International Journal of Consumer Studies最新文献

“Lookalike” products, including counterfeits and copycats, are increasingly common in today's global marketplace. Four lab experiments were conducted involving 653 participants, and data were analyzed through SPSS 26. Based on social representation (SR) theory and self-construal theory, this research examines how advertising for original brands impacts purchase intent for counterfeits and copycats differently. The results suggest that ads for the original product using value-expressive (vs. utilitarian) appeals result in lower intent to purchase copycat versions. However, ads for the original product using utilitarian (vs. value-expressive) appeals lead to lower purchase intent for counterfeit versions. The results also show that consumer need fulfillment mediates the interactive effect between ad appeal type and product type. The current research provides useful insights for marketers or retailers grappling with ongoing competitive threats posed by lookalike products and underscores the strategic utilization of various advertising tactics to reduce the demand for copycats and counterfeits.

This article presents a hybrid literature review on the relationship between motherhood and consumption, encompassing academic research in Business, Management, and Cultural Studies that investigates mothers as consumers and the reciprocal influence between mothers and other actors in family consumption dynamics. Bibliometric research was conducted on 175 articles indexed on the Web of Science using the SPAR-4-SLR protocol. It included performance analysis, intellectual and conceptual structure of the field, an evolutionary overview of publications, and a map of trends. Moreover, from the systematic review, a new framework, PTCCM, is proposed to identify the publications' widely used perspectives, theories, constructs, characteristics, and methods. The findings reveal nine major perspectives on motherhood and consumption: consumer socialization and intergenerational influence, consumption and identity, vulnerabilities and public policies, consumption and liminality, influences of children on family consumption, maternal practices, decision-making and consumption process, gender studies, and advertising. Based on the identified gaps, thematic, theoretical, contextual, and methodological suggestions for future work are presented. This systematic review provides a map for academics and professionals interested in consumption in the context of motherhood, offering a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art and research agenda.

Digital health services (DHSs) have revolutionized the healthcare sector to provide quality care facilities that are affordable, efficient, and universally accessible. By making patients the focus of the healthcare delivery process, these services can offer more personalized and effective health solutions and thus facilitate a more robust and resilient health ecosystem. The adoption of these services increased manifold during the COVID-19 pandemic and gained immense attention from researchers across the globe. Despite this, there is limited knowledge about the facets of DHS adoption from the consumers' perspective. Thus, it is imperative to synthesize the extant literature to provide a holistic view of DHS adoption. This article offers an organized, retrospective view of the DHS literature, using a framework-based systematic review approach to identify factors contributing to DHS adoption from the consumers' perspective. To do this, 63 articles from the Web of Science database over the last 23 years were systematically reviewed using two well-known organising frameworks. The Antecedents-Decisions-Outcomes framework uncovers the known associations of constructs in the DHS literature. Followed by the theories-contexts-methods framework that offers information on the theoretical, contextual, and methodological approaches applied in the DHS research. Additionally, the article identifies the major gaps in the existing body of literature and offers a few recommendations for future investigation for researchers and practitioners in the fields of consumer behaviour, technology, and health management. The global perspective of this review has multiple ramifications that can foster a more sustainable healthcare system by giving insight into consumers' perspectives.

This study examined why consumers who typically pay electronically at points of sale still carry cash and explained the inertia of demand for cash by considering the additional (perceived by consumers) characteristics of cash. The research was motivated by the growing discussion on why cash, despite the increasing importance of e-payments, remains a significant part of the demand for money. The study focused on psychological factors and consumers' perceptions of certain features of cash, which make it an attractive additional option for precautionary reasons, and therefore, explored beyond the typical discussion of money as a means of payment. The structural equation modeling based on data collected as part of a survey of Polish consumers was used to verify the hypotheses. It was revealed that cash becomes a reserve solution for consumers, which is kept “just in case” to expand the scope of personal freedom and flexibility in making payments and protect against various potential restrictions and threats related to e-payments. Consumers' holding of cash as an additional option depends on three key factors: attitude toward cash, particularly the flexibility it offers, unusual purchasing situations, and perceived card or mobile payment risk, considered as a moderator. In the debate on the future of cash, the study supports the position that cash has a place in the modern payment system, although it plays a different role. Cash is a supportive backup solution. Eliminating cash significantly reduces consumer welfare.

Social exchange theory (SET) is a leading sociopsychological theory that has enriched understanding of consumers' behavior. In this study, we examine application of SET in consumer research over last 52 years (1971–2022) in terms of predominant topics, publications, outlets, networks, and clusters. We adopt a holistic approach by amalgamating systematic literature review (SLR) using Scientific Procedures and Rationales for SLRs protocol; scientometric analysis utilizing bibliographic coupling and betweenness centrality; and topic modeling employing latent Dirichlet allocation. Based on text analysis of 215 full research papers, the study extracts five predominant areas of extant consumer research leveraging SET: (1) relationship marketing, (2) collaborative consumption, (3) gifting behavior, (4) brand experience, and (5) tourism and hospitality. Scientometric mapping reveals six cohesive clusters and identifies seminal studies in SET-based consumer research. Building upon the insights, the article concludes by presenting agenda for future research.

