Changing the marketplace one behavior at a time: Perceived marketplace influence and sustainable consumption

This study introduces the construct of Perceived Marketplace Influence (PMI) and investigates its role in mediating the relationship between environmental concern and sustainable consumption behavior. A nationwide survey shows that Perceived Marketplace Influence plays an important role in mediating the relationship between concern and behavior, providing an explanation for prior inconsistencies in this relationship. Accordingly, Perceived Marketplace Influence plays a purposeful role in transforming environmental concern into behavior. This project extends previous research on the relationship between values, beliefs, and behavior by showing that one's perception of influence on the marketplace behavior of others significantly influences one's own marketplace behavior. Improved understanding of this relationship provides updated guidance to firms and policymakers for projecting and encouraging sustainable consumption behavior.     

Female consumers׳ intention to be involved in fair-trade product consumption in the U.S.: The role of previous experience,product features,and perceived benefits

Fair-trade practices include paying fair wages, supporting participatory workplaces and environmentally sustainable production, and developing long-term and supportive buyer-producer relationships (Kunz, G. I. and Garner, M. B. (2011), Going Global (2nd ed.), New York, NY: Fairchild Books). Fair-trade is both a political movement organized around the theme of trade justice, and the practice of particular types of trading and production relationships (Mare, A. L. (2008), The impact of fair-trade on social and economic development: a review of the literature, Geography Compass, 2, (6), 1922–1942). The aim of this study was to examine female consumers׳ previous experience, product features and perceived benefits of fair-trade product consumption. Specifically, the study examined how previous experience or lack of experience in fair-trade product consumption influences female consumers׳ purchase decisions by considering the impact of product features and perceived benefits. Results indicated that consumers who did not have fair-trade products experience made their purchase decision based on traditional product features (i.e., style and new trends). On the other hand, consumers who had experience with fair-trade products more consider ethical responsibility (i.e., perceived consumer effectiveness) in fair-trade shopping. Implications and limitations were discussed.     

Consumer perceived value,involvement, trust,susceptibility to interpersonal influence,and intention to participate in online group buying

Postulating consumer involvement as crucial to online group buying, this study deploys consumer perceived value, perceived trust, and susceptibility to interpersonal influence to provide a closer look at consumer intention to participate in online group buying. The results of the proposed model, tested using structural equation modeling on a sample of 553 respondents, show that consumer involvement plays a central role in explaining intention to participate in online group buying. Consumer perceived value, perceived trust, and susceptibility to interpersonal influence all show a significant relationship with consumer involvement. Consumer perceived value also exhibits a strong relationship with perceived trust, which, in turn, exhibits a significant relationship with intention to participate in online group buying. The results furnish significant contributions to the theory and practice of online group buying and retailing. The limitations of the study and implications for future research in online group buying are discussed.     

On linking the perceived values of mobile shopping apps,customer well-being,and customer citizenship behavior: Moderating role of customer intimacy

Marketing studies that seek to determine the drivers of Customer Citizenship Behavior (CCB) are still relatively rare, especially for its multi-faceted relationship with perceived values in the context of online transactions. This study seeks to bridge this research gap by exploring the relationship between the perceived values of mobile shopping applications (MSApps) and CCB through perceived well-being based upon the social exchange theory. This study also makes another original contribution by investigating the moderating role of customer intimacy. A quantitative approach was adopted by collecting data through a web survey and then applying structural equation modelling, as well as cluster and multigroup analyses to test the proposed hypotheses. Perceived values were found to influence consumer well-being, thus predicting CCB, with consumer intimacy playing a significant moderating role in this relationship. This study is one of a few seeking to verify the drivers of CCB for MSApps, and it is the first of its kind to investigate consumer intimacy as a moderating factor. The findings will prove useful to providers of MSApps and retailers.