Culture and the Consumer Journey Shavitt, Sharon; Barnes, Aaron J.
Journal of retailing,
03/2020, Volume:
96, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The consumer journey metaphor emphasizes the steps that individuals take in their path toward relationships with brands or satisfying shopping experiences. However, in many non-Western cultures, ...these steps are less likely to be shaped by individual preferences and priorities. Instead, they emerge from a collectivistic motivation to adapt to prevailing norms and others’ expectations, and are shaped by a holistic thinking style that emphasizes context and relationships. As a result, the meaning of each step in the consumer journey is likely to be normatively infused and contextually embedded. This paper will review research showing cross-cultural differences in responses to prices, ads, store displays, retailer reputations, coupons, and other characteristics important to the retail context. Our focus is on contrasting the consumer journey in individualistic contexts versus collectivistic ones, but we also address emerging findings on other key cultural differences, such as power distance belief. Taken together, these findings suggest that the patterns and drivers of consumers’ pre-purchase activities, purchase decisions, and post-purchase commitment may differ significantly across cultures. In describing these culturally distinct processes, we illustrate how a deep consideration of cultural differences can enhance our understanding of the consumer journey.
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) stems from atherosclerosis of lower extremity arteries with resultant arterial narrowing or occlusion. The most severe form of PAD is termed chronic limb-threatening ...ischemia and carries a significant risk of limb loss and cardiovascular mortality. Diabetes mellitus is known to increase the incidence of PAD, accelerate disease progression, and increase disease severity. Patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus and PAD are at high risk for major complications, such as amputation. Despite a decrease in the overall number of amputations performed annually in the United States, amputation rates among those with both diabetes mellitus and PAD have remained stable or even increased in high-risk subgroups. Within this cohort, there is significant regional, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic variation in amputation risk. Specifically, residents of rural areas, African-American and Native American patients, and those of low socioeconomic status carry the highest risk of amputation. The burden of amputation is severe, with 5-year mortality rates exceeding those of many malignancies. Furthermore, caring for patients with PAD and diabetes mellitus imposes a significant cost to the healthcare system-estimated to range from $84 billion to $380 billion annually. Efforts to improve the quality of care for those with PAD and diabetes mellitus must focus on the subgroups at high risk for amputation and the disparities they face in the receipt of both preventive and interventional cardiovascular care. Better understanding of these social, economic, and structural barriers will prove to be crucial for cardiovascular physicians striving to better care for patients facing this challenging combination of chronic diseases.
Abstract Marketers commonly use consensus cues about others’ behavioral choices (“best seller”) or their attitudes (“top rated”) when labeling products. This article suggests that the effectiveness ...of these types of cues may differ across cultures in ways that carry implications for marketing practice. Prior research shows that in contexts that give rise to an interdependent cultural self-construal, choices are often responsive to social expectations rather than personal preferences. We propose that, because interdependents expect such behavioral conformity, cues that convey consensus about others’ choices may be less diagnostic and, thus, less persuasive than cues that convey consensus about others’ attitudes. Five studies examining cultural self-construal in multiple ways, along with two cross-national industry datasets, offer evidence consistent with this reasoning, suggesting that, among interdependents, behavioral consensus cues can actually be less effective than attitudinal ones, reducing persuasion and willingness to pay. However, among independents, because attitudes are assumed to influence behavioral choices, whether the consensus cue is attitudinal or behavioral makes little difference.
To compete against disruptive startups such as Rent the Runway and Zipcar, many established brands have shifted from traditional ownership business models to access business models by providing ...short-term rentals of existing goods. Despite their growing popularity, surprisingly little is known about how access offers affect consumer responses. The current research addresses this gap and reveals unintended consequences of introducing branded access offers. Across four experiments, the authors find that consumers whose brand attachment reflects their identity as a member of a group (e.g., those with a high group-brand connection) think that access versus traditional (ownership-based) offers more negatively impact parent brand image. This accessor effect occurs because consumers with high group-brand connections are differentially sensitive to accessors’ perceived lack of brand commitment. Consistent with our perceived commitment account, the effect can be mitigated when access offer rental periods are longer (vs. shorter).
