Journal of Consumer Behaviour最新文献

To address the lack of nonverbal cues in chatbot-mediated online customer service, this research investigates how positive emojis improve customer responses through three scenario-based experimental studies (N_total = 536) with online shoppers. Study 1 uses a single-factor between-subjects design (chatbots using positive emojis: yes vs. no) to establish the main effect. And Study 2 uses the same design as Study 1 to explore the parallel mediating effects of positive emojis on customer responses. Study 3 uses a 2 × 2 between-subjects design to substantiate and reinforce the findings derived from Studies 1 and 2, and with a particular focus on the moderating role of communication style (task oriented vs. social oriented) in the relationship between chatbots positive emoji usage and customer responses. The findings of these studies show that purchase intention, service satisfaction, and repurchase intention are all significantly increased when positive emojis are used in chatbot encounters. Positive affect and social presence are potential mediating mechanisms for this effect. In addition, the communication style of chatbots exerts a positive moderating influence in the dual-path mechanism. These discoveries offer insightful information on the impact of positive emojis use by chatbots and suggest effective approaches to engage customers using chatbots.

This study explores how consumers' sublime experiences with branded social media content influence their engagement behaviours and, in turn, enhance consumer-based brand equity. In Study 1 (n = 281), exploratory factor analysis was performed to determine the factor structure, revealing a two-factor, 12-item sublime experience construct. Study 2 (n = 269) employed confirmatory factor analysis, confirming sublime experience as a higher-order construct encompassing aesthetic- and awe-inspiring experiences. Study 3 (n = 279) was conducted to validate the sublime experience scale and test the proposed hypotheses. Data were collected through an online survey of Facebook users. The findings indicate that sublime experience enhances consumer engagement behaviours, including content consumption, contribution, and creation. Moreover, consumer engagement was found to mediate the relationship between sublime experience and brand equity.

Inviting celebrities to participate in live marketing has become a popular brand strategy. However, the impact of real versus virtual celebrities on consumer responses is still not fully understood. This study uses the Meaning Transfer Model and Schema Consistency Theory, involving three experiments with 156, 168, and 313 participants, respectively. Findings reveal that consumers are likelier to watch and purchase when engaging with real celebrity co-streamers than virtual ones. Study 1 indicates greater consumer engagement with real celebrities, while Study 2 highlights stronger emotional attachment. Study 3 introduces product type as a moderating factor, showing virtual celebrities work better with search products, leading to positive consumer responses. This research offers valuable insights into brands in selecting the right celebrity co-streamers to optimize marketing effectiveness.

In daily life, while consumers can repeatedly choose their favorite products, they often opt for products from different categories, demonstrating variety-seeking behavior. This study focuses on consumers' variety-seeking behavior, employing theories related to attachment to explore the mechanisms by which stress affects this behavior. It specifically examines how stress influences the variety-seeking preferences of individuals with different levels of secure attachment. The research was conducted in two parts: the first using surveys and the second using experimental methods. The results indicate that individuals with low levels of secure attachment experience heightened feelings of insecurity under stress, leading to increased familiarity seeking and, consequently, reduced variety-seeking in consumption. Conversely, individuals with high levels of secure attachment are likely to reduce their risk-taking behaviors under stress, also increasing familiarity-seeking and reducing variety-seeking consumption. These findings illustrate how consumers with different levels of secure attachment alter their variety-seeking behavior in stressful situations and enrich the body of research on consumers' variety-seeking under stress.

Packaging typefaces significantly influence consumer attitudes toward brands and products. However, the interaction effect between typeface and advertising appeal remains underexplored in green advertising. By conducting three experiments with different stimuli, this study examined how this interaction affects consumers' purchase intentions in green advertisements. Green advertisements using handwritten typefaces were more effective at increasing purchase intention, relative to machine-written typefaces, when emphasizing other-benefit appeals compared to self-benefit appeals. This interaction effect was mediated by psychological closeness. Furthermore, the interaction effect between machine-written typefaces and self-benefit appeals was mediated by the product's perceived competence. For this green advertisement configuration, cool-hued typefaces were found to be more effective at increasing consumers' purchase intentions than warm-hued typefaces. These findings offer novel insights into the interactions between typeface, advertising appeal, and typeface hue, providing practical guidance for developing effective visual strategies in green marketing.

End-of-life (EOL) preplanning is an important and inevitable aspect of consumption, yet many consumers are still resistant to the activity. This resistance tends to come from death anxiety, an aversive feeling that is associated with thinking about death and death-related products. Thus, this research seeks to document a novel mechanism whereby death anxiety can be reduced: color saturation. Even though many EOL ads are shown in black and white (BW), presumably as a means to signal sincerity and gravity, we argue from the perspective of color-in-context theory that BW actually has a negative connotation in the death domain due to its symbolic associations with the macabre. Across three experimental studies, we find that BW (vs. color) EOL ads increase death anxiety, which thereby reduces attitudes toward those ads. Meanwhile, color ads yield more positive attitudes due to lower death anxiety. These findings have implications for color-in-context theory and the EOL preplanning context as well as for marketers in the EOL industry.