Consumer intention to purchase and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from an experiment in an entrepreneurial context

Previous research has addressed the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on consumer purchase intention (CPI). However, most of the empirical evidence is based on the analysis of mature large-scale firms; much less examines the effects of CSR initiatives on CPI in entrepreneurial contexts. In this study, we address this gap by investigating whether entrepreneurial start-ups' declaration of CSR engagement affects consumers' purchasing intent. We assert that consumers may consider firms' CSR engagement as a signal for unobserved product quality. We exploit a vignette experimental approach to test our theoretical predictions. In our experiment, participants received online invitations to subscribe to an electronic catalog that advertised various products supplied by entrepreneurial start-ups. The invitations are of five types, some of which presenting different CSR-related information on the suppliers to the participants. Overall, we find that the displayed information on CSR engagement promotes participants' willingness to subscribe to the electronic catalog, indicating that consumers will increase their purchase intentions for ethically oriented suppliers. Moreover, we find that among all the initiatives, external CSR initiatives (social contribution and environmental responsibility) promote consumers' intentions to purchase most effectively. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to explore the effects of different CSR initiatives on entrepreneurial start-ups in entrepreneurship literature. We highlight the heterogeneous effects of CSR initiatives on CPI, contributing new insights to research on CSR and consumer behavior.     

The effects of affective and cognitive elaborations from Facebook posts on consumer attitude formation

This research investigates the effects of affect and cognition in consumers' information processing of branded content on Facebook pages. A model was suggested to delve into the elaboration process leading to consumer attitude formation. A 2 (purchase‐decision involvement: low versus high) × 2 (product categories: hedonic versus utilitarian) × 2 (sources of Facebook posts: brand posts versus consumer posts) between‐subjects experiment was conducted online. The validated model demonstrates the main effects that affective elaboration significantly supersedes cognitive elaboration in forming attitudes toward the posts and attitudes toward the brand. Post hoc analyses show further evidence of the interaction effects that affective elaboration is the dominant influencer when consumers process brand‐related information in Facebook posts across situations. Theoretical implications for future research and managerial suggestions for social media marketing are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are humans rational? Exploring factors influencing impulse buying intention and continuous impulse buying intention

This study investigates the effects of consumers' impulsivity traits, option framing, product type, and cash refund promotion on consumers' online impulse buying intention. This study follows two stages to investigate factors influencing impulse buying intention and continuous impulse buying intention. In Stage 1, this study investigates the influence of impulsivity traits (high/low), option framing (+OF/−OF), and product type (hedonic product/utilitarian product) in online shopping on impulse buying intention. In Stage 2, this study explores factors moderating the continuous impulse buying intention. Cash refund promotion (high/low) serves as the moderator. The experiment results demonstrated that subjects with high impulsivity traits, “subtractive option framing (−OF), and hedonic products” are more likely to engage in impulse buying intention. In addition, cash refund promotion at a higher level increases consumers' continuous impulse buying intention. The findings provide guidance for designing appropriate online promotion situation to induce consumers' impulse buying intention that favors online retailers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Building trust to increase purchase intentions: The signaling impact of low pricing policies

We examine the differential signaling impact of two low pricing policies, Price Matching Guarantees and Everyday Low Prices, on consumers' trusting beliefs and purchase intentions. We demonstrate that both PMG and EDLP pricing policies signal stores' ability to offer lower prices. However, whether these sellers were perceived as benevolent, and—consequently—consumers' purchase intentions, varied critically depending upon price uncertainty. Perceived benevolence and purchase intentions were significantly higher [lower] for sellers offering PMG than EDLP when price dispersion was high [low]. Our findings offer insights into whether and under what conditions firms should adopt these low pricing policies.     

