Journal of Consumer Behaviour最新文献

Advertisers typically publish in-feed ads with two types of authorship: brand or influencer, yet little is known about the effectiveness of in-feed ads between these two authors. In this study, we investigated the interactions and mechanisms of ad authorship (brand vs. influencer) and brand type (luxury vs. mass) on advertising effectiveness, and tested the moderating effect of upward social comparison based on the stereotype content model. A pilot study, by coding the secondary data from Most Liked WeChat Moment Ads, found that a greater proportion of luxury (vs. mass) brands were authored by brands (vs. influencers). Study 1 used eye tracking technique to identify the interactive effect of ad authorship and brand type on visual attention. Study 2 further identified perceived competence and warmth as mediators. Study 3 verified the moderating effect of upward social comparison on the above effects. This paper contributes to the theoretical literature on in-feed advertising by showing the interactive effect of advertising authorship and brand types on advertising effectiveness. It also offers valuable insights for luxury or mass brands on strategically leveraging the brand itself or influencer for advertising.

The digital divide remains a formidable challenge in emerging economies, highlighting disparities in technology access and utilisation. This study explores consumer engagement with mobile payment applications for transportation in Lagos, Nigeria, a critical context where these disparities manifest. The research presents consumer perceptions and behaviours using a triangulated approach encompassing ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, and the ALARA model of information search. Anchored in the Engel–Kollat–Blackwell (EKB) theory of consumer behaviour, which depicts the five stages of consumer decision-making—problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behaviour—this study identifies five key themes: awareness, information search, alternatives evaluation, engagement, and post-engagement evaluation. Insights from the study reveal that cultural preferences and trust in traditional payment methods significantly influence users' willingness to adopt mobile payment apps. These insights underscore the importance of addressing socio-cultural factors in technology adoption strategies. The findings highlight the need for an inclusive technological strategy to bridge the digital divide, emphasising the necessity of accessible information channels and user-friendly interfaces to enhance consumer engagement. Continuous app refinement based on user feedback is crucial for optimising usability. Additionally, a nuanced understanding of socio-cultural influences on technology adoption is essential for informing policy and business strategies. Overall, this study contributes to understanding technology adoption in emerging economies and provides actionable insights to foster inclusive digital transformations and mitigate the digital divide.

This study addresses a critical gap in the literature on the consumer–brand relationship by focusing on the under-investigated concept of attitudinal and behavioural brand hate. This study goes beyond such common determinants as negative experiences and unfair pricing, introducing employee incivility and service quality as overlooked, but significant, antecedents. Employing structural equation modelling, a sample of 593 participants from the airline and restaurant industries was examined. The findings reveal that brand hate significantly impacts brand opposition and emotional forgiveness. Importantly, consumer resilience moderates these relationships, mitigating the negative effects of brand hate. Moreover, the study finds industry-specific variations in the triggers and outcomes of brand hate, suggesting the need for tailored managerial strategies. The study extends the consumer–brand relationship literature by highlighting new research avenues and making significant contributions. Theoretically, it validates affective event theory and personality characteristics' role in buffering brand hate. In addition, this study carries implications for policymakers and managers to understand the multifaceted nature of brand hate, develop effective strategies to mitigate the negative effects of service failures and build stronger consumer–brand relationships. Furthermore, these insights facilitate the creation of tailored approaches that consider industry-specific characteristics, thus helping to prevent the harmful impact of brand hate.

In recent years, digital avatars employed as virtual streamers are experiencing a surge in popularity in e-commerce livestreaming. However, the influence of the avatars' anthropomorphic features on their effectiveness as virtual streamers remains unclear. This study investigates the avatar effect of artificial intelligence-enabled virtual streamers, wherein their form and behavioral realism interactively affect consumer purchase intention. Three lab experiments with 604 participants were conducted to test this effect and its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. Based on the findings, behavioral realism positively affects consumer purchase intention only when the virtual streamers' form realism is low. Parasocial interactions underpin this avatar effect, which only holds when consumers exhibit a communal relationship norm orientation. When consumers possess an exchange relationship norm orientation, the effect of behavioral realism becomes positive regardless of the level of form realism. Overall, our study proposes an avatar effect in livestreaming, and extends the literature by offering insights on the interactive effect of the anthropomorphic features of human-like avatars (as virtual streamers) on the effectiveness of e-commerce livestreaming. By revealing the mechanisms and boundary conditions of this effect, our conclusions offer guidance for companies in developing appropriate combinations of form and behavioral realism for the avatars of virtual streams while considering consumer characteristics.

