Examining Polish Market Mavens and Their Attitudes Toward Advertising

This article was downloaded by: [University of North Carolina]On: 06 October 2014, At: 13:44Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

Journal of East-West BusinessPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjeb20

Examining Polish MarketMavens and Their AttitudesToward AdvertisingPiotr Chelminski a & Robin Coulter aa University of Connecticut , USAPublished online: 12 Oct 2008.

To cite this article: Piotr Chelminski & Robin Coulter (2002) Examining Polish MarketMavens and Their Attitudes Toward Advertising, Journal of East-West Business, 8:1,77-90, DOI: 10.1300/J097v08n01_05

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J097v08n01_05

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan,sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjeb20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1300/J097v08n01_05

http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J097v08n01_05

expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Examining Polish Market Mavensand Their Attitudes Toward Advertising

Piotr ChelminskiRobin Coulter

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we offer some insights about Polish consum-ers with varying levels of general marketplace expertise, their role in dif-fusing product information, and their views of advertising. Marketmavens are consumers who exhibit heightened interest in and knowledgeabout the marketplace. Because of their interest in communicating withothers about the many aspects of the marketplace, these consumers canplay an integral role for companies interested in diffusing marketing in-formation. Our study results indicate that market mavens do indeed existin Poland and they exhibit similar characteristics to market mavens iden-tified in the U.S. They have more favorable attitudes toward advertisingthan other consumers. Additionally, they consider advertising as an im-portant source of product and social image information. Although Polishmavens are less critical of advertising being misleading and confusing,they are concerned about advertising promoting materialistic values.Our findings imply that firms doing business in Poland would be well ad-vised to target market mavens because they pay attention to advertising,have favorable attitudes toward advertising, and like to talk about mar-ketplace phenomena with others. [Article copies available for a fee fromThe Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:<[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2002by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Market mavens, attitudes toward advertising, Poland

Piotr Chelminski and Robin Coulter are affiliated with the University of Connecti-cut.

Journal of East-West Business, Vol. 8(1) 2002http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=J097

2002 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 77

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

http://www.HaworthPress.com

http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=J097

INTRODUCTION

Western research has consistently shown that personal sources inconsumer decision making are more important than nonpersonal ones(e.g., Feick and Price 1987; Higie, Feick and Price 1987). Much re-search in the U.S. has examined personal sources and their roles in in-formation diffusion (e.g., King and Summers 1970; Feick and Price1987; Higie, Feick, and Price 1987; Williams and Slama 1995). Of par-ticular interest in this study is one group of personal influencers, calledmarket mavens (Feick and Price 1987). Market mavens possess knowl-edge about a variety of products, places to shop, prices, sales, productquality, and other aspects of markets, and they enjoy sharing thisknowledge with others (Higie et al 1987, Feick and Price 1987). Thus,market mavens play an important role in the diffusion of market infor-mation.

In this paper, we examine market mavens in Poland, one of the fastestgrowing emerging economies in Europe. Poles are a society of close, in-formal interpersonal networks and they use these networks for acquisi-tion and transmission of market-related information. Prior to the 1989initiation of economic and political transformation, the chronic short-ages of goods forced consumers in Poland (and other Central Europeannations) to become very diligent about their browsing and purchasingstrategies. For example, consumers gathered information while waitingin lines, watching other consumers’ shopping bags, or just browsingstores in hope that a delivery of desired goods would happen unexpect-edly (King 1989, Witkowski 1993). Additionally, consumers often ac-quired products through informal networks of neighbors and relativesin return for other products or favors. Consequently, many Polish con-sumers were active shoppers and developed a considerable level of gen-eral knowledge about the official and unofficial marketplace. Thismarket knowledge was actively shared by consumers in their social net-works to alleviate the problems stemming from product shortages. Thisinformation sharing behavior could be explained by the collectivistconsumer tendencies (Nasierowski and Mikula 1998), marketplace in-volvement, and a proclivity to engage in market helping behavior (seePrice, Feick, and Guskey 1995). Based on these factors, we expect that,similar to the United States, market mavens are present in Poland. Otherstudies have established presence of market mavens in South Africa andGermany (Abratt, Nel, and Nezer 1995; Wiedmann, Walsh, and Mitch-ell 2001).

