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This paper aims to investigate the effect of product-related description abstractness/concreteness on perceived trustworthiness and the role of consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset in the persuasiveness of abstract vs concrete product descriptions.

Two online experiments were conducted: Study 1 (description abstractness – manipulated between-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, purchase intent – measured), Study 2 (consumer shopping-stage mindset – manipulated between-subject; description abstractness – manipulated within-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, abstract/concrete description preference – measured).

The negative effect of the abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with relevant product details) on description trustworthiness was evidenced in Study 1. Trustworthiness was positively related to purchase intent, especially for high product expertise. Study 2 replicated the effect of product description abstractness on its trustworthiness in terms of two other forms of abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with irrelevant product details and product benefits vs attributes). The goal-oriented (vs comparative) mindset had a positive effect on the benefit (vs attribute) description preference, especially for high product expertise.

For marketers, the results suggest the positive consequences of presenting concrete information on product attributes and the conditions enhancing the effectiveness of presenting product benefits.

The paper integrates the existing views on consumer response to abstract vs concrete information (lexical abstractness/concreteness, means-end chain theory) and links them to consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset.

The main purpose of this paper is to study the effect of consumer expertise on mortgage loan prices. We argue that consumer expertise should affect price due to two reasons: (1) loan mortgage prices in non-price-regulated settings are usually the result of a bank-customer negotiation process; and (2) a mortgage loan is a complex product.

Data on mortgage loan prices were used for a sample of 1,055 households for 2005 (Bank of Spain Survey of Household Finances, EFF-2005).

The regression results indicate that consumer expertise-related metrics are highly significant as predictors of mortgage loan prices. Findings also indicate that cost-related variables and a measure of risk with low discrimination power (i.e. having a permanent employment contract, which accounts for 70 per cent of contracts in Spain) affect price. Surprisingly, more sophisticated measures of credit risk do not have such a significant impact on mortgage prices.

Empirical results refer to the credit conditions prior to the financial crisis and could shed some light on the factors that led to it.

Findings seem to indicate that, in the period under study, bank managers prioritized capturing new business in the short-term against normative prescriptions, which suggest that price should be credit-risk adjusted (financial literature) and long-term consumer potential adjusted (marketing literature). The post-2008 difficult economic situation of Spanish banks (linked to an excessive portfolio of mortgage loans granted at very low prices) shows that these strategies were wrong.

An uncommon perspective was adopted. The importance of consumer expertise-related variables on price has been underemphasized by prior research. The effect of consumer expertise is assessed by using a large and comprehensive database.

Based on service