Trust and commitment: Attitudes towards a time-honored brand across generations

Based on the integrated perspectives of Generation ifferences (GD) and Intergenerational Influences (IGI), this chapter explores the attitudes of China's consumers towards a time-honored brand. A survey study on 2,083 subjects from four cities of China using a door-to-door questionnaire was conducted in two phases (2007 and 2009). The results indicate a decline in the evaluation of trust and commitment down the generations and a significant difference between the old and the young generations, especially in commitment evaluation. The results also show that in consumer behavior of Chinese city households influence on the parents from children is more significant and pronounced than influence on children from parents. This influence weakens rather than strengthens the commitment effect caused by the parents' trust in time-honored brands. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed.