Customer Response to Web Site Atmospherics: Task-relevant Cues,Situational Involvement and PAD

Using the pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) model, this study seeks to extend existing knowledge about consumers' activities in online retail environments by focusing on the largely ignored role of perceived dominance. In online environments, perceived dominance might influence purchasing intentions both directly and indirectly through pleasure. Furthermore, consumers' perceptions of Web site atmospherics (informativeness, navigational cues, perceived organization, and entertainment) likely affect two dimensions of emotion (perceived dominance and arousal). This study also investigates the moderating effects of situational involvement on the relationships among the PAD dimensions for online consumers. The results affirm that perceived dominance has direct effects on purchasing intentions, as well as indirect impacts through pleasure. The impact of perceived dominance on pleasure also is moderated by situational involvement. Whereas high task-relevant cues exert significant effects on perceived dominance, low task-relevant cues influence arousal. Therefore, this research shows that perceived dominance relates to online customers' purchasing intentions, which represents an extension of existing knowledge about the PAD model applied online; it also provides notable managerial implications for e-marketers.     

Do online peer reviews stimulate diners’ continued log-in behavior: Investigating the role of emotions in the O2O meal delivery apps context

There is growing evidence that online peer reviews posted on online-to-offline (O2O) commerce platforms are a valuable source of information stimuli in consumer purchase decision-making. The research into the impact of different factors related to environmental stimuli (online peer reviews) on consumers' continued log-in behavior is under-researched in the context of O2O meal delivery apps (MDAs). Drawing on the theoretical lens of stimulus-organism-response and pleasure-arousal-dominance (PAD) models, this study examined the role of text and pictographic online review content in evoking emotions that predict continued log-in behavior on MDAs. Using a quasi-experimental setup with 134 participants from Germany, the findings reveal that the textual content of reviews positively related to pleasure and arousal, whereas the pictographic content of reviews generated pleasure and arousal. All three emotions of PAD were found to be significant predictors of the MDAs continued log-in behavior. In addition to the main effects, the results also showed the mediating effect of pleasure and arousal on continued log-in behavior. Moreover, app familiarity was found to moderate the effect of review content on emotions, implying that consumers with high app familiarity evoke fewer diners’ emotions than those with low app familiarity. In the unique Western cultural context of this MDAs setting, the findings have important theoretical and practical implications for academicians, MDAs managers and developers, and food delivery firms.     

Emotions,deliberations, and end‐of‐life products

Death is inevitable; yet, not all consumers prepare for death by purchasing end‐of‐life (EOL) products. Using the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the dual‐process model framework, this study aims to examine the role of emotions and cognitions in influencing consumers' decisions to engage in planning for death. A mixed methodology design was used. Study 1, a qualitative study, uncovered positive and negative emotions and deliberative reasoning that comprise consumers' EOL purchase decision process. Study 2, a quantitative study, confirmed that emotions and deliberations independently and jointly influenced consumers' EOL attitude and behavior and that emotions affected deliberations for both prepaid funerals and wills. Subjective norms outperformed attitude in predicting both products' purchase behavior. These finding supported the dual‐process model of behavior and the TRA in the EOL research context and contributed to the EOL literature by investigating the effects of emotions and deliberations concurrently; thus validating the important role of emotions in influencing EOL planning and purchase. In light of our findings, marketers could, after due cognizance of the morbidity and sensitivity of the topic, develop actionable promotional and segmentation strategies for EOL products and other emotion‐laden, unsought products and service.     

The effect of consumption emotions on satisfaction and word‐of‐mouth communications

This paper examines the impact of consumption emotions on consumers' satisfaction and how it affects what they tell other consumers. The conceptual model is based on the premise that pleasure and arousal influence satisfaction, word‐of‐mouth (WOM) communications, and the likelihood of generating WOM. A study of 470 moviegoers in a French Canadian city supports most of these relationships. The results indicate that even when the effects of satisfaction are accounted for, pleasure and arousal have significant effects on WOM. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effects of influencer type,regulatory focus,and perceived authenticity on consumers' purchase intention

Companies often use influencers to promote their products, and many celebrities have expanded their activities on social media as influencers. In this work, we classified influencers into celebrity and noncelebrity groups and analyzed how they affect consumers' purchase intention. We also analyzed how psychological variables, such as regulatory focus and perceived authenticity affect this process. We conducted three studies with consumers in China, South Korea, and the United States who participated in each between-subjects experiment. The results showed that people have higher purchase intention for products recommended by noncelebrity influencers than those recommended by celebrity influencers. We also found that regulatory focus moderates the relationship between the influencer type and consumers' purchase intention. Purchase intention for products recommended by noncelebrity influencers were stronger among prevention-focused consumers. However, no significant difference in the effect of influencer type was found among promotion-focused consumers. We found that perceived authenticity mediated this moderating effect. The results of this study provide effective marketing strategies and implications for companies when they use influencers as a tool for marketing activities.     

