International Journal of Consumer Studies最新文献

Marketing researchers have extensively studied the causal influence of emotional state on food consumption. The present study offers a comprehensive systematic review of 111 articles related to the effect of emotions on unhealthy consumption over the past three decades—from 1993 to 2023. Applying the bibliometric coupling method identifies four main research themes in the marketing discipline: emotional eating: food as a coping mechanism, emotional eating: food as a reward, emotional eating: emotion as a multidimensional structure, and emotional eating: moderating effects of food sensory cues. Theoretical richness within each cluster is presented. In addition, the findings indicate that the marketing discipline has mainly relied on the proximate reasoning approach—explaining the causation and development of consumers' behavior—to describe the association between emotional state and food consumption choices. To broaden the scope of each research theme, we adopt the ultimate approach—explaining why a behavior exists—and focus on why unhealthy food consumption becomes a pattern of behavior. This study concludes by discussing the findings and offering several avenues for future research.

Population aging is a global phenomenon observed in many developed economies. On the one hand, this trend suggests significant opportunities for healthcare providers due to increasing service demand. On the other hand, it also implies that the industry requires new managerial knowledge to accommodate older adult consumers. In this research, we propose and examine the impact of older adult consumers on healthcare provider performance and identify boundary conditions related to two types of competition: intra- and inter-competition. Using longitudinal data on healthcare provider revenues, we find that an increase in the older adult population increases the revenues of generalists but decreases those of specialists. Second, the positive effect of elderly consumers on generalists is amplified when intra-competition (from same-type physicians) increases and diminishes when inter-competition (from different-type physicians) intensifies. Third, for specialist healthcare providers, the negative impact of older adult population is mitigated by intra-competition but exacerbated when inter-competition becomes strong. Our results offer theoretical implications for the healthcare service marketing literature and managerial insights into decisions related to healthcare service locations. Specifically, our findings suggest that healthcare providers need to carefully consider the proportion of older adult consumers, the presence of local competitors, and their own specialties, as these factors all have a meaningful impact on performance.

As the term masstige has only recently emerged, the literature on masstige branding and marketing remains relatively limited. More research is needed to understand better the distinct profiles of masstige and luxury buyers, their perceived luxury values and purchasing motives. Our study, involving 601 UK consumers, aims to address this gap. Based on consumers' self-reported prior experiences with masstige and luxury brands, we identify four distinct consumer segments: Premium luxury Buyers, Masstige Buyers, Buyers of Both Premium luxury and Masstige, and Non-luxury buyers who have not previously purchased either Premium luxury or Masstige brands. We then explore each segment's socio-demographic profiles, their luxury value perceptions, and how these values influence their purchase intentions. Individuals across diverse income levels, spanning low, middle, and high, fall into four distinct segments with unique luxury perceptions. Premium luxury buyers are characterized as socially oriented perfectionists, while masstige buyers align with hedonic materialism. Buyers of both seek self-distinction. Non-luxury buyers spire for group conformity, prioritizing experiential enjoyment when given the opportunity. Furthermore, our study offers a practical value-based positioning framework and a roadmap for brands looking to expand their target markets. This framework can be a valuable resource for luxury marketers seeking to refine their positioning and better align with the values that resonate with their target audiences.

Due to the increasing ubiquity and acceptance of online shopping, social commerce research has attracted the attention of many scholars, leading to an exponential growth of the literature within a short span of a few years. Among the numerous investigations in the field, research relating to online content is warranted owing to the rapid evolution of content and its importance in the shopping arena. This study systematically reviews the literature on various dimensions of content and how these dimensions influence customer-level outcomes in social commerce. The study adopts a framework-based approach and organizes 169 content-focused research articles. The framework proposes three content dimensions—format, source, and platform, and four outcome categories based on transactionality and favorability of outcomes. The findings reveal an evolution of content dimensions and consumer behavior outcomes. Additionally, identified gaps and future research directions have been discussed.

Preventive healthcare behavior (PHB) refers to actions taken by consumers to avert possible incidences of lifestyle diseases. Over the years, diverse approaches have been used to comprehend the complex nature of PHB. This paper follows a three-step process to examine work done in the PHB domain. At the outset, past literature was examined. This review included PHB models and frameworks, followed by a root-cause analysis to identify factors that impacted PHB adoption. A systematic literature review (SLR) using a domain-based hybrid review approach was the study's third and most crucial part. The SPAR-4-SLR (scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews) protocol was used to conduct the hybrid review, involving two separate review studies. In the first study, a bibliometric analysis was carried out, wherein a trend analysis was conducted on an initial pool of 1011 primary peer-reviewed publications (1998–2023). The trend analysis was followed by a co-citation network analysis of 39,608 secondary articles, which validated the importance of primary articles as indicated by the co-citations in these secondary articles. Further, a purification process based on reliability, validity, and replicability criteria resulted in a final pool of 190 relevant articles. These articles were subjected to a thematic analysis. Next, a framework-based review based on the theories, contexts, characteristics, and methods (TCCM) framework was conducted on the 190 articles. This step validated the primary study findings. Additionally, it examined and reported the underlying theories, context (country level), characteristics, and methods adopted by previous PHB studies. This analysis helps in indicating the future research agenda regarding PHB. Furthermore, the inferences drawn from the two studies were used to propose a conceptual framework for understanding consumers' PHB decisions based on the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (ADO) framework. The framework posits that specific personal, demographic, cultural, social and socioeconomic factors are precursors to PHB adoption. This PHB adoption, in turn, has positive outcomes such as enhanced quality of life, consumer wellbeing, health promotion, health behavior change, and planning. The comprehensive review and proposed framework will significantly help advance knowledge about PHB. Apart from contributing to the academic literature, learnings from this study hold value for practitioners at the global level for designing actionable strategies for preventive healthcare products and services.

