Sweet or sweat,which should come first: How consumption sequences of vices and virtues influence enjoyment

This research examines the effect of the consumption sequence of vices and virtues on consumers’ enjoyment. Five studies show that consuming a virtue after a vice increases consumers’ enjoyment of the overall experience relative to consuming the same items in the opposite sequence. Moreover, this sequence effect disappears when people have no strong goals that the vice violates, when the vice is perceived as less vicious, when the vice and the virtue serve unrelated goals, and when the vice and the virtue are perceived as isolated. These findings provide important guidance on product bundling, service journey design, packaging and marketing communications for vice products and vice/virtue bundles.     

The Influence of Bundling and Caloric Knowledge on Calories Ordered and Purchase Intent

This article investigates the impact of a bundle promotion on calories ordered and purchase intentions toward bundles in a fast food context. The results of our study show that consumers order more calories and have higher purchase intentions toward bundles when a bundle promotion is advertised than when it is not, particularly for consumers with low caloric knowledge. Moreover, the results suggest that the underlying mechanism influencing these results is consumers' perceptions that a bundle is considered an appropriate option among consumers.     

A COOL Effect: The Direct and Indirect Impact of Country-of-Origin Disclosures on Purchase Intentions for Retail Food Products

Retailers recently became required to provide specific country-of-origin information for muscle cuts of beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and goat. Drawing from the consumer inference and activation theory literatures, hypotheses are offered regarding how consumers use country-of-origin labeling (COOL) to draw inferences related to specific product attributes and how these inferences, in turn, lead to differences in mediation effects for purchase intentions. Results from a pilot study and two experiments reveal that consumers are more likely to purchase meat when it is identified as a U.S. product. Furthermore, the relative strength of the mediating effects of perceived food safety, taste, and freshness differs as expected. The authors show how the direct and indirect effects of the country-of-origin disclosure are attenuated by the presentation of objective information about the meat processing systems of competing countries. Given the recently mandated COOL disclosures, results have important implications for food retailers, members of the supply chain, and consumers.     

The Perfect Fit: The Moderating Role of Selling Cues on Hedonic and Utilitarian Product Types

With the need among retailers to create effective promotional campaigns, scarcity, and popularity cues are increasingly used. Drawing from regulatory focus and popularity versus scarcity cues literature, this research explores the impact of popularity versus scarcity cues and product types on consumer perceptions of risk, product uniqueness, and purchase intentions. Results from three studies provide primary insights: (1) A utilitarian product aligns with prevention goals and hence the popularity cue will enhance consumers’ purchase intentions, and (2) a hedonic product aligns with promotion goals and hence the scarcity cue will enhance consumers’ purchase intentions. Further, we theorize that perceived risk and perceived product uniqueness will act as psychological mechanisms. We discuss theoretical contributions and strategic insights for retailers and marketers that the findings indicate.     

Carbon information on vegetables: How does it affect the buying process?

Information on the climate impact of a food product has practically not been communicated in Germany, even though it could provide important acknowledgement of producers’ actions in low‐carbon production. So far, carbon labelling has predominantly been discussed without taking into account German consumers’ opinions (proven by empirical data) on this issue, even though involving the consumer in the considerations of a Carbon Label is essential for its success. Especially the question, if information on the product carbon footprint is a considerable factor within the search process of a purchase decision, was of special interest in this work. To answer these questions, we analysed consumers’ information‐seeking behaviour using an information display matrix (IDM) experiment with 232 participants. The IDM is a process tracing technique which allows to track the information search in a buying process. Our results show that basically the place of origin is the most important criterion for the purchase decision, followed by price and production method (conventional/organic). In contrast, the sustainability information (i.e., carbon footprint and water consumption) are at a low level of importance. Comparing two locally produced products with the help of a multinominal logistic regression‐model, it seems that the group of consumers preferring organic products is influenced in the purchase decision by the carbon footprint information. In summary it can be stated that although some people may be basically interested in carbon labelling of fresh food, the purchase decision would probably be hardly influenced by a carbon label on vegetables at present. The majority of people are more concerned about factors like origin and price so that Carbon Labelling would only be a viable option for a small group of consumers.     