Making attitudes more accessible via rehearsal has been shown to ease decision making by speeding the act of choosing and increasing the correspondence between one’s attitudes and choices (e.g., ...Fazio, 1995; Fazio et al., 1992; Fazio & Williams, 1986). These effects are central to decades of attitude research and are citation classics in social psychology. We report 25 studies ( N = 6,162), conducted in a diverse and culturally inclusive set of samples and contexts, that shed light on the reproducibility of these seminal findings. We examined the effects of attitude accessibility on decision latency, on the self-reported readiness to make a decision, and on attitude–choice correspondence. Results showed that the effect of attitude accessibility on decision latency is highly reproducible across multiple methods and cultural contexts, and that the effect on attitude–choice correspondence also appears robust in choice contexts that parallel the original experiments but not in choice contexts that highlight the need to consider others’ preferences. Effects on self-reported readiness to decide did not emerge. No robust role for culture was observed in moderating these effects, though the limitations of the studies temper these conclusions. In sum, we build on prior research by showing which types of effects are likely to be reliably influenced by attitude accessibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
Patients who undergo endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) often require reintervention after the index repair. The long-term rate of reintervention and how this has changed with newer device ...technology are poorly understood. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available literature to determine long-term freedom from reintervention after EVAR and the change in reintervention rates over time.
We performed a systematic review of MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We included randomized controlled trials and observational studies that documented the rate of reintervention after EVAR. We performed a meta-analysis of Kaplan-Meier freedom from reintervention at each year after EVAR. We used linear regression to evaluate change in reintervention rate over time with newer device technology.
We included a total of 30 studies (randomized trials, n = 3; observational studies, n = 27) comprising 32,126 patients in this review and meta-analysis. Studies ranged in the implantation date of the EVAR device from 1996 to 2014. The probability of freedom from reintervention was 81% (95% confidence interval CI, 77%-85%) at 5 years, 70% (95% CI, 65%-76%) at 10 years, and 64% (95% CI, 46%-79%) at 14 years. Linear regression demonstrated an improvement in freedom from reintervention when results were stratified by the year of device implantation. At 1 year, estimated freedom from reintervention improved from 90% in 1998 to 94% in 2008 (n = 26 studies; R2 = 0.11; P = .10). At three years, estimated freedom from reintervention improved from 77% in 1998 to 90% in 2008 (n = 26 studies; R2 = 0.27; P = .006). At 5 years, estimated freedom from reintervention improved from 68% in 1998 to 81% in 2008 (n = 22 studies; R2 =0.12; P = .12). At 7 years, estimated freedom from reintervention improved from 51% in 1998 to 86% in 2011 (n = 22 studies; R2 = 0.40; P = .015).
EVAR patients remain at risk for reintervention indefinitely, and therefore lifelong surveillance is imperative. Encouragingly, reintervention rates have improved over time, with newer devices exhibiting lower rates. Reintervention rate remains an important metric for new devices and registries.
This article synthesizes recent research connected to how cultural identity can determine responses to artificial intelligence. National differences in AI adoption imply that culturally-driven ...psychological differences may offer a nuanced understanding and interventions. Our review suggests that cultural identity shapes how individuals include AI in constructing the self in relation to others and determines the effect of AI on key decision-making processes. Individualists may be more prone to view AI as external to the self and interpret AI features to infringe upon their uniqueness, autonomy, and privacy. In contrast, collectivists may be more prone to view AI as an extension of the self and interpret AI features to facilitate conforming to consensus, respond to their environment, and protect privacy.
The global burden of peripheral artery disease Eid, Mark A.; Mehta, Kunal; Barnes, J. Aaron ...
Journal of vascular surgery,
April 2023, 2023-04-00, 20230401, Volume:
77, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Previous efforts to characterize the burden of peripheral artery disease (PAD) have focused on national populations. A need for a more detailed analysis of how PAD impacts the global population has ...been identified. Our objective was to study in greater detail the global burden of PAD, including its impact on mortality, over the past three decades.
Using data and models from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study, we estimated the prevalence, years of life lost, years lived with disability and disability-adjusted life-years (a measure accounting for incurred morbidity and mortality), attributable to PAD. We analyzed results over time and stratified by sex, age, and sociodemographic index (SDI) group. We compared PAD with other atherosclerosis-related conditions and assessed the contribution of risk factors to PAD disability-adjusted life-years.
