Perceptions of functional clothing by able-bodied people: the other side

Functional clothing was examined as a factor in social interactions between physically disabled and non-disabled people. In the present study, the perceptions of able-bodied college students were compared with the evaluations of students with physical disabilities from a previous study. Seven line drawings of clothing with functional features were rated on semantic differential scales in a self-administered questionnaire. The non-disabled students were more positive than the disabled students on all of the scales for five of the seven styles. The able-bodied subjects also tended to use more global constructs when perceiving the styles than did their disabled counterparts, who were more likely to distinguish function as a separate dimension. Sex differences were found, with a tendency for the females to be more positive than the males in their ratings of the styles. Implications of the data and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

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.     

Why Consumers Hesitate to Shop Online: Perceived Risk and Product Involvement on Taobao.com

Heralded as one of the fastest-growing regions in e-commerce sales, Asia has received increasing attention from online retailers as a promising e-commerce market. Therefore, to provide better insight into Asian online marketplaces, this study focuses on Taobao.com (hereafter referred to as “Taobao”), a major Chinese online marketplace, and attempts to shed light on consumers’ perceptions of Taobao. More specifically, this study examines (a) what consumers in China think about Taobao as an online marketplace when purchasing high- or low-involvement products; (b) what types of risk are associated with each product; and (c) how online consumers’ risk perceptions consequently influence both their trust toward Taobao and their purchase intention. Multidimensional perceived risks (financial, privacy, product, security, social/psychological, time) were considered in the research. Participants were 217 Chinese university students. The results indicate that product risk and social/psychological risk were negatively associated with consumers’ trust and purchase intention, regardless of their degree of product involvement. Interestingly, financial risk was positively related to trust and purchase intention. Findings are discussed with managerial implications, followed by limitations and future studies.     

Perceived risk and mail order shopping for apparel

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived risk regarding apparel selection and mail order shopping. One-hundred and two adult women from a medium-sized midwestern city in the U.S.A. participated in a telephone survey. Factor analysis uncovered four distinct types of risk associated with mail order shopping: economic, performance-related, physical and social/psychological. Multivariate and univariate analyses revealed that economic risk was the only risk that was significantly different from other categories of risk. A Scheffé post hoc comparison indicated that economic risk was higher for respondents who were non- or infrequent mail order shoppers than for frequent mail order shoppers. These results contribute to the literature on mail order shopping by isolating the product category of apparel. The results can aid catalogue and other direct marketing companies by suggesting that they focus on alleviating economic losses of future clients, thereby making it easier for consumers to capitalize on the convenience features of this patronage mode.     

消费者对网上购物的风险认知及影响因素

风险认知是影响消费者网上购物的重要因素。网上购物的风险,主要包括财务风险、性能风险、身体风险、时间风险、隐私风险、心理风险和社会风险等维度。影响消费者网上购物风险认知的因素,主要有网络使用经验、网上购物经历、产品知识、创新性等。采取一些适当的措施,可以有效地降低网上购物的风险认知。     

Information Sensitivity Typology: Mapping the Degree and Type of Risk Consumers Perceive in Personal Data Sharing

Surveys show significant public concern regarding information privacy. To better understand how consumer concerns vary by type of personal data, the authors created a typology of information types based on perceived associated risks. In a national consumer survey, 52 information types were analyzed along four perceived risk categories (physical, psychological, monetary, and social), consumers' overall sensitivity regarding the information, and their willingness to provide it. This resulted in six highly distinctive clusters—Basic Demographics, Personal Preferences, Contact Information, Community Interaction, Financial Information, and Secure Identifiers—organized around similarities in perceived risk profile. Additionally, consumer segmentation analysis shows rank order of cluster risk perceptions to be stable, even when perceived magnitude and overall risk propensities change by segment. This research advances the conversation from an outdated PII/non‐PII framework to a more meaningful, consumer‐based understanding of the perceived risks associated with different types of personal information.     

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.     

