Modeling socially responsible consumption and the need for uniqueness: a PLS-SEM approach

Kybernetes ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1325-1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreia Gabriela Andrei ◽  
Patrizia Gazzola ◽  
Alexandra Zbuchea ◽  
Vlad Andrei Alexandru
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Need For Uniqueness ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Socially Responsible Consumption

Purpose The purpose of the present study is intended to fill a research gap, by advancing a conceptual model which brings novel insights on the relationships between socially responsible consumption and consumer’s need for uniqueness. Design/methodology/approach Relying on a questionnaire-based survey for data collection, the proposed model was tested using the partial least squares (PLS) algorithm for structural equation modeling (SEM), which allows the assessment of the models containing both formative and reflective constructs. Findings The research found that 73.7 per cent of the variance in the consumer’s belief in the importance of personal power to make a difference through socially responsible choices is explained by the proposed model. Moreover, four of the five factors of socially responsible consumption fully mediate the positive effect of the consumer’s need for uniqueness on the importance attached to personal socially responsible choices in driving positive change. Research limitations/implications The study avails a phenomenological perspective by offering novel insights from a Romanian sample. The limitation associated with a country-centric vision is compensated through the contextual analysis and integration of a new point of reference in the overall framework of socially responsible consumption. Practical implications The evidence is indicative of new consumption insights and should be closely considered by companies. Originality/value The study draws upon a conceptual model integrating the relationships between socially responsible consumption and a psychological characteristic – the consumer’s need for uniqueness – which has been never tested as such before.

Signaling socially responsible consumption among millennials: an identity-based perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Johnson ◽  
Veena Chattaraman
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Socially Responsible Consumption ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Using identity theory, this paper aims to explore differences in socially responsible signaling behavior based on the salience of a personal or social identity. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was used to study the relationship among identity commitment, salience, and signaling behavior. Findings Findings revealed personal identity salience mediated the relationship between socially responsible commitment and socially responsible social-signaling consumption behavior. Practical implications The results of the study suggest that Millennials engage in socially responsible activities as a result of a salient personal identity. Millennials use socially responsible behavior to signal their benevolence to themselves and others. Originality/value This is the first research that has examined the relationship between Millennials’ socially responsible consumption behavior and a salient personal or social identity.

Customers’ willingness of irresponsible industry 4.0 companies to co-create sustainable practices

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Escobar-Sierra ◽  
Alejandra García-Cardona ◽  
Fidel León-Darder
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Sustainable Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Behavior ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Structural Equation Modeling Model ◽  
Method Approach

Purpose In this regard, this paper aims to wonder how willing to co-create sustainable practices customers of irresponsible Industry 4.0 (I4.0) companies are? With this purpose, the authors began introducing I4.0 and sustainability, showing their theoretical gaps. Design/methodology/approach I4.0 has recently spread with its technological developments and social, economic and political ambitions, facing challenges-related, for example, to the implementation of sustainable practices and the stakeholders’ participation. Findings Then the authors conduct a literature review following a sequential mix-method approach that begins with a bibliometric analysis and ends with a content study to propose a conceptual model for I4.0 and sustainability. Once the authors understood the theoretical gaps in the framework of the conceptual model, the authors conducted an empirical verification between clients of a Colombian company of the I4.0 belonging to the logistic sector, specifically of the deliveries, asking them about the labor issues that the company faces with delivery people and their willingness to co-create. The authors analyzed the collected data through a structural equation modeling model, where the authors found that customers’ willingness to co-create depends on intrinsic behaviors like “responsible behavior,” followed by extrinsic behaviors such as “helping.” Originality/value In fact, stakeholders may support companies, but customers must learn how to assume a critical posture during their purchase decision.

Psychological antecedents to customized apparel purchases

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-81
Author(s):  
Sukyung Seo ◽  
Chunmin Lang
Keyword(s):  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Extended Self ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Need For Uniqueness ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Target Consumer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the influences of consumers’ internal-oriented psychological factors (i.e. self- promotion, need for uniqueness, self-expression and self-monitoring) and external-oriented psychological properties (i.e. social identity and other-directedness) on the perception of customization and the sense of extended-self; further to identify whether the perception of customization and the sense of extended-self lead to purchase intention toward customized apparel products. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online survey among college students in the USA, generating a valid sample size of 338 participants. Factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were utilized to test proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicated that need for uniqueness and self-monitoring were significantly related to consumers’ perception of customization and the sense of extended-self, whereas impacts of self-expression and other-directedness were not significant. Furthermore, the results also confirmed that consumers’ perception of customization and the sense of extended-self were positively associated with purchase intention of customized apparel products. Originality/value This study investigates consumers’ psychological features that influence consumers’ buying intention of customized apparel products, which is the first attempt. The study results are insightful and beneficial for marketers to construct target consumer segmentation under different cultural and social settings.

