Journal of Consumer Behaviour最新文献

While excessive digital consumption is considered harmful, it also provides value to users by facilitating their earning, learning, socializing, and shopping. Currently, no scale exists for measuring the value that digital users derive from digital consumption. This paper aims to develop a scale for measuring the value derived from digital consumption. The digital consumption value scale is conceptualized based on the theory of consumption values (TCV). We follow a rigorous approach to scale development with an exploratory qualitative study followed by five quantitative studies. The final scale is a 29-item higher-order construct with four dimensions, namely functional, social, positive, and negative emotional values. The results suggest that digital overconsumption reduces the perceived value of digital consumption. Further, digital users who draw more value from their digital consumption engage positively with work and report higher productivity. We contribute to the literature by providing a theoretically sound and rigorous scale that can be used to further research and practice. This research highlights that excessive digital consumption diminishes value and may lead to decreased engagement with work and productivity. This study draws primarily on US and UK data, and future research could explore its relevance in other countries and cultural contexts.

This research investigates how bundling substitutes versus complements affects consumer evaluations of individual products. Prior studies have observed spillover effects in bundles of complementary products whereby the valuation of a known product transfers to an unknown one. The current study explores whether this effect holds for substitutes and suggests that bundling an unknown product with a substitute may attenuate or even reverse spillover effects. This occurs because consumers, guided by market efficiency intuition, may infer that firms offset deficiencies in one product by excelling in another. Across four experiments, results indicate that bundling an unknown product with a poorly performing substitute increases its perceived effectiveness, whereas bundling with a poorly performing complement decreases it (Study 1). Bundling with a well-performing substitute decreases the unknown product's perceived effectiveness (Study 2). The effect is moderated by price information (Study 3) and purchase stage (Study 4), which alter consumers' beliefs about market efficiency, in turn impacting their inferences about unknown products. Together, these findings suggest that bundling strategies should consider the nature of the products and consumer market beliefs, offering important theoretical and managerial implications.

Grounded in Prospect Theory, Sensory Marketing Theory, and recent insights into emotion regulation and psychological comfort, this research explores how the sensory format of green advertisements—Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) versus non-ASMR—moderates the effectiveness of message framing (positive vs. negative) on consumers' green purchase intentions. It further investigates the mediating roles of ad recall and emotional responses (positive and negative) in this interaction. Two between-subjects experiments (total N = 600) with a 2 (ad type: ASMR vs. non-ASMR) × 2 (message framing: positive vs. negative) design were conducted online. Moderated mediation analyses using PROCESS Model 8 with 5000 bootstrap samples revealed significant interactive effects. Specifically, ASMR advertisements enhanced green purchase intentions under positive framing, whereas non-ASMR ads were more effective under negative framing. Positive emotions partially mediated the advantage of ASMR ads in positive framing, while negative emotions and ad recall fully mediated the advantage of non-ASMR ads in negative framing. These findings indicate that pleasant sensory experiences boost processing fluency (ease of processing) and emotional alignment (fit between felt affect and message valence)with positively framed appeals, while moderate fear—undampened by ASMR—effectively motivates loss avoidance in negatively framed appeals. Theoretically and practically, this study refines emotion regulation accounts by showing that overly comforting sensory cues from ASMR can dilute the motivational potency of fear appeals and introduces comfort as a novel mechanism enhancing the effectiveness of gain-framed persuasion. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the strategic alignment of sensory formats and framing approaches to maximize campaign effectiveness and highlights ad recall as a complementary cognitive pathway.

Research on the dual role of price has focused on the observation that price can simultaneously increase both consumer perceptions of quality and perceived sacrifice and not on whether these perceptions mediate the effects of price on consumer behavior. Further, no research has fully disentangled the role benefits play (i.e., increasing purchase intent) from the role costs play (i.e., decreasing purchase intent) for mediating price effects on consumer purchase intentions. To address these limitations, and based on our conceptual framework, we develop a measurement approach that we refer to as the Cost–Benefit Decomposition (CBD) Model that allows for moderated mediation tests of the dual role of price. We then employ the CBD model to test hypotheses that predict when product and consumer traits moderate cost and benefit indirect effects. In two experiments, we find moderation of the price effect on purchase likelihood was entirely the result of attenuating the benefit indirect effect. Finally, to illuminate the implications, we develop a CBD typology, which identifies six unique patterns of CBD model effects based on the relative effect sizes of the cost and benefit indirect effects. Primarily, the CBD model makes a methodological contribution, providing a tool to decompose the simultaneous indirect effects of price on purchase intentions and a theoretical framework through which to interpret them. Additionally, the model and resultant CBD typology are useful to managers who can adjust their marketing tactics based upon insights into the mechanisms driving purchase intentions for specific offerings stemming from using these tools.

This study examines the relationship between consumer over-dependency on artificial intelligence (AI) and decision autonomy, specifically focusing on the implications for consumer satisfaction in the Vietnamese context. This research is motivated by the increasing integration of AI into daily consumer activities, which raises concerns regarding potential erosion of autonomy and dissatisfaction. Employing a mixed-method approach, this study combined quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with 305 Vietnamese consumers active on e-commerce platforms. Quantitative data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Key findings revealed a significant negative impact of AI dependency on decision autonomy and decision-making satisfaction. Trust significantly enhanced AI dependency; however, its moderating effect on the relationship between dependency and satisfaction was marginally insignificant. Perceived risk negatively influences consumer satisfaction, particularly concerning privacy and transparency issues. Qualitative insights further supported these findings, illustrating consumer apprehension regarding autonomy loss, conditional trust dynamics, and context-dependent satisfaction. These findings have significant theoretical and practical implications. This study advances Self-Determination Theory by confirming the critical role of autonomy in technology-driven interactions in non-Western contexts. This study provides valuable insights into balancing technological innovation with consumer autonomy, emphasizing responsible AI deployment to promote consumer trust and satisfaction.

This study examines the relationship between cognitive dissonance, moral disengagement, moral responses, and purchase intention within the context of the ethical treatment of workers in the apparel supply chain, drawing from cognitive dissonance theory and moral disengagement theory. Two online experiments empirically tested the effect of cognitive dissonance on moral responses along with the moderating effect of moral disengagement. The study finds that consumers experiencing intensified negative moral emotions and weakened moral self-image may be less inclined to support brands involved in unethical practices. Further, individuals who exhibit greater moral disengagement are less affected by negative moral emotions caused by cognitive dissonance, leading to a diminished impact on their purchase intention. In addition, the findings indicate that individuals with higher levels of moral disengagement may be more susceptible to the influence of group identity cues on moral evaluations. This study fills the void in the current literature that requires further exploration in the consumer attitude–behavior gap by examining the underlying psychological mechanisms that influence consumption practices.