78 JOURNAL OF EAST-WEST BUSINESS

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

The focus of this study is on establishing the validity of the marketmaven concept in Poland. Consistent with past research, we examinemarket mavens in terms of their relationship to other personal influencers(i.e., opinion leaders), and their media usage. Additionally, we take thisopportunity to examine the relationship between market mavens and at-titudes toward advertising. We conduct the study among 222 Polishwomen heads of household who responded to a survey that included themarket maven and opinion leadership scales and measures of media us-age and attitudes toward advertising.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

U.S. research has distinguished market mavens from opinion leaders,whose expertise is limited to specific product categories rather thangeneral marketplace (King and Summers 1970, Childers 1986, Feickand Price 1987). While market mavens and opinion leaders are concep-tually distinct, Feick and Price (1987) report a significant correlationbetween the two constructs. Similarly, we expect that among Polishconsumers:

H1: market mavenism will be correlated with opinion leadership.

Research in the U.S. and elsewhere has demonstrated that marketmavens read more magazines and newspapers, and watch more televi-sion (Feick and Price 1987, Abratt et al. 1995). The higher use of mediais a reflection of the mavens’ heightened interest in marketplace activi-ties and its offerings. Consistent with this perspective, we expect Polishmarket mavens (compared to non-mavens) to engage in more media useby:

H2a: reading newspapers more regularly;

H2b:reading more magazines;

H2c: watching more television.

Feick and Price (1987) report that market mavens in the U.S. paygreater attention to advertising than non-mavens. It is our contentionthat mavens, because of their interest in the happenings in the market-place, will hold more favorable attitudes toward advertising. Indeed,

Piotr Chelminski and Robin Coulter 79

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

market mavens have been shown to have more positive attitudes towarddirect mail advertising than other consumers (Schneider and Rodgers1993). Researchers have conducted investigations of people’s attitudestoward advertising in the U.S. (Bauer and Greyser 1968, Barksdale andDarden 1972, Reid and Soley 1982, Muehling 1987, Andrews 1989,Pollay and Mittal 1993) and in the international context (Wills andRyans 1982, Durvasula et al. 1993, Andrews et al. 1994). Pollay andMittal (1993) proposed a comprehensive model for assessing the fac-tors that impact consumers’ attitudes toward advertising. They modelthe global attitude toward advertising as a function of consumers’ per-ceptions with regard to personal (e.g., product information, social roleand image, and hedonic pleasure) and societal (e.g., good for the econ-omy, materialism, value corruption, and misleading and confusing) ef-fects. Using the Pollay and Mittal framework for examining attitudestoward advertising among Polish consumers we expect that:

H3: market mavens vs. non-mavens will hold more favorable atti-tudes toward advertising in general.

Market mavens generally attach more importance to evaluative crite-ria in their purchase decisions than other consumers, especially formore expensive, durable goods (Williams and Slama 1995, Wiedmannet al. 2001). Thus, it seems that market mavens may be more likely thanother consumers to use advertising as a source of information aboutevaluative criteria. Moreover, because market mavens are more inter-ested in the acquisition of market information in general (Feick andPrice 1987), we expect that:

H4: Polish market mavens will consider advertising as a more im-portant source of product information than non-mavens.

Clearly, market mavens are motivated to acquire information for thepurposes of sharing it with others, possibly in exchange for other infor-mation that they do not possess (Feick and Price 1987). Thus, marketmavens may be particularly attentive to social role and image cues pro-vided by advertising so they can become reliable sources for informa-tion seekers. This social power acquired through their expertise mayprovide them with a better bargaining position in the “informationtrade.” Consequently, we expect that:


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

H5: Polish market mavens will consider advertising as a more im-portant source of social role and image information thannon-mavens.

Pollay and Mittal (1993) also assess societal effects of advertising,including materialism, value corruption, and misrepresentation of truth.We expect Polish market mavens will view the societal effects of adver-tising less critically than non-mavens. Specifically, we expect that Pol-ish market mavens will be less likely than other consumers to viewadvertising as:

H6a: contributing to increasing levels of materialism;

H6b:corrupting social values; and

H6c: being purposefully misleading and confusing.

