Artificial intelligence, financial anxiety and cashier-less checkouts: a Saudi Arabian perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact of financial anxiety and convenience on the relation between cashier-less versus traditional checkouts and purchase intentions among Saudi Arabian consumers.Design/methodology/approachIn an online experiment, 329 Saudi participants were randomly assigned to one of two checkout conditions (traditional vs. AI-enabled) in a between-subjects design and indicated their financial anxiety. Through moderation-of-process design, the authors examine and showcase that the effect of convenience leads to higher purchase intent for AI-enabled checkouts. Moreover, the authors examine financial anxiety as an underlying mechanism and show that for high-convenience consumers, this enacts higher purchase intent.FindingsThe effect of AI-enabled checkouts depends on consumers' convenience perception. High-convenience consumers prefer AI-enabled checkouts over traditional ones, whereas low-convenience consumers are indifferent. Based on the Roy adaptation model theoretical framework, this occurs because high-convenience consumers experience greater financial anxiety when using AI-enabled checkouts, which in turn leads to higher purchase intent.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the reactions of Saudi Arabian consumers toward cashier-less stores versus traditional stores. Interestingly, their intent to purchase increases, due to the financial anxiety they experience while encountering AI-enabled transactions. Due to the limited research of retailers going cashier less, little is known about consumer reactions and how they may differ culturally.

Exploring the meteoric rise of online food ordering apps (OFOAs): the moderating role of visibility

PurposeOnline food ordering apps (OFOAs) have become increasingly popular, and consumers have widely recognized their benefits, particularly during pandemics or lockdowns. Despite the growing popularity of OFOAs, little is known about technology acceptance theories and their impact on purchase intention. The current study proposes the amalgamation of three theories to bridge this gap, better explaining customer behaviour toward OFOAs.Design/methodology/approachTo create a model, the researcher applied technology acceptance theories, visibility and purchase intention. To obtain results, the researcher used structural equation modelling (SEM) and moderation analysis on 432 responses obtained through a questionnaire.FindingsAccording to the research, all constructs were found to have a favourable and significant impact on the intention to use OFOAs, except compatibility. The moderating effect of visibility on intent to purchase is shown in the study. The study's findings add to the knowledge of consumer behaviour and practice.Research limitations/implicationsThis work sheds light on technology acceptance theories that ensure that OFOA platforms are used indefinitely. Furthermore, the significance of visibility as a mediator of purchase intention provides a deep insight into customer behaviour.Originality/valueThis model, which combines technology acceptance theories' original constructs with visibility to moderate purchase intention on OFOA platforms, is the first of its type in the current literature. Furthermore, this theoretical progress paves the way for future research.

Generation Y’s Sustainable Purchasing Intention of Green Personal Care Products

Global warming and depletion of the environment are more than a hunch; they are irrefutable facts. While caring for the environment seemed like a luxurious hobby twenty years ago, it has become a crucial necessity these days. However, the sustainable demand for eco-friendly products seems to be less than it should be. In other words, the consumers seem to lack the intent to purchase green products. Therefore, studies on factors affecting sustainable green purchasing intent seem to be crucial now more than ever. This study attempts to shed some light on the matter using structural equation modeling. After receiving the answers of 357 respondents from Thai Generation Y participants, the estimations reveal that attitude towards green packaging and green marketing awareness have the strongest effects on purchasing intention. On the other hand, environmental concern seems to have the weakest effect on purchasing intention. The findings suggest that the producers must pay more attention to packaging and other novel forms of marketing to increase the customers’ intent for purchasing green products.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE TOURIST’S PURCHASE INTENTION TOWARD KELANTANESE LOCAL CUISINE

Local foods are one of the cravings of travelers wanting to experience the joys of domestic tourism. Some of the other reasons tourists visit a place is to experience the lifestyle, and culture. Besides these motivational factors, tourist visit places based on word -of- mouth and their own past experiences. The state of Kelantan, Malaysia is identified as a vibrant tourist destination as it has beautiful natural environs and has a rich and diverse cultural heritage that is easy to promote to tourists. Kelantan is also well known for its local cuisines that can attract the foodies. The uniqueness of the local cuisine also influences tourists to make other purchases. Using the quantitative research approach, this study aims to identify the relationship between food quality, price, and service quality towards the tourists intention to purchase local cuisine in Kelantan. These three independent variables will have a different role in explaining the factors that influence a tourist’s intent to purchase Kelantanese foodstuff.

