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Palacio Fierro, Andrés
Consumer value creation through WhatsApp use: A qualitative multimethod approach in a Latin American scenario
Empirical evidence for intransitivity in consumer preferences
2019
,
Cruz Cárdenas, Jorge
,
Guadalupe, J
,
Zabelina E.
,
Palacio Fierro, Andrés
,
Velín-Fárez M.
,
Staniewski M.W.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings: Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications: Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value: The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.
2020
,
Guadalupe, J
,
Cruz Cárdenas, Jorge
,
Artola-Jarrín V.
,
Palacio Fierro, Andrés
Consumer preferences patterns; Edible and nonedible goods; Transitivity assumption; Preference reversal phenomenon; Strong and weak transitivity, Behavioral economics; Money; Macroeconomics; Econometrics; Experimental economics. © 2020The present paper addresses one of the most important assumptions in consumer preference patterns: transitivity. This assumption states that, logically, selections between goods are rational because of the transitivity statement, which posits that people always prefer goods in the following order: A is preferred to B, and B is preferred to C, so A is preferred to C. With the aim of proving this principle's validity, we conducted an experiment with 70 subjects and probed their preferences in relation to edible and nonedible goods. We used a survey methodology, which allowed us to analyze three distinct situations: 1) individuals faced with goods choices without restrictions; 2) individuals facing budget restrictions and price changes; and 3) individuals faced with decreased disposable income. The results mostly showed that there was no evidence of transitivity in consumer preferences. On average, transitivity appeared in only 8% of the sample, and in cases where transitivity was proved, it was revealed to be strong. The preferences were transitive primarily in relation to edible rather than nonedible goods. © 2020