METHODOLOGY

We used a survey instrument to examine our hypotheses. The ques-tionnaire, which included measures of market mavenism, opinion lead-ership, media usage, attitudes toward advertising, and demographicinformation, was written in English, translated into Polish by a Polishnative, and back-translated by another Polish native speaker. Discrep-ancies in translation were resolved by discussion among the researchersand translators.

Data Collection

We used a combination of convenience and snow-ball sampling toidentify study participants. The self-administered questionnaires weredistributed to 229 female heads of household in Poland from differentsocio-economic groups varying in age and geographic location. A totalof 222 women, 46 percent from three cities with over 100,000 inhabit-ants (Warsaw, Gdansk, Bydgoszcz) and 54 percent from towns withpopulation under 50,000 (Gizycko, Szczytno and others) returned us-able questionnaires. Each respondent received a small token of appreci-ation for completing of the questionnaire (an equivalent of U.S.$ 3.00).The respondents’ ages ranged from 20 to 64, with an average of 37.8years; 64 percent were married, 74 percent were employed. The average


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

reported household size was 3.26 with an average income of approxi-mately U.S.$7,000 per year, which was just about the average for thePolish households at the time of the study. The average number of yearsof education for the sample was 13.

Measurement

In this study, we used five of the six items used by Feick and Price(1987) to assess the construct of market maven. Each item was a 5-pointLikert-type question, with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.We created a market maven scale using the mean of the unweightedsum of the five items. The mean was 3.43, and the standard deviationwas 1.01. The Cronbach’s alpha for the scale was .87, compared to the.82 reported by Feick and Price (1987). In the Appendix, we report themeasurement items and the reliability measures for all of our scales. Toassess the opinion leadership among our respondents, we used theChilders’(1986) opinion leadership scale in the context of personal careproducts (the Cronbach’s alpha = .88)

To assess their media habits, respondents were asked about theirnewspaper and magazine readership and television viewing habits. Spe-cifically, the respondents were asked about the frequency of daily news-paper readership, the number of magazines read regularly (at least halfof the issues), and the number of hours they spend watching televisionduring weekdays and during weekends, including videocassette watch-ing.

To assess various aspects of consumers’ opinions about advertising,our questionnaire included 19 items from the Pollay and Mittal (1993)“Public Opinion on Advertising” scale (see Appendix for the items usedto measure the global attitude toward advertising; advertising providingproduct information; advertising providing relevant information re-garding social roles and image; and advertising contributing to materi-alism, value corruption, and misrepresentation of reality).

RESULTS

In support of hypothesis 1, we find a significant correlation betweenmarket mavenism and opinion leadership (Pearson xr = .64, p < .001).The confirmatory factor analysis indicates that market maven and opin-ion leadership are distinct constructs. Similar to Feick and Price (1987),principal component analysis on the two measures yields two distinct


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

factors, with the items measuring opinion leadership consistently load-ing on one factor and market maven items loading on the other factor.Additionally, a confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS structuralequation modeling software yields an acceptable fit for the measure-ment model (Chi-square/df = 2.95, NFI = .98, TLI = .98, CFI = .99,RMSEA = .094, HOELTER = 104 at p = .05) and provides some evi-dence for discriminant validity between the constructs (correlation be-low .80).

Similar to Feick and Price (1987), Slama and Williams (1990), andAbratt et al (1995), we trichotomized our respondents into three groupsbased on their market maven scores: 35.1 percent were categorized asmarket mavens (x = 4.46), 30.2 percent were in the middle group (x =3.53), and 34.7 percent in the low group (x = 2.31).

With regard to media usage, our results are mixed. The high mavengroup read more magazines (x = 4.59) than either the low (x = 3.36) orthe medium groups (x = 3.83), thereby providing support for H2b. Inter-estingly however, our three groups do not differ on the number of hoursof television watched or on the daily newspaper readership, thus no sup-port was evident for H2a or H2c. Table 1 summarizes the results regard-ing Hypotheses 2-6.

We proposed and found that market mavens compared to other con-sumers would exhibit a more favorable attitude toward advertising. TheTukey tests indicate that the high maven group had significantly more fa-vorable attitude toward advertising (x = 3.73) compared to the low (x =3.13) and medium (x = 3.29) groups. These results support hypothesis 3.

