International Journal of Consumer Studies最新文献

Influencer authenticity has been widely studied, yet its role in podcasting, an audio-only medium, remains underexplored. This research investigates how perceived podcaster authenticity shapes three levels of listener supportive intentions: channel loyalty, purchase of endorsed brands, and willingness to defend the podcaster. Across two studies, we first show that authenticity directly and positively affects all three intentions. We then unpack the underlying mechanisms: emotional attachment and trust mediate these effects, while self-verification strengthens the influence of perceived authenticity on trust and purchase intention. Theoretically, we extend signaling theory and self-verification theory to an auditory context, demonstrating how authenticity conveyed through voice and storytelling drives listener support. Practically, podcasters who consistently signal sincerity, uniqueness, expertise, vulnerability, transparency, and value congruence with their audiences are more likely to foster deeper emotional bonds and trust. For marketers, partnering with authentic podcasters enhances both the credibility and the impact of podcast advertising.

The availability of enormous amounts of Online Consumer Reviews (OCR) has made consumers rely on them extensively during their purchase decision-making situations. At the same time, different OCRs could provide contradicting views, creating ambiguity. Such ambiguity is related to the information cues and review structure within the focal product's environment (i.e., in relation to other reviews) and within the review itself. This article explores four areas causing ambiguity in OCRs, including conflict between an aggregate product rating and individual rating, language style matching, conflict between review rating and review sentiment polarity, and two-sided arguments presented in the review, and theorises their effect on review helpfulness, for experience and search products, respectively. Empirically, using 48,192 reviews collected across 30 different products, this study validates the proposed relationships. Results indicate that sources of ambiguity have a differential impact on the review's helpfulness. Ambiguity can negatively influence the review's helpfulness for a search product, but in the case of experiential products, ambiguous cues can make reviews more helpful. Contributions to the literature and practice are enumerated.

Fans have long been integral to consumer behavior research, as evidenced by work on fans of entertainment media franchises, sports teams, and product brands. While fans have traditionally been viewed as fringe or extreme consumers, fans are now recognized as central to mainstream consumer culture. Recently, marketing research studies focus on consumers as “brand fans”, yet the literature employing terminology relating to consumers as brand fans is fragmented and lacks cohesion. This systematic literature review aims to synthesize and clarify the role of consumers as brand fans within marketing and consumer research. This systematic literature review applies the TCCM framework to address three research questions: in what ways have consumers been understood as brand fans, what theories, contexts, characteristics and methods have been used to discuss brand fans, and what can future research do to further clarify and gain insights from the construct of brand fans. This paper synthesizes 38 studies on brand fans published in ABDC journals ranked either A*, A or B and indexed before December 31, 2024 to offer a novel research agenda. Findings of this review suggest that brand fandoms are reflective of mainstream cultural shifts that normalize fan and fandom participation and that brand fans are unique consumers who exhibit distinctly fan-oriented consumption behaviors toward branded products. The review provides recommendations for future research that can expand understanding of brand fans.

Customer voice behavior (CVB) is increasingly recognized as a means for consumers to influence firms by offering valuable insights for product and service improvements. Yet, knowledge of the concept remains fragmented, with limited integration between complaint-oriented and proactive perspectives. This study systematically reviews 80 peer-reviewed articles published between 1987 and 2024 to clarify how CVB has been defined, conceptualized, and examined. Using the Theories, Contexts, Characteristics, and Methods (TCCM) framework, the review identifies key theoretical lenses, research contexts, methodological trends, and conceptual inconsistencies. The analysis reveals a gradual shift from reactive complaint behavior to proactive, extra-role expressions of voice, while also noting definitional inconsistencies and limited research attention to the extra-role perspective. Building on these insights, the study proposes an integrated conceptual taxonomy that bridges complaint behavior and extra-role behavior, offering a clearer structure and sharper conceptual boundaries for CVB in the consumer behavior literature. Finally, practical implications are discussed, guiding firms seeking to harness customer voice not only for service recovery but also for innovation and long-term engagement.

This study examines the impact of brand inheritance on Generation Z's purchase intentions in the consumer durables market, emphasizing the mediating role of brand familiarity. Drawing on Social Learning, Nostalgia, and Memory Theories, it explores how inherited brand attributes interact with Gen Z's values of authenticity, innovation, and digital engagement. Based on qualitative insights from 80 participants, results show that brand inheritance strongly influences purchase decisions, while brand familiarity significantly mediates this relationship. Nostalgia has a lesser effect, reflecting a generational shift. The study offers strategic implications for legacy brands to integrate heritage with digital-first branding strategies.

Omnichannel retailing is a critical strategy for retailers, yet it often fails to meet consumer expectations due to channel-related issues, such as inconsistent service or a lack of seamless transitions. This gap underscores the need for a deeper understanding of how customers perceive omnichannel service performance to facilitate a seamless experience. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 13,923 customer reviews from retailer mobile applications using sentiment analysis (SnowNLP) and topic modeling (LDA). We identify five key topics of utmost concern to users: logistics quality, technology support, promotion and loyalty programs, service personnel interaction, and product experience. By dissecting customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction patterns within these topics, we advance a four-dimensional theoretical framework encompassing channel integration, service reliability, operational transparency, and digital technology quality. This model integrates 16 subdimensions and 31 measurable attributes, demonstrating that customers assess retailers' service quality not solely on cross-channel consistency but also on the granular execution of service elements. Enhancing operational transparency and service reliability can significantly mitigate negative experiences. Our results also highlight the importance of digital technology—encompassing perceived usefulness, ease of use, autonomy, and security—which not only facilitates the realization of omnichannel integration and transparency but also directly influences customer experience. Our framework provides retailers with actionable diagnostics to refine omnichannel strategies, emphasizing the strategic interplay between systemic alignment and contextual service excellence in meeting evolving consumer demands. However, the dataset is restricted to two Chinese omnichannel platforms, and the lack of empirical validation of the proposed framework should be noted.

Live-streaming has emerged as a rapidly expanding force in digital marketing; however, the influence of motivational factors, specifically external regulation, intrinsic motivation, and amotivation, on customer engagement across distinct live-streaming contexts (entertainment vs. education) remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, this study draws on self-determination theory (SDT) to explore the psychological drivers of customer engagement in varied live-streaming contexts. Four studies were conducted, including two online field studies in collaboration with professional live-streamers and two controlled online experiments, to investigate customer behaviors in real-world and experimental live-streaming settings. Results from path analyses demonstrate that SDT-based motivational factors influence customer engagement across live-streaming types differentially. Particularly, external regulation emerged as the dominant driver of engagement in entertainment-oriented live-streaming, whereas intrinsic motivation played a more central role in educational live-streaming. Additionally, amotivation consistently undermined customer engagement across both contexts. Notably, the moderating role of customer-to-customer interaction on the relationship between motivation and engagement was found to be conditional, varying according to live-streaming type. This research advances theoretical understanding by extending SDT to the digital live-streaming domain and revealing content-specific nuances in motivational dynamics. Practically, the findings offer actionable insights for marketers, educators, and content creators by highlighting the importance of aligning engagement strategies with audience motivational profiles and fostering interactive communities tailored to different live-streaming formats.