在交互作用，以做出購買決策。 除上述因素外，各年齡

15、組的范圍從18到60歲，受訪者的收入水平和性別也應加以研究，得出它們在個人價值與購買決策的參與之間一個適當的聯系，這些可以作為一個中間變量。PURCHASE DECISION INVOLVEMENT: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON CONSUMER VALUES Dr. Rajnish K. Misra , Richa Agrawal Every consumer day in and day out is faced with taking decisions while purchasing various products. How far they are invol

16、ved in their decisions is dependent on many factors. One such factor is the personal values or preferences that an individual has in ones life. These values guide the consumer in making purchase decisions about various categories of products. The present paper attempts to understand the relationship

17、 between purchase decision involvement and personal values among 200 respondents belonging to two age groups (18-24 years) and (30-35years) respectively. The pre-liberalization scenario was characterized by low quality, high priced and fewer choice in different product categories. With the globaliza

18、tion of Indian economy, large number of quality products is available at competitive prices. The consumers today are therefore, forced to choose from the variety of product categories. This choice of product from different product categories, in consumer behavior researches is referred to as purchas

19、e decision. Thence, level of involvement for that purchase decision is called purchase decision involvement. The use of involvement theory in market research has helped to construct profiles of products and consumers and can therefore be applied as a promotional strategy for brand positioning and fa

20、cilitating the consumers in making better purchase decisions. Laurent and Kapferer (1985) were of the view that understanding the sources of involvement provides a dynamic picture of the consumers subjective situation and gives clues to the appeals that should be made in communicating with consumers

21、. Consumer behaviour researchers have tried to define and describe purchase involvement, but it has always been referred as conglomeration of ideas and views (Cohen, 1983; Laurent and Kapferer, 1985; Mittal and Lee, 1989). According to Mittal and Lee (1989), involvement is said to reflect the extent

22、 of personal relevance to the individual in terms of his / her basic values, goals and self-concept (Engel and Blackwell, 1982). Similarly Greenwald and Levitt (1984) view that high involvement means personal relevance or importance of the product. Whereas Mitchell (1981) proposed that involvement i

23、s an internal state variable and indicates the amount of arousal, interest and lor drive evoked by a particular stimulus or situation; Park and Mittal (1985) viewed it as a goal - directed arousal capacity. From the above definitions, it can be summarized that involvement is a state of motivation, a

24、rousal or interest. This state exists in process. It is driven by current situation, products or communication (external variables) and past endurance; ego or central values (internal variables). Its implications are types of searches, processes, and decision making, while definition by Mittal and L

25、ee (1989) directly relate involvement to goal object, and thus to needs, motives and benefits. Consumers buying behaviour can therefore, be classified into complex, habitual, dissonance reducing and variety seeking behaviour, depending on the degree of buyer involvement and the degree of difference

26、among brands. Consumers undertake complex buying behaviour in situations characterized by high consumer involvement in purchase and significant difference among brands. Dissonance reducing buying behaviour occurs when consumers are highly involved in an expensive, infrequent or risky purchase, but s

27、ee little difference among brands. Consumers indulge in habitual buying behaviour in situations characterized by low consumer involvement and significant brand differences. Consumers undertake variety seeking buying behaviour in situations characterized by low consumer involvement but significant br

28、and differences. It has been observed that consumers often indulge in active information search, invest large amount of time, critically evaluate the information that is available, when they are highly involved in a purchase decision. Although it is risky to generalize, as consumers are different, i

29、nvolvement tends to be greater under any of the following conditions- Consumers lack information about alternatives for satisfying their need. A large amount of money is involved. The product has considerable social importance. The product is seen as having a potential for providing significant bene

30、fits. Although the theories themselves appear to be straight forward, it has been difficult to operationalize them because of great variation in conceptualization and measurement of involvement itself. There is no single, widely accepted meaning of involvement because the term has been neither caref

31、ully defined nor conceptualized. One review identified five types of involvement: ego involvement, commitment, communication involvement, purchase importance and extent of information search.Another review identified Involvement Theory with advertising products and with purchase decisions. Some rese

32、archers see the person, product and situation as the major components of involvement. Others define low involvement as purchase situations in which there is little information search and no attitude formation regarding the product prior to purchase. Some studies have tried to differentiate between b

33、rand involvement and product involvement, others differentiate between situational enduring and response involvement. Despite the lack of agreement about the definition of involvement, it is generally regarded as important consumer behaviour, which constrain and receive a great deal of research atte

34、ntion. But definition is not the only problem; there are also problems of measurement. Researchers who regard involvement as a cognitive state are concerned with the measurement of ego involvement, risk perception, and purchase importance. Similarly researchers who focus on the behavioural aspect of

35、 involvement measure such factors as the search for and evaluation of product information. Some researchers consider decision time an effective measure of involvement. Others argue that involvement should be measured by the degree of importance the product has to the buyer. Before the degree of invo

36、lvement can be identified, the researcher must define exactly what it is that should be measured- ego, motivation, task involvement, situational variables, or what. It is clear that solid and widely accepted measure of product involvement need to be developed. Laurent and Kapferer (1 985) summarized

