International Journal of Consumer Studies最新文献

This study evaluates the influence of social media celebrity endorsements on consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce by extending the signaling theory and commitment-trust theory. A self-managed online questionnaire is designed to collect the data from 295 valid respondents and analyze it using a multi-analytical hybrid structural equation modeling-artificial neural network (ANN). The results reveal that relational switching alternatives and relationship benefits directly contribute to relationship commitment to social media celebrity, whereas shared value and parasocial interaction positively lead to social commerce trust; both relationship commitment and social commerce trust induce consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce. From a theoretical perspective, this study enriches the components of signaling theory and commitment-trust theory, expanding their applicability and transferability in social commerce. Moreover, this study consolidates the theoretical integration, indicating that signaling theory can be considered as an antecedent of commitment-trust theory for triggering consumers' impulsive buying. Methodologically, adopting second-order constructs benefits, this study captures the multidimensionality and complexity of social commerce trust and impulsive buying from the partial least squares-ANN perspectives. In practice, this research provides valuable insights into how to better invite celebrity endorsements and build long-term relationships with customers, as well as offers insights into countries where social commerce is lacking today. That being said, this study is constrained by its cross-sectional research design, conducted in Malaysia. Future research endeavors should consider launching longitudinal, multicountry studies to broaden the applicability of the findings.

Faced with the serious challenge of reducing consumer obesity, research on food packaging has been limited to encouraging healthy product choices among children with poor health awareness and adults with obesity concerns. While there is a lack of discussion on packaging appealing to health-conscious consumers, the literature has shown that realistic pictures of fruits drawn on packages can convey health and be attractive. Though this conclusion applies to apples and oranges, which are sweet fruits that can be eaten as they are without processing, results can vary with fruits such as lemons, which have a sour taste and are difficult to eat directly. This study fills the two gaps mentioned above. In Japan, a randomized controlled trial was conducted on the packaging of lemon drinks with illustrations and pictures of lemons that evoked sourness. The results showed that lemon pictures had a positive effect on purchase intention for those with high health involvement and a negative influence on those with low health involvement. In the case of the lemon illustration, this interaction did not occur, suggesting that the presence or absence of the recall of sourness was the trigger. If practitioners do not have the above perspective, there is a risk that they will mistakenly attempt to reduce the attractiveness of the product.

This article is a comprehensive review of the literature on smart technology in consumer studies from 1996 to 2023. While the paper provides information about the development of the field by identifying important publications and authors, it employs topic modeling to pinpoint key topics in papers published in marketing and business journals. These topics are then grouped into three research streams and evaluated concerning theoretical, contextual, and methodological perspectives. While doing so, specific gaps were identified. By revealing gaps in the literature, the study suggests promising avenues for further research. Finally, this article advances our comprehension of the smart technology literature in marketing and business journals and informs future inquiry in this rapidly evolving domain.

Manufacturers must convey accurate information about their green products to gain consumer trust. However, some manufacturers provide misleading information by falsely claiming that their products fully adhere to green concepts. Consequently, research is needed to examine customer behaviors and how they respond to information about green products. This study models the relationship between green product information asymmetry, online review quality, the propensity to trust and adopt reviews, and green product purchasing behavior. The study participants were 479 consumers who purchased green products. Data for the study were collected through an online questionnaire that was distributed on social media platforms and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that information asymmetry positively affected online review quality, review adoption, and green product purchasing behavior, while online review quality positively affected participants' propensity to trust reviews, review adoption, and purchasing behavior. The propensity to trust reviews positively affected review adoption and purchasing behavior, and review adoption positively impacted green product purchases. These results show that information asymmetry highlights the importance of consumer reviews in green product purchasing behavior. Therefore, both information asymmetry and consumer reviews influence green-product consumption. When constructing green marketing strategies, green product manufacturers must focus on a combination of perceived value and consumer trust and modify their products, production processes, packaging, and advertisements accordingly.

The evolving landscape of the academic world has ushered in a plethora of challenges and opportunities for researchers. While there are undoubtedly monetary incentives and fringe benefits for those who actively engage in publishing, the journey toward acceptance by a premier journal is often arduous and time-consuming. Considering this context, this paper endeavors to dissect prevailing trends, elucidate the reasons behind manuscript rejections, and furnish a compendium of strategies and insights aimed at augmenting the likelihood of acceptance while mitigating the probability of rejection.