scholarly journals Prevention of cybercrimes in smart cities of India: from a citizen’s perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1153-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheshadri Chatterjee ◽  
Arpan Kumar Kar ◽  
Yogesh K. Dwivedi ◽  
Hatice Kizgin
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Technology Adoption Model

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the citizens of India to prevent cybercrimes in the proposed Smart Cities of India.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model has been developed for identifying factors preventing cybercrimes. The conceptual model was validated empirically with a sample size of 315 participants from India. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS and AMOS softwares.FindingsThe study reveals that the “awareness of cybercrimes” significantly influences the actual usage of technology to prevent cybercrimes in Smart Cities of India. The study reveals that government initiative (GI) and legal awareness are less influential in spreading of the awareness of cybercrimes (AOC) to the citizens of the proposed smart cities.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model utilizes two constructs from the technology adoption model, namely, perceived usefulness and ease of use. The study employs other factors such as social media, word of mouth, GIs, legal awareness and organizations constituting entities spreading awareness from different related literature works. Thereby, a comprehensive theoretical conceptual model has been proposed which helps to identify the factors that may help in preventing cybercrimes.Practical implicationsThis study provides an insight to the policy maker to understand several factors influencing the AOC of the citizens of the proposed Smart Cities of India for the prevention of cybercrimes.Originality/valueThere are few existing studies analyzing the effect of AOC to mitigate cybercrimes. Thus, this study offers a novel contribution.

Entrepreneurial universities and women entrepreneurship: a cross-cultural study

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2541-2554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carmen Laudano ◽  
Lamberto Zollo ◽  
Cristiano Ciappei ◽  
Vincenzo Zampi
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Entrepreneurial Universities ◽  
Cross Culture ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Emerging Country

Purpose Through a cross-culture study, the purpose of this paper is to understand about how entrepreneurial universities can foster entrepreneurship in women by attending to psychological and environmental factors and personality traits that encourage women to form entrepreneurial intent. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the proposed conceptual model on a cross-cultural sample comprising 350 students from Italy, a developed country, and from Albania, an emerging country. Structural equation modeling is used to validate the proposed model and test the hypothesized relationships. Findings In both Italy and Albania, entrepreneurial universities significantly impact entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions in women. The major differences relate to psychological factors that predict self-employment attitudes and intentions. Specifically, risk-taking propensity and locus of control are important antecedents of attitudes in both samples; the need for independence is a significant predictor only in the Italian sample; need for achievement has significant influence only in the Albanian sample. Originality/value To better understand and interpret the phenomenon of female entrepreneurship, the authors use the theory of planned behavior to investigate entrepreneurial universities located in Italy, a developed country, and Albania, an emerging country.

An empirical examination of the effects of demographic groups on socially responsible consumption behaviour

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Azamussan Syed ◽  
Munuswamy Shanmugam
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Socially Responsible Consumption ◽  
Chennai City

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of demographic groups (i.e. gender groups, marital status groups, age groups, income groups, experience groups, education groups and occupation groups) on socially responsible consumption (hereafter SRC) behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out in Chennai city, the capital of Tamil Nadu state of India. A total of 214 responses were collected during the survey. The respondents were the university staff composed of lecturer/professor, lab instructor, admin staff and support staff. A socially responsible purchase and disposal scale has been used to measure SRC behaviour amongst consumers. The convenience sampling technique was used for data collection. Independent-samples t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were used for hypotheses testing. Findings Factor analyses confirmed the multidimensional structure of the SRC construct with the following axes: firms’ internal corporate social responsibility (hereafter CSR) performance, firms’ external CSR performance, firms’ environmental CSR performance and consumers’ personal social responsibility. In addition, this study found that demographic groups have no effects on SRC behaviour. Research limitations/implications The current research will be a step forward to a richer and more inclusive understanding of the effects of demographic groups on SRC behaviour. Practical implications This study would help managers to understand consumer markets, formulate strategy and develop sustainable products. Originality/value This study is amongst the few attempted to examine the effects of demographic groups on SRC behaviour amongst consumers. This research endeavoured to validate the multidimensional nature of the SRC construct.

