Business at the fingertips of consumers: a scale for measuring resale motivations in online settings

Our current understanding of what motivates consumers to resell second-hand products online is limited. This article lays out the development and validation of an online resale motivation (ORM) scale based on three studies involving 1119 respondents. Study 1 presents the ORM scale development process and the resulting multidimensional construct, including the protester, economic, generative, recreational, practical and social facets of motivation. Study 2 replicates the scale and investigates its predictive value, demonstrating that the ORM scale successfully predicts online resale frequency. Study 3 examines the mediating role of ORM on the relationship between planned resale intentions and online resale behaviour. The findings show that there is no direct link between a consumer’s intention to resell an item prior to its purchase and the frequency with which they resell online. Rather, consumers who more frequently resell online items that they acquired with the intention of reselling do so because they perceive positive economic, practical and recreational outcomes associated with online reselling.     

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.     

普通消费者口碑和专家评论对消费者购买决策的影响研究

在线评论作为营销信息中新的要素,已成为当下消费者购买产品或服务时的重要因素。文章根据获得诊断性模型和调节导向理论,引入自我调节导向作为调节变量,探讨在线评论信息源对品牌评价和购买意愿的影响。文章采用情境模拟实验方法,考察了普通消费者口碑和专家评论对消费者的品牌评价和购买意愿具有不同的影响。具体来说当消费者处于促进调节导向时,普通消费者口碑比专家评论更容易使消费者产生良好的品牌评价和购买意愿;当消费者处于预防调节导向时,专家评论比普通消费者口碑更容易使消费者产生良好的品牌评价和购买意愿,其中感知诊断性在这个过程中起到中介作用。文章整合了不同领域的理论,拓宽了不同来源的在线评论对消费者影响的理解力,而且研究结论对网站的营销人员如何管理在线评论有一定的启示意义。     

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.     

Bridging the online offline gap: Assessing the impact of brands’ social network content quality on brand awareness and purchase intention

Social media is shaping the way companies and brands engage and interact with consumers, particularly Millennials. In light of this growing trend, this study aims to understand the influence of content quality and brand interactivity within social media on consumers' brand awareness and purchase intentions by proposing an empirical model which is tested using structural equation modeling. The study also explores whether the relation between social media stimuli and offline purchase intention is mediated by hedonic motivation, consumer engagement and brand awareness. Results reveal that the quality of content provided by brands on social media and company-users' interactivity are of major importance to Millennials. They increase the hedonic motive derived by these users from social media, strengthen their online engagement and intensify their brand awareness. This heightened online consumer engagement coupled with an increased online consumer brand awareness leads to an increase in the purchase intention of these brands offline. Consequently, companies are encouraged to invest in producing high-quality content on their social media pages, deploy all possible strategies to enhance brand users’ interactivity given the important role these variables play in entertaining, engaging users online, building brand awareness and influencing their offline purchase intentions.     

The rhythm of shopping: How background music placement in live streaming commerce affects consumer purchase intention

There is growing evidence indicating that background music has a significant impact on consumer purchasing behavior. However, there is limited research on the placement of background music in live streaming commerce. This study conducted a single-factor experiment with three conditions (playing during purchase phase, continuous playing, and control group) to investigate the effects on arousal, consumer memory, and purchase intention. Results show that live streaming with background music increase consumer's purchase intention and arousal. Specifically, background music playing during purchase phase leads to higher purchase intention and consumer memory than continuous playing. Continuous playing induces higher arousal than background music playing during purchase phase. Process measures reveal that playing during purchase phase (vs. continuous playing) reduces arousal, thus enhancing consumer memory and leads to higher purchase intention. Continuous playing, however, induces arousal but impairs consumer memory, subsequently leading to lower purchase intention.     

The effects of product scarcity and consumers' need for uniqueness on purchase intention

Scarcity strategies are employed by marketers to influence consumer decision making. Many famous brands have been designed and produced for the purpose of as being marketed as limited‐edition products to intensify consumer desire and intention to purchase them. However, very few studies have simultaneously integrated relevant constructs to explain the phenomenon of scarcity purchasing. To fill this void, this study develops a comprehensive research model in order to fully understand how scarcity affects consumer value perception and purchase intention. Simultaneously, two competing models are developed to compare the explanation power of Lynn's Scarcity–Expensiveness–Desirability (S‐E‐D) model and Synde and Fromkin's desire for uniqueness model. The results suggest that the effects of scarcity on purchase intention through perceived uniqueness, perceived sacrifice and perceived value are stronger than the scarcity effects through assumed expensiveness, perceived quality, perceived sacrifice and perceived value.     

Billion Dollar Baby: Local Foods and U.S. Grocery

This study reviews consumer purchasing of locally produced foods in retail grocery stores. A U.S. sample of 590 consumers was drawn via an online survey, with structural equation modeling used to assess hypothesized relationships of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention to purchase, extent of purchase, and the moderating effects of shopping channel type. Results from structural model testing suggested that all hypothesized relationships except that of purchase intention and extent of purchase were found to be significant, with group differences existing between supercenters/warehouses and farmers’ market shopping channels. Implications and future research directions are provided.     

