Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services最新文献

{"title":"Men can be green! Resource concern explains gender differences in green consumption","authors":"Xin-Ru An ,&nbsp;Ai-Mei Li ,&nbsp;Nan Liu ,&nbsp;Jin Zhang ,&nbsp;Ying Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Existing literature consistently finds that women engage in green consumption more than men. Most studies explain this gender gap from a female-oriented perspective, such as focusing on women's prosocial tendencies, while paying limited attention to the unique drivers of men's behavior. Drawing on evolutionary psychology and the fundamental motivational framework, we introduce resource concern as a novel explanation mechanism, proposing that men's lower engagement in green consumption stems from their heightened resource concern. Across five mixed-methods studies, we demonstrate that resource concern mediates the gender difference in green consumption, even after controlling for established mechanisms (i.e., green consumption values, trait empathy, gender identity threat). Furthermore, this gender difference narrows when resource concern is alleviated, either directly or by framing consumption in public (vs. private) contexts. These findings offer a new perspective for understanding the gender difference in green consumption and provide actionable insights for encouraging sustainable behaviors, especially among men.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104681"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How digital efforts build equity: Moderating role of brand type, familiarity, and consumer green consciousness in the fashion sector","authors":"Fang-Yi Lo ,&nbsp;Muhammad Dliya'ul Haq ,&nbsp;Meng-Hsuan Wu ,&nbsp;Matthew Ting Chi Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104687","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fashion industry faces mounting pressures from rapid digital transformation and rising consumer expectations for sustainability, yet how these forces jointly influence brand equity remains underexplored. To address this issue, the present study investigates how digitalization intensity contributes to consumer-based brand equity, while examining the moderating influences of brand type (luxury versus fast fashion), brand familiarity, and consumer green consciousness. Building on the dynamic capabilities' perspective, we implemented a 2 (digitalization intensity: high vs. low) × 2 (brand type: luxury vs. fast fashion) between-subjects experiment with U.S. consumers (N = 547) recruited through a commercial online panel. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results show that greater digitalization intensity strengthens brand equity, with particularly strong effects for fast fashion brands and brands with low consumer familiarity. Although consumer green consciousness did not significantly moderate the focal relationship, it still demonstrated a positive tendency, suggesting a reinforcing role. Overall, the study advances understanding of the boundary conditions of digitalization's value creation and offers practical guidance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104687"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can AI make us less green? Insights from four experiments on digital speed, time perception, and sustainable consumption","authors":"Han Wang ,&nbsp;Songyu Jiang ,&nbsp;Xuming Li ,&nbsp;Osman Alipour ,&nbsp;Gomaa Agag","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104696","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104696","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital technologies increasingly rely on artificial intelligence (AI) agents to guide consumer choices. Although AI agents are designed to facilitate efficiency, their perceived speed may subtly alter consumers' temporal experience during decision making. Across four controlled experiments conducted with 1462 Chinese consumers recruited through a national online research panel, we investigate how AI (vs. human) agents influence sustainable consumption. Interacting with an AI agent heightens state arousal and weakens future self-continuity, accelerating consumers' internal sense of time and shortening their perceived connection to future outcomes. Consequently, consumers become less willing to wait for environmentally friendly options when those options involve delayed benefits (e.g., eco-shipping or carbon offsets). When temporal extensions yield continued or cumulative rewards (e.g., long-term green plans), however, the same temporal distortion enhances patience and promotes sustainability. These effects are moderated by interface tempo and agent anthropomorphism, which temper arousal and restore temporal balance. Together, these findings demonstrate that perceptions of digital speed shape consumers’ temporal horizons and sustainable decision making, extending theories of intertemporal choice and human–AI interaction while identifying design strategies that can align algorithmic efficiency with environmental responsibility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104696"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The double-edged sword of incentivized referral: How invitation mechanisms undermine engagement in PDT-OBCs","authors":"Hongde Liu ,&nbsp;Taiming Wang ,&nbsp;Yue Xiao ,&nbsp;Gaojie Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104686","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online Brand Communities (OBCs), a core operational model in the digital retail sector, have long been a focal point in both academia and industry due to the factors influencing user engagement. In recent years, the emergence of Private Domain Traffic-Online Brand Communities (PDT-OBCs) in China has opened up new avenues for community user growth, yet the issue of declining community user activity remains a pressing concern for the industry. To address this research gap, this study explores the differential impacts of various user acquisition sources on user engagement in PDT-OBCs Integrating cognitive dissonance theory and privacy information authentication, we adopt a mixed-method approach encompassing observational field study and laboratory experiments. Our findings reveal that users who join through the Incentivized Referral (IR) mechanism demonstrate significantly lower engagement behavior (willingness) than those who join via the Voluntary Registration (VR) mechanism. The root cause lies in the higher cognitive dissonance among IR users. Furthermore, privacy information authentication has to some extent exacerbated this cognitive dissonance, further reducing the engagement willingness of IR users. This study clarifies the intrinsic mechanism between