Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1998

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Human Ecology

Major Professor

Ann E. Fairhurst

Committee Members

Robert T. Ladd, John W. Philpot, Nancy B. Fair

Abstract

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to test a theory-based beliefs-attitudes relationship model empirically. The model was constructed to determine the effect of domains of market beliefs on attitudes toward price. The network for the model consisted of the seven primary constructs; manufacturer brand beliefs, required search beliefs, store beliefs, price/quality schema, prestige sensitivity, price mavenism, and value consciousness. The research design incorporated a nonexperimental survey technique. Three-hundred- sixty-eight undergraduate business students were asked to respond to their market beliefs and attitudes toward price in an apparel decision-making context. Respondents were screened to ensure they represented the primary purchaser for this product category and had purchased clothing within the past year. The final sample size was 305. The model and its associated hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling. The findings supported four of the five hypothesized relationships. The overall fit of the beliefs-attitudes relationship structural equation model was supported by a comparative fit index (CFI) of .907.

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