Sales promotions for preorder products: The role of time‐of‐release

Preorder offers are increasingly common for many types of products and services. Sales promotions, such as price discounts and free gifts, are frequently used to raise offer attractiveness and elicit a stronger sales response. Through a series of experiments, we show that a preorder promotion's effectiveness depends on whether it matches the construal level associated with timing of the featured product's release. When a match occurs, it increases consumers’ positive affect leading to higher purchase intention directly or by raising the perceived certainty of new product quality. In addition, we find interesting differences related to promotion type. Specifically, we show that a larger discount promotes low‐level construals, which leads to stronger purchase intentions only when the product is scheduled for near‐future release. Since a gift may elicit either high‐ or low‐level construals, a premium offer of higher perceived value leads to stronger purchase intentions regardless of release timing.     

From Decision to Run: The Moderating Role of Green Skepticism

This paper examines the impact of corporate ability, environmental attitude, and environmental knowledge on consumers’ purchase intentions, information seeking, and actual green purchase behavior; additionally, green skepticism is examined as a moderator of these relationships. A sample of Gokarn’s organic products consumers, in Tehran, is used. The structural model is examined by the partial least squares approach by using Smart PLS 2.0 software. The findings suggest that environment attitude and corporate ability are the main factors in building green purchase intentions and information seeking, while environmental knowledge is not a significant predictor. The results show that green skepticism has a significant moderation impact on the relationship between corporate ability and environmental knowledge, and information seeking.     

Price Consciousness and Purchase Intentions for New Food Products: The Moderating Effect of Product Category Knowledge when Price Is Unknown

This study examines the degree to which consumers' price consciousness affects their purchase intentions for a newly introduced product when the price of the product is unknown. Based on data from 186 consumers exposed to a new product offering, the results show that price consciousness indeed has a negative effect on purchase intentions, but only for consumers with a high level of product category knowledge. Although perceived risk and perceived value are significantly related to purchase intentions in general, price consciousness seems to affect only those consumers who make inferences about price based on their knowledge of the product category. Both theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are offered.     

Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Augment yourself through virtual mirror: the impact of self-viewing and narcissism on consumer responses

Virtual mirror, an increasingly popular application of augmented reality, allows consumers to view their visages overlaid with product images on digital displays. The authors of this study examine how augmented reality technology affects consumers’ brand perceptions and purchase intentions. Study 1, using a real brand, demonstrates that consumers tend to form higher self-brand connections and purchase intention when viewing themselves trying a product via a virtual mirror, rather than when viewing professional models wearing the product. Study 2, using a fictitious brand, reveals that narcissistic participants show pronounced positive self-viewing effects, but non-narcissistic participants show attenuated effects. Implications for digital marketers are discussed.     

The moderating impact of perceived globalness on consumers’ purchase intentions for copycats: The pleasure of hurting global brands

Copycats or “me‐too” brands imitate prominent features of market leaders with the intention to benefit from consumers’ positive associations of the imitated brand. However, the imitated market leader can be perceived as being local (=in‐group) or global (=out‐group). Employing social identity theory, Study 1 examined the interaction between copycat strategy and perceived globalness of the brand, showing that consumers have higher purchase intentions for global copycats versus a local counterpart. Study 2 shows that the interacting effect of copycat strategy and perceived globalness is moderated by consumer ethnocentrism. Further, authors demonstrate that a global copycat elicit greater schadenfreude (vs. local brand), which in turn increases consumers’ purchase intentions. Subsequent mediation analysis shows that ethnocentric consumers experience schadenfreude upon encountering copycats of global brands, which in turn increases purchase intention, whereas low ethnocentric consumers show higher purchase intentions for local differentiated brands because they deem a copycat strategy as unacceptable. Finally, Study 3 examines whether the results from Studies 1 and 2 continue to hold for theme copycats.     