Researchers have increasingly explored various aspects of mobile payment in the past two decades, including different mobile payment systems (MPS), stakeholders, and related research contexts. However, existing literature reviews are limited to user adoption, overlooking the importance of understanding other key stakeholders, such as retailers and MPS providers, and post-adoption behaviors. To address this gap, this comprehensive review examines exhaustive 310 studies in the MPS literature using the theory-context-characteristics-methods framework, providing insights into all stakeholders and contexts studied. The findings highlight the need for further research in areas such as peer-to-peer payment, MPS adoption in lower-income countries, MPS discontinuance behavior, socioeconomic impact, and consumer privacy issues. Additionally, the study suggests expanding the scope of MPS research to include emerging mobile payment options like buy now pay later and facial recognition payment system (FRPS). This research contributes valuable insights and proposes future research directions for MPS studies.

Thie study's purpose was to examine factors associated with alternative financial service (AFS) use among US consumers. The conceptual framework for this study was developed from the ABC-X model of family stress with the purpose of identifying the interrelationships among financial stressors, economic hardship, negative credit experiences, and the use of AFS. Using the U.S. National Financial Well-Being Survey and the structural equation modeling method, the results showed that financial stressor was not directly related to AFS use but were through two indirect routes: the financial stressor was positively linked to negative credit experience and then to AFS use; the financial stressor was positively linked to economic hardship, to negative credit experience, and then to AFS use. Economic hardship was positively associated with consumers' negative credit experiences. Negative credit experience was positively associated with the use of alternative financial services. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications.

Because bread consumption significantly contributes to salt intake and health risk, the acceptance of low-salt reformulations has mainly been examined from an organoleptic perspective. However, the influence of cultural patterns has largely been neglected; working in the French context, our study aimed to fill this gap by considering the conflicts between health and cultural norms associated with bread, a totem food. We adopted a sequential and mixed (qualitative and quantitative) research approach based on interviews to grasp the cultural representations associated with bread and to sodium-reduction strategy and based on a quantitative survey at worksite canteens that combined the overall sensory appreciation of a reformulated bread, along with a questionnaire on motivations and attitudes. We used structural equation modeling to explore the acceptance of this new bread, as well as segment analysis to highlight the potential heterogeneity among consumers. The results showed the influence of sensory appreciation and health motivations, which were found to be highly determined by the perceived benefits of a low-salt diet. Unexpectedly, an attachment to the cultural values associated with traditional bread and seeking hedonism through salty food did not inhibit the consumption of reformulated bread. We discussed the scope of an approach embracing the normative pluralism around a totem food to better envision the future of low-salt bread in collective food services. Practical implications can help restaurant managers promote sodium-reduced meals while ensuring compliance with social normativity and cultural values.

Infectious COVID-19 transformed the world overnight, freezing all physical activities and forcing the majority toward online mode. Technology came up as a savior to alleviate the consequences of COVID-19 on the economy, causing a rapid transformation in consumers' behavior, and an overall jump in the sale of e-commerce could be witnessed globally. This paper aims to explore the factors that caused the transformation in consumers' behavioral attitude (AT) and intention toward online shopping (BITOS). The study integrates the TPB and UTAUT models while adding two additional variables, namely, perceived risks (PR) and perceived benefits (PB), to predict consumers' BITOS. A survey was conducted to collect a sample of 402 consumers Aligarh city, and the National Capital Region of India using the mall intercept sampling method. The data were analysed to establish the measurement model and test the hypothesized structural model with the Smart-PLS software. The study's findings confirmed that PB, subjective social norms, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness positively affect AT and BITOS, whereas PR does not influence AT and BITOS. The study also indicated that AT has a positive effect on BITOS. Concerning AT, it does not mediate the relationship between PR and BITOS; however, it mediates between the direct link PB and BITOS, making it stronger. The study's findings help the E-commerce industry understand consumers' transformed attitudes/intentions and restructure their strategies to strengthen their online business further. Despite its regional and design limitations, it contributes significantly to the current research on online shopping behavior in India during COVID-19.

Sustainable healthcare means providing affordable, quality medical care without causing undue environmental damage, which is critical for a world just emerging from a debilitating pandemic. This article contends that it is now an opportune time to map the existing knowledge to guide future sustainability research in healthcare. Therefore, this article aims to systematically review and comprehensively analyse the extant literature on sustainability practices in healthcare organizations and propose future research directions based on gaps in the literature. A corpus of 79 articles sourced from five databases and published between 1995 and 2022 was identified for an in-depth review. Following a framework-based systematic literature review, this article offers an organized, retrospective view of the performance using antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (ADO) and Theories–Contexts–Methods (TCM) integrated framework. These frameworks are used to evaluate and understand sustainability practices in the healthcare sector. Additionally, the article shows the thematic evolution of sustainability research in healthcare with the help of five clusters. While the systematic literature review results highlight the large theoretical base, it also reveals the lack of consensus on defining sustainability. The analysis of 79 articles yielded six valuable categories of antecedents with 27 constructs, five categories of decisions with 11 constructs, and two categories of outcomes with 15 constructs. Results also reveal a lack of consensus regarding the influence of sustainability practices on organizational performance across the three sustainability pillars (social, environmental, and economic dimensions). The present review has implications for healthcare service delivery systems and policymakers to help them redesign their services to promote sustainable development goals. Before concluding the article, knowledge gaps and future research directions are structured using the ADO-TCM framework through pertinent ideas for sustainability research in healthcare organizations.