Hypotheses 4 and 5, respectively, posited that market mavens wouldconsider advertising as a more important source of product informationand social role and image information than non-mavens. The ANOVAresults provide support for both hypotheses (see Table 1). For the prod-uct information dimension, the Tukey test indicates that the score forthe high maven group (x = 3.85) is significantly greater than for the low(x = 3.14) and medium (x = 3.44) groups. For the social role and image,the Tukey test shows that the score for the high maven group (x = 3.22)is significantly greater than for the Low (x = 2.64), and higher than, butnot statistically different from the medium group (x = 2.92).

Hypotheses 6abc examined the societal effects of advertising. H6aposited market mavens would be less likely to believe that advertisingpromotes materialistic values in the society. We found a significant dif-ference between the three groups, with the high and the medium mavengroups (both x = 3.50) scoring higher than the low group (x = 3.08). Wefound no statistically significant difference between the three consumer


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

groups on their opinions about the value corruption dimension, thus nosupport was found for H6b. Finally, with regard to H6c, which exam-ined consumers assessment of advertising being misleading and confus-ing, the means indicate that the high (x = 2.45) and the low (x = 2.72)groups rated advertising less likely to provide false and misleading in-formation than the medium group (x = 3.02).

Additionally, we examined several demographic characteristicsacross the three groups. Consistent with Williams and Slama (1995), wefound that age was significantly different among the three groups (F2,219 =4.24). Market mavens were younger (x = 35.1) than the low (x = 41.1) ormedium (x = 37.1) groups. These findings are in contrast to Feick andPrice (1987) who found that there are no differences between the groupsbased on age. The age difference can be attributed to the fact that olderconsumers in Poland have a harder time to adjust to the new realities ofthe marketplace and find it difficult to comprehend the new shopping


TABLE 1. Media Use and Attitudes Toward Advertising Among the MarketMaven Groups

Maven Groups

Hypotheses Low Medium High F-ratio df Tukey

H2a Newspaper readership (days perweek)

3.68 4.05 4.02 0.72 (2, 207)

H2b Magazine readership (number ofmagazines read regularly)

3.36 3.83 4.59 7.54*** (2, 219) b

H2c Weekday television viewing (numberof hours on typical weekday)

3.09 2.76 3.06 0.53 (2, 213)

H2c Weekend television viewing (num-ber of hours on typical weekendday)

4.47 4.53 4.55 0.02 (2, 212)

H3 Favorable attitude toward advertis-ing

3.13 3.29 3.73 7.11*** (2, 216) bc

H4 Importance of product information 3.14 3.44 3.48 9.81*** (2, 214) bc

H5 Importance of social role information 2.64 2.92 3.22 5.54** (2, 216) b

H6a Advertising contributes to material-ism

3.08 3.50 3.50 3.47 (2, 215)

H6b Advertising contributes to value cor-ruption

2.89 3.14 2.93 0.99 (2, 215)

H6c Advertising is misleading and con-fusing

2.72 3.01 2.45 4.49 (2, 217) c

*** p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05a = Low MM different from Medium at p < .05, b = Low MM different from High at p < .05, c = Medium MM different from High atp < .05)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

environment (Witkowski 1993, Slomczynski, Zaborowski, and Mach1998). There were no differences in household income or size, and nodifferences in respondents’ education, employment status, marital sta-tus, or size of town of residence across the three groups.

DISCUSSION

This research provides important information for marketers inter-ested in pursuing the emerging markets of Central Europe. The resultsverify the existence of market mavens in Poland and provide some evi-dence for nomological validity of the concept of market maven in aCentral European context. Indeed, market mavens in this region exhibitsimilar behaviors to mavens studied in the U.S. In our study, the targetproduct category for measurement of opinion leadership were personalcare items, similar to the “health and beauty” products used by Feickand Price (1987). Because market mavens exhibit heightened interest inthe marketplace, it is likely that they will be opinion leaders in severalother product categories. In our study, the sample consisted of femaleheads of households. Thus, the women who identify themselves as mar-ket mavens are also likely to be opinion leaders in the personal careproducts category.