user acquisition sources and engagement, as well as the boundary role of privacy information authentication, within the unique context of PDT-OBCs. Our findings offer practical implications for PDT-OBC retailers, including the implementation of user stratification management, the design of reasonable incentive schemes, and the development of privacy-friendly technologies to boost user engagement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104686"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pricing and financing strategies for start-ups’ innovative product: Dynamic game analysis based on consumer value co-creation","authors":"Jing Zhang ,&nbsp;Junli Wang ,&nbsp;Alfons Palangkaraya ,&nbsp;Zhangwei Feng ,&nbsp;Tie Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the influence of consumer value co-creation behavior on the pricing and financing strategies of start-ups developing innovative products. A dynamic Stackelberg game model is developed to analyze strategic interactions between start-ups and consumers under three financing modes: bank financing, reward-based crowdfunding, and a hybrid of both. In single-financing modes, optimal pricing increases with consumer preference for innovation and the corporation's emphasis on consumer value but decreases with the market interest rate. This relationship holds only when the R&amp;D cost coefficient is relatively low. When it is high or consumer preference is weak, start-ups tend to shift from bank financing to reward-based crowdfunding as the consumer co-creation effort level increases. Critical thresholds emerge, where reward-based crowdfunding becomes optimal when the consumer co-creation effort level aligns with the innovation success rate. Conversely, bank financing remains preferable under low innovation success rates or high financial rigidity. In the hybrid mode, increasing the proportion of crowdfunding stabilizes profitability, balancing capital flexibility and risk. Numerical simulations and case illustrations validate how variations in consumer co-creation effort level, R&amp;D cost coefficient, and other key parameters influence optimal pricing and financing strategies. Local sensitivity analysis and robustness checks demonstrate the stability of strategic thresholds and financing transitions. Ultimately, start-ups should adopt flexible financing strategies reflecting consumer co-creation dynamics and market conditions. These findings offer theoretical and managerial implications for innovation-driven corporations operating in participatory platform environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104682"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of reward qualifying conditions on participation in online referral programs","authors":"Jian Zhang ,&nbsp;Qing Lu ,&nbsp;Li Zhang ,&nbsp;David Harness","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online referral reward programs (RRPs) incentivize customers to promote products within their digital social networks by offering rewards, yet these programs often face persistently low participation. This research examines how online RRP qualifying conditions—specifically, whether rewards depend solely on the referrer's own actions or require assistance from others—shape customers' willingness to engage. Drawing on psychological reactance theory, the study investigates both the direct impact of assistance-based conditions and the mediating role of psychological reactance, as well as whether the timing of the reward offer (pre-vs. post-consumption) moderates these effects. Three scenario-based online RRP experiments conducted in gym, meal-kit, and coffee-shop contexts show that assistance-based conditions heighten reactance and reduce engagement, while post-consumption timing attenuates this reactance-driven decline. The findings advance understanding of consumer responses to online RRPs and provide actionable guidance for designing more effective digital referral strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104689"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Visual fidelity and price transparency in luxury-brand NFTs: Impacts on consumer authenticity perceptions and purchase intentions in metaverse retailing","authors":"Guanglu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104651","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;As luxury brands expand into metaverse retail environments, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as critical tools for digital brand storytelling and value creation. However, the translation of brand authenticity from physical to digital luxury goods remains poorly understood, particularly regarding how visual design fidelity and pricing strategies influence consumer perceptions and behaviors. This research addresses a fundamental tension in luxury NFT marketing: while high-fidelity digital representations may enhance perceived authenticity through detailed brand cues, they may simultaneously degrade authenticity perceptions by exposing the gap between digital simulation and physical product ownership. Drawing on signaling theory and authenticity research, this study investigates how NFT visual quality (high vs. low fidelity) and price disclosure strategies (transparent vs. absent) jointly influence consumer authenticity perceptions and purchase intentions for flagship luxury handbags in metaverse retail contexts.Three preregistered experiments (aggregate N = 1278) employing diverse luxury brand stimuli systematically test these relationships. Study 1 establishes that high-fidelity NFT visuals paradoxically reduce perceived brand authenticity and purchase intentions compared to low-fidelity representations, despite enhanced aesthetic appeal. Study 2 reveals that transparent price information (versus no pricing) moderates this effect: when price transparency is low, the negative authenticity impact of high-fidelity NFTs diminishes, and purchase intentions rebound to levels comparable with high-fidelity designs. Study 3 employs a three-cell design (low price, high price, no price) to confirm that premium pricing serves as a compensatory signal that buffers the authenticity penalties associated with photorealistic NFT representations, while low prices amplify the negative effects of visual realism on perceived authenticity.Across all studies, mediation analyses demonstrate that perceived authenticity functions as the primary psychological pathway linking visual fidelity and price transparency to purchase intentions. Consumer familiarity with NFT technology emerges as a secondary moderator, with NFT-experienced consumers showing greater acceptance of high-fidelity digital representations. The findings extend signaling theory to digital luxury contexts by demonstrating that traditional brand signals (visual realism, price) operate differently in virtual environments where authenticity concerns are heightened. This research provides actionable strategic guidance for luxury retailers entering metaverse platforms: managers must carefully calibrate NFT visual resolution and pricing strategies to preserve brand authenticity perceptions, either investing in ultra-realistic assets paired with premium pricing or adopting stylized, lower-fidelity designs with transparent value propositions to drive conversion in digital retail environments.