Need for touch and online consumer decision making: the moderating role of emotional states

PurposeWith the growth of online shopping, during which consumers are not able to touch products, there is much for researchers and marketers to learn about the underlying role of the need for touch (NFT) in driving online shopping decisions. Consumers' emotional state prior to purchase is considered a situational variable that affects their attitude and behaviour. This study explores the effects of consumers' NFT and pre-purchase emotional states on their online decision-making behaviour, examining perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase.Design/methodology/approachA field experiment was conducted using a scenario presenting buying a sweater as a real purchase opportunity available to participants. A convenience sample of two hundred ninety-eight university students at a university in the southeast of France was used in this study. A 2 (NFT: high/low determined by a median split) × 2 (emotional states: high/low level) analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to further examine the interaction of NFT and emotional states in consumer decision making.FindingsThe results indicate that autotelic NFT and positive emotional states experienced before shopping have an impact on consumers' decisions in relation to perceived quality, confidence in product judgment and intention to purchase. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that instrumental vs autotelic NFT affects consumer decision making, with mixed support found for negative emotional states acting as possible moderators.Originality/valueThis study advances the NFT field and leads to insights regarding online consumer purchase decision making by exploring instrumental vs autotelic NFT and pre-purchase emotional states as antecedents of consumer decisions.

An examination of ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity at the ethnic level. This study examines both effects on an ethnic majority’s consumption of an ethnic minority’s products and services, focusing on the relationship between two ethnic groups in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The relationship between the constructs were analyzed using the co-variance-based structural equation modeling techniques with analysis of a moment structures version 21. Self-administered questionnaires were obtained from 325 Malay respondents in 2 Malaysian cities. Findings The results suggest that ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism can negatively affect product judgment and product judgment can affect consumers’ willingness to buy. Two significant findings were rejected as the directions of the results were not as hypothesized. Research limitations/implications Future research could study other ethnic groups of different countries using specific ethnic related products and/or brands. Originality/value This research suggests that ethnic-based ethnocentrism and ethnic-based animosity are important factors for businesses to consider as both can affect ethnic consumers’ purchasing behavior. Depending on ethnic consumers’ perception toward a brand, a manager may face either an opportunity or a challenge.

From boycott to product judgment in the coronavirus era: Chinese products cases

Purpose This study aims to explain the boycott of Chinese product during the COVID-19 crisis. Specifically, this paper attempt to empirically test the influence of boycott on the image brand and foreign product judgment, as well as to testing the influence of brand image on the judgment of these products. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from a stratified random sample (N = 300) of students and was analyzed by using the structural equation modeling method. Findings The results show that the boycott negatively influenced the brand image and valuation of foreign products. Also, empirical results confirm that the brand image of foreign products positively influenced consumer judgment. Practical implications The success of foreign products is because of a combination of adaptation and standardization strategies for foreign companies in a local market to resist ace to unexpected economic conditions. These strategies allowed foreign products to penetrate diverse markets and not to be considered as a “foreign” brand which must be boycotted even in health crisis. The internationalization of companies and the opening of subsidiaries in the targeted countries can be considered as a solution for them so that their products will not be boycotted by consumers and consider them as national products. Originality/value Although with the existence of several studies on the boycott of foreign products, little attention has been paid so far to assess its interactions in times of health crisis such as COVID-19 crisis. This study contributes to the existing the literature with a research model based on two theories. This study leads to a better understanding of the role of boycotting foreign products and its impact on the brand image of these products and their judgments by consumers. On the other hand, this study tested the effect of branding on the judgment of boycotted products. Indeed, no study has so far examined the influence of consumer boycotts on the brand image of boycotted products. The authors have already responded to this shortcoming by adding additional tests for verification, robustness and validation of the results obtained.

INTENTION TO PURCHASE LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTS AMONG INDONESIAN YOUNG CONSUMERS

Purpose of the study: This study was undertaken to examine a theoretical concept that can increase consumer purchase intentions for local food products. Methodology: This study involved 450 students as respondents, but only 437 data were eligible for testing. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and processed with AMOS 24.0 statistical tools. Main Findings: The results of the research successfully revealed that cultural sensitivity was proven to have a negative effect on consumer ethnocentrism and had a negative effect on imported product judgment. Consumer ethnocentrism has a positive contribution to animosity toward foreign products and negatively influences imported product judgment. Intention to purchase local food products is positively influenced by consumer ethnocentrism and animosity toward foreign products and imported product judgment that has a negative effect. While testing the effect of animosity toward foreign products on imported product judgment was declared rejected or insignificant. Applications of this study: Consumer cultural sensitivity on a foreign product can cause consumer ethnocentrism on local food products will decrease and can increase imported product judgment which is increasingly positive. This has implications for marketers to be able to increase consumer ethnocentrism which will later be able to make consumers prefer local products and can increase consumer purchase intentions on local food products. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research conducted cultural sensitivity on consumer purchase intention with consumer ethnocentrism, consumer animosity, and imported product judgment within the empirical concept.

Impact of consumer ethnocentrism and animosity on brand image and brand loyalty through product judgment

Purpose This study aims to check the impact of consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and animosity on brand image (BI) and brand loyalty (BL) of Indian made cosmetic products in Pakistan and to check the mediation role of product judgment (PJ) related to Indian made cosmetic products in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the researcher used quantitative techniques to collect data. Online survey strategy was used for data collection and the technique of purposive sampling was used to select 280 consumers as respondents of said study. SPSS-20 and AMOS-21 were used for data analysis and to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between CE and BL that is the novel result of this study because past studies proved negative relation in CE and BL and there is no direct relationship between CE and BI. The results also indicate that consumer animosity (CA) has a negative impact on BI and BL of Indian made cosmetic products in Pakistan. The results of mediation indicate that PJ is playing partial mediation in this relation. Originality/value This study is for the first time that is conducted in the context of India and Pakistan. Similarly, PJ is tested as a mediator for the first time in the relationship between CE and CA and BI and BL. This study would be beneficial for foreign brands generally and for Indian cosmetic brands specifically. In addition, it may provide help to business students and scholars to further understand and explore these variables in the context of developing countries.

Is country affinity applicable for domestic brands? The role of nation sentiment on consumers' self-brand connection with domestic vs foreign brands

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment on self-brand connection regarding both domestic and foreign brands.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved an online experiment and was conducted using online questionnaires. Sampling was done among undergraduate students of a Southwestern university in the US. The data was analyzed using SEM with PLS.FindingsThe results showed, for foreign brands, consumer self-brand connection increased through the effect of country affinity and product quality judgment. For domestic brands, self-brand connection was influenced by ethnocentrism (and not country affinity or product quality judgment).Research limitations/implicationsThis study only focused on one industry (i.e. Television industry), and the authors recommend future studies examine a broader range of industries. Moreover, other country related constructs such as national identity need to be examined in future studies.Practical implicationsMarketers focusing on global branding and international marketing can benefit from the findings of this paper by understanding the routes through which consumers build self-brand connections in foreign vs domestic settings. Additionally, marketers can, more effectively, invest their resources by focusing on the factors that can be influential (i.e. ethnocentrism for domestic brands vs country affinity and product judgment for foreign brands).Originality/valueThis study examines the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment for consumers' domestic country as well as a foreign country. Moreover, this study contributes toward the global branding literature by incorporating self-brand connection as a behavioral outcome.