EMBEDDED MARKETS
described the extent of general obligation present in
the tie. The scale values were: -2 = "she definitely
owes me," -I = "she probably owes me," 0 = "it's
about equal," +1 = "I probably owe her," +2 = "I
definitely owe her." "I don't know this person" was
coded 0 to indicate no obligation present. Positive
numbers on this scale indicate a perceived social debt
by the invitee; negative ones indicate creditor status.
The second question asked invitees to describe
market-specific obligations incurred within the home
party market. Invitees were asked to describe (1) the
number of parties an invitee had hosted that were attended
by the present hostess of the sampled party
and (2) the number of parties the invitee had attended
in the past that were hosted by the present hostess.
When the difference between these two numbers was
positive, the invitee was a debtor to her hostess; when
it was negative, she was a creditor.
It is an open question whether the data will support
the market-specific or the general form of obligation.
Arguments can be made both ways. If market-specific
obligations such as parties are fungible with general
obligations such as child care and car pools, then the
latter may prove to be better predictors of purchase.
If, however, market-specific obligations are not fungible
with general obligations, then the former may
prove to be the better predictor.
Measures of UA. A measure for UA was created
from two indicators, one that describes the rate a respondent
consumed personal care products and another
that describes the respondent's preference for
the brand sold at the party. Prior to the party, respondents
were asked to describe the number of occasions
per week they used 12 types of personal care products
(e.g., lipstick, skin freshener, and so on). Respondents
were also asked to provide preference ratings for five
brands of each ofthe same 12 products (i.e., 1 = "totally
unacceptable," 5 = "acceptable," and 10 = "superb").
One of the five brands was the company
brand. A respondent's product consumption rates
were then multiplied by the difference between the respondent's
mean non-party brand preference and
company brand preference for the appropriate product.
Results were then summed across the 12 product
categories each respondent had rated.
Correlations between the indicators and two additional
measures supported the nomological validity
of the LO) indicators. Respondents also reported the
brand names ofthe 12 types of personal care products
they had used in a three-week period prior to completion
of the first questionnaire. The total number of
brands reported and the percentage of the total reported
that were company brands provided alternative
measures of respondents' personal care product
consumption rate and preference for the company
brand. The consumption rate indicator had a .53 correlation
with the total number of brands reported.
and the preference indicator had a .62 correlation
with the percentage of the total that were company
brands.
Income. Although not directly related to the theory
being tested, the ability to pay is an obvious source of
variation in the amount spent at a party. Invitees
from households with larger incomes are likely to
have more disposable income and therefore greater
freedom to make discretionary purchases for their
own benefit or for the benefit of their hostesses.
Household income was therefore included as a covariate
in the analysis