1,720,996 research outputs found
COVID-19 information overload and generation Z’s social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown
No full textWhile previous research highlights the benefits of social media in times of a pandemic, this research focuses on the potential dark side of social media use among Generation Z (Gen Z) in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown between March and May 2020. The study reveals that COVID-19 information overload through social media had a negative impact on Gen Z social media users’ psychological well-being. Moreover, perceived information overload heightened both social media fatigue and fear of COVID-19, which, in turn, increased users’ social media discontinuance intention. In addition, considering that social media is the predominant method of maintaining connectivity with others for Gen Z users during the lockdown, the fear of missing out (FoMO) buffered the impact of social media fatigue and fear of COVID-19 on Gen Z users’ social media discontinuance intention. Our research adds a hitherto underexplored perspective to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s mental health. We offer a series of practical suggestions for social media users, social media platform providers, and health officials, institutions, and organizations in the effective and sustainable use of social media during the global COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-pandemic time
Cultural accommodation: Does online sensory marketing count? Examining the effects of fashion brands’ cultural accommodation through multisensory website design: an abstract
No full textWe study how foreign brands’ cultural accommodation delivered through multisensory website design influences local consumers’ perceptions and purchase decisions. We place particular emphasis on the Chinese fashion industry, where many non-Chinese brands suffer because they confront with a dilemma, between adapting to the local culture and retaining their western originality. Drawing upon theories of cultural accommodation and homophily bias, our experimental results indicate that foreign brands’ use of cultural accommodating multisensory cues (both visual and auditory) in website design positively influence consumers’ purchase intention, while the congruence of culturally accommodating multisensory cues also enhances of consumers’ purchase intention to some extent. We also demonstrate the psychological mechanism in transmitting multisensory cues of cultural accommodation into purchase intention and identify the mediating roles of consumer-brand identification and brand image in this mechanism.Our study takes a novel perspective to contribute to the emerging research stream of online multisensory marketing and contextualizes the application of multisensory cues in the increasingly digitized and international marketplace. Specifically, we identified the significant impact of the application of online multisensory cues on signaling brands’ cultural accommodation effort and facilitating consumer purchase. Besides, we added new empirical evidence to effects of multisensory integration and congruence on audiences’ perceptions and identified the cultural accommodation through sensory cues attracting consumers’ attention on the congruence between different senses. Finally, we advanced the understanding of homophily bias effects and demonstrate the mechanism of translating multisensory cues that carry messages of cultural accommodation into consumers’ purchase intention. This highlights the significance of shared identity between consumers and a brand (i.e. consumer-brand identification) in developing consumers’ evaluation and behavioral intention towards the brand. From a managerial perspective, we shed a new light on foreign brands’ cultural accommodation strategies in local markets and suggest multisensory website design as a cost-effective avenue for delivering the brands’ cultural accommodation effort
How detailed product information strengthens eco-friendly consumption
Full text linkPurpose: Whilst many studies consider labelling as means of aggregated communication of environmental product features, the presentation of detailed product information seems a promising alternative. However, the mechanisms through which detailed product information takes effect on consumers requires better understanding. This study empirically develops a framework that focuses on consumers’ perceived usefulness of, and trust in, detailed product information, whilst also considering the role of environmental self-identity. This understanding will help businesses to further stimulate eco-friendly consumption.
Methodology: Structural equation modelling and conditional process analysis are utilised to test hypotheses based on a sample of 279 respondents to a German online survey.
Findings: Results show that the perceived usefulness of product information has a positive effect on purchase intention, and this effect is intensified by an individual’s environmental self-identity. Furthermore, for consumers with high environmental self-identity, the effect of perceived usefulness of product information on purchase intention is mediated in turn by trust in detailed product information and resistance to negative information.
Originality/Value: This study contributes to the debate on the role of product information in ethical consumption by showing how detailed product information gives rise to favourable behavioural outcomes. When detailed information is perceived as being useful, it can affect purchase intention through greater trust and an increased resistance to negative information. Further, detailed product information appears beneficial for both, the mass market and specific segments with high environmental self-identity. Hence, this study empirically establishes the effects of detailed product information on consumer decision-making, thus informing sustainability-related marketing theory and practice
How sustainable luxury influences product value perceptions and behavioral intentions: a comparative study of emerging vs. developed markets
No full textCoinciding with the rising development of emerging markets, sustainable consumption practices in these markets are increasingly in focus. In this context, we compare empirical results from consumers on four continents (three emerging markets and one developed market) in an experimental study to uncover patterns of preferences for sustainable luxury products (i.e., products that combine sustainability and luxury characteristics). Our findings illustrate that consumers’ quality, emotional, price, and social value perceptions, as well as purchase and electronic word-of-mouth intentions, are consistently higher in all three emerging markets compared to the developed market. We find that sustainability (vs. conventional) product features increase consumers’ product value perceptions and behavioral intentions, although this effect is partially stronger for the developed compared to the emerging market(s). We further show a positive sustainability effect for luxury products, this effect is stronger for mass-market products. Combining sustainability and luxury signals leads to similar effects in emerging and developed markets. Thus, emerging markets have a promising scope for incorporating sustainability characteristics into luxury products. Sustainable luxury consumption can therefore be understood as a manifestation of global consumer culture
Electronic word of mouth 2.0 (eWOM 2.0) – the evolution of eWOM research in the new age
Full text linkElectronic word of mouth (eWOM) has evolved dramatically in the past 20 years, and is substantially shaping modern consumer behaviors and altering marketing management dynamics across both consumer and industry markets. We call this evolution “eWOM 2.0”, as captured in this Special Issue. Ten research articles advance our understanding in how eWOM drives the continued development of digital communication across B2B and B2C sectors. This Special Issue further contributes to understanding the constantly evolving landscape of eWOM research and practice, and points to the future directions for eWOM investigation and usage. In this editorial, we first outline the reasoning behind this special issue, followed by the summary of the articles, and the reflections on eWOM 2.0. We conclude by outlining future research opportunities that will propel the field further forward.</p
Societal attitudes toward service robots: Adore, abhor, ignore, or unsure?