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104651"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Designer-consumer similarity matters: The effect of AI-designed products on purchase intention","authors":"Zhen Yang ,&nbsp;Allen Ding Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104680","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104680","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>AI has become a novel and prevalent source of product design, bringing both opportunities and challenges to the retail industry. However, research investigating AI-designed products from the consumers' perspective remains scarce. Drawing on social identity theory and the similarity-attraction paradigm, this research examined consumers' purchase intention for the products labeled as AI-designed across a series of nine experiments (and a supplementary study). Studies 1A, 1B, and 1C demonstrate that, compared to products labeled as human-designed, consumers have a lower purchase intention for products labeled as AI-designed, and this effect remains robust regardless of the perceived importance of utilitarian/hedonic attributes for a given product category. Studies 2A, 2B, and 2C unveil consumers’ lower perceived similarity with AI designers as the underlying mechanism, and address several alternative explanations, including perceived product aesthetics, decision-making style, maximizing mindset, and psychological distance. Study 3 shows that the indirect effect via perceived similarity is moderated by how closely consumers link a focal product category to their self-identities. Study 4 further reveals that the key effect is attenuated and even eliminated by human-AI collaboration, providing an effective intervention strategy. Study 5 identifies acquisition mode as another theoretically- and managerially-relevant moderator, showing that the negative effect associated with AI design disappears and even reverses when the product is acquired through rental. These results advance the understanding of consumer psychological and behavioral responses to products labeled as AI-designed and provide strategic insights for managers on how to enhance consumer receptivity to products designed by AI.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104680"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advanced shelf space allocation in brick-and-mortar stores: A multi-population differential evolution approach for high-impact planogram design","authors":"Xiaomo Yu ,&nbsp;Ling Tang ,&nbsp;Jie Mie ,&nbsp;Jiajia Liu ,&nbsp;Long Long","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104587","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104587","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Shelf space is one of a retailer’s most valuable assets, yet designing profitable planograms remains a high-stakes, NP-hard challenge. Small layout changes can shift consumer attention, trigger substitution effects, and swing category profits, but conventional heuristics and single-population metaheuristics often collapse under tight spatial and demand constraints. This paper advances a <em>Multi-Population Differential Evolution (MP–DE)</em> framework that redefines retail shelf optimization. The model embeds two-dimensional geometry, contiguous facings, and nonlinear space elasticity, while the algorithm enforces feasibility by design, maintains diversity through island sub-swarms, and triggers adaptive restarts to avoid stagnation. Across sixty benchmark scenarios, MP–DE outperforms Genetic Algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization, and classical Differential Evolution—delivering <em>profit gains above 15 %</em>, <em>variance reductions exceeding 50 %</em>, and statistically significant superiority on all tests. The results establish MP–DE as a <em>scalable, reliable, and profit-driven optimization engine</em> for modern retailers, bridging cutting-edge evolutionary computation with actionable planogram design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104587"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"GETUSP: Goal-oriented topic modeling framework for unique selling point discovery","authors":"Saeran Park ,&nbsp;Sangmin Lee ,&nbsp;Jiyoon Lee ,&nbsp;Minjeong Ma ,&nbsp;Joonghoon Kim ,&nbsp;Younsun Kim ,&nbsp;Pilsung Kang","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104640","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104640","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Unique Selling Point (USP) is essential for articulating a product’s unique strengths to customers, facilitating its competitive success in the market. However, traditional USP discovery approaches often rely on subjective judgment. This limitation leads to a gap between the USP planned by companies and the USP that truly resonates with consumers. To address this gap, topic modeling has been applied to customer reviews, but existing methods face challenges in performing USP-centered clustering, and the derivation of effective USPs is constrained due to ambiguous topic interpretation. We propose GETUSP, a two-stage USP discovery framework designed to extract and recommend USPs from customer reviews. In the first stage, Goal-Oriented Topic Modeling clusters reviews to identify interpretable, sentence-level USP candidates, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods. In the second stage, the Unique Selling Score quantitatively evaluates these candidates by incorporating consumer-perceived benefits and differentiation from competitors. This approach enables effective identification, evaluation, and prioritization of USPs that align with consumer needs and stand out in the market. Experimental results demonstrate that GETUSP outperforms baseline methods in terms of Precision@k and delivers consistent performance across diverse products. These findings confirm its practical applicability and highlight its potential for guiding data-driven USP discovery in various industries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"90 ","pages":"Article 104640"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}