Additionally, consistent with previous literature, market mavens inPoland use advertising as information source about products. This isimportant because, historically, Polish consumers, similar to other East-ern European nations, have been more intensely distrustful toward ad-vertising than their Western counterparts (Wells 1994, West andPaliwoda 1996). Prior to 1989, advertising in Poland was very limited.All of the broadcast and print media were state-owned and thus closelycontrolled by the government. The communist regime did not believethat advertising contributed to the enhancement of the quality of life.Consequently, there were virtually no commercials on television or ra-dio. Newspapers and magazines carried some advertising, mainlyclassifieds. In larger metropolitan areas, there was some outdoor adver-tising in the form of neons, painted building walls, and billboards. Di-rect mail advertising was non-existent.

The adoption of free market principles revolutionized the role of ad-vertising in the Polish economy. From its marginal existence prior to1989, advertising accounted for about 1.25 percent of the nation’s GDPin 1999, compared to an average of 1 percent in most industrializedcountries, and 2.4 percent in the United States (Gazeta Wyborcza 2000;


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

Terpstra and Sarathy 1994). Advertising expenditures have been in-creasing rapidly over the last decade–from 1995 to 1998, the advertis-ing spending in Poland has doubled, exceeding U.S.$2 billion dollarmark (Woodruff et al. 1998). Zenith Media Inc. estimates that in 2000,Poland was the 20th largest advertising market in the world (GazetaWyborcza 2000).

Early in the transition to a market economy, Polish consumers re-acted to advertising with suspicion and skepticism (West and Paliwoda1996). Years of communist propaganda had created a belief among Pol-ish consumers that advertising is wasteful and deceitful (Michaels1993). Many Poles viewed it as a way for firms to promote defective,and possibly even harmful products. In this study, we found that marketmavens are less critical of advertising than other consumers, i.e., theydo not think advertising is exceedingly misrepresentative or confusing.These findings imply that market mavens are a good target market foradvertising in general, because they are not only likely to use the adver-tising information about a wide variety of products by themselves, butalso share it with others. Additionally, the fact that market mavens havemore positive outlook toward advertising than other consumers shouldencourage marketing managers in Poland to more broadly utilize thiselement of marketing mix. In the past, even managers in Eastern Euro-pean countries have been skeptical of any positive effects stemmingfrom the use of product advertising (Wells, 1994, West and Paliwoda1996).

The media usage patterns among the three market maven groups inPoland are not very clear. While market mavens report higher reader-ship of magazines than other consumers, they do not differ on their tele-vision viewing habits or newspaper readership. It is possible that whilethe frequency of the use of the two media does not differ, market ma-vens may still pay more attention to advertising in these media. On theother hand, non-mavens may tend to use television and newspapers ex-clusively for entertainment and information unrelated to the market-place. Further research is necessary to establish the specific usage of thedifferent media between the different consumer groups.

Consistent with our hypotheses, market mavens consider advertisingas an important source of product and social role and image informa-tion. These findings imply that advertising targeted toward market ma-vens needs to emphasize the informational aspect while also providingpositive images of social interactions that the market mavens can iden-tify with and emulate. It is important that the social roles and imagesprojected by advertising are consistent with the value systems of the


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

particular society. For instance, the Polish market mavens indicated aconcern with increasing levels of materialism due to advertising. Thisfinding may seem somewhat inconsistent, given that market mavenshave more positive attitudes toward advertising in general. However, itis possible that non-mavens do not pay enough attention to advertisingto notice the materialistic values being promoted. Because Polish mar-ket mavens appear to be sensitive to this particular negative dimensionof advertising, marketers should attempt to de-emphasize the material-istic values in their advertising messages.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Our study provides the groundwork for greater exploration of themarket maven concept in emerging markets and mavens’ opinions ofadvertising. This study has limitations. First, a non-random samplingprocedure was used. Second, only women were solicited to participatein the study. A large scale random sample would enable us to generalizethe findings to the Polish population, including identification of possi-ble gender differences. However, an attempt was made to design a sam-ple that is somewhat representative of the Polish consumer. We made aneffort to draw our subjects from different economic, demographic, andgeographic groups, avoiding the common pitfalls of using college stu-dents as subjects.

Notwithstanding the limitations, this paper makes a contribution toboth the academic marketing literature and to marketing practitionerswho view Poland and other Central European nations as an importantmarket opportunity. The information provided by the study is useful fordeveloping product introduction and diffusion strategies, for media se-lection, and targeting. Additionally, this research adds to our under-standing of the applicability of concepts developed in the U.S. in othermarkets.