Full text linkSocietal or population-level attitudes are aggregated patterns of different individual attitudes, representing collective general predispositions. As service robots become ubiquitous, understanding attitudes towards them at the population (vs. individual) level enables firms to expand robot services to a broad (vs. niche) market. Targeting population-level attitudes would benefit service firms because: 1) they are more persistent, thus, stronger predictors of behavioral patterns, and 2) this approach is less reliant on personal data, whereas individualized services are vulnerable to AI-related privacy risks. As for service theory, ignoring broad unobserved differences in attitudes produces biased conclusions, and our systematic review of previous research highlights a poor understanding of potential heterogeneity in attitudes toward service robots. We present five diverse studies (S1-S5), utilizing multinational and ‘real world’ data (Ntotal = 89,541; years: 2012-2024). Results reveal a stable structure comprising four distinct attitude profiles (S1-S5): positive (“adore”), negative (“abhor”), indifferent (“ignore”), and ambivalent (“unsure”). The psychological need for interacting with service staff, and for autonomy and relatedness in technology use, function as attitude profile antecedents (S2). Importantly, the attitude profiles predict differences in post-interaction discomfort and anxiety (S3), satisfaction ratings and service evaluations (S4), and perceived sociability and uncanniness based on a robot’s humanlikeness (S5)
Check-in at the Robo-desk: Effects of automated social presence on social cognition and service implications
Full text linkEffects of Ethical Certification and Ethical eWoM on Talent Attraction
Full text linkWhilst previous studies indicate perceived company ethicality as a driver of job seekers’ job pursuit intentions, it is poorly understood how and why ethical market signals actually affect their application decisions. Perceptions of company ethicality result from market signals that are either within the control of the company (e.g., ethical certifications) and from market signals that are beyond the company’s control (e.g., ethical eWoM). Building on communication and information processing theories, this study therefore considers both types of ethical market signals, and examines the psychological mechanisms through which they affect job-seekers’ intention to apply for a job. The results from a controlled online experiment show that both types of ethical market signals increase job-seekers’ job pursuit intentions. These relationships are mediated by applicants’ attitude towards the job advertisement, their perceptions of corporate employment image, and self-referencing. Consequently, the present study alerts practitioners to consider the effects of company-controlled and non-company-controlled ethical market signals, particularly when aiming to recruit highly qualified millennial candidates
Social sharing of consumption emotion in electronic word of mouth (eWOM): A cross-media perspective
Full text linkDespite increased research into electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in the hospitality sector, the role of emotion in consumers’ eWOM behavior remains underexplored. Highlighting media differences in eWOM, we utilize the online disinhibition effect and social sharing of emotion theory to investigate the consequences of consumption emotion for consumers’ eWOM behavior and emotion-specific media preferences (social networking sites [SNSs] vs. review sites). Experimental results identify emotional intensity as the key driver of consumers’ eWOM-giving intention on both media, whereas emotional valence shows media-specific effects on eWOM-giving. Satisfaction demonstrates a ‘positivity bias’ in consumers’ eWOM-giving, but only on SNSs. Expressive suppression also regulates the impact of emotional intensity on eWOM-giving intention. We push the boundaries of valence-centered assertions in eWOM research and advance theoretical understanding of consumers’ eWOM behavior through the lenses of emotion and media differences. Our findings have important implications for practitioners in the hospitality sector and for eWOM media providers
Living the Brand in the Public Sector: Internal Branding's Effect on Aligning a Local Authority's Employees with its Brand Identity
No full textThe pivotal role of employees in creating and sustaining an organisation's brand identity has led to a growing interest in Internal Branding (IB), which aims to achieve brand-oriented employee attitudes & behaviour that reinforce the brand identity. Holistic models of internal brand management comprising IB and its consequences have been empirically validated in prior studies. However, no studies have yet considered line management input as part of IB, or IB's influence on an organisation's brand identity. The current study seeks to address these two areas of deficit in the extant literature.
Accordingly, a questionnaire-survey of randomly chosen employees in a large UK local authority is used to investigate if IB has a positive effect on brand-oriented employee attitudes and behaviour. The mediating role of the organisation's brand identity in IB's ability to achieve brand-oriented employee attitudes and behaviour is also investigated. The main survey is currently underway
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