37、 that not one single parameter of involvement could satisfactorily describe, explain, or predict involvement. And, therefore, proposed that researchers should use an involvement profile to specify more fully the nature of the relationship between a consumer and a product category. Thus, they produce

38、d five antecedents or facets of involvement. These facets are: perceived importance of he product; perceived importance of negative consequences of a mis-purchase; subjective probability of a mis-purchase; hedonic value of the product class; perceived sign (abstract) value of the product. In a relat

39、ed study done by Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1993) proposed an Engel, Kollatt, and Blackwell (EKB) model of consumer behaviour served as a theoretical framework for proposing relationships between the variables expected to influence tourists souvenir-purchasing behaviour. The EKB model proposes t

40、hat the product evaluation process leading to purchase decision consists of four key components: beliefs, attitudes, evaluative criteria, and intention. In addition, product evaluation is influenced by individual characteristics, including personality, lifestyles, motives, values, norms, and referen

41、ce groups (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 1993). On the basis of the EKB model, the empirical model was developed for the above study that incorporated the purchase decision involvement and variables influencing souvenir evaluations. Consumers general characteristics such as personal values and attit

42、ude toward other cultures were expected to influence their travel- specific characteristics (tourism styles). It was anticipated from the above study that personal values, in turn, would influence purchase decision of the three products namely, house, automobile and entertainment goods. From the abo

43、ve review, it can be visualized the factors influencing purchase decision involvement, and draw the relationship between personal values and purchase decision involvement. Here values are preference people have that guide them in their life. Rokeach (1972) has defined value, as an enduring belief th

44、at has a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence, is personally and socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. From this definition, it is clear that there are two types of values, instrumental and terminal. Instrumental values are the means

45、to an end that is they guide the action towards desired goal, but if they are violated create pangs of anger and feelings of guilt. There are two instrumental values, like moral values, which have interpersonal focus, whereas competence values, are personal in nature. Similarly terminal values are c

46、oncerned with guiding the individual actions towards end state or desired goals, which may either have personal or social orientation. If a person places importance to inner harmony and salvation, then the focus in at intra-personal level whereas, if importance is given to the world peace and equali

47、ty then the orientation of individual is towards interpersonal relationships. Therefore, it can be understood that these two types of values influence whatever activity a person does (Kalhe, 1983; Rokeach, 1968,1973). Numerous studies have found that values are consistent over time or enduring (Beat

48、ty, 1985).Methodology Study: It is an exploratory study using the survey method to find out the implications of factors such as age and values people hold on the purchase decision involvement across three product categories. Sample: It comprised of 200 respondents of lndore and Allahabad. In the age

49、 group of 18-24 and 30-34 years using a random sampling technique. The average age of the respondents was 18.27 years and 32.76 years respectively. Measures: Two tools were used to measure the personal values of the respondents and the purchase decision involvement. The tool developed by Kahle (1983

50、) for measuring the twelve values on a nine point scale ranging from 1 = very unimportant to 9 = very important. The other tool used to measure the purchase decision involvement was developed by Mittal (1989). It comprised of four items with response ranging from l= least concern to 7 = high concern

51、. The data was collected by administering the measures on the identified respondents by asking them to read through the instructions carefully for each part, ensuring the questionnaire is complete in all respect. It was specifically mentioned to them that while filling the part B, they were instruct

52、ed to ensure that they are giving the responses for each product category. Data Analysis: The data were analyzed using T- tests and correlation analysis for each product category across the age group and important values. Results and Discussion As evident from Table -1, the difference in the purchas

53、e decision involvement for both house as well as automobile product is not significant neither at 0.05 level nor at 0.01 level for both the age groups. This may be because of the fact that younger and the middle aged respondents pay equal importance to the purchase of house and automobile, as it inv

54、olves huge cost and a long term investment in their life. While purchasing entertainment goods, the difference is significant between two age groups at 0.01 level lending support to general belief that they give lot of importance to fun and enjoyment because younger generation are moved more by the

55、type and quality of music. Findings in Table -2 show that respondents with a high sense of accomplishment as a value have higher purchase decision involvement across all product categories in comparison to those having values of self-respect, security and being self-respected. It can be concluded th

56、at the sense of accomplishment is influencing the purchase decision involvement because it is an end state (labeled as terminal value) towards which every one strives to achieve'(Rokeach, 1982). Similarly, on comparing influence of personal values across paired product category, it is evident fr

57、om Table-2 the difference between means for purchase decision involvement for house and entertainment goods is significant at 0.01 level in respondents with security as dominant value. It can be inferred that people cannot derive security by purchasing an entertainment good rather they go for purcha

58、sing a house because the decision to purchase a house is very critical in every one's life. Likewise respondents having sense of accomplishment as dominant value is also having higher purchase decision involvement for house than that for automobile goods. It can be viewed from the fact that hous

59、e is part of the basic needs of every individual and therefore, while comparing the two it is important to see how much importance people pay to these products, and when ranked the automobile will always become a luxury in comparison to house. The findings implicate that as in buyer-seller exchange, it is as