The impact of social shopping feature richness on buying intention: a product perspective

PurposeSocial shopping platforms have flourished by using multiple social shopping features, yet little is known about how the combination of these features affects purchase intention, particularly in terms of the product itself. The purpose of the paper is to draw on the concept of social shopping feature richness, adopting a formative approach on the survey used, and endeavors to reveal the concept's impact on consumers' buying intention from a product perspective.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on mental accounting and signaling theories, a theoretical model is proposed and empirically evaluated with 356 samples collected using a questionnaire survey.FindingsThe results suggest that social shopping feature richness promotes consumers' consumption by providing information signals to satisfy acquisition utility and transaction utility. Specifically, social shopping feature richness enhances perceived product quality, while decreasing negative perceptions regarding price. Moreover, perceived product quality and perceived price significantly influence buying intention through the mechanism of perceived value.Originality/valueThe authors' study highlights the role of the combination of functionally diverse social shopping features on product sales for social shopping platforms.

Consumer perceptions on satisfaction and word of mouth in smallholder horticultural stores in an emerging economy

Based on the expectancy disconfirmation theory, the study presents a conceptual model exploring consumer perception (perceived service quality, product quality, price, and corporate social responsibility) effect on satisfaction and word of mouth in smallholder horticulture stores. A quantitative analysis using Partial Least Squares-based Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was carried. This method was used to identify elements influencing satisfaction and to explore the hypothesised relationships between consumer perceptions, satisfaction, and the spreading of positive word of mouth. The findings identify the perceived service quality and product quality as factors that enhance satisfaction. However, the perceived quality of the product is the only factor that aids word of mouth. Correspondingly, perceived product quality shows a favorable relationship with perceived price. On the other hand, perceived price and corporate social responsibility do not strengthen customer satisfaction, with corporate social responsibility not aiding word of mouth. Furthermore, the study tested the strength of cus-tomer satisfaction as a mediating variable between consumer perception and word of mouth, and none of the results proved significant. Similarly, perceived price does not mediate the path between perceived product quality and customer satisfaction. The study is of benefit to scholars, smallholders, and agricultural policymakers, particularly in emerging economies.

Leapfrogging in Marketing: Empirical Analysis of Kenyan Mobile Phone Industry

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the concept of leapfrogging in the mobile phone industry in the Republic of Kenya. Design/Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional research design, stratified and simple random sampling techniques in collecting data from 349 respondents picked from a population of 15506 employees of three Cosmopolitan County Governments in Kenya. Findings: Outcome indicates that; perceived product quality and perceived switching cost positively and significantly influence intentions to Leapfrog. However, the urgency to replace does not influence choices to leapfrog. Originality/value: The study findings bring a new understanding of the determinants of consumer leapfrogging and their intentions to leapfrog in the mobile phone industry and highlight the role perceived product quality and switching cost play in determining intention leapfrog.

National or Global? Moderated Mediation Impact of Sports Celebrity Credibility on Consumer’s Purchase Intention

The paper aims to examine the role of localness of a sports celebrity and a level of product involvement in the mediated impact of the perceived product quality on the relationship between a sports celebrity’s credibility and consumers’ purchase intention in a developing economy. A total of 253 respondents participated in an experiment including the localness of 2 sports celebrities (global vs national) and2 product involvement (high vs low) levels. The study determined that sports celebrity credibility had both direct and indirect effects on respondents’ intention to buy, but product involvement moderated the direct impact of sports celebrity credibility on the consumer’s intention to buy a product. The direct impact was noticed in the case of low involvement products, and no impact was observed in the situation of high involvement. Besides, the study showed that global sports celebrities enjoyed a higher level of attractiveness, but the trustworthiness was higher for national celebrities. Finally, moderation analysis showed that the mediation effect of the localness of a sports celebrity on the relationship between credibility and intention to purchase depended on the type of measured effect – direct or indirect. This study expands the research on the effects of celebrity credibility on the consumer’s intention to purchase in developing economies.

Determinants of customer satisfaction in online grocery shopping

This study aims to investigate the factors that influence consumer satisfaction with e-grocery shopping. Moreover, it also delves into factors that motivate shoppers to buy groceries from online retailers rather than conventional stores. A primary survey was administered to collect data. Initially, 500 questionnaires were circulated to respondents. People who have ordered groceries from online sites were the expected respondents. In this study, convenience sampling was used, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings affirmed the relationship between consumer satisfaction and perceived convenience, risk factors, perceived product quality, and time value. However, perceived value and value for the time have a little significant effect on consumer satisfaction. There have been relatively few academic studies that look at the variables that influence customer satisfaction when shopping for groceries online. Most of the studies look at the variables that influence consumer satisfaction in the life insurance and financial services industries. By analyzing the data from Delhi and the Nation Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, this research aims to bridge this gap available in the literature.

To partner or not? A study of co-branding partnership and consumers' perceptions of symbolism and functionality toward co-branded sport products

PurposeThis study was conducted to examine the effect of co-branding, a brand partnership tactic involving two or more brands, on consumer behavior within the sport industry. As such, the primary aim was to examine differences regarding consumers' perceptions of self-image congruence and perceived product quality when considering solo-branding and co-branding conditions. Further, under the co-branding condition, relationships among consumers' self-image congruence, perceived product quality, image fit, product evaluation and purchase intention were investigated.Design/methodology/approachA scenario-based quasi-experiment consisting of hypothetical co-branding initiatives between existing brands was conducted.FindingsResults from a repeated multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that consumers' symbolic and functional perceptions of co-branding as well as evaluations were statistically higher than in the solo-branding condition. Additionally, structural equation modeling indicated positive relationships between consumers' symbolic and functional perceptions, image fit, evaluation and behavior intention.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first papers to investigate the impact of co-branding on consumers within the sport industry and provides evidence of the positive impact of co-branding strategies on consumer behavior within the sport industry.

A Study on the Influence of E-Commerce Live Streaming on Consumer Repurchase Intentions

The year 2019 witnessed an exponential growth of the e-commerce live streaming industry. Notably, competitions among live streamers have become increasingly fierce as more newcomers are marching in. To survive and thrive in the cut-throat market competitions, it is key for them to increase consumers’ repeat purchase rate and win customer loyalty. This study uses empirical research methods to probe into the influence of e-commerce live streaming on consumer repurchase intentions. According to this study, perceived entertainment and perceived similarity have a positive impact on consumer repurchase intentions, and this relationship is partially mediated by consumer satisfaction. In addition, perceived product quality, perceived interactivity, and perceived professionalism have a positive and indirect effect on consumer repurchase intentions, and this relationship is fully mediated by consumer satisfaction.