Does Social Media Matter? Investigating the Effect of Social Media Features on Consumer Attitudes

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media's features (i.e., entertainment, usefulness, informativeness and irritation) toward consumers’ attitude toward the brand. Subsequently, this study explores the impact of this attitude toward consumers’ brand loyalty, brand awareness and purchase intention. Data for this study was collected through a large public university in Australia. Paper surveys were distributed to students, their friends and members of their immediate families (N = 724). The findings show that entertainment feature has the strongest impact on consumers’ attitude toward the brand's social media use, followed by informativeness, usefulness and finally, irritation. Consumers’ attitude toward a brand's social media strongly influences consumer loyalty, awareness and purchase intention. The findings of this research provide some insights into the impact of different features of social media which will be useful for practitioners and academics interested in social media.     

The effect of religiosity on luxury goods: The case of Chilean youths

Religion has always rejected the concept of materialism and urged people to live in simplicity and moderation. Nonetheless, reality reveals a different phenomenon. Studies on religion and materialism have found inconsistent results. We examine the effect of religion on materialism and affective attitudes towards luxury goods and the mediating effect of materialism on affective attitude towards luxury goods. We propose the idea that many religious people reject the concept of materialism, but they consider luxury goods consumption compatible with their religious beliefs. 355 university students show that youth consumers with high intrinsic religiosity possess an affective attitude towards luxury goods. The results show that consumers perceived materialism and luxury goods as two separate constructs. Religious consumers reject the concept of materialism as an attachment to worldly possessions, but they maintain their emotional affection towards luxury goods. The results have several implications for both business and religious leaders. First, from a business perspective, there are no significant differences between religious and nonreligious youth consumers, especially in their acceptance of luxury goods. Simply put, religious youth consumers love God, but they also love Gucci (i.e., luxury goods). On the other hand, if religious leaders are teaching their congregations to reject materialism, they may need to shift the focus of their teaching from materialism to the role of luxury goods in their lives and how the purchase and ownership of luxury items may not reflect the true values of their beliefs.     

Do Cultural and Generational Cohorts Matter to Ideologies and Consumer Ethics? A Comparative Study of Australians,Indonesians, and Indonesian Migrants in Australia

We explore the notion that culture influences people’s values, and their subsequent ideologies and ethical behaviors. We present the idea that culture itself changes with time, and explore the influence of culture and generational markers on consumer ethics by examining differences in these ethical dimensions between Australians, Indonesians, and Indonesian Migrants in Australia, as well as differences between Generation X versus Generations Y and Z. The present study addresses the need to investigate the role that culture plays in consumer ethics, and the interaction between culture and generational attitudes in determining consumer ethics. Results established a distinct multiculturality in our three cultural samples, including a generational cohort differences. This suggests that culture and generational markers influence ethical beliefs, ideologies, and consumer ethics. It further indicates that Indonesian Migrants have acculturated to Australian society both in terms of their values and consumer behaviors, illustrating a crossvergence effect; scores indicate that these Migrants have the highest cultural intelligence among our samples. Implications of the findings for consumer ethics theory and practice are considered and future directions identified.     

The Gods can help: exploring the effect of religiosity on youth risk‐taking behavior in Indonesia

• This study explores the impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic religiosity on youth risk‐taking behaviors in Indonesia. Our analysis on Indonesians aged 18–24 shows that intrinsic religiosity has a significant impact on individual's perception of risk‐taking. Understanding the significant role that intrinsic religiosity plays in the lives of youth and their risk‐taking behaviors offers new ways to promote responsibility and risk‐free behavior. We argue that, rather than distancing from religiosity, spirituality and faith, social marketers and public policy makers should be working closely with religious institutions to enact social change among the youth. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Exploring consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market: The role of consumers’ perceived readiness

Consumers’ awareness of green products has increased in the last few years, but studies show that the demand for green products has been stagnant. The purpose of this study is to explore the roles of consumers’ perceived readiness to be green and subsequently, how readiness to be green affects consumers’ purchase intention towards green products in an emerging market, Indonesia. A total of 916 survey responses were collected in three universities, two major shopping malls and several housing areas in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The findings reveal that consumers’ attitude (ATT), subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), pro‐environmental self‐identity (PEI), ethical obligation and consumers’ readiness to be green are the determinants of intention to purchase green products. Consumers’ readiness to be green mediates the effects of ATT, PBC, PEI and perceived sense of responsibility on purchase intention. The study provides further insights into the discrepancy between professed positive attitudes towards the environment and the slow uptake of green behaviour in an emerging market.     