Effects of payment notifications on consumer purchase decisions: The role of pain of payment

Payment notifications are becoming ubiquitous due to the popularity of online payment, which are usually considered to be records of consumption. However, the effect of payment notifications on consumer behavior has not been fully understood. Given this research void, this study explores the effects of payment notifications on consumers' consumption amount during a multiple-purchase shopping journey. Considering the prevalence of online payment in China, we conducted four experiments using Chinese samples. The results confirm that payment notifications can evoke consumers' pain of payment, which consequently reduces consumers' subsequent shopping amount. Additionally, we argue that the effects of payment notifications on consumer behavior are different in the early/late stage of the shopping journey or in the gift-purchasing/self-purchasing conditions. The findings of this article could help payment application developers to better design payment notification functions.     

Antecedents of consumers' citizenship behaviour towards organic foods

Within the consumer behaviour literature, there has been little research on factors that influence customers' choices for organic foods. This study investigates three aspects of the Taiwanese organic food market. The first aspect considers how argument quality, source credibility, and social comparison affect consumer‐social venture identification. The second aspect examines how identity attractiveness, social media engagement, and self‐determination affect personal relevance. The third and final aspect investigates how consumer‐social venture identification and personal relevance influence customer citizenship behaviour. The results show that consumer‐social venture identification and personal relevance have significant and positive effects on customer citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, argument quality, source credibility, and social comparison all have significant and positive effects on consumer‐social venture identification. Finally, identity attractiveness, social media engagement, and self‐determination have significant and positive effects on personal relevance. This study makes three contributions regarding consumers' behaviour of purchasing organic foods. First, it explores whether consumer‐social venture identification and personal relevance are antecedents of customer citizenship behaviour. Second, it investigates whether argument quality, source credibility, and social comparison are antecedents of consumer‐social venture identification. Last, it examines whether identity attractiveness, social media engagement, and self‐determination are antecedents of personal relevance. The practical implications of this study indicate that firms must pay more attention to consumers' information search/sharing and perceptions of a credible environment for sharing information and their awareness about healthy items and personal images on social networking sites.     

Impact of consumers' corporate social responsibility‐related activities in social media on brand attitude,electronic word‐of‐mouth intention,and purchase intention: A study of Chinese consumer behavior

This study examines how consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐related activities in social media affect their responses to brands. We defined consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media as the extent to which consumers use social media to engage in CSR communication by companies. An online survey was conducted to examine social media users in China, the largest consumer market in today's global economies. This study developed a theoretical model and empirically tested the relationships between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media, identification with the brand, and three consumer behavior outcomes: electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) intention, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The results suggested that consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media significantly impacted eWOM intention and purchase intention through enhancing identification with the brand and positive brand attitude. This study provides important insights on consumer behavior and CSR by investigating social media, an important and emerging marketing platform. Moreover, this study fills in the research gap about the association between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media and their responses to brands. Theoretical and managerial implications for CSR strategies in social media are discussed.     

Effect of brand name on consumers' risk perceptions of online shopping

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between brand names and consumers' perceived risk. Hypotheses dealt with whether the presence of a product's brand name affects consumers' perceived risk towards shopping online; whether the familiarity with a brand name influences consumers' perceived risk; and whether online shoppers and non‐shoppers perceive risk towards shopping online differently. Results indicate that the presence or absence of a product's brand name affects online shoppers' perceived risk, but in the opposite direction to that expected. There was no significant difference between online shoppers' perceived risk vis‐à‐vis brand familiarity; however, online shoppers possessed lower perceived risk than non‐shoppers. Implications and limitations are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

Determinants of the purchase intention of non-fungible token collectibles

Disrupting the concept of ownership in the digital space, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have created unprecedented market opportunities and captivated millions of investors. Characterized by artificial scarcity and ensured authenticity, the technical implementation establishes novel parameters for digital ownership and collecting, underscoring a research gap where the determinants of consumer behavior are yet to be studied. This paper presents a research model based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model to investigate consumers' purchase intention of NFT-based collectibles (NFTC) for the first time. To develop our model, we identified distinctive NFTC features (functionality, scarcity, aesthetics, and price value) and blockchain characteristics (security and privacy) affecting the utilitarian and hedonic attitude towards NFTC and finally shape NFTC purchase intention. For empirical validation, we conducted an online survey among an NFT-interested target group (N = 356) and analyzed the results by structural equation modeling with SPSS Amos. Findings indicate that the utilitarian attitude toward NFTC is affected by perceived functionality and price value from the product side, and perceived blockchain security and privacy from the technology side. The hedonistic attitude toward NFTC is shaped by perceived functionality, scarcity, and aesthetics. Both attitudes, utilitarian and hedonistic, demonstrate a significant impact on purchase intention. A subsequent mediation analysis confirms that NFTC and blockchain characteristics have an indirect effect on purchase intention. In the under-investigated interface of blockchain technology, digital ownership, and consumer behavior, this work enriches the digital ownership discourse by demonstrating how NFTC create consumer value through product and technology features.     

