Social selling cues: The dynamics of posting numbers viewed and bought on customers' purchase intentions

Online retailers provide social selling cues, such as “39 customers bought this product” or “156 customers viewed our product per hour”, to encourage sales. Revealing the numbers bought has been shown to increase purchase intentions, but what remains unexplored are the ramifications of posting the number of brand-related views or revealing both numbers bought and viewed so customers can determine the views-to-bought ratio. The number of views is much higher than the numbers bought, which customers may anchor on as a signal for product quality; however, a countervailing force is that views are a more ambiguous, hence a less diagnostic, cue. Five experiments revealed that: (1) showing the number of views or bought can, but does not always, increase purchase intentions; (2) revealing the number bought has a monotonically increasing (at diminishing rate) effect on purchase intentions; and (3) views exhibit a concave curvilinear effect in that, beyond a tipping point, increasing the number of views lowers purchase intentions. Given the anchoring effect of the larger views number, if the number of views or the number bought are relatively low, it is better to show the larger views number, but the reverse is true if the respective numbers are both high. Additional insights reveal that it is only advantageous to reveal both numbers if the views-to-bought ratio is lower than 20:1, which would apply to about the top 25% of brand landing pages. These findings were further validated in a choice experiment. Perceptions of product quality mediate the relationship between these social selling cues and purchase intentions; however, this is not the case for perceived skepticism (lack of trust in the information). Revealing these social selling cues is an online retailer’s prerogative; hence, these insights are theoretically interesting and have practical relevance.     

Return policy,No joke: An investigation into the impact of a retailer's return policy on consumers' decision making

This study investigates the important role of a retailer's return policy in consumers' decision making. Utilizing signaling theory and the Cue Diagnosticity framework, this study posits that return policy, as a cue from a retailer, interacts with other cues (product, price, and product quality) to reduce perceived purchase risk and increases store image and patronage intention. Employing factorial experiment design, the authors conduct two studies and find support for several hypotheses. Results show that consumers value return policies depending upon the situation. A lenient return policy drives down purchase risk and leads consumers to have positive store images and higher patronage intentions. Both theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are provided.     

Promises,Promises: How Consumers Respond to Warranties in Internet Retailing

Past studies have shown that perceived risk is a critical determinant of purchase intention in non–store retailing contexts, including Internet retailing. Extant literature in physical retailing suggests that warranties can be a significant variable in reducing consumers’ perceived risk. We examine the role of Web site warranties in risk reduction and how warranty information interacts with retailer reputation and brand name as two other risk relievers in an online shopping environment. Results suggest that warranties can make a positive difference for online retailers with strong reputations with respect to perceived risk, perceived product quality, and purchase intentions. However, consumers are less influenced by warranty information when dealing with online retailers with weak reputations. For the other extrinsic cue, however, we find that warranty information does not have an effect when dealing with brand names, suggesting that a brand name’s impact on online risk reduction remains regardless of the presence of warranty information.     

Scarcity tactics in marketing: A meta-analysis of product scarcity effects on consumer purchase intentions

Scarcity tactics are an essential tool for marketers. Cues that signal the current or potential unavailability of a product generally enhance its value and desirability and in turn increase purchase intentions. While there have been earlier reviews, the fragmented nature of the research to date means there is no cohesion across findings. Given that retailers employ a variety of scarcity cues in a diversity of settings, it is important to identify the magnitude of the effect of scarcity cues and how the effect on consumers’ purchase intentions changes across conditions. This research presents a meta-analysis of 416 effect sizes from 131 studies. Results show that demand-based scarcity is most effective for utilitarian products, supply-based scarcity for experiences, and time-based scarcity for high involvement products. The results show that managers need to consider the above factors to maximize the success of scarcity tactics in their marketing campaigns.     

The influence of quality cues and typicality cues on restaurant purchase intention

Prior research on cue management has dominantly focused on cues consumers use to infer product quality. Only a few studies have dealt with cues that allow consumers to infer category typicality. Connecting these research streams we show how different cues affect both product quality and category typicality assessments, how these perceptions interact, and how they influence purchase intention. Results of this conjoint experiment among 113 restaurant patrons indicate that typicality cues can also serve as inferences for quality, and that cues influence purchase intentions via their effect on perceived typicality rather than on perceived quality. Once a consumer has determined the usage situation and his inherent consumption goals, he is much more inclined to search for the cues such as table setting that signal the subcategory that is expected to satisfy these goals, than finding cues such as guidebook rating that are diagnostic of product quality (only). After carefully addressing typicality cues which are instrumental in stressing points of parity, brand managers can use quality cues to show the product's points of difference in a category.     

