2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
2010 - Public Relations Society of America
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evealed significant differences for respondents with only a high school diploma when compared<br />
to respondents with some college (p = .003), with a college degree (p = .004), and with education<br />
beyond a bachelor’s degree (p = .006). No other comparisons resulted in significance, indicating<br />
that level <strong>of</strong> education is positively correlated to the impact <strong>of</strong> company reputation on consumer<br />
decisions to invest. The number <strong>of</strong> respondents not having earned a high school diploma was<br />
extremely small (15), rendering statistical analysis <strong>of</strong> that cell inappropriate.<br />
Table 3<br />
Impact <strong>of</strong> Corporate Reputation on Purchase and Investment Decisions as Affected by Education Level<br />
Response means for level <strong>of</strong> education<br />
Survey<br />
question 0-11 years<br />
High school<br />
graduate Some college<br />
College<br />
graduate<br />
Decision to<br />
purchase<br />
2.92 2.88 2.51 2.63 2.54<br />
Decision to<br />
invest<br />
3.67 3.22 2.46 2.50 2.49<br />
Note. N=837 for purchase question, 836 for investment question.<br />
Beyond<br />
college degree<br />
Table 4 reveals a similar pattern for ethnic identity: results suggest a significant<br />
difference among categories for investment decisions, but not for purchase <strong>of</strong> goods and<br />
services. For goods and services purchase decisions, all groups within this variable reflect mean<br />
responses between “occasionally” and “frequently” when asked whether company reputation<br />
impacts those decisions. The same is true for investment decisions with one exception:<br />
respondents in the “other” category (dominated by Latinos) reflect a mean between “always” and<br />
“frequently,” pointing to an even more pronounced reputation impact for this segment <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sample. When responses by ethnic identity were compared using a one-way ANOVA, no<br />
significant difference was found for intent to purchase (F(2, 819) = 1.166, p = .312), and Tukey’s<br />
HSD post-hoc test confirms that this is true for all cross-comparisons among ethnic identity<br />
groups. Differences within this variable are significant, though, for intent to invest (F(2, 818) =<br />
5.070, p = .006). To identify specific differences between groups, a Tukey HSD post hoc test<br />
showed significant differences when Latino respondents were compared both to African<br />
<strong>America</strong>n respondents (p = .014) and to Caucasian respondents (p = .004).<br />
Table 4<br />
Impact <strong>of</strong> Corporate Reputation on Purchase and Investment Decisions as Affected by Ethnic Identify<br />
Response means for level <strong>of</strong> education<br />
Survey question African <strong>America</strong>n Caucasian Other<br />
Decision to<br />
purchase<br />
2.63 2.36 2.61<br />
Decision to<br />
invest<br />
2.61 2.65 1.87<br />
Note. N=822 for purchase question, 821 for investment question.<br />
The final demographic comparison reported is gender. Means for goods and services<br />
purchase decisions for both male and female respondents fell between “occasionally” and<br />
“frequently,” with females (m = 2.71, sd = 1.26) reporting a less pronounced reputation impact<br />
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