Certification Seals. The more, the better, or too much of a good thing?

Table of Contents

Preface

Executive Summary

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Appendices

1. Introduction
1.1 The dilemma of brand managers
1.2 Research objective
1.3 Research relevance
1.3.1 Academic relevance
1.3.2 Managerial relevance
1.4 Research outline

2. Theoretical background
2.1 The role of certification seals as signals
2.2 The impact of multiple certification seals
2.2.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.2.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.2.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
2.3 The impact of a product benefit claim
2.3.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.3.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.3.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
2.4 The combined impact of multiple certification seals and a product benefit claim
2.4.1 The effect on purchase intention and willingness to pay
2.4.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
2.4.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception

3. Methodology
3.1 Research method and general research design
3.2 Pre-test
3.2.1 Determination of research stimuli
3.2.2 Data collection pre-test
3.2.3 Pre-test results

3.3 Main Experiment

3.3.1 Specific research design and main experiment stimuli

3.3.2 Data collection main experiment

3.3.3 Measurement of variables

4. Research results
4.1 Sample description and data preparation
4.2 Data reduction and exploration
4.2.1 Establishment and purification of scales
4.2.2 Comparison of questionnaire versions
4.2.3 Comparison of demographics, psychographics, product usage behaviour across experiment groups
4.2.4 Comparison of main research variables across demographics, psychographics, product usage behaviour
4.2.5 Comparison of main research variables across experiment groups
4.3 Testing the Conceptual Model
4.3.1 The direct impact of extrinsic product attributes
4.3.2 The mediating role of product quality perception
4.3.3 The mediating role of manufacturer conscientiousness perception
4.3.4 The overall cause-effect chain from extrinsic product attributes to behavioural intentions
4.4 Additional research findings
4.4.1 The impact of extrinsic product attributes on taste perception
4.4.2 The impact of extrinsic product attributes on ‘Manufacturer credibility perception’, ‘Price perception’, ‘Organicness perception’ and ‘Amount of product information’
4.4.3 Additional qualitative results

5. General discussion and conclusion
5.1 Discussion of research findings
5.1.1 The impact of multiple certification seals
5.1.2 The impact of a product benefit claim
5.1.3 The combined impact of multiple certification seals and a product benefit claim
5.2 Research implications
5.2.1 Academic implications
5.2.2 Managerial implications
5.3 Research limitations and recommendations for future research
5.4 The more the better, or too much of a good thing?

References

Appendix