Showing papers in "Journal of Consumer Behaviour in 2021"

The impact of emotions on shopping behavior during epidemic. What a business can do to protect customers

Abstract: The study investigated how the perception of in-shop COVID-19 contraction influences emotions in decision-making and how they further effect actions undertaken by consumers to control the situation within a store. Structural equation modeling was used to study the relationship between the risk of in-store infection, emotions and in-shop behavior, based on data retrieved from 914 questionnaires. Results showed, that the perceived risk of becoming infected in a store causes an increase in arousal and, at the same time, a decrease in perceived pleasure during shopping. The rise in arousal led to an increase in consumers taking actions to decrease their risk of contagion, while an increase in noticeable pleasure lowered interest of following recommendations for pandemic behavior. The findings imply that through changes regarding in-store atmosphere, stationary shops can provide consumers with a sense of urgency and awareness of infection risk so that they may do their shopping more efficiently.

How trust leads to online purchase intention founded in perceived usefulness and peer communication

Abstract: This study seeks to understand the specific factors on social media that help drive the intention to purchase fashion-related products, focusing on the central role of trust. The unique contribution of this research lies in its exploration of the interplay between perceived usefulness of the fashion brand's social media and peer communication on the fashion brand's social media in driving trust in the fashion brand's social media and, ultimately, purchase intention. Theoretically, we combine the technology acceptance model and consumer socialisation theory to explore the mediating role of trust in a rapidly expanding and growing industry sector. In surveying 150 Europeans to test our hypotheses around the aforementioned concepts, findings show that the perceived usefulness of a brand's social media is impacted by a set of atmospheric cues, and it influences the level of trust in both the fashion brand and its social media channels. Peer communication also influences perceived usefulness and level of trust in both the fashion brand and its social media channels. Trust in the brand but not its social media channels impacts purchase intention. The role of privacy concerns is limited in our model. We draw implications for theory around combining consumer socialisation theory and the technology acceptance model and for managers around parallel strategies to build different sets of trust on social media.

Toward an agency and reactance theory of crowding: Insights from COVID-19 and the tourism industry

Abstract: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this article endeavors to offer expeditious insights into the impact of the global humanitarian crisis on the tourism industry from a consumer behavior perspective. To do so, this article employs the theory of crowding as an overarching theoretical lens, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a context to represent a global humanitarian crisis, and the rapid review approach as a method to source maiden evidence. In doing so, this article sheds light on instances of undercrowding (undertourism) and overcrowding (overtourism) in tourism as a result of COVID-19, with interpretations enriched by agency theory and reactance theory?thereby resulting in the emergence of a new theory called the agency and reactance theory of crowding. The article concludes with pragmatic implications in light of the global humanitarian crisis.

Acceptability of insects in animal feed: A survey of French consumers

Abstract: Using insects as an alternative protein source is increasingly becoming part of the future food security equation. Westerners tend to be squeamish or phobic about insects; thus, before we can manage this kind of change in the human diet, we need to start by introducing this new protein source into the animal diet. This article investigates the French consumer acceptability of farmed trout fed insect meal instead of fish meal. From an online survey of 327 consumers, the present work set out to identify the determinants of acceptability and determine how information on the benefits of insect meal for fishery resources can change the acceptability. Our statistical analysis highlights three key factors shaping the acceptability of these novel insect-fed products, namely, being informed, gender and food neophobia. Providing information on the negative effects of overfishing and on insect meal as a viable alternative to fishmeal in aquafeed can improve the acceptability of insects as fish feed. In all, 76% of informed participants would be ready to eat insect-fed fish against only 64% of uninformed participants. Males appeared readier to eat insect-fed fish, and the 'Reluctants' class, which represented 8% of our sample, was composed of 78% females. The 'Fans', which represented 41% of our sample, were more likely to be males and individuals with a lower than average food neophobia score.

Customers' social interactions and panic buying behavior: Insights from social media practices

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic led to social distancing and lockdown practices, which increased social interactions and information exchange on social media for timely decision making. This study explores how social practices and social influence generated through social media created panic buying behavior among customers. A social constructionist epistemological position was taken in order to understand the social practice of information sharing and to ask why different meanings were ascribed to Covid-19 pandemic. Qualitative data collection and analysis methods were used to understand these subjective realities. A total of 40 UK customers participated in semi-structured interviews in which they were asked about their usage of social media during the pandemic. Results revealed that social media increased the sharing of viral video evidence, such as empty shelves and quarreling in grocery stores, which increased fear and uncertainty; as a result, people shared recommendations to stay at home and buy extra for survival. Analysis revealed that social media increased awareness of stock unavailability in other parts of world, such as the USA, China, and Germany; therefore, people took proactive actions, such as stockpiling or panic buying, to avoid risks and uncertainties. The major theoretical contribution of this study is that the researcher merged social practice theory and social influence theory, and constructed a research framework which provides understanding of the social factors generated through social media platforms that increased socially influenced panic buying practices among UK customers. This study suggests that there is a need to control socially shared information and panic buying behavior and how socially shared information can influence different people in different contexts.