This paper investigates the pre-decisional cognitive dissonance states that guide Generation Z's consumer behavior, with a focus on the healthcare sector. By integrating insights from neurology, cognition, and psychology, the study addresses the lack of understanding regarding the psychological underpinnings of this cohort's rapidly evolving consumption patterns. Key contributions of this research include identifying cognitive heuristic elements, such as latent needs, that trigger pre-decisional cognitive dissonance. The study empirically demonstrates how these elements influence Generation Z's decision-making process, particularly in their shift from traditional allopathic healthcare to alternative and complementary medicine. The data, collected from 35 Indian Zoomers, reveal that this cohort relies heavily on internal cognitive cues and self-driven information processing to make healthcare choices. This study establishes a new framework for consumer decision-making, highlighting the role of cognitive dissonance in navigating information overload and selective exposure. Overall, the research provides valuable insights into the psychological and cognitive factors driving Generation Z's healthcare decisions, offering a robust foundation for marketers and healthcare providers to develop more effective strategies tailored to this influential consumer segment.

With increasing evidence supporting the use of biometric identification methods for authentication, this study aims to enhance our understanding of the factors influencing the acceptance of and resistance to facial recognition payment (FRP) systems. To provide a comprehensive review of these factors, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of empirical studies. We examined 22 key research articles from an initial pool of 1372 publications, identifying 37 factors that influence consumer acceptance or resistance to FRP. These factors were categorized into usage-related aspects, attitudes and evaluations, user-related traits, privacy and security concerns, and other factors. Our findings reveal that the most frequently cited factors include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. These factors are crucial in contexts where FRP can increase productivity by providing prompt information and effective assistance. This research proposes a collective model for understanding the determinants of FRP acceptance or resistance, integrating theoretical frameworks and empirical findings. The model emphasizes the context-dependency of user acceptance, highlighting the importance of addressing both technological and psychological factors. It incorporates usage characteristics, user characteristics, and privacy and security concerns, which are mediated by attitudes and evaluations. The proposed model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the factors influencing acceptance of and resistance to FRP, guiding FRP service providers in developing effective strategies to increase user adoption, with future research needed to refine and assess the model further.

Given the growth in the internet and e-retailing, consumers are extremely reliant on online user-generated reviews (“reviews”) for decision-making. Reviews often combine informational cues such as numeric (i.e., star) ratings and qualitative text, and these may not always be in alignment. To understand conflicting informational cues, this research conceptualizes and tests an incongruence frame that captures the inconsistency between a review's textual and numeric message cue components. Incongruence occurs when the valence of the review text is not in alignment with the product star rating given by the reviewer. To further qualify the findings, the paper introduces two types of incongruences: Type A (Type B) is categorized as involving low (high) star ratings alongside a positive (negative) review text. The research findings shed light on an underexplored dimension of review processing based on inconsistency between the textual and numeric components of a single review. Using primary and secondary data across four studies, the incongruence effect is shown to undermine review usage. Incongruence is found to influence both review diagnosticity and review authenticity. The initial heuristics of review evaluation generate differential effects between Type A and Type B. Incongruence in the review is also shown to influence product purchases. The incongruence frame, therefore, helps reconcile some of the inconsistencies in the extant literature and offers fruitful avenues of future research for both academics and practitioners.

This paper proposes a new household decision-making model for base of pyramid (BoP) consumers. Many decision-making models focus on general consumer behaviour theory, with few focusing on the resource constraints experienced at the BoP. By focusing on the dynamics of household decisions, the data collected bring a unique perspective to BoP consumer behaviour and extend recent work in the BoP domain. The study comprised qualitative interviews with 61 household representatives (representing 233 household members) to explore decision-making, loyalty, budgeting, shopping and category trade-offs. The study proposes a household-focused decision-making framework, which is far more characteristic of BoP consumer behaviour (as opposed to isolated individual decisions). The proposed framework reveals the impact of situations and financial constraints on BoP household decision-making and how most households operate in both the formal and informal economy. Family obligation was observed to be a key factor, as well as how functional illiteracy drives brand loyalty but also creates embarrassment. Word of mouth trumps all other sources of information and, due to household complexities, there is significant decision-maker ambiguity, making it hard to define a target audience with a communication strategy. Brands are important, but fundamental value is still key and there is inexorable monthly variation in finances, making category trade-offs commonplace.

Romantic experiences are positive emotional experiences that significantly affect people's lives and consumption behaviors. Extant research merely conceptualizes romantic experiences as intimate relationships between lovers and investigates their impact on the consumption of specific products (e.g., sweets, movies, and tourist destinations). In this study, we extend the concept of romantic experience beyond romantic love and demonstrate how romantic experience influences consumers' preferences for self-improvement products based on the broaden-and-build theory through four experiments. Specifically, we show that romantic experiences (vs. neutral experiences) increase consumers' preference for self-improvement products, even in areas unrelated to the initial romantic stimuli (Study 1). This greater inclination toward self-improvement products is mediated by a heightened sense of meaning in life (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, the focal effect is moderated by self-construal (Study 4). These findings complement those of previous studies on how romantic experiences influence consumption choices.