Additive omnichannel atmospheric cues: The mediating effects of cognitive and affective responses on purchase intention

In today's channel-centric retail ecosystem the right mix and orchestration of online and offline stimulus is paramount towards providing an optimal store atmosphere and shopping experience. Applying the S-O-R framework, this research explores additive omnichannel atmospheric cues stimuli, in order to discover their impact on affective (i.e., pleasure, arousal and dominance) and cognitive (i.e., store environmental quality perception) states and their consequential effect on consumer responses in the form of purchase intention. Employing a four-condition repeated measures experimental design in a physical store, utilizing mobile, IoT and social media channels (Study 1), as well as a between-subjects online lab experiment (Study 2), this research sheds light into the affective and cognition-mediated causal mechanisms that influence shopping outcomes. This work reveals that combining stimulus from all retail channels within the physical store (i.e., omnichannel atmospheric cues) increases consumers' pleasure, arousal and the quality of the environment as a whole, which in turn positively influences purchase intention. However, the impact of dominance is only prominent at the more controlled, laboratory setting, in which purchase intention increases while dominance attenuates.     

How background visual complexity influences purchase intention in live streaming: The mediating role of emotion and the moderating role of gender

There is growing evidence that visual complexity plays a crucial role in consumer purchase behavior. However, existing research on background visual complexity’s effect on individuals’ purchase intention in live streaming is limited. This study explores the relationships between live background visual complexity, emotional states, and purchase intention, by drawing on the stimulus-organism-response theory. A 3 × 2 between-subjects online experiment was developed with participants’ emotional and intention data. The results indicate that the background visual complexity of the livestream room influences consumers’ purchase intention positively via the evoked emotional states (pleasure and arousal). Background visual complexity exhibits an inverted U-shaped effect on consumers’ emotions. Additionally, the results reveal a significant moderating effect of gender on the relationship between background visual complexity and purchase intention. Women exhibit an inverted U-shaped effect on emotion and purchase intention, whereas men show a positive linear relationship when faced with complexity.     

Want to make me emotional? The influence of emotional advertisements on women’s consumption behavior

A wide difference of opinion exists about the content and composition of emotions. Advertising may influence an audience and their buying decisions about products and services. The objective of this study is to better conceptualize how women emotionally respond to emotional advertisements (EAs). The variant views are integrated into an ACE model, composed of subordinate levels of emotions (E), celebrity endorsements (C), and appeal drivers (A). This empirical study examines women’s emotional response using data from 240 Chinese women respondents. The study participants were invited to develop ACE mix based advertisements and fill out questionnaires. PLS-SEM analysis, a novel approach in ACE advertisement development and its applicability to consumer behavior, was used. The results show that showbiz celebrities expressing the emotion of happiness with music and color make the most effective ACE mix to influence the consumption behavior of women. The results are significantly mediated by attention levels and are widely applicable in the burgeoning advertising industry. The study also calls for further research with different ACE mixes in different contexts and on different audiences. It also opens doors for policy making and an appropriate understanding of women’s consumption behavior in the Chinese context.     

网络商店形象对情感反应和在线冲动性购买意愿的影响

文章对M-R模型进行调整,建立了反映网络商店形象对情感反应和在线冲动性购买意愿影响的概念模型,并利用结构方程模型对概念模型进行了验证。研究结果表明:商品形象对在线冲动性购买意愿的总体正面影响最强,其次是促销形象,沟通形象的总体正面影响最弱,订单履行形象的总体影响则是负面的;商品形象和促销形象对冲动性购买意愿有直接积极的影响,订单履行形象对冲动性购买意愿有直接负面的影响;商品、沟通和订单履行形象对顾客快乐情感有积极显著的影响,而且商品形象能积极显著地影响顾客的唤起情感;快乐和唤起两种情感反应能积极显著地影响在线冲动性购买意愿。文章根据这些发现提出了相应的营销建议,并给出了研究的局限和未来研究方向。     

The effects of endorsers' facial expressions on status perceptions and purchase intentions

The facial expressions that endorsers convey in a print ad can influence consumers' reactions to the product being advertised. This effect, which is mediated by perceptions of the endorsers' social status, depends on whether the endorser is male or female. Consumers expect endorsers' facial expressions to conform to normative expectations for how men and women present themselves to others and they attribute high social status to those whose expressions deviate from these expectations. Thus, they perceive smiling male endorsers to have high status but smiling female endorsers to have low status. These perceptions, which are independent of warmth and competence, influence consumers' willingness to purchase products whose social prestige value is unknown a priori. Five experiments confirm these conclusions and demonstrate their implications for actual purchase behavior.     