A Model of Online Protection to Reduce Children’s Online Risk Exposure: Empirical Evidence From Asia

Children are surrounded by a variety of digital media and are exposed to potential risks that come with such easy accessibility. Learning how to be safe online is an important consideration for both children and their caregivers. The present study proposes an integrated model of online safety based on constructs from protection motivation theory and the health belief model, namely perceived severity of (and susceptibility to) risk, online self-efficacy, online privacy concern, and digital literacy. The study comprised a survey conducted among 420 schoolchildren aged 9–16 years. Using partial least squares-structural equation modelling, the results illustrated the presence of a negative effect of ‘perceived severity of online risk’ toward online risks, whereas the effect of ‘digital literacy’ was found to be positive. Children whose perception of online risks was more severe were less exposed to online risks if they had higher ‘online privacy concerns’ than the children with higher ‘digital literacy’ who are more exposed to online risk. Results of the study show that engaging in safe online behaviour requires children to have a high perception regarding severity of online risks as well as knowledge of online privacy concerns. Online risks and opportunities occur in parallel. Consequently, the factors that increase or decrease risk may also increase or decrease the benefits.     

Exploring the role of the Amazon effect on customer expectations: An analysis of user-generated content in consumer electronics retailing

While Amazon's disruption of the retail market has been associated with significant changes in consumer behavior, empirical studies on how interacting with Amazon has changed customers' expectations toward other offline/online retailers remain scarce. Such Amazon-driven perceptions of service attributes are sometimes referred to as the ‘Amazon effect’. After clarifying the meaning of the Amazon effect and reviewing the studies on consumer complaints online, this paper aims to identify key triggers for the Amazon effect from consumer comments on social media. Based on natural language processing techniques, a content and sentiment analysis of users' comments drawn from the Facebook pages of three leading consumer electronics retailers in Italy over a two-year span (2016–2018) was used to evaluate the dissatisfaction toward these retailers associated to Amazon-related service attributes. The findings show that there is a wide diffusion of consumer comments and service complaints related to the Amazon effect on consumer electronics retailers, especially regarding price, customer service, in-store staff, and post-purchase support. Compared with corresponding evaluations on the Italian Amazon website, the negative sentiments revealed in consumers' comments on Facebook suggest that the Amazon's service standards have raised consumer expectations and have made consumers less satisfied when they interact with other retailers. We argue the need for further research to better clarify Amazonification in terms of customer impatience and dissatisfaction in general, also going beyond price and logistics issues, which are usually considered as the main constitutive factors.     

Attitudes Toward Energy Conservation: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis1

This study reports a large-scale survey of citizens' attitudes and beliefs toward energy use and conservation in the southwestern United States. A probability sample of 1,000 Texas residents responded to a 10-item telephone survey. Questions concerned issues such as thermal comfort and health, economic benefits of conservation, efficacy of individual efforts, and perceived causes of the current U.S. energy situation. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated previous work by Seligman et al. (1979) and Becker et al. (1981) by identifying the same four principal dimensions underlying energy use attitudes and beliefs: 1) comfort and health, 2) high effort-low payoff, 3) role of individual consumer, and 4) legitimacy of energy problem. In addition, several demographic characteristics were found to moderate consumers' responses to the survey items. The results of this study reinforce the conclusion that future energy conservation campaigns should be sensitive to consumers' concerns about comfort and health. New directions for future research on energy attitudes and conservation behavior are discussed.     