The effect of knowledge types on consumer‐perceived risk and adoption of genetically modified foods

Scientists have asserted that genetically modified (GM) food offers financial, environmental, health, and quality benefits to society, but the realization of such benefits depends on consumer acceptance of this new technology. Consumer concerns about GM food raise questions about what consumers know about GM food and to what extent this knowledge translates into their evaluations of GM products. The present research empirically examines the effect of both objective and subjective knowledge on perceived risk and, in turn, key consumer behaviors associated with GM food. The results reveal that objective knowledge about GM food significantly reduces performance and psychological risks, whereas subjective knowledge influences only physical risk, and the valence of that impact depends on the level of the consumer's objective knowledge. Furthermore, different risk types enhance consumers' information search and reduce their propensity to buy GM food. The overall findings thus suggest the need for cooperation among government, scientific institutions, and the food industry to foster effective communication strategies that increase consumers' objective knowledge, reduce their risk perceptions, and encourage consumer adoptions of GM technology. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Fight Against Obesity: Influences of Self-Efficacy on Exercise Regularity

Given the current social problem of obesity, past and current research efforts have examined consumer choice and decisionmaking regarding food consumption. However, preventative health behaviors such as exercise are also instrumental in combating the obesity epidemic. Limited studies in the marketing literature have explored how internal and psychological characteristics influence physical activity and exercise regularity. Thus, this study seeks to examine how individual self-efficacy impacts exercise behavior. Findings indicate that in order to fully explain the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and exercise regularity, significant mediating factors such as health consciousness, goal progress, attitude toward exercise, and satisfaction with current weight must be included in the decision-making process. Implications for consumers, social marketers, and public policy makers are discussed.     

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.     

Understanding post-pandemic market segmentation through perceived risk,behavioural intention,and emotional wellbeing of consumers

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumer behaviour, leading to varying levels of perceived risk for different products and services. Companies must reassess their market segmentation strategies and adapt them to take effective countermeasures to improve employee performance and achieve the desired results. Research on post-pandemic segmentation is lacking. Thus, this study aims to create consumer archetypes based on perceived risk and examine how they affect behaviour and emotions post-pandemic. Based on 1,140 survey responses from Taiwanese consumers, consumer segments are classified into three archetypes: Moderate, Aggressive, and Hesitant. The Hesitant group mainly comprised senior women who faced high physical and psychological risks. In contrast, the moderate archetype group had the lowest levels of perceived risk but showed less interest in shopping activities and personal hygiene than the other two groups. Aggressive shoppers prioritise quality and convenience, with fluctuating emotions during shopping, despite moderate concerns about the virus.     

Reexamining emerging market animosity toward western developed countries: A social dilemma in physical retailing consumption under normative influence

Focusing on physical retailing as an apparent target for boycotts in the context of emerging market consumers' animosity toward Western developed countries, this research pioneers in its in-depth examination of a social dilemma whereby consumers on one hand wish to avoid purchasing Western products/services to meet social expectations, while on the other wish to continue purchasing Western products/services, because of perceived Western product/service superiority, at the risk of social disapproval. Differing from conventional animosity research that largely neglects interpersonal influence, this research synthesizes social influence theory and social exchange theory to compare consumers’ purchase decisions in visible (physical retailing) and less-visible (online shopping) consumption contexts that are subject to different strengths of normative influence, and proposes a cost-benefit analysis to explain how consumers make trade-offs between social expectations and self-interest. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Our study findings have important implications for future animosity research on consumer services that are subject to stronger normative pressure.     

A comparison of alternative theoretical explanations of consumer food safety assessments

The technical approach assumes that risk assessments made by technical experts are relatively objective and value‐free evaluations of the probability of negative consequences arising from use of a technology. Risk communication strategies associated with the technical approach focus upon educating an uninformed public about ‘actual’ risk. When consumer perceptions do not agree with technical assessments, consumers are deemed to be uniformed, irrational and sometimes dangerous to public health programmes. The social process approach assumes that technical assessments and applications of technology are influenced by political, social and economic interests. Consumer perceptions arise from social interaction with family and friends and depend strongly upon trust in societal institutions. Risk communication strategy emphasizes the importance of two‐way communication that encourages well reasoned public discourse and trust in societal institutions. Findings from examining the cognitive, emotional, and social determinants of perceptions of food irradiation for 164 adults residing in the Mid‐western USA indicate that the technical and social process approaches are complementary, but most of the variance in acceptance and perceived risk was explained by variables associated with the social process approach.     