REFERENCES

Abratt, Russell, Deon Nel, and Christo Nezer (1995), “Role of the Market Maven inRetailing: A General Marketplace Influencer,” Journal of Business and Psychol-ogy, 10 (Fall), 31-55.

Andrews, Craig J. (1989), “The Dimensionality of Beliefs Toward Advertising in Gen-eral,” Journal of Advertising, 18 (1), 26-35.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

______, Srinivas Durvasula, and Richard G. Netemeyer (1994), “Testing theCross-National Applicability of U.S. and Russian Advertising Belief and AttitudeMeasures,” Journal of Advertising, 23 (1), 71-82.

Barksdale, Hiram. C. and William R. Darden (1972), “Consumer Attitudes TowardMarketing and Consumerism,” Journal of Marketing, 36 (October), 28-35.

Bauer, Raymond. A. and Stephen A. Greyser (1968), Advertising in America: TheConsumer View. Boston, MA: Harvard University.

Businessman Magazine Raport Specjalny (1995), “Rynek Reklamy w Polsce,” (Janu-ary), 4-8.

Childers, Terry L. (1986), “Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of an OpinionLeadership Scale,” Journal of Marketing Research, 23 (May), 184-188.

Durvasula, Srinivas, J. Craig Andrews, Steven Lysonski, and Richard G. Netemeyer(1993), “Assessing the Cross-National Applicability of Consumer BehaviorModels: A model of Attitude Toward Advertising in General,” Journal of Con-sumer Research, 19 (March), 626-636.

Feick, Lawrence F., Robin Higie Coulter, and Linda L. Price (1995), “Consumers inthe Transition to a Market Economy: Hungary, 1989-1992,” International Mar-keting Review, 12 (5), 18-34.

______ and ______ (1987), “The Market Maven: A Diffuser of Marketplace Informa-tion,” Journal of Marketing, 51, 83-97.

Gazeta Wyborcza (2000), “Polski Rynek Reklamy: Rosnie, ale Slabo,” (June 5),.Internet Edition.

Higie, Robin A., Lawrence F. Feick, and Linda L. Price (1987), “Types and Amount ofWord-of-Mouth Communications About Retailers,” Journal of Retailing, 63 (Fall),260-278.

King, Charles W. and John O. Summers (1970), “Overlap of Opinion LeadershipAcross Consumer Product Categories,” Journal of Marketing Research, 7 (Febru-ary), 43-50.

King, Robert L. (1989), “Retail Food Distribution in Socialist State: The Polish Expe-rience,” in Transnational Retailing, ed. Erdner Kaynak, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Michaels, Dan (1993), “East Europeans Adjust to Western Ads; Information AfterYears of Propaganda,” Wall Street Journal, (July 19), B8.

Muehling, Darrel D. (1987), “An Investigation of Factors Underlying Attitude-To-ward-Advertising-in-General,” Journal of Advertising, 16 (1), 32-40.

Nasierowski, Wojciech and Bogusz Mikula (1998), “Culture Dimensions of PolishManagers: Hofstede’s Indices,” Organization Studies, 19 (3), 495-509.

Pollay, Richard W. and Banwari Mittal (1993), “Here’s the Beef: Factors, Determi-nants, and Segments in Consumer Criticism of Advertising,” Journal of Marketing,57 (July), 99-114.

Price, Linda, Lawrence Feick, and Audrey Guskey (1995), “Everyday Market HelpingBehavior,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 14 (Fall), 255-266.

Reid, Leonard. N. and Lawrence C. Soley (1982), “Generalized and Personalized Atti-tudes Toward Advertising’s Social and Economic Effects,” Journal of Advertising,11 (3), 3-17.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

Schneider Kenneth C. and William C. Rodgers (1993), “Generalized MarketplaceInfluencers’ (”Market Mavens") Attitudes Toward Direct Mail as a Source of Infor-mation," Journal of Direct Marketing, 7, 20-28.

Slama, Mark E. and Terrell G. Williams (1990), “Generalization of the MarketMaven’s Information provision Tendency Across Product Categories,” Advancesin Consumer Research, 17, 48-52.