Scholars have explored the factors influencing new product adoption from various perspectives, such as product characteristics, personality traits, and marketing communication strategies. However, these studies lack the consideration of consumer social relationships. Thus, this study examined how social exclusion influences new product adoption. Three experiments involving 1372 participants indicated that social exclusion leads to a higher really new products adoption compared to social inclusion. The mediating factor in this relationship is the need for uniqueness. In contrast, no significant difference in incrementally new product adoption was found between socially excluded and included individuals. The above effects only exist in individuals with low self-control. Individuals with high self-control exhibit no significant difference in RNP adoption intention, whether they experience social exclusion or inclusion. These findings not only significantly increase the body of knowledge on social exclusion and new products, but also advise marketers on how to promote new products.

Despite the enormous negative economic influence on consumer well-being, price-fixing remains a largely unexplored area in consumer research. Previous research showed that consumers perceive different prices for the same product as unfair. However, our findings counterintuitively indicate that consumers may also perceive uniform prices as unfair. Two experimental studies examined the effect of price uniformity (uniform/nonuniform) and price patterns over time (increase/no change) on the perception of price unfairness and third-party complaint intention. The findings show that consumers perceive prices as unfair when retailers increase a uniform price simultaneously. This pricing strategy by retailers increases consumers' intention to report suspected price-fixing activities to authorities, that is, third-party reporting. Based on the findings, implications for marketing practices and tactics to enhance public policy are discussed.

This research study proposes a model to test the impact of advertising puffery on purchase intention and brand loyalty involving the mediating role of ad-related factors—likability of the advertisement and attitude toward the ad- and brand-related factors—brand familiarity, attitude toward the brand, and brand credibility. The inclusion of brand loyalty as an exogenous construct is an attempt to extend the existing research in the ad puffery domain. Further, a combination of ad-related and brand-related factors as mediators is a novel approach in the field of ad puffery. It provides insightful findings for researchers as well as practitioners. The cross-sectional approach used in this study involved gathering data from young adult respondents (age group between 18 and 24 years) over a specific period. Results based on 330 young adult respondents revealed significant direct and mediating effects. All the ad-related and brand-related factors mediated the direct relationship of ad puffery with purchase intention and brand loyalty. Additionally, gender significantly moderated the direct relationship of ad puffery with purchase intention. Further, theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions are discussed.

Telemedicine, despite its longstanding presence, has emerged as a valuable resource amidst health crises. Yet, research on individuals' willingness to embrace telemedicine in such circumstances remains scarce. This article employs the Motivation–Opportunity–Ability theory to construct a novel framework for investigating how motivational, opportunity-related, and ability-related factors influence individuals' intention to use telemedicine during a health crisis. A sample of 468 respondents from Indonesia participated in an online survey. The data were analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling and the Hayes PROCESS macro. The findings revealed that contamination avoidance, telemedicine usability, and privacy concerns significantly influence the intention to use telemedicine services. Moreover, the findings also confirmed the moderated moderating effect of e-health literacy and technology optimism on the relationship between contamination avoidance and intention to use telemedicine services. By deepening our understanding of the factors shaping individuals' intention to use telemedicine services, this study makes valuable academic contributions to the field of telemedicine adoption literature. Additionally, it provides practical insights for telemedicine providers aiming to enhance individuals' intention to use telemedicine services during critical health situations.

Linguistic relativity (linguistic patterns influence perception and cognition) is crucial for marketing communication effectiveness. The argument is that linguistic relativity enablers in marketing communication may assist marketers, communicators, and creators achieve the desired “effectiveness” more successfully. Based on this premise, prior research in consumer studies has examined language's mediation role in consumer perception and cognition. However, the question of identifying these enablers and the plausible existence of any structural relationship among them persists. This article, therefore, seeks to examine the identification and interrelationship of linguistic relativity enablers in the context of social marketing communication. We examine the query through in-depth interviews with specific respondents with a strong and influential relationship with the subject. This study presents the analysis conducted through Fuzzy-ISM and Fuzzy-MICMAC and presents relative findings by providing a structure with the potential to be used in longitudinal studies.