Factors affecting luxury consumers’ webrooming intention: A moderated-mediation approach

The aim of this study to investigate factors affecting luxury consumers’ webrooming intention using a moderated mediation framework. The study also investigates the mediating effects of perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value and how these mediating effects are moderated by online risk perceptions. Data were collected using offline survey from 374 luxury consumers in India, using systematic sampling. The results indicated that perceived usefulness of online search, need for touch and socialization have significant impact on webrooming intention. Perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value mediate the effect of variables on webrooming intention and mediation effect of perceived utilitarian value varied between high and low levels of online risk perceptions. Findings of this study will help luxury retailers in managing consumer channel switching behaviour. The study enriches luxury marketing literature by examining emerging webrooming, channel switching phenomenon.     

The shape of premiumness: Logo Shape's effects on perceived brand premiumness and brand preference

Logos are the brands’ visual identity, which can influence brand positioning and contribute to brand success. However, little is known about the effect of logo shape on brand premiumness perception. Thus, we conducted four studies, including one archival dataset analysis, to examine this issue. Results revealed that consumers perceive angular-logo brands as more premium than circular-logo brands. Such logo shape effect is driven by perceived psychological distance between the brand and consumers. We further identified the downstream consequences of perceived brand premiumness. To express status, consumers are more likely to choose angular-logo brands, which are perceived as more premium. However, consumers unmotivated by status-expressing goals will be unaffected by such perceptions. These findings have theoretical implications regarding brand logo and positioning, and practical implications for logo design.     

Consumer cynicism and perceived deception in vanity sizing: The moderating role of retailer (dis)honesty

While prior scholarship has acknowledged the overall positive influence of vanity sizing on consumer outcomes, no work to date has addressed the psychological process that occurs when consumers suspect retailers of dishonest sizing information. This is an important process to understand because perceptions of deceptive retailer motives lead consumers to react negatively to the product and the retailer, regardless of the retailer's actual motives. Thus, this research utilizes attribution theory to examine perceived deception as a mediator between consumer cynicism (a dispositional trait) and consumer outcomes. The results reveal that at higher levels of consumer cynicism, prior knowledge of deceptive sizing practices has an amplifying effect on the influence of consumer cynicism on perceived deception, while retailer honesty with sizing issues helps to block this influence. Further, perceived deception leads to reduced consumer outcomes, confirming prior findings in the literature.     

Consequences of concern: ethics,social responsibility,and well‐being

Prior research has studied the antecedents of beliefs regarding ethics and social responsibility (ESR). However, few studies have examined how individual well‐being may be related to such beliefs. In this exploratory study, we assessed the relationship between perceived importance of ESR – both individually and of one's company – and indicators of physical and psychological well‐being. Results demonstrated that perceived importance of ESR was associated with three aspects of well‐being: exuberance for life, sleep problems, and job stress. The results are discussed in terms of future directions for research, and the need for a conceptual framework connecting individual and organizational perceptions of ESR and outcomes of well‐being.     

Perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion as drivers of psychological brand ownership

Firms strive hard to make their brands imbibed in consumers’ lives. Psychological brand ownership is one of the best ways to make consumers psychologically own the brand to generate favorable behavior. Thus, it becomes imperative for firms to know about the ways through which psychological brand ownership can be induced. To this end, the current study primarily examines perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion as the important antecedents to psychological brand ownership. In total 407 responses were collected through online mode. The results demonstrate that both perceived brand authenticity and social exclusion engender a sense of psychological brand ownership. In addition, the findings also lend support to positive word of mouth and purchase intentions as the outcomes of psychological brand ownership. The study presents some important implications to both academicians and practitioners.     

Consumer Perceptions of the Antecedents and Consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility

Perceptions of a firm’s stance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) are influenced by its corporate marketing efforts including branding, reputation building, and communications. The current research examines CSR from the consumer’s perspective, focusing on antecedents and consequences of perceived CSR. The findings strongly support the fact that particular cues, namely perceived financial performance and perceived quality of ethics statements, influence perceived CSR which in turn impacts perceptions of corporate reputation, consumer trust, and loyalty. Both consumer trust and loyalty were also found to reduce the perceived risk that consumers experience in buying and using products. From these significant findings, we draw several conclusions and implications, including the importance of enhancing firm focus toward its ethical commitment and long-term reputation.