Do you judge a book by its cover? Online book purchases between Japan and France
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 27 February 2023
Issue publication date: 16 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
By adopting a cross-country analysis, this study aims to investigate how consumers' perception of book covers affects their online book purchases in terms of feelings of delight and perceived value of the book.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested the hypotheses using a structural equation model using two countries' datasets obtained from 191 Japanese and 207 French consumers.
Findings
The perceived attractiveness of a picture/photo on a book cover can positively influence feelings of delight. Such emotion enhances a book's perceived value, resulting in active online book purchases. Furthermore, when the perceived value of a book is evident, the French are more strongly motivated to purchase books compared to Japanese consumers.
Originality/value
By simultaneously examining emotion and perceived value as an organism, the authors advance the knowledge of the relationship between book covers and online book purchases. In addition, the authors offer evidence that cross-cultural differences (between the French and Japanese) can stimulate different responses to each affective and cognitive internal state, although similar environmental stimuli are provided.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Funding: This paper was supported by Konkuk University (Program number: 2017A0190172).
Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving the survey were in accordance with the ethical standards of Ritsumeikan University Ethics Committee.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the beginning of the online survey.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Citation
Park, J.Y., Kim, C., Park, S. and Dio, K. (2023), "Do you judge a book by its cover? Online book purchases between Japan and France", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 35 No. 10, pp. 2345-2360. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-08-2022-0669
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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