Effects of product portfolios and recommendation timing in the efficiency of personalized recommendation

Personalized recommendation has important implications in raising online shopping efficiency and increasing product sales. There has been wide interest in finding ways to provide more efficient personalized recommendations. Most existing studies focus on how to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the recommendation algorithms or are more concerned on ways to reduce perceived risks and thus increase consumer satisfaction. Unlike these studies, our study begins from the decision‐making process of consumers, using consumers' two‐stage decision‐making system and preference inconsistency theory as a basis, to reveal the mechanisms involved in consumers' acceptance of recommendations. This paper analyzes the effect of personalized recommendations from two angles, recommendation timing and product portfolio, tries to point out differences in consumer preferences between similar products and related products, and verifies that consumers demand diversity in the recommended content. The study analyzes differences in the acceptance of personalized recommendations between practical products and hedonic products and discovers that recommendations of hedonic products are more effective than that of practical products. Based on the research earlier, the study provides suggestions on how to better plan and operate a personalized recommendation system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is the privacy paradox a relic of the past? An in‐depth analysis of privacy attitudes and privacy behaviors

The privacy paradox states that online privacy concerns do not sufficiently explain online privacy behaviors on social network sites (SNSs). In this study, it was first asked whether the privacy paradox would still exist when analyzed as in prior research. Second, it was hypothesized that the privacy paradox would disappear when analyzed in a new approach. The new approach featured a multidimensional operationalization of privacy by differentiating between informational, social, and psychological privacy. Next to privacy concerns, also, privacy attitudes and privacy intentions were analyzed. With the aim to improve methodological aspects, all items were designed on the basis of the theory of planned behavior. In an online questionnaire with N = 595 respondents, it was found that online privacy concerns were not significantly related to specific privacy behaviors, such as the frequency or content of disclosures on SNSs (e.g., name, cell‐phone number, or religious views). This demonstrated that the privacy paradox still exists when it is operationalized as in prior research. With regard to the new approach, all hypotheses were confirmed: Results showed both a direct relation and an indirect relation between privacy attitudes and privacy behaviors, the latter mediated by privacy intentions. In addition, also an indirect relation between privacy concerns and privacy behaviors was found, mediated by privacy attitudes and privacy intentions. Therefore, privacy behaviors can be explained sufficiently when using privacy attitudes, privacy concerns, and privacy intentions within the theory of planned behavior. The behaviors of SNS users are not as paradoxical as was once believed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupon or my privacy: How consumers choose to disclose their personal information and accept mobile location-based advertising (LBA) through privacy calculus

With their capacity to track geo-specific location information rapidly expanding, the practice of location-based advertising (LBA) is becoming increasingly prevalent. While LBA can provide relevant and financial benefits, concerns about data collection and privacy are also on the rise. In the following two experiments, based on the privacy calculus theory and parallel mediation analyses, an explanatory framework is presented to lay out how consumers choose to disclose their personal information and accept LBA depending on location congruent levels of a mobile ad message by assessing the benefits as well as costs of disclosing personal information. In Study 1 (N = 186), it was found that both perceived benefits and costs fully mediated the experimental effects of location congruence (congruent vs. incongruent) on intentions to disclose personal information as well as accept LBA practice. In Study 2 (N = 230), a 2 (location congruence: congruent vs. incongruent) × 2 (sales promotion: yes vs. no) factorial experiment was conducted. The results from moderated mediation analysis showed that privacy concerns due to location tracking disappeared when sales promotion was offered. These results indicate that consumers' information disclosure and LBA acceptance can be understood as a trade-off between incentives and privacy issues in which privacy concerns can be alleviated when financial benefits are offered.     