Online visual merchandising (VMD) cues and consumer pleasure and arousal: Purchasing versus browsing situation

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of various online visual merchandising (VMD) cues—high and low task relevant cues—on consumer pleasure and arousal under different situational involvement (browsing vs. purchasing). A random sample of 1634 female college students participated in an experiment in the context of online apparel shopping. The results of the study revealed a significant effect for high task relevant cues on pleasure and arousal under high situational involvement (purchasing situation). In addition, a significant effect for low task relevant cues on pleasure and arousal under low situational involvement (browsing situation) was found. Pleasure and arousal induced by various online VMD cues were positively related to consumer satisfaction, purchase intention, and approach behavior. The findings of the study emphasize a significant role of VMD cues on apparel Web sites, influencing pleasure and arousal, which in turn increase consumer satisfaction, purchase intention, and approach behavior. The study also provides an important implication for online apparel retailers developing Web sites that may attract both online browsers and purchasers. ©2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Icing on the cake or gilding the lily? The impact of high-modified model images on purchase intention

Marketers had high expectations for modified model images in E-commerce, however, the social movements against photoshopped models suggested the high-modified model images may be harmful to consumers which leads to a contradictory phenomenon. So far, the link between high-modified model image and consumers' behavior is not clearly understood. Drawing on a selective accessibility model (SAM), this study investigates the influence of high-modified model images on consumers' purchase intention by introducing the concept of misrepresentation and identifying consumer trust as a mediator. Based on five experiments, we demonstrate that over-modified model images decrease consumers’ perceived authenticity referring to “misrepresentation”, and further lower their purchase intention. By comparing the level of misrepresentation, the results suggest that high-modified model images decrease purchase intention. Moreover, this negative relationship between misrepresentation of modified model images and purchase intention is mediated by consumer trust. Hence, this study makes a step toward explaining how high-modified model images impacts the behaviors of consumers, shedding new light on the application of image modification in online advertising.     

Beyond presence: Creating attractive online retailing stores through the cool AR technology

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly coming into the spotlight for its potential to improve the consumer experience through the creation of presence. This research aims to explore the theoretical mechanisms through which AR-based product presentation influences online store attractiveness and whether the effects differ in the purchasing contexts of hedonic and utilitarian product types. From the perspective of consumers' bidimensional experience, we find that AR increases online store attractiveness by creating perceived coolness (intrinsic attribute) and spatial presence experience (extrinsic attribute), which would further have a positive impact on consumers' purchase intention. The mediating mechanisms are different in purchasing contexts of various product types: for hedonic products, perceived coolness and spatial presence are parallel mediating factors leading to the improvement of online store attractiveness; while for utilitarian products, only the mediation effect of spatial presence presents. Our findings enrich the literature on AR marketing by proposing an insightful mediating force (i.e., perceived coolness) to complement the effect of presence, and explore the different purchasing contexts. We also provide managerial guidance for e-retailers to differentiate AR interface design for diverse product types to apply AR technology effectively.     

The Impact of a Third-Party Assurance Seal in Customer Purchasing Intention

ABSTRACT

Although e-commerce is evolving at an incredible speed, asymmetric information and opportunism have increased online purchasing risks and market inefficiencies. The lack of face-to-face contact and the inability of the customer to touch and feel tangible products necessitate that online business must provide customers with reliable information and convince customers of their trustworthiness. While the research on Third-Party Assurance Seals (TPAS) is not new, the effectiveness of TPAS has not been persuasively addressed by empirical studies. Our study is different from previous efforts in that it is comprehensive because it combines consumer trust, perceived risk, and influences of TPAS in the B2C e-commerce context. The results of the study show that (1) the effects of TPAS on perceived risk are channeled through perceived trustworthiness, thus demonstrating the mediating role of perceived trustworthiness in B2C e-commerce, (2) perceived risk, perceived usefulness of website, and subjective norm appear to be significant predictors of intention to purchase from the website, (3) a third-party assurance seal strongly affects online shoppers' perceived trustworthiness toward online retailers, while the seal appears to have little effect on perceived risk directly; perceived risk is strongly associated with intention to purchase from the website.     

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.     

Consumer complaint channel choice in online and offline purchases

This research explored the influence of the purchase environment on the choice of complaint channel. The study was based on responses from 480 undergraduate students who participated in a 2 (purchase environment: offline vs. online) × 2 (the degree of dissatisfaction: weak vs. strong) online experiment. Consumers who purchased online were more likely to complain online than those who made their purchase offline. Online complaining among online purchasers increased with the degree of dissatisfaction. The research suggests that future researchers should include consumer complaint channel choices when examining consumer complaining behaviour.     