To tell or not to tell? The roles of perceived norms and self‐consciousness in understanding consumers' willingness to recommend online secondhand apparel shopping

Secondhand apparel shopping resides in a domain characterized by used goods traditionally associated with financially marginalized consumers. Acknowledging the elusive psychological barriers associated with preowned apparel, this study explores mechanisms that facilitate consumers' willingness to recommend online secondhand apparel shopping. Results from three experimental studies and a cross‐sectional survey of online secondhand shoppers in the United States reveal that hedonic and ethical benefits influence recommendation behavior via perceived norms, whereas economic benefit directly influences consumers' willingness to recommend. Moderated mediation analyses further demonstrate that self‐consciousness alters the strength of the indirect effects, such that consumers with lower self‐consciousness displayed greater willingness to recommend compared to highly self‐conscious consumers. Findings contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the roles perceived norms and self‐consciousness play in facilitating or inhibiting recommendation behavior in a context that implicitly involves self‐disclosure of one's secondhand purchase behavior. Managerial implications offer insights on salient benefits that can be leveraged to influence word‐of‐mouth recommendation.     

The role of preconsumption affect in postpurchase evaluation of services

The primary objective of this article is to examine the impact of preconsumption affect on consumers' postpurchase evaluations. More specifically, we wanted to investigate how the two basic dimensions of affect—pleasure and arousal—contribute to customer evaluations of different types of services. To test our hypotheses, four service settings reflecting the quadrants in Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect were chosen. Data were collected at two points of time: at the preprocess stage and immediately after the core service delivery. The results of this study suggest that pleasure and arousal, the two dimensions of emotional responses to the preprocess service environment, may interact in determining postpurchase evaluations. The interaction effect was observed for global satisfaction judgments and for repeat purchase behavior, thus suggesting that the combined effects of arousal and pleasure need to be considered in the design of preconsumption service settings. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Identifying the critical factors of customer behavior: An integration perspective of marketing strategy and components of attitudes

The purpose of this empirical study is to operationalize the relationship of green marketing's influence on consumer attitudes via the mediating role of marketing mix towards green products to validate the proposed research model in the Taiwanese context of explaining consumers' willingness to be environmentally friendly. The model is based on structural equation modeling (SEM) from data collected from 977 online consumers. The findings revealed that green consumption intention was significantly and indirectly driven by attitude to green products. Additionally, the effect of perceived quality on marketing mix and consumer willingness in environmental concern is both significant and positive. However, when a restaurant has high consumer social responsibility (CnSR) for marketing mix, the consumer attitudes of cognitive, affective, and behavioral model (C-A-B model) is less effective. These findings have contributed to the revival of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and offer a comprehensive understanding of consumer attitude, consumer social responsibility, marketing mix and perceived quality impact that a restaurant has on the ability to raise consumer willingness to purchase green products or food. We provides valuable suggestions to marketers to design from the perspective of green marketing policies and strategies in order to accommodate Taiwan's indigenous green restaurants.     

A conceptual model to imply a negative innovation assessment framework on consumer behaviors through the electronic business platforms

Online retail platforms significantly impact consumers' purchasing decisions. Satisfaction, purchase intent, and repeat online shopping drive the platform's purchasing decisions. In contrast, individuals do not purchase products due to dissatisfaction and lack of purchasing intent. It will cause hesitation and spread negative feedback to influence online consumer behaviors. This research proposes a conceptual model incorporating the Status Quo Bias (SQB) and the Negative Online Purchase Decision-Making Process (NOPDMP) to suggest a new framework for evaluating the maintained consumer behavior of online shopping platforms. The questionnaires following the proposed conceptual model were collected from the sample data from participants of 384 experienced respondents using online shopping platforms. Data were analyzed for the causal relationship using Structural Equation Model. The implications of the assessment framework that incorporates the influence of negative factors can weigh the decision to purchase products and improve and reduce shopping cart abandonment on e-commerce platforms. This framework can also describe instances of negative perspectives regarding incentive alignments with actual behaviors.     