Slomczynski, Kazimierz M., Wojciech Zaborowski, and Bogdan W. Mach (1996),“Social Structure and Aversion to Systemic Change,” International Journal of Soci-ology, 28, 91-114.

Terpstra, Vern and Ravi Sarathy (1994), International Marketing. Fort Worth, TX: TheDryden Press.

Wells, Ludmilla G. (1994), “Western Concepts, Russian Perspectives: Meanings ofAdvertising in the Former Soviet Union,” Journal of Advertising, 23, 83-95.

West, Douglas, and Stanley Paliwoda (1996), “Advertising Adoption in a DevelopingMarket Economy: The Case of Poland,” International Marketing Review, 13 (4),82-101.

Wiedmann, Klaus P., Gianfranco Walsh, and Vincent W. Mitchell (2001), “TheMannmaven: An Agent for Diffusing Market Information,” Journal of MarketingCommunications, 7, 195-212.

Williams, Terrell G., and Mark E. Slama (1995), “Marketplace experts’ Purchase De-cision Evaluative Criteria: Implications for Brand and Store Promotion Efforts,”Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12 (3), 4-21.

Wills, James R, Jr. and John K. Ryans, Jr. (1982), “Attitudes Toward Advertising: AMultinational Study,” Journal of International Business Studies, (Winter), 121-129.

Witkowski, Terrence H. (1993), “The Polish Consumer in Transition: Shopping War-saw’s Street Vendors and Open Air Markets,” Advances in Consumer Research, 20,13-17.

Woodruff, David, James Drake, Christopher Condon, and Peggy Simpson, (1998),“Ready to Shop Until They Drop,” Business Week, (June 22), 104-114.

SUBMITTED: 09/01FIRST REVISION: 12/01

SECOND REVISION: 01/02ACCEPTED: 02/02


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014


APPENDIX 1

MEASUREMENT SCALES

Scale and Item Descriptiona Cronbach'sAlpha

Market Maven Scalec .87

1. I like introducing new brands and products to my friends.2. I like helping people by providing them with information about many kinds of products.3. People ask me for information about products, places to shop, or sales.4. If someone asked where to get the best buy on several types of products, I could tell him or

her where to shop.5. My friends think of me as a good source of information when it comes to new products or

sales.

Opinion Leadership Scaleb .88

1. My family, friends and neighbors often ask my advice about personal care products.2. I sometimes influence the types of personal care products my friends and family buy.3. My friends come to me more often than I go to them for information about personal care

products.4. I feel that I am generally regarded by my friends, family and neighbors as a good source of

advice about personal care products.5. I can think of at least two people whom I have told about some personal care product in the

last six months.6. In general, I talk about a lot about personal care products with friends, family, and neigh-

bors.

Global attitude toward advertising .79

1. Overall, I consider advertising a good thing.2. My general opinion of advertising is unfavorable (reverse coded).3. Overall, I dislike advertising (reverse coded).

Advertising providing product information .84

1. Advertising is a valuable source of information about local sales.2. Advertising tells me which brands have features that I am looking for.3. Advertising helps me keep up to date about products and services available in the market-

place.

Advertising providing social role and image information .81

1. From advertising, I learn about fashion and what to buy to impress others.2. Advertising tells me what people with life styles similar to mine are buying and using.3. Advertising helps me know which products will or will not reflect the sort of person I am.

Advertising contributing to materialism .83

1. Advertising is making us a materialistic society, overly interested in buying and owningthings.

2. Advertising makes people buy unaffordable products just to show off.3. Advertising makes people live in a world of fantasy.4. Because of advertising, people buy a lot of things they do not really need.

Advertising contributing to value corruption .79

1. A lot of commercials are based on ideas and values which are opposite to my own values.2. Advertising promotes undesirable values in our society.3. Most advertising distorts the values of our youth.

Advertising contributing to falsity/no sense Pearson

1. In general, advertising is deceptive and misleading.2. Most advertising insults the intelligence of the average consumer.

r = .57p < .001

a All questions were asked using a five-point Likert scale, 5 indicated Strong Agreementb Adapted based on King and Summers 1970 and Childers 1986.c Feick and Price 1987.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Car

olin

a] a

t 13:

44 0

6 O

ctob

er 2

014

Documents

Examining Polish Market Mavens and Their Attitudes Toward Advertising