The Role of Consumer Innovativeness and Green Perceptions on Green Innovation Use: The Case of Shared E-bikes and E-scooters

Abstract: The growing awareness of environmental issues can be linked to the demand for green transport innovations. Consumer behavior studies have pointed to the importance of consumer innovativeness (CI) and green perceptions in the adoption of green innovations. The purpose of this paper is to identify how users and nonusers of shared micromobility perceive the greenness of shared e-bikes and e-scooters and how CI affects shared microvehicle adoption. The paper also analyses the relationships between green perceptions and environmental referent cognitions—biospheric values, environmental knowledge, ascription of responsibility, and environmental attitudes. Shared e-bike and e-scooter users and nonusers in Copenhagen and Stockholm were surveyed using an online questionnaire. Results revealed that users consider themselves innovative and perceive the shared microvehicles as relatively green, while nonusers do not. When comparing users, CI and green perceptions relate to shared e-bike use, but notably, only CI is linked to shared e-scooter use. The results also show that environmental knowledge and environmental attitudes are related to green perceptions. The practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed. (Less)

Who can be nudged? Examining nudging effectiveness in the context of need for cognition and need for uniqueness

Abstract: In the last decade, there has been a growing research focus on the subtle modifications of choice architecture that have strong effects on consumer behavior and are subsumed under the term nudging. There is still little research, however, on how different nudges influence individuals with different personality characteristics. An experimental online shopping scenario is used to test whether a customer's Need for Cognition and Need for Uniqueness moderate the effectiveness of two of the most prominent nudges—defaults and social influence. Two experiments with samples stratified by age, gender, and education (total N = 1,561) reveal that defaults and social influence have the predicted impact on a customer's decision. Across both studies, nudge effectiveness was partially impacted by Need for Cognition and not impacted at all by Need for Uniqueness. These findings imply that both types of nudges are strong and robust techniques to influence consumer decision‐making and are effective across different levels of consumer's Need for Cognition or Need for Uniqueness.

Developing UGC social brand engagement model: Insights from diverse consumers

Abstract: Understanding the social influence of user‐generated content (UGC) to create social brand engagement (SBE) through social media has become a topic of major interest for both academics and marketers since the birth of online social networking. This study explores the social interaction of social media users (SMUs) involving brand‐related UGC, and the outcomes of this study show how SMUs' social interaction through UGC generates SBE in a fashion retail context. There is inadequate understanding regarding what the social motivational contexts of social actors are; these social motivational contexts can play a role in the social generation, exchange, and consumption of fashion brand‐related UGC. The present study intends to develop a UGC SBE model using the diverse insights of the customers of fashion brands. The present study opted for a social constructionist epistemological position using a qualitative research method. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted in the UK with 32 customers of fashion brands. Findings highlighted that social responsibility, sharing experience, staying connected and updated, and reward sharing are the major motivational factors that lead to the generation, exchange, and consumption of UGC that would create SBE. Also, the findings revealed the SMUs, as social actors, who played a significant role in generating SBE through their social interaction with UGC in everyday life: frequent SMUs, celebrities, opinion leaders, and product users. Most importantly, it was found that expert opinion influence as identification and crowd opinion were recognised as internalisation social influencing factors that generate SBE. This study proposes a holistic conceptualisation in a “UGC SBE model” by considering: (a) the identification and (b) the internalisation types of social influence of UGC with respect to fashion brand engagement.

Impact of COVID-19 on consumers' impulse buying behavior of fitness products: A moderated mediation model

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are found to be more impulsive to purchase fitness products online. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate a moderated mediation model of consumers' perception of COVID-19 and impulse buying behavior through fear moderated by income. A total of 608 responses were collected from consumers in the United States, and this study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the hypothesized relationships in the research model. The results showed that the perception of COVID-19 had a positive influence on fear, which in turn led to impulse buying behavior of fitness products. Moreover, consumers' income levels negatively moderated the positive relationship between fear and impulse buying behavior. The findings contribute to a better understanding of consumers' behavior and offer practical implications that enable marketers and retailers to predict consumers' behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examining consumer behaviour in the UK Energy sector through the sentimental and thematic analysis of tweets

Abstract: Consumer engagement with brands on social media has been empirically proven. However, little is known about consumers' natural behaviour on social media, as literature on this topic is still in an early stage of its evolution. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate and understand the group interactions of consumer behaviour, with a specific focus on tweets within the UK energy sector. Energy is a significant utility in the United Kingdom, and the sector is evolving more rapidly than ever before, with pressure being applied to energy suppliers to meet the demands of consumers. This study draws on social capital theory to investigate how UK consumers engage with their suppliers, as well as the knowledge‐sharing capabilities of the Twitter community. In Study 1, Python was used to conduct tweet mining and sentiment analysis to investigate the polarity in consumer engagement with 82 energy companies in the United Kingdom. Results indicated overall positive sentiments towards the energy suppliers, although the level of engagement varies across the different groups of suppliers. Study 2 followed up with a qualitative insight into the factors shaping consumers' behaviour as they engage with brands on social media. A thematic model emerges in the form of an interrelated conceptual theory comprising three stakeholders, the key relationships between them, and their natural behaviours. This study offers a contemporary, essential, and interconnected understanding of consumer behaviour online with a focus on the energy sector, and further advances research into online consumer behaviour, sentiment analysis, netnography, and social media research.