The influence of personality and social traits on the importance of brand design of luxury brands and brand loyalty

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirreza Konjkav Monfared ◽  
Arefeh Mansouri ◽  
Negar Jalilian
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Brand Loyalty ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
Need For Uniqueness ◽  
Luxury Products

PurposeBuyers of luxury clothing products usually place great importance on design because they can satisfy their personal needs. However, the underlying motivation for buying luxury products has not been fully understood. Therefore, identifying the factors influencing the choice of luxury products and brand loyalty can provide useful information to a better understanding of the customers' needs of these brands. In fact, in this article, we are trying to determine how personality traits (including the need for uniqueness and self-monitoring) and social traits (including self-expression and self-presentation) influence the importance of design and brand loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was answered by 386 buyers of luxury clothing brands in Iran. Structural equation modeling was also used for data analysis. Data were analyzed by SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 24.0 software.FindingsThe results of this study show that people who need to be unique pay more attention to the specific designs by expressing their self-expression in their surrounding community, while self-monitors seek acceptance in the community by using common designs. Finally, the results show that the importance of design reduces customer loyalty to the brand.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first one to investigate the effect of personality and social traits on the importance of luxury clothing design and brand loyalty using statistical data analysis tools in Iran.

How does political skill lead to job and organization engagement? Role of self-evaluations

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 895-910
Author(s):  
Ameer A. Basit
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Political Skill ◽  
The Self ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model

PurposePolitical skill is a valued resource employees use to achieve success. Earlier research has mostly focused on the effect of political skill on others rather than on the self of the politically skilled individuals. Specifically, there is disconnect between political skill and employee engagement research as both these fields have been growing in isolation. Drawing from theories of engagement and conservation of resources, this study bridges this gap in knowledge by investigating how political skill leads to job and organization engagement of politically skilled employees via impacting their self-evaluations of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) and organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey method, data were obtained from 188 employees who worked in three private schools of Lahore, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model.FindingsThis study found that individuals who used political skill by practicing social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking and sincerity rated themselves high in OBSE and organizational identification. As a consequence, high OBSE enhanced their job engagement, whereas high organizational identification increased their organization engagement.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first studies to present political skill as a driver of job and organization engagement. It reveals that the self-evaluations of OBSE and organizational identification mediate the political skill–engagement relations in unique manners.

E-commerce brand

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weisheng Chiu ◽  
Heetae Cho
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Repurchase Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Brand Leadership ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over 40 Years

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of perceived brand leadership of an e-commerce website on satisfaction and repurchase intention. Moreover, the different roles of gender and age were explored in the proposed model.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was administered to Chinese consumers (n=476) who have purchased products on e-commerce websites. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted in this study.FindingsThe results showed that all factors of perceived brand leadership (i.e. quality, value, innovativeness and popularity) have positive influences on satisfaction, and in turn satisfaction significantly affects repurchase intention. Also, value and popularity have positive influences on repurchase intention. In addition, gender differences were found in the proposed model. More specifically, the influence of quality on satisfaction was stronger for male consumers, while the impact of popularity on satisfaction was stronger for female. In terms of age differences, the influence of quality on satisfaction was stronger for the consumers over 40 years old as compared to the younger consumers (i.e. the 20s). Moreover, the influence of innovativeness on satisfaction and repurchase intention was stronger for the 20s consumers as compared to the consumers who are over 40 years old.Originality/valueThis study attempts to apply the concept of brand leadership to the e-commerce setting by addressing differential consumption decision-making process. In addition, different gender and age groups reveal unique preferences and consumption patterns.

scholarly journals Linking improvisational behavior to customer satisfaction: the relational dynamics

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1183-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Hultman ◽  
Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin ◽  
Nathaniel Boso
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Data ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Contemporary sales scholarship suggests that salespersons pursuing customer satisfaction should improvise (think and act on their feet) to find solutions to customers’ emergent problems. A missing link in this literature, however, is the relational context within which improvisation takes place and becomes effective. This study aims to examine how the tone of the salesperson–customer relationship (whether cordial or coercive) drives and conditions salesperson improvisation and its implications for customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The study tests the proposed model using dyadic salesperson–customer data from business-to-business (B2B) markets in Ghana. The relationships are tested using structural equation modeling technique. Findings The study finds that salesperson improvisation is associated with customer satisfaction. It also finds the extent of cordiality between salespersons and their customers predicts but does not enhance the value of improvisation for customer satisfaction. The reverse is true for customer exercised coercive power which is not a significant driver of improvisation but can substantially alter its benefits for the worse. Practical implications By implication, salespersons should improvise more to be able to satisfy customers. However, such improvisation must be tempered with a consciousness of the relationship shared with customers and the level of power they exercise in the relationship. Originality/value Because improvised behavior deviates from routines and may be unsettling for customers, improvising salespersons must first understand whether their customers would be willing to accommodate such deviations. Yet, the literature is silent on this relational context surrounding improvisation. This study, by exploring facilitating and inhibitory relational variables implicated in improvisation, addresses this gap.

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