Digital buying behavior: The role of regulatory fit and self-construal in online luxury goods purchase intentions

Drawing on regulatory focus theory, this study examines how consumers’ promotion and prevention focus influences luxury purchase intentions in an online domain. The research further investigates the interactive effects of regulatory focus, goal orientation, and self-construal through four studies. Study 1 shows that promotion-focused versus prevention-focused consumers have a greater tendency to purchase luxury goods online and in-store. Contrary to extant research regarding the compatibility between message frame and consumers’ regulatory focus, using varying manipulations, Studies 2 and 3 find the primacy of prevention-framed messages in influencing online luxury purchase intentions for promotion- and prevention-focused consumers. Further, unlike prior studies, Study 4 shows no significant interaction effect between regulatory focus, goal orientation, and self-construal and adds a possible boundary condition by demonstrating how regulatory focus and self-construal effects differ for luxury purchase online. Overall, the studies offer important contributions to theory and practice relating to luxury consumption in cyberspace.     

Positive and Negative Antecedents of Purchasing Eco-friendly Products: A Comparison Between Green and Non-green Consumers

This study aims to analyze what drives and prevents the purchasing of eco-friendly products across different consumer groups and develops a conceptual model embracing the positive altruistic (care for the environmental consequences of purchasing), positive ego-centric (green self-identity and moral obligation), and negative ego-centric (perceived personal inconvenience of purchasing eco-friendly products) antecedents of eco-friendly product purchase intention and behavior. We empirically validate the conceptual model for green (n = 453) and non-green (n = 473) consumers (i.e., consumers who engage in a set of pro-environmental behaviors for environmental reasons versus consumers who do not engage in these behaviors). Data are analyzed using structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis of the two groups. The results confirm the relevance of the determining factors in the model and show significant differences in eco-friendly product purchasing patterns between green and non-green consumers. Altruistic motives are more important for green than for non-green consumers. Negative ego-centric motives affect the purchase intentions of non-green consumers more than the intentions of green consumers, whereas the impact of negative motives on behavior is stronger for green than for non-green consumers. The first contribution of this paper is the development and testing of a parsimonious model of eco-friendly products purchasing that embraces both positive (altruistic and ego-centric) and negative (ego-centric) antecedents, which have been theoretically suggested in the past but have rarely been empirically tested together. The second contribution of this study is that it develops insight into the specific antecedents of eco-friendly products purchasing for green and non-green consumers to assess potential similarities and differences in eco-friendly products purchasing process, the hypothesized antecedents, their impact on eco-friendly products purchase intention and behavior, and the intention–behavior relation.     

Are Low Price and Price Matching Guarantees Equivalent? The Effects of Different Price Guarantees on Consumers’ Evaluations

Some retailers offer price match guarantees, whereas others offer guarantees making the same promise but labeling these low-price guarantees. Do consumers respond differently to these different price guarantee labels? To address this research question, this paper leverages insights from pricing, signaling, and regulatory focus theories to demonstrate – across multiple studies – that consumers perceive price match versus low price guarantees differently. In turn, contingent on consumers’ regulatory focus, this difference in perceptions feeds forward and influences consumers’ purchase intentions and post purchase (e.g., repurchase) intentions. This paper contributes to theory, not only by showing differences across price match versus low price guarantees, but also by being the first to jointly examine purchase and post purchase intentions relating to price guarantees. This paper also speaks to practice, noting contingencies that determine whether the price match or the low-price guarantee label should be used.     

Too Popular to Ignore: The Influence of Online Reviews on Purchase Intentions of Search and Experience Products

Consumers assess the credibility of online product reviews to guide their purchase decisions. However, little is known about how consumers determine the credibility of online product reviews. This article examines the effect of the level of detail in a product review and the level of reviewer agreement with it on the credibility of a review and consumers' purchase intentions for search and experience products. Overall, the results indicate that more credible reviews lead to higher purchase intentions. Interestingly, the findings also demonstrate that consumers determine the credibility of a review differently for search and experience products. For search products, consumers deem online reviews to be more credible when the reviews contain detailed information about the product. However, for experience products, consumers determine the credibility of a review by assessing the level of reviewer agreement with a review. The lack of diagnosticity of detailed information in online reviews of experience products is attributed to the idiosyncratic nature of experiences. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The role of emotions in shaping purchase intentions for innovations using emerging technologies: A scenario‐based investigation in the context of nanotechnology

Although emotions may not play a major role as antecedents of consumers′ innovation acceptance, this study proposes that attitude formation works differently in the context of emerging technologies because of their high levels of uncertainty. To investigate the role of emotions in shaping intentions to adopt innovations using emerging technologies, the conceptual model developed in this study integrates cognitive (risks and benefits) and emotional (optimism and worry) elements. A scenario‐based study employing 731 participants tests the model across three nanotechnology‐based product innovations that differ in terms of product category risk. The results of a mediated moderation model show that emotions do play a key mediating role in explaining purchase intentions. Although the study supports the conceptual model regardless of the level of product‐related risk, it finds risk‐related differences in the strength and level of the mediational links. By unveiling the role of emotions in emerging technology contexts, this study has important implications not only for innovation management but also for regulating institutions and public policymakers.     