We observed a 72% increase in the global prevalence of PAD from an estimated 65,764,499 persons in 1990 to 113,443,016 in 2019. Prevalence per 100,000 persons increased 13% and the prevalence per 100,000 age-standardized decreased 22%. Similar patterns were seen for years of live lost, mortality, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years. The prevalence and disability were higher among women, whereas mortality and years of life lost were higher among men. Disease burden increased with increasing SDI. These increases in PAD were in contrast with global trends for the overall burden of ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke, which had decreasing prevalence and disease-related mortality over the same time frame. Overall, only approximately 55% of PAD disease burden could be attributed to identified risk factors, with tobacco use, diabetes, and hypertension being the three major contributors in all SDI groups.
The global prevalence and mortality associated with PAD has increased substantially, in contrast with other forms of ischemic cardiovascular disease. Globally, there is a growing need for vascular surgical resources to manage PAD, as well as public health efforts to address risk factors for this increasing health threat.
Microproteins (MPs) are a potentially rich source of uncharacterized metabolic regulators. Here, we use ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) to curate 3,877 unannotated MP-encoding small ORFs (smORFs) in ...primary brown, white, and beige mouse adipocytes. Of these, we validated 85 MPs by proteomics, including 33 circulating MPs in mouse plasma. Analyses of MP-encoding mRNAs under different physiological conditions (high-fat diet) revealed that numerous MPs are regulated in adipose tissue in vivo and are co-expressed with established metabolic genes. Furthermore, Ribo-seq provided evidence for the translation of Gm8773, which encodes a secreted MP that is homologous to human and chicken FAM237B. Gm8773 is highly expressed in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, and intracerebroventricular administration of recombinant mFAM237B showed orexigenic activity in obese mice. Together, these data highlight the value of this adipocyte MP database in identifying MPs with roles in fundamental metabolic and physiological processes such as feeding.
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•Thousands of unannotated smORFs encode microproteins in primary mouse adipocytes•Hundreds of microproteins are differentially expressed in obese versus lean mice•Dozens of microproteins are found to be secreted by mass spectrometry•Identified protein homolog of mouse FAM237B that is an orexigenic hormone in obese mice
Martinez et al. identify thousands of unannotated smORF-encoded microproteins in primary mouse adipocytes. Hundreds of microproteins are differentially expressed in tissues from obese versus lean mice. Dozens of secreted microproteins are also detected by mass spectrometry. A predicted FAM237B homolog is shown to be an orexigenic hormone in obese mice.
Cachexia is a wasting condition defined by skeletal muscle atrophy in the setting of systemic inflammation. To explore the site at which inflammatory mediators act to produce atrophy in vivo, we ...utilized mice with a conditional deletion of the inflammatory adaptor protein myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88). Although whole‐body MyD88‐knockout (wbMyD88KO) mice resist skeletal muscle atrophy in response to LPS, muscle‐specific deletion of MyD88 is not protective. Furthermore, selective reexpression of MyD88 in the muscle of wbMyD88KO mice via electroporation fails to restore atrophy gene induction by LPS. To evaluate the role of glucocorticoids as the inflammation‐induced mediator of atrophy in vivo, we generated mice with targeted deletion of the glucocorticoid receptor in muscle (mGRKO mice). Muscle‐specific deletion of the glucocorticoid receptor affords a 71% protection against LPS‐induced atrophy compared to control animals. Furthermore, mGRKO mice exhibit 77% less skeletal muscle atrophy than control animals in response to tumor growth. These data demonstrate that glucocorticoids are a major determinant of inflammation‐induced atrophy in vivo and play a critical role in the pathogenesis of endotoxemic and cancer cachexia.—Braun, T. P., Grossberg, A. J., Krasnow, S. M., Levasseur, P. R., Szumowski, M., Zhu, X. X., Maxson, J. E., Knoll, J. G., Barnes, A. P., and Marks, D. L., Cancer‐ and endotoxin‐induced cachexia require intact glucocorticoid signaling in skeletal muscle. FASEB J. 27, 3572–3582 (2013). www.fasebj.org
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