Consumers' perception of corporate social responsibility in a developing country

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) increasingly receives attention from managers and researchers, especially in the area of consumer perception and response of CSR. However, most of this research was conducted in the context of developed countries. It shows that research on consumer perception towards CSR in developing countries needs to be developed. This paper will examine consumer perception in the developing country of Indonesia. This research produced mixed results, suggesting that CSR is still a concept waiting to be applied in the developing country. Consumers are often unaware and unsupportive towards CSR. This is the opposite finding of consumer perception in developed countries, where most consumers are willing to support CSR launched by corporations. Nevertheless, there is an interesting finding: When consumers have to buy similar products with the same price and quality, CSR could be the determining factor. They would buy from the firm that has a socially responsible reputation.     

Are religious consumers more ethical and less Machiavellian? A segmentation study of Millennials

Millennial consumers are increasingly becoming important actors in business that account for sufficient purchasing power. However, Millennials are infamously narcissistic and their views of ethics are more relaxed than previous generations (i.e., Baby Boomers, Generation X). Millennials remain poorly understood in general, especially in the context of developing countries. Hence, the purpose of this study was to profile this generation by segmenting Millennials in Indonesia and investigating differences between these segments on their ethical beliefs and Machiavellianism, an important personality characteristic. This study used a convenience sample from a university in Indonesia (N = 540). The TwoStep cluster analysis produced three segments, namely, “The Religious Millennials”, “The Lukewarm Religious Millennials” and “The Least Religious Millennials”. Consumers who are highly religious are less likely to engage in various unethical behaviours. Interestingly, no significant differences were found between The Lukewarm Millennials and The Least Religious Millennials on their ethical beliefs. This research makes several research contributions. First, this study extended the Hunt–Vitell theory of ethics, where an individual (i.e., Millennials) confronts a problem perceived as having ethical content. Second, the study examined consumer ethics in the context of developing countries where religion plays a significant role in people’s daily life. Third, through understanding different segments, the results assist educators, social marketers and public policy makers in creating an effective campaign to reduce unethical behaviour among Millennials.     

The technological capabilities of nations: The state of the art of synthetic indicators

Composite synthetic indicators of the technological capabilities of nations have been used more frequently over the last years becoming a sort of Olympic medal table of the innovation race. The European Commission, specialised United Nations Agencies, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and individual scholars have developed several of these measurement tools at macroeconomic level. All these indicators are based on a variety of statistical sources in order to capture the multidimensional nature of technological change. This paper reviews these various exercises and: i) it brings into light the explicit and implicit assumptions on the nature of technological change; ii) it discusses their pros and cons; and iii) it explores the consistency among the results achieved. Most of the final rankings at the country level are fairly consistent, but significant discrepancies for some nations emerge. The value of synthetic indicators of technological capabilities for public policy, company strategies and economic studies is finally discussed.     

Investigating the importance of self‐acceptance and self‐efficacy on weight management in a developing country

The growing rates of obesity in both developed and developing countries are alarming. Most studies on obesity mainly focus on individuals in developed countries with ready access to food. Limited studies explore obesity in developing countries with limited access to healthier foods. In addition, studies show self‐acceptance and self‐efficacy are essential to healthier well‐being. The purpose of this study is (a) to explore the impact of self‐acceptance on individuals' self‐efficacy to weight management and (b) to investigate the impact of self‐efficacy on individuals' attitude and intention in regard to weight managements. Using data from Indonesia (N = 499), the respondents are divided based on their body mass index. The results show that self‐acceptance significantly influenced individuals' self‐efficacy, especially for individuals who are obese. Furthermore, self‐efficacy did not influence individual attitude toward weight management. Finally, attitude toward weight management only influenced people who are obese and not individuals who are overweight. The results of this study will have significant implications to government, social marketers, and not‐for‐profit organizations in fighting the epidemic in developing countries.     

Corporate sustainable actions through United Nations sustainable development goals: The internal customer's response

Designing sustainable corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy utilizing the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) framework to deal with consumption in a sustainable and responsible fashion is increasingly a requirement in emerging economies. This paper examines sustainable social initiatives (SIs) via a CSR model and social lens as part of the SDG framework for multinational enterprises (MNEs), to determine the perception of the internal customer and stakeholder (i.e., the employee) alongside their identification and voluntary engagement in their organization's SIs. The study examines internal customers (as the employee) of two MNEs who reside in a developed country and two developing countries from emerging economies. The findings indicate that identification with the SDG‐based SIs selected by MNEs for this study mediates the relationship between perception of their organization's perceived CSR and engagement in these initiatives, for employees in developing countries (and emerging markets) but not the developed country. This suggests the importance that internal employees “identify” with SDG‐based SIs in emerging markets in particular and builds on significant managerial implications for MNEs in these markets alongside their voluntary work with nonprofits as part of their SIs and CSR strategy. The findings also confirm the importance of MNEs adopting SIs that are not only relevant to the global United Nations SDG framework but also relevant to the actors, collaborators, and nonprofit organizations involved in these SIs, including stakeholders and in particular the internal customer (i.e., employee) who volunteer their time to implement these SIs in the communities where MNEs reside.