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Pascale G. Quester: Senior lecturer, Department of Commerce, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Justin Smart: Honours student, Department of Commerce, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Introduction
The concept of involvement has been extensively studied by consumer behaviour scholars, and is thought to exert a considerable influence over consumers' decision processes (Laurent and Kapferer, 1985). Researchers have typically analysed the influence of product involvement on consumers' attitudes, brand preferences, and perceptions, for the purpose of assisting market segmentation (Brisoux and Cheron, 1990; Celsi and Olson, 1988; Park and Young, 1986).
Whilst the studies have generally uncovered a relationship betweenproduct involvement and aspects of consumer behaviour, manyresearchers argue that effective segmentation of markets also requires a consideration of the usage situation. According to Belk (1974), any investigation of buyer behaviour that ignores situational effects is likely to provide unreliable results unless the characteristics of buyers or choice alternatives are so intense as to be influential across all relevantsituations. The rarity of products devoid of situational influences has encouraged an alternative approach called person-by-situation interactionism, based on the observation that the person/ situation interaction accounts for considerably more variation in consumer behaviour than do either individual or situational factors in isolation (Hornik, 1982). Very few studies, however, have specifically considered the combined effects of situational and individual factors on consumer behaviour, with only two previous studies investigating this relationship reported by Chow et al. (1990).
This study investigates the combined influence of product involvement and consumption situation on consumers' use of product attributes. By measuring both variables concurrently, knowledge of the interaction can be gained and provide a greater understanding of consumer behaviour. A brief review of the literature concerning situational influences is undertaken before the objectives and methodological details of the study are presented. The results and test of the hypotheses put forward follow before a conclusion and directions for future research are provided.
The influence of situation
A recognition emerged in the 1970s regarding the limitations of consumer characteristics in explaining variations in buyer behaviour (Belk, 1974). Consequently, the emphasis turned to alternative explanations of consumer behaviour, such as situations.
Indeed, Belk's 1974 definition of situation has remained undisputed in the literature and entails:"
all those factors particular to a time and place of...