When hedonic products help regulate my mood

This paper analyzes how affect mechanisms work when consumers form their attitude toward and intention to purchase a hedonic product. The first of two studies shows that when products have the potential to improve moods, affect regulation dominates affective evaluation in forming purchase intentions. In other words, the need to repair one??s mood overrides mood-congruent reviews. However, the affect regulation mechanism is not very stable, and study two shows that introducing a competing source of information, such as product reviews, overwhelms the effect. Results show that when consumers are in a bad mood, product reviews significantly influence their attitude and purchase intention regarding a hedonic product. However, this effect is not significant for consumers in a positive mood because they generate both arguments and counterarguments that compensate for the information received from a third party.     

Informational Cascades,Herding Bias,and Food Taste Evaluations

Herding behavior is observed when consumers simply replicate the behavior of others instead of making their own elaborate decision. This study contains two experiments in which participants are asked to evaluate how good different food products taste under different conditions of induced herding situations. The results of the first experiment show that simply convincing consumers that a herd exists (i.e., informing them of the behavior of others) will influence their judgment of how good the food product in question tastes, and also their purchase intentions and belief in future product success. Whether they are informed about the existence of the herd before or after they taste the product also affects their evaluations. In the second experiment, the characteristics of the herd (who it consists of) are manipulated along with the country from where the food product originates. Here, the characteristics of the herd have significant effects on the evaluation of taste, purchase intentions, and expectations of future product success, whereas country-of-origin has no significant main effects. Theoretical and managerial implications are offered.     

Appreciating Anonymity: An Exploration of Embarrassing Products and the Power of Blending In

While most research suggests using ostentatious packaging as a strategy to increase sales, using such packaging for embarrassing products can actually decrease purchase intentions. Five studies explore two components of packaging that influence product anonymity and the relationship between anonymity, embarrassment, and purchase intentions. The studies use a variety of methods including one field study, three scenario-based experiments, and one virtual reality video study with a behavioral component. This research contributes to retailing literature by examining the effect of packaging dimensions on product anonymity and the subsequent impact on embarrassment and purchase intentions. We consistently show more anonymously packaged products are perceived as less embarrassing and are more likely to be purchased than less anonymously packaged products. Consumers are able to circumvent undesirable stigmas associated with embarrassing products by selecting products that are more anonymously packaged and positioned in the store. Additionally, increased sales due to product packaging differences are more likely when an embarrassing product is positioned in an aisle versus on an endcap. Promotional incentives, such as coupons, in-store discounts, or bonus buys, can mitigate the negative effect of embarrassment onto purchase intentions. These findings have important implications to our understanding of shopper behavior when threatened with embarrassment.     

Who Buys Oddly Shaped Food and Why? Impacts of Food Shape Abnormality and Organic Labeling on Purchase Intentions

Even without official quality standards, food retailers generally do not offer abnormally shaped food based on the assumption that consumers reject food that deviates physically from some norm. Because this practice contributes significantly to food waste, the current study tests this assumption experimentally. A representative sample of 964 Danish consumers indicated their purchase intentions for two fruits and two vegetables with varying levels of food shape abnormality (normal, moderately abnormal, and extremely abnormal) and organic labels (organic label, no label). Food shape abnormalities influence consumers’ purchase intentions, but only if the food deviates extremely from the norm; no differences in purchase intentions emerge for moderately abnormal food. Awareness of food waste issues and proenvironmental self‐identities also drive purchase intentions, such that participants with high levels of these traits express significantly higher purchase intentions for abnormally shaped food. Thus, increasing awareness of food waste issues, particularly among those with strong proenvironmental self‐identities, might encourage more consumers to purchase abnormally shaped fruits and vegetables.