Consumer purchase intentions for green products: Mediating role of WTP and moderating effects of framing

This research examines the role of consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) in the purchase decision process for a green product and investigates the moderating effects of two types of framing: price and ecological message claim. Using an experimental design, 262 participants were assigned randomly to one of nine conditions (3 price × 3 ecological message frames). The results reveal a mediating effect of WTP on the relationship between consumers' perceptions and purchase intentions. Furthermore, a price framed in aggregate terms reinforces the positive effect of WTP on purchase intention. The mere presence of an ecological message claim also enhances the relation between WTP and purchase intentions. This research proposes ways marketers can promote their green products. The results encourage the use of ecological messages and frames of prices in an aggregate form to enhance consumers' purchase intentions through WTP.     

How frontline employees' communication styles affect consumers' willingness to interact: The boundary condition of emotional ability similarity

This research explored the impacts of frontline employees' communication styles (task-oriented vs. social-oriented) on consumers' willingness to interact. The hypothesized relationship between communication style and willingness to interact was tested based on two experiments and analyzed by ANOVA and PROCESS program. The results revealed that consumers' willingness to interact was higher when frontline employees adopted a social-oriented style, while social distance mediated this influence. We identified emotional ability similarity as a boundary condition, indicating that social-oriented communication is more effective than task-oriented when there is low emotional ability similarity. However, when the emotional ability similarity is high, both communication styles positively influence consumers' willingness to interact. Theoretical contributions, managerial applications, and future research directions are discussed.     

The effects of background music on consumers' desire to affiliate in buyer-seller interactions

The effect of music-induced pleasure and arousal on consumers' desire to affiliate in buyer-seller interactions were investigated in the context of bank services. Background music was manipulated using classical music extracts pretested to vary in pleasure (low, moderate, and high) and arousal (low, moderate, and high) according to the Affect Grid (Russell, Weiss, & Mendelsohn, 1989). Independent and interactive effects of music-induced pleasure and arousal on consumers' desire to affiliate were found. Higher desire to affiliate was associated with more pleasure and more arousal; pleasure had a stronger positive impact under low and high arousal than under a moderate level, and arousal had a stronger effect under low and high pleasure compared to moderate level. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are provided. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Moderating Price Sensitivity of Low-Uncertainty Daily Eco-Friendly Products: Creating Benevolence Trust and Reducing Uncertainties

For low-uncertainty daily eco-friendly products like eco-shampoo, consumers' willingness to pay a higher price can be the biggest barrier to hinder their purchase. In this research, we propose that benevolence trust does have a significant effect in mitigating this barrier. This research also shows that benevolence trust can reduce uncertainties and feelings of anxiety and increase feelings of optimism, symbolic benefits, and perceived price value while adopting daily eco-friendly products. Above all, the research findings show that further reduction of uncertainties plays a key role in driving consumers' willingness to pay a higher price when purchasing low-uncertainty daily eco-friendly products. The findings were also supported by a practical case study.     

Modelling the antecedents of consumers' willingness to pay for eco-labelled food products

The purpose of this paper is to model the antecedents of consumers' willingness to pay for eco-labelled food products. This research utilizes the Theory of Planned Behaviour to model the impact of consumers' awareness of eco-labels, environmental concerns, beliefs in the environmental ability of eco-labels, and presence of children on their willingness to pay for eco-labelled food products. This study uses structural equational modelling and PROCESS macros, to test the moderated mediation model on a sample of 333 online responses. Findings suggest the impact of consumers' environmental concerns and eco-label awareness on their willingness to pay for eco-labelled food products is partially mediated by consumers' belief in the environmental ability of these eco-labels. The relationship is further moderated by the presence of children living in the household. This study establishes the value of consumers' beliefs in the environmental ability of eco-labels and implies that communication strategies need to be carefully refined to provide consumers with more information about eco-labels and to emphasize the environmental ability of eco-labels utilized within the food industry as this can have an impact on their willingness to pay for these products, especially for consumers, who have children in the same household.     

Measuring the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions – A scale development study

Consumers' exposure to online reviews influences their online retail shopping behavior. They search for reviews while evaluating products for purchase decisions. Past studies have indicated that online reviews affect the credibility and trust of the sellers and the products they sell on online platforms. Keeping this in view, the current paper aims to develop and validate a scale to understand the impact of online reviews on consumer purchase decisions. Data were collected from 431 young online shoppers for this research. The initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results helped identify four factors, viz. source credibility, volume, language and comprehension, and relevance which constitute the scale. The scale was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study's findings fill the gap of having a standardized scale that online retailers can use as indicators to assist consumers in their online decision-making. The discussions and implications support consumers' susceptibility to online reviews, an essential source for product and brand information in facilitating online consumers' purchase decisions.