A socio-cultural approach to situational research in marketing

Abstract

The goal of this research is to develop a socio-cultural approach to studying situations in marketing as an alternative to the previously explored methods. In marketing research the situation has been treated as a means of predicting product choice, attitude, preference, and satisfaction. The socio-cultural approach proposed and empirically tested in this research posits that the situation can be characterized by the people who are present, the place they are in, and the products that are nearby. When these situational elements are incongruous with one another, individuals experience a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response. Empirical findings indicate that the tripartite definition of the situation is feasible for conducting situational research and that products can serve as stimuli to behavior. The personal care product category serves as the research venue and several implications concerning the marketing and advertising of personal care products are drawn from the research results.