Lycopene Rich Drink: Consumers Acceptance and Purchase Intention in Malaysia

This study had been carried out to assess the level of acceptance and purchase intention towards new functional beverages developed by the Malaysia Agricultural Research Development Institute (MARDI). The Lycopene Rich Drink (LRD) had been assessed towards 400 respondents in 4 Zone in Malaysia which is Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern using stratified sampling. The results revealed that the consumers had well accepted the LRD based on the highest mean score acceptance (mean=4.16) compared to the commercial (mean=3.15) beverages in the market. Taste and color are the most preferred attributes that influenced the purchase intention. The logistic regression analysis had predicted almost 95% of the respondents' intent to purchase. Marital status and number of households are the sociodemographic factors that show a significant relationship based on the Chi-Square analysis. The findings of this study are beneficial for the beverages industry players towards exploiting the opportunity of health additional benefit offered.

Intent to purchase IoT home security devices: Fear vs privacy

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a widely hyped concept, with its focus on the connection of smart devices to the Internet rather than on people. IoT for consumers is often called the smart home market, and a large part of that market consists of home security devices. Consumers are often motivated to purchase smart home security devices to prevent burglaries, which they fear may lead to damage to their property or threats to their families. However, they also understand that IoT home security devices may be a threat to the privacy of their personal information. To determine the relative roles of fear and privacy concerns in the decision to purchase IoT home security devices, we conducted a survey of American consumers. We used the Theory of Reasoned Action as the theoretical basis for the study. We found that fear positively affected consumer attitudes toward purchasing smart home security devices, while concerns about privacy negatively affected attitudes. We found that attitudes toward purchase, the opinions of important others, and experience with burglaries all affected intent to purchase. We also found that the relationship between privacy concerns and intent to purchase is completely mediated by attitudes, while fear has both direct and indirect effects on intent.

Profile of Food Truck Consumers and their intent to visit Food Trucks

The purpose of this paper is to develop the content and analyze the factors that impact the intent to purchase of customers from a food truck. The study was carried out in Belagavi, Karnataka, India, the study was carried out using a structured questionnaire to collect the data, the data was checked for normality and reliability, further one sample t test was applied to check the impact of selected factors on purchase intent of customers from food trucks. Demographic analysis of the respondents was also a part of the study. The impact of selected factors/variables on customer intent to purchase from food trucks was analyzed and it was observed that prize, taste, hygiene, Variety, service quality and exteriors had significant impact on the customer’s intent to purchase as the p-value = 0.000 (is < 0.05). The factors or variables were not borrowed from a single proven model in the literature, the factors were selected on the basic understanding of the researchers. The study was the first to analyze the impact of the factors impacting the customer intent to purchase from food truck in a non-metro city, and the results can be used by professionals working in the area.

The Influence of Infectious Disease Cues on Purchase Intention for Environmentally Friendly Products

Consumers often come across cues of infectious disease in daily life, such as diners coughing in restaurants, commuters sneezing on the bus, or recent news reports about the spread of infectious diseases. In this study, four experiments were conducted to explore the role of infectious disease cues on consumers’ purchase intention for environmentally friendly products (eco-friendly products), as well as the moderating effects of consumers’ sense of power and anti-disease intervention. According to the results, infectious disease cues enhance consumers’ intent to purchase eco-friendly products, and perceived uncertainty and need to belong played a chain-mediated role in the relationship between infectious disease cues and this purchase intention. Consumers’ sense of power moderated the relationship between infectious disease cues and purchase intention. The purchase intention of consumers with a low sense of power (vs. high sense of power) was significantly enhanced when the infectious disease cues were highlighted. Anti-disease interventions also have a moderating effect on the relationship between infectious disease cues and purchase intention. When anti-disease intervention (such as wearing an anti-bacterial mask against airborne diseases) was adopted, consumers’ willingness to purchase eco-friendly products decreased.

Marketing strategies for functional food products

Functional foods are experiencing a growing demand worldwide as consumers seek ways to take control of their health. Despite this growing demand, the lack of a standard definition for functional food for formal categorization and regulation results in many functional food products run into hurdles for consumer acceptance, as many people are not familiar with the concept, and scientific evidence that could increase legitimacy of these products is not widely available. Of the 15 steps the Functional Food Center has outlined for development of functional food products, marketing a product to educate people is closely related to consumer acceptance and is therefore an important step to study to increase success of functional food products. This review article will focus on recent studies that examine carrier/ingredient combinations, information channels, credibility, and consumer targeting and how they can impact consumer intent to purchase or accept functional foods. These studies build off hypotheses tested in pre-existing studies or bring in novel determinants to consider. Finally, advice on marketing based on the results in the included papers and from an industry expert will be discussed.Keywords: Functional Food Marketing, Carrier/Ingredient Combinations, Perceived Fit, Information Channels, Credibility, Consumer Targeting, Advertising, Consumer Acceptance, Purchase Intent