Organic food corporate image and customer co-developing behavior: The mediating role of consumer trust and purchase intention

The impact of organic food corporate image on customers' surpassing purchasing behavior is absent in prior literature. Based on the S–O-R framework, the current study focuses on organic food member customers to explore the influence of corporate ability (CA) image and corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of organic food company on the consumption behavior and co-developing behavior of customers. The consumer samples came from 269 member customers of an organic food enterprise in southwest China. The results show that organic food company CA and CSR image positively affect consumer trust and co-developing behavior. CSR image enhances consumer trust and co-developing behavior than CA image does. Additionally, consumer trust and purchase intention play a multi-step mediating role in the relationship between corporate image (CA and CSR) and consumers' co-developing behavior. In conclusion, our findings provide new insights for understanding the relationship between the corporate image of organic food and the co-developing behavior of customers. The research results provide support for organic food companies that can effectively promote consumer trust, continuous purchase, and active engagement in the co-development of products and services by creating an image of ability and social responsibility.     

Applying an extended theory of planned behavior to examine state-branded food product purchase behavior: The moderating effect of gender

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to use an extended model of the theory of planned behavior to investigate the antecedents which lead to consumers’ purchase of state-branded food products. Relationships among attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, health-consciousness, intention to purchase, and actual purchase were examined. In addition, the moderating role of gender on consumer purchasing was assessed. The hypothetical model was empirically tested using data collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk). Results implicated that consumers’ attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of purchasing state-branded products significantly predicted their intention to purchase, and consumers’ intention to purchase significantly predicted their actual purchase of state-branded products. The relationship between health-consciousness and intention to purchase, however, was not found. Gender differences were found only between consumers’ perceived behavioral control of state-branded purchasing and their intention to purchase. Implications for marketers, farmers, and restaurant owners are provided.     

Organic Food at the Point of Purchase: Understanding Inconsistency in Consumer Choice Patterns

The organic food category, while still small in terms of world food production, has continued to grow in many markets in the developed world. This article focuses on understanding the barriers and facilitators to purchasing organic food at the final hurdle: the point of purchase (POP). A qualitative study has identified seven factors that influence buyer behavior at the POP, and these are consumer intention to purchase organic food when entering the retail outlet; habit; availability; false assumptions; visibility and access of organic food; visual and olfactory cues; and price. These can often be the final hurdle to consumers choosing (or not) organic food at the POP.     

The Effects of Credible Online Reviews on Brand Equity Dimensions and Its Consequence on Consumer Behavior

Consumers are using social media platform to gain and share knowledge on brands. In the virtual environment, consumers are exposed to various online reviews on brands that leave an impression of brands on the minds of the consumers. The present study combines Yale attitude change model and attribution theory to examine the effects of credible online reviews on brand equity dimensions. The present study views, through the lens of Yale attitude change model, the various factors that affect credibility evaluation of online reviews. Further, attribution theory is used as the theoretical backbone to analyze the effects of credible online reviews on brand equity dimensions and finally on purchase intention. This study uses structural equations modeling (SEM) to investigate the impact of online credible reviews on customer based brand equity (CBBE) dimensions and its consequence on consumer behavior (purchase intention). Results indicate that source and review quality are the most important factors that affect consumer's credibility evaluation of a review. Online credible reviews have more significant impact on brand awareness, perceived value and organizational associations and thus leads to consumer's purchase intention in the context of consumer electronic products in India.     

“Showrooming” in Consumer Electronics Retailing: An Empirical Study

The present study focuses on multichannel retailing strategies and describes the state of consumer behavior regarding “showrooming” (the practice of examining merchandise or products in a retail store and then buying it online). Founded on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the authors examine the antecedents of showrooming using data collected from a sample of 176 retail consumers. Based on their results, they define perceived control, website compatibility, and subjective norms as the main antecedents of consumer attitudes toward online purchases. Additionally, they state that previous experience and reasons against purchasing online are directly associated with consumers’ intention to purchase on the retailer’s website. Finally, some theoretical conclusions and practical implications for retailers are discussed.     

Social media celebrities and new world order. What drives purchasing behavior among social media followers?

Social media celebrities (SMCs) and social media platforms (SMPs) have become indispensable in today's business and marketing settings. Drawing on the celebrity influence model (CIM), this study examines the impact of SMCs on their followers' purchase intention and the moderating influence of SMP usage on the relationships between (a) SMCs and their followers' purchase intention, (b) para-social relationships (PSR) and purchase intention, and (c) identification and purchase intention. We collected 665 valid responses via an online questionnaire in China and then employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the proposed relationships between the variables. The findings revealed that SMCs do not significantly influence their followers' purchase intention directly; however, they do exert such influence through PSR and identification. The results further indicated that SMP usage moderates the effect of PSR and identification on purchase intention. Our study offers both theoretical and managerial contributions. Theoretically, the incorporation of CIM into this study's model augments the PSR and identification literature in the context of SMCs. Again, the moderating effect of SMP usage that we reveal is novel in the social media literature. In practice, marketers in China should consider the credibility and rapport a particular social media celebrity has with his or her followers before contracting that particular celebrity to endorse their products.