Given the growing importance of habit development in omnichannel literature, this study aims to explore the factors contributing to the development of omnichannel shopping habit and the subsequent impact on usage and word-of-mouth. Data from 512 omnichannel shoppers via an online survey were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results show that in-store employee interactions strongly affect cognitive engagement, while digital interactions predominantly influence affective engagement. Affective engagement is key for value consciousness, which, along with affective engagement, drives habit development. Significant moderation impact of income and relationship length also suggest that higher income and longer omnichannel usage foster stronger habit due to value consciousness. Additional analysis reveals a significant moderating influence of habit between value consciousness and its outcomes. This research advances omnichannel retail literature by illustrating how the mode of interaction (digital or in-store personal) can influence various types of engagement, and how habit works as a mediator and moderator for value consciousness in driving usage and word-of-mouth. Retailers can cultivate habitual omnichannel shopping by enhancing positive interactions across channels and monitoring affective engagement and value consciousness.

This study systematically reviews the current state of research on the impact of perceived risk on purchase intention (PR&PI) in e-commerce to propose an agenda for future research. The authors selected and reviewed 133 studies conducted over the last decade. The theory-context-method (TCM) framework sheds light on developing trends in theories, contextual coverage, and methodological approaches in PR&PI research. Simultaneously, the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework reveals and categorizes the factors influencing perceived risk and purchase intention. The study enriches the current literature by proposing a research agenda to unpack gaps in the current literature and instruct future studies. Additionally, it diversifies the framework-based systematic review by applying the SOR framework with seven sectors visualized in a Venn diagram. This enhances the explanatory power of different types of variables and mechanisms of patterns in PR&PI research. Further, the review also inspires businesses to develop risk-reducing strategies and software. The study also provides e-retailers and e-sellers with an understanding of factors affecting consumers' risk perceptions, emotions and responses to e-commerce, allowing them to improve their performance.

This research examines the impact of buyer–seller similarities (dissimilarities) in Big Five personalities—agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and neuroticism—on impulsive buying in a dyadic setting. The study further analyzed how the interaction intensity and sensory stimulation mediate the effect of buyer–seller similarities (dissimilarities) on impulsive buying. The authors gathered 1020 dyad data from various beauty salons located in China to achieve research objectives. Difference score analysis was used to compute buyer–seller similarity (dissimilarity), and a variance-based structural equation modeling technique was applied to analyze the data. The results indicate that the similarity of dyads in agreeableness and openness increases impulsive buying, while similarity in neurotic dyads decreases impulsive buying. Furthermore, interaction intensity mediates the relationships of dyads' similarities—in extraversion and openness—with impulsive buying, while buyers' sensory stimulation mediates the associations of buyer–seller dyads' similarities—in extraversion, neuroticism, and openness—with impulsive buying. Finally, this study provides several implications for marketers in the services industry.

Metaverse has garnered considerable attention in recent times. Given its swift pace of development, it is imperative to study the adoption of the metaverse. This study analyses the perceptions and drivers influencing the behavioural intention to use the metaverse among Generation Z and millennials by employing a sequential mixed-methods approach. In the first stage of the study, in-depth expert interviews were conducted (n = 20), and the subsequent stage featured a countrywide survey (n = 1253). The outcomes of this study indicate that perceived usefulness, personal innovativeness, perceived enjoyment, facilitating conditions, telepresence, social presence, trust, and regulatory support influence attitudes and behavioural intentions towards the metaverse. The findings also reveal a significant difference in the strength of a few relationships across age, gender, and income levels, shedding light on the crucial factors for organisations seeking to position themselves strategically among various demographic groups. This study significantly contributes to the existing knowledge on emerging optimistic and pessimistic perceptions and factors affecting the adoption of the metaverse. By harnessing these outcomes, organisations can enhance the development and promotion of metaverse experiences.

The quality of public services is a recurrent theme; however, it lacks the structuring of valid measures. The objective of the study was to build and validate a quality assessment scale for public services (PUBLICSERV). A total of 55 items were developed on a 5-point Likert scale. The instrument validation involved two phases. In the qualitative phase, the validation by specialists and the pre-test were carried out. In the quantitative phase, a sample of 660 cases was used in the exploratory stage, and another sample of 1284 individuals, in the confirmatory validation. The result of the study is the construction and validation of a scale for assessing the quality of public services composed of 50 items distributed in seven dimensions (tangible aspects, reliability, relationship, public value, transparency, equality and legality, and satisfaction), which evaluates the quality of public services. A methodology for applying the scale was developed to facilitate its use by researchers, managers, and public policymakers, who may have feedback on the quality of the service provided, helping to identify gaps and prioritize needs, thus being able to develop strategies for improvements in public administration.