Journal of Consumer Behaviour最新文献

Consumer perceived values (CPVs) are defined as the benefits consumers believe they receive in relation to the costs they incur. CPVs have been frequently detected in self-gifting behavior (i.e., buying a gift for oneself). Yet, the relationship between CPVs and self-gifting remains underexplored. Thus, the purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to develop a scale to investigate CPVs in the context of self-gifting and (2) to apply the developed scale to examine relationships between CPVs in self-gifting and consumer satisfaction. A reliable CPVs in self-gifting (CPVS-G) scale was developed and applied to test its impact on consumer satisfaction via structural equation modeling (SEM), as framed by expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT). The CPVS-G scale advances theory by extending existing value measures to the self-gifting context and deepening EDT through its focus on satisfaction driven by value-based expectations. The CPVS-G scale offers valuable applications for both academic research and industry practice in examining important values in self-focused consumer behavior such as self-gifting. Retailers and marketers can leverage insights from the findings by aligning product and service offerings with key value drivers, such as quality and resale value, to better meet consumer expectations and enhance satisfaction.

Mobile game platforms provide a variety of information to assist users in deciding which games to play. However, while previous studies have examined individual informational factors such as ratings and their effect on users' intentions, the joint and interactive effects of different information types, including game genre labels, ratings, and user network size on actual mobile game consumptions remain underexplored. This research investigates how these three types of information influence mobile game consumption, including their interactive effects on user choices. Grounded in the theories of Search-Experience-Credence Attributes, Platform Affordance and Network Externality, the research analyzes data from 1222 games on TapTap, a major Chinese mobile game platform. Structural topic modelling is employed to examine genre-consumption relationships and hierarchical ordinary least squares regression is conducted to explore the joint impact of multiple information types on game downloads. Findings show that while game downloads vary across genre themes, ratings alone do not predict downloads; their influence emerges when combined with other factors, particularly user network size. User network size not only directly affects game consumption but also moderates the effect of ratings on consumption. This research emphasizes the dominant influence of network size compared to genre and ratings and offers valuable insights for developers and platform operators in understanding user preferences and improving strategic collaborations.

Integrating various retail channels in the omni-channel shopping ecosystem presents significant social issues, including consumer privacy and sustainable consumption, which profoundly influence consumer behavior. This study examines the influence of social issues on consumer behavior within the omni-channel shopping ecosystem through a multimethod perspective comprising a systematic literature review (SLR), an interpretive ranking process (IRP) approach, and sentiment analyses. Integrating various retail channels—physical stores, e-commerce, mobile apps, social media, and emerging technologies—highlights critical social issues, such as consumer privacy and sustainable consumption. Using the PRISMA protocol and the ADO (antecedents, decisions, and outcomes) framework, we synthesized 71 studies published between 2000 and 2024. The SLR identifies key antecedents (peer interactions, convenience, and hedonic motivation), mediators (innovation, green supply chains, and trust), and moderators (self-awareness and environmental knowledge) that impact consumer behavior. The IRP analysis, utilizing cross-interaction matrices and dominance assessments, reveals that peer interactions and innovation are dominant factors influencing shopping intentions, customer satisfaction, and sustainable consumption. Furthermore, sentiment analysis of user comments on platforms like YouTube and Reddit reveals mixed reactions with concerns about privacy, transparency, and the credibility of sustainability claims, impacting brand trust. The study offers insights into how these social dynamics impact consumer behavior. It provides a comprehensive framework to guide businesses and policymakers in aligning their strategies with socially conscious consumer expectations, thereby fostering trust, satisfaction, and sustainability in the omni-channel retail environment.

Infectious disease outbreaks not only threaten public health but also influence consumer behaviors, including esthetic preferences. Despite extensive research on consumer responses to disease cues, the effects of these cues on visual product preferences, particularly shape preferences, remain underexplored. This study investigates how disease cues influence consumer preference for angular over circular shapes, hypothesizing that disease cues heighten social avoidance tendencies, thereby increasing preferences for angular shapes, which symbolically suggest defense and distance. Across five studies employing both field data and laboratory experiments, we find consistent evidence that exposure to infectious disease cues enhances consumer preference for angular shapes. This effect is mediated by social avoidance and moderated by two factors: social visibility (public vs. private) and self-construal (independent vs. interdependent). These findings contribute to the sensory marketing literature by elucidating the symbolic associations of shape under disease threat conditions and offer practical implications for marketers aiming to align product designs with consumers' psychological states in health-sensitive contexts.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital luxury experiences, this study examines the impact of Anthropomorphic Virtual Agents (AVAs) in luxury travel booking applications, focusing on their role in enhancing perceived anthropomorphism and social presence. Through two experimental studies, the research explores (1) how the presence of AVAs influences users' perceived social presence, and (2) how specific AVA attributes, such as personification and communication style, shape perceived anthropomorphism and, in turn, social presence. The findings reveal that AVAs significantly enhance social presence, with perceived anthropomorphism acting as a key mediating factor. These insights highlight the potential of AVAs to transform digital luxury services by fostering more immersive and engaging interactions. Although previous research has explored traditional virtual agents (e.g., chatbots, avatars, etc.) in other industries (retail, e-commerce, gaming, etc.), the role of AVAs in luxury travel services remains largely unexplored, particularly regarding attributes like personification and communication style. The study contributes to the human-computer interaction literature by clarifying the psychological mechanisms through which AVAs influence user perception in high-end markets. It also provides strategic implications for luxury travel brands seeking to differentiate their digital services through advanced AI-driven interfaces that align with evolving consumer expectations.

While prior research has demonstrated that consumers generally respond more positively to human sales assistants than to AI during service encounters, limited attention has been given to situations when the opposite might be true. Across five experiments, we find that particularly in a sales situation characterized by an evident persuasion attempt, consumers consider messages communicated by AI sales assistants more credible than those from human counterparts. This difference stems from the lay belief that AI sales assistants are less likely to have hidden motives, making consumers less suspicious. We further show that such a difference is diminished when AI sales assistants are associated with company-specific information, which prompts consumers to think about the company and its hidden motives in the sales encounter. Our findings contribute to the literature on consumer–AI interactions by demonstrating that consumers' attribution of persuasive intent is influenced by both the nature of the sales assistant (i.e., human vs. AI) and contextual cues that indirectly signal persuasive intent (i.e., company-specific information). These insights have practical implications for the design of AI-driven sales strategies, suggesting ways to leverage AI without triggering consumer suspicion.