Browsing by Author "Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Citation Count: 6
Alone but Together Autonomous but Related: Self-Construal Effects on Happiness in Social Experiences
(Wiley, 2018) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi; Hesapci, Ozlem
Communal tables and open workspaces have become popular servicescapes that is contemporary spaces for experiencing dining or working alone but together. Previous research demonstrates that experiencing with close others (e.g. with friends or family) increases happiness and satisfaction but experiences shared with strangers in contexts such as communal tables or workshops have not yet been thoroughly analyzed. Addressing this research gap from a social-psychological perspective we suggest that even though individuals are generally happier when they share experiences with loved ones self-construal plays a moderating role in the relationship. Individuals with high autonomy and high relatedness do not anticipate greater happiness from experiences shared with friends than with those shared with strangers. Three experimental studies (two online and one field) demonstrate this effect using different operationalizations of autonomy relatedness. Managerial implications are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.
Citation Count: 0
Considerations and Confusions About Theregulatory Focus Theory and a Future Agendafor Researchers in Marketing
(Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, 2017) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi
The regulatory focus theory is the mark of a paradigm shift away from a unidimensional hedonism towards a multiplicity of regulatory foci. It possesses great explanatory power; however a lot remains unresolved despite a promising body of empirical work. This paper highlights various considerations concerning the conceptual and comparative qualities of the regulatory focus theory. The discussion moves into the intersection of regulatory focus and consumer behavior literature, briefly summarizing the findings and followed by a number of propositions to be tested for future research.
Citation Count: 0
Consumer Impulsive Buying Tendency Scale Development Using Mixed Methodology
(Beykoz Üniversitesi, 2018) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi
In the domains of marketing and consumer behavior, there has been a paradigmatic shift from fully rational and mechanical human beings towards the dominance of feelings, irrationalities and impulses. Hence, there has been a growing demand for measurement tools capturing the multidimensional nature of buying processes. This study is an attempt to generate a reliable and valid scale to measure the impulsive buying tendency of customers. Impulse buying is of great importance with the technological developments and ease of purchasing. In this paper, the aim is to provide a comprehensive, valid and reliable impulse purchasing scale consisting of multiple dimensions. The steps included the analyses of existing scales, qualitative investigations (i.e. focus groups and critical incidences), a small scale pilot study for internal reliability and validity and a large scale quantitative study for scale purification and scale fit. A tridimensional impulsive buying tendency scale has been presented to the literature.
Citation Count: 12
Consumers and Service Robots: Power Relationships Amid Covid-19 Pandemic
(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2023) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi; Ozturkcan, Selcen
Robotics significantly influence retail and consumer services. The COVID-19 pandemic further amplified the rise of service robots (SRs) through social distancing measures. While robots are embraced widely by retailers and service providers, consumers' interaction with SRs remains an intriguing avenue of research across contexts. By taking a relative social power perspective, we report on a series of pre- and intra-COVID-19 studies. Our findings suggest that Gen-Z consumers hold more positive attitudes towards SRs perceived as lower in power vis-a-vis the human user. The longitudinal nature of our study also reveals that while attitudes towards such low-power services turned more negative during the COVID-19 pandemic, attitudes towards SRs that are high in power vis-a-vis the human user remained stable. In practical terms, while Gen-Z consumers hold more positive attitudes towards low-power robots, such service providers also face the challenge of relatively changeable attitudes towards them, especially during crisis times.
Citation Count: 2
How Does Self-Concept Clarity Influence Happiness in Social Settings? the Role of Strangers Versus Friends
(Routledge Journals Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2019) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi; Sarial-Abi, Gulen; Gurhan-Canli, Zeynep; Hesapci, Ozlem
Self-concept clarity (SCC) defined as the extent to which the content of an individual's self-beliefs is clearly and confidently defined and internally consistent influences experiences in social relationships. This paper extends the previous literature on SCC by proposing and demonstrating that high-SCC individuals anticipate and experience more happiness than low-SCC individuals when they share a social setting with friends and anticipate and experience less happiness than low-SCC individuals when they share a social setting with strangers and that this is because of perceived interpersonal distance. A series of four studies including both online studies and a field study support these predictions. Alternative explanations of self-esteem and self-efficacy are also ruled out. The findings yield both theoretical contributions and practical implications.
Citation Count: 15
Humanoid service robots: The future of healthcare?
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2021) Öztürkcan, Selcen; Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi
Humanoid service robots made swift progress in extending a helping hand to the strained global healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. This case provides an overview of the robots’ inclusion in healthcare regarding pre- and intra-pandemic contexts. Specific focus is devoted to humanoid service robots as their shape, size, and mobility make them advantageous in using the physical spaces designed for humans. A collection of examples from hospitals worldwide is presented in illustrating the humanoid service robots’ deployment in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pointed future directions aim to facilitate better decision- and policy-making that may ease human anxiety and promote greater acceptance.
The Impact of Jay Customer Behaviors on Bank Service Providers' Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Role of Job Stress and Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2022) Salem, Sondus; Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of jay customer behaviors, namely verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual harassment, on front-line service employees’ organizational commitment and its aspects: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment in the era of COVID-19. In addition, this research investigates the mediating role of job stress and examines the moderating effect of emotional intelligence and its four dimensions: Self-emotion appraisal, others’ emotion appraisal, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion. The quota sampling technique was used to invite 120 respondents working in Palestinian banks to answer a survey. After removing incomplete questionnaires, 108 responses were retained in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the proposed research model. The results demonstrated that jay-customer behavior has a significant inverse impact on employees’ organizational commitment. The relationship between jay customer behaviors and employees’ organizational commitment was partially mediated by job stress. Surprisingly, neither emotional intelligence nor any of its sub-variables moderated the influence. The research with its distinctive model is supposed to enrich the literature with insightful findings derived from the direct and indirect examined hypotheses that have contributed to an enhanced understanding of the relationship between the variables. Managers in the banking industry could use the findings to understand jay-customers further. On the other hand, the results could be used as a guideline to make more efficient improvements to minimize their impact on employees’ organizational commitment. Other valuable theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
Citation Count: 1
Sustainable Consumption: an Attempt To Develop a Multidimensional Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle Scale for Generation Z
(Springer Nature, 2019) Merdin-Uygur, Ezgi
Minimal living has been a popular theme in various domains such as literature, social media, and architecture. A voluntary simplicity (VS) lifestyle involves reducing material consumption and seeking non-material satisfaction instead. The purpose of this research is twofold: to develop a multidimensional and multi-item attitude scale for measuring university students’ voluntary simplicity (VS) lifestyle and to investigate the general attitudes and behaviors of university students using this new measure. With this purpose in mind, several voluntary simplicity lifestyle scale items are adapted, and a new VS lifestyle scale is developed specifically to Turkish university students. Furthermore, the relationships of specific VS lifestyle dimensions with other variables such as VS behaviors and religious commitment are investigated. Data collected in two phases from 100 and 364 students, respectively, reveal that the VS lifestyle of university students reflects a multidimensional aspect. After purification processes, the scale that is presented in this study consists of four sub dimensions as the Responsible Shopper, the Local Shopper, the Yoda, and the No Media. Taking into consideration the current lack of measurement tools, this new scale is expected to have implications for non-profit organizations, academic researchers, and marketing professionals in developing offerings or research consistent with the lifestyle of university students.