The role of negative publicity in consumer evaluations of sports stars and their sponsors

This paper aims to specify and test empirically the impact that two types of negative information (immorality and incompetence) about a sports star have on consumers' perceptions of the sports star and the sponsor. The moderating role of game relevance (game‐related and non‐game‐related) and fan identification with a sports star (high identification and low identification) are also investigated. Using a sample of South Korean consumers (n = 249), we found in the experiment that the type of negative information affects participants' attitudes toward the sports star and the sponsor. This result implies that a sports star's involvement in negative events not only damages the star's reputation but also detracts from the value of the sponsor company. The results also show that the two factors moderate the main effects of negative publicity on consumers' perception of the sports star and his or her sponsor. First, the negative publicity about the sports star's functional issues (e.g., a career‐threatening injury) negatively affects consumer attitude toward the sports star and the sponsor more in the out‐of‐game context than in the in‐game situation. Second, bad sports star publicity has a greater negative effect on consumer perception of sponsors for lowly identified than highly identified sports stars, while the moderating effect on consumer perception of the sports star is not significant. Detailed practical implications and academic contributions are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hooked on a feeling: The effect of music tempo on attitudes and the mediating role of consumers' affective responses

With today's high degree of advertising clutter, marketers might greatly focus on evoking emotion or creating hedonic (e.g., feeling) experiences for consumers in order to improve practice. These strategies minimize the effort needed to process a message and can influence consumers' decisions. In 4 studies, we examine the effects of music tempo on consumers' attitudes toward the brand while further considering the mediating role of evoked feelings. Study 1 and 2 supports that music tempo in commercials influences consumers' affective response to the music in advertising. Study 3 replicated this effect using a controlled experiment and extended the research by demonstrating that tempo also affects general mood states, in addition to feelings evoked by the music. Last, Study 4 demonstrates that need for emotion moderates the role of affect as information. This research contributes to theory in sensory marketing and consumer behavior and offers practical implications to improve marketing practice.     

Breaching the contract? Using social contract theory to explain individuals’ online behavior to safeguard privacy

ABSTRACT

This study applies social contract theory to examine whether perceptions of a social contract explains adaptive behavior to safeguard online privacy. We (1) identify and (2) estimate the prevalence of subgroups that differ in their perceived “social contract” (based on privacy concerns, trust, and risk), and (3) measure how this perceived social contract affects adaptive online behavior. Using a representative two-wave panel survey (N = 1,222), we distinguished five subgroups of internet users; the highly-concerned, wary, ambivalent, neutral (the largest group), and carefree users. The former three were more likely to adapt their behavior than the latter two subgroups. We argue that the implied social contract represents an important construct that helps to identify whether individuals engage in privacy protection behavior.     

Femvertising or femwashing? Women's perceptions of authenticity

Stereotypes in advertising are recognized as contributing to the perpetuation of inequalities. In response to this, femvertising—“advertising that employs pro-female talents, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls” (SheKnows, 2014)—is increasingly observed in the marketplace. Despite femvertising's prevalence, current research has failed to identify women's core understanding of it. The objectives of this research are to conceptualize femvertising from a consumer perspective, explore the nature of authentic femvertising, and differentiate it from femwashing. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 women. The findings help uncover femvertising's complex meaning as perceived by consumers and distinguish it from femwashing. The results suggest that the concepts of femvertising and femwashing coexist in consumers' minds. Six dimensions of authentic femvertising are identified: transparency, consistency, identification, diversity, respect, and challenging stereotypes. This research contributes to the consumer research, advertising, and branding literature; encourages a broader societal reflection about gender stereotypes; and offers several managerial implications.     

Reconnecting with the past in social media: The moderating role of social influence in nostalgia marketing on Pinterest

Nostalgia marketing practices in social media help brands link consumers with happier times from the past. A randomized 2 (evoked nostalgia: high vs. low) × 2 (social influence: high vs. low) between‐subjects factorial design experiment was conducted to examine the effects of nostalgia and social influence on consumers' judgments in the brand management context of Pinterest boards. The results revealed the strong main effect of evoked nostalgia on consumers' attitudes toward the Pinterest board and the brand, purchase intention, willingness to pass along branded pins, and brand–consumer relationship quality. Furthermore, this study discovered the significant moderating role of social influence for all dependent measures. Strongly (vs. weakly) evoked nostalgia generated more favorable responses only when social influence was high. In contrast, there were no significant differences between strongly and weakly evoked nostalgia when social influence was low. Theoretical contributions to the nostalgia literature and managerial implications for social media marketing are discussed.