Trustmarks: Strategies for exploiting their full potential in e-commerce

Internet-based commerce has undergone explosive growth over the past decade and is expected to keep growing. With the increasing popularity of online marketplaces, trust is seen as a key foundation for consumers’ willingness to purchase, in particular, from unknown sellers. While trust has been examined in various contexts, limited focus has been placed on the importance of displaying institutional trust assurances such as trustmarks on retailers’ websites. We conducted two studies into how the use of trustmarks impacts consumer trust, consumer risk perceptions, and, consequently, influences consumer purchase intentions. The results of the two studies suggest that the use of trustmarks increases consumer online trust and purchase intentions, as well as reducing their perceived risk. We use these results to inform managerial decision making in e-commerce, particularly for marketers and e-retailers. We provide three important managerial lessons to be learned from our insights. Our implications are important not only for mature e-commerce markets to create a competitive advantage but also for growing and emerging e-commerce markets, where new retailers are trying to establish trust among their consumers to increase market share.     

Product Touch and Consumers’ Online and Offline Buying: The Role of Mental Representation

As offline retailers struggle to compete with online ones, the importance of a consumer’s ability to touch a product prior to purchase becomes important to study. Prior research has found inconsistent results on whether product touch facilitates consumers’ product-related decision making. Some studies report a positive effect, whereas others do not. The current research reconciles this inconsistency and draws retailing implications. Across three experiments, we show that the effect of product touch on consumers’ purchase intentions and willingness to pay for a product being evaluated is evident when consumers’ mental representation of the product is concrete, but not when abstract. We further show that perceived risk and perceived ownership simultaneously mediate this moderating effect of mental representation. Implications are drawn for both offline and online retailers.     

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.     

Mediating Role of Company Information in the Relationships among Perceived Risks and Purchase Intentions in an Online Retailing Context

The exponential growth of the online retail sector has attracted the attention of researchers across the globe. Understanding the consumer decision-making process in an online retail context is of vital importance to all online retailers. The objective of this study was to examine the direct and indirect impacts of perceived risks on consumers’ purchase intentions in an online shopping context. This study applied structural equation modeling to test the study model with data from 234 samples. We found a significant negative full mediating impact of performance risk, financial risk, physical risk, and psychological risk on consumers’ purchase intentions. Moreover, we found a partial mediating impact of social risk on purchase intentions. However, we did not find a mediating impact of time risk on purchase intentions. These empirical results may help online retailers to better understand their consumers, their intentions to purchase, and their level of risk perceptions. Accordingly, online marketers can frame contemporary strategies to attract retail customers, leading to greater profitability of the organization.     

“I got it FIRST”: Antecedents of competitive consumption of a new product

When a new product of a well-known brand is released, consumers wait in line as early as possible to increase their chances of purchasing the product. This research investigated the two-stage competitive arousal model of a new product purchase competition. Results of a structural equation modeling with a multi-group analysis approach showed that competitive arousal was a central psychological state stimulated by product uniqueness, scarcity, popularity, need for uniqueness, and self-enhancement value, influencing the intention to queue in line. Practical insights in targeting the right consumers and promoting a new product to draw optimal attention from consumers were further discussed.     

Is bigger better? How the scale effect influences green purchase intention: The case of washing machine

To stimulate purchase of green products, retailers and marketers need to know how to effectively present benefits of green products, specifically by numerical information. Accordingly, the current study provides useful insights on how to use numerical scale to influence consumer perceptions and green purchase intention. Data from a survey of 302 consumers show that green benefits expressed with an expanded scale (versus a contracted scale) increase perceived value of green products, producing in turn an increase in green purchase intention. Furthermore, low skepticism consumers perceive more value from benefits expressed in an expanded scale, but high skepticism consumers are less likely to be influenced by framing of the numerical scale due to heightened involvement. Significant moderation of consumer skepticism reveals its tempering effect on numerosity heuristic thinking in favor of the central processing route. These findings advance knowledge in the fields of numerosity heuristic, consumer decision and green consumption and provide managerial implications for retailers to formulate effective market segmentation strategies and enhance persuasiveness of numerical information to promote green purchase behavior.     

Out-of-stock justifications and consumers’ behavioral outcomes– exploring the role of product type and sales level information in out-of-stock situations

The present study extends prior research on stockouts by examining how product-related attributes interact with OOS justifications to influence consumer responses to stockouts. Drawing from Out-of-stock (OOS) literature, this study investigates how perceived popularity, perceived uniqueness, negative affect, and behavioral outcomes are influenced by out-of-stock justifications, product type, and sales level. Two scenario-based experiments and two field studies are conducted in which the cause of the stockout, product type, and sales level are manipulated at different levels. The results of the studies provide the following primary insights- 1) Consumers infer popularity of the product when the product is OOS due to high demand or when the sales level is high 2) Consumers infer uniqueness of the product when the product is OOS due to short supply but not when sales level is low 3) As the perceived popularity of utilitarian products or the perceived uniqueness of hedonic products increases, consumers' propensity to switch stores to purchase the OOS products increases 4) Consumers’ intention to spread negative word of mouth decreases when the cause of OOS or a high sales level is specified. Retailers can influence behavioral outcomes by specifying the cause of stockout tailored according to the type of product, or by providing sales level information.     

The impact of cross border E-tailer's return policy on consumer's purchase intention

Based on the signaling theory, cue utilization theory and halo effect theory, this paper establishes a theoretical model of the impact of return policy leniency on consumer purchase intention in the context of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC). The model is verified by the experimental data. Moreover, the mediating role of perceived quality and perceived risk and the moderating effects of port of shipment and product traceability code are significant. The results show that in the CBEC scenario, when the online retailers adopt a lenient return policy, the consumers have higher perceived quality and lower perceived risk, which in turn leads to a higher intention to purchase; When a consumer purchases the product which ships from domestic bonded warehouse or a product without a product traceability code present, the effect of the leniency of return policy on perceived quality and perceived risk is stronger.     

Regular Price $299; Pre-order Price $199: Price Promotion for a Pre-ordered Product and the Moderating Role of Temporal Orientation

Retailers typically use the strategy of providing a discount to induce the sale of a new product at a pre-order stage. Despite the prevalence of this strategy, providing discounts might not be effective for all consumers. The present research shows that the positive effect of a discount depends on consumer temporal orientation. Results from four experimental studies reveal that a large discount positively affects present-oriented, but not future-oriented, consumers. The findings suggest that perceived financial risk and perceived product quality sequentially mediate the effect of discount size on value toward the deal and purchase intention. A third-party product quality rating boosts quality perceptions, which in turn reduces perceived financial risk and positively enhances value toward the deal along with purchase intention. Our findings demonstrate that when the brand itself acts as a reliable signal of quality, a discount has its intended effect for both present- and future-oriented consumers. Overall, the findings of this research suggest that a retailer can use quality cues along with a discount, especially for a new brand, to appeal to the broadest group, as it will attract both future- and present-oriented consumers.     

The Effect of Scarcity on the Purchase Intentions of Prevention and Promotion Motivated Consumers

This study investigates the influence of consumers’ motivational orientations (“prevention” vs. “promotion”) on their susceptibility to demand‐based versus supply‐based scarcity, measured by purchase intention scores. Prevention‐focused participants were more inclined to adopt a product when it was perceived to be demand‐scarce rather than supply‐scarce, while those who were identified as promotion‐focused responded positively to scarcity attributed to supply shortfall. In addition, products that could be associated with a prevention motive enhanced purchase intentions when presented as demand‐scarce but not if perceived to be supply‐scarce; conversely, products associated with the promotion motive scored better if the scarcity was seen to be supply‐generated rather than demand‐generated. Lastly, messages focused on prevention were more effective than those focused on promotion in the case of perceived demand scarcity, whereas the converse holds true for supply scarcity. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the motivational differences underlying the effectiveness of scarcity appeals. They furthermore suggest the strategic implication that improved intention to purchase occurs when the regulatory focus evoked by a scarcity‐related message is compatible with the appeal it communicates.     

在线促销限制对消费者购买决策的影响研究——基于精细加工可能性视角

文章基于精细加工可能性理论探究了在线购物情景中不同促销限制类型（时间限制和数量限制）对消费者购买决策行为的影响。通过2（产品涉入度：高vs低）×2（限制类型：限时vs限量）的组间因子实验设计进行了实证研究,结果发现：在线促销情境下,促销限制对消费者购买决策的影响受到消费者产品涉入度的调节。当产品涉入度高时,消费者偏好时间限制促销,购买意向更高,感知控制感起了中介作用。当产品涉入度低时,偏好数量限制促销,购买意向更高,感知稀缺性起了中介作用。文章丰富了促销理论和消费者购买决策理论,同时为商家进行有效的在线促销提供了直接指导。     

A cross-country comparison of online deal popularity effect

The paper examines the effect of online deal popularity for service deals in a cross-country context. A 2 (deal popularity: low vs high) X 2 (culture: collectivist vs individualist) quasi experimental design was used to collect data in Australia and Taiwan to examine the consumer reactions toward deal popularity information of service deals on e-retailing websites. Results show consumers' perceived performance and psychological risk mediate the effect of deal popularity on purchase intention both in the Australian and Taiwanese samples. In addition, consumers' reactions towards online popularity information for online service deals do differ across cultures. While high deal popularity increases the Australian consumers' performance and psychological risk perceptions, which in turn lowers their purchase intention, high deal popularity decreases the Taiwanese consumers’ risk perception and enhances their purchase intention. This paper contributes to the broader fields of retailing and services studies by providing insights for online retailers concerning how deal popularity can be leveraged as a means to reduce perceptions of risk for Taiwanese consumers but with caveats for their Australian counterparts. As a first study that examines the effect of online deal popularity for service deals in a cross-country context, it extends the body of knowledge in a fast-changing domain of consumer behavior e-commerce settings.     

Place and certification cue usage with Canadian forest products

Place-based promotion is used in many industries, including food and wine products, to create a competitive advantage. This study focused on consumer behaviours related to cue usage of origin (i.e. local and imported) and certification (i.e. sustainable products) with the goal of understanding the importance of these two cues used together or separately in the context of Canadian forest products. The study asked consumers in a small Canadian city about their quality beliefs, value assessments and purchase intentions for local and/or certified products. Using a quasi-experimental design, the manipulations include location (local vs. imported), certification (certified vs. uncertified) and product type (commodity vs. value-added). A repeated measures ANOVA found that both cues of origin and certification were important as respondents perceived local products as better quality and higher value, and respondents were more likely to purchase them over most other types. A regression analysis indicated that in most cases quality and value were predictors, but value was the most important indicator of the likeliness to purchase specific forest products. This study has the potential to aid marketers because certification cue usage does not appear to have been examined in conjunction with a product’s local vs. foreign origin.     

Factors influencing generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical versus me-too brands

The current study examines self-confidence, perceived quality, extrinsic attributes and perceived risk as drivers and inhibitors of Generation Y’s purchase intentions of prototypical and me-too brands. A survey of 348 respondents demonstrated that self-confidence and perceived quality produced significant positive effects on purchase intentions for the me-too brands. Extrinsic attributes produced a significant positive effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Perceived financial/performance risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for both the prototypical and me-too brands, while perceived psychological risk produced a significant negative effect on purchase intentions for the prototypical brand. Understanding the factors underlying Gen Y’s consumer behaviour is crucial, particularly due to their considerable consumption potential and the increasing sophistication of brand marketing in the marketplace.     

Extrinsic Cues and Consumer Judgments of Food Product Introductions: The Case of Pangasius in Norway

In this article, the authors explore how the extrinsic cues corporate social responsibility, endorsement, and country of origin affect consumer evaluations of product quality, value, and expected product popularity for frozen Pangasius filets, a farmed fish product just recently introduced into the Norwegian market. The effects of these three variables are tested on purchase intentions. By means of a 2?×?2?×?2 factorial experiment in combination with survey data, the authors find that the three extrinsic cues under study had different effects on the evaluative variables. Furthermore, these variables all had positive and significant effects on purchase intentions. Hence, the general conclusion is that importers of new food products like Pangasius can benefit from focusing on extrinsic cues when the intrinsic cues are hard to evaluate or are unknown. Through the indirect effect on purchase intentions, extrinsic cues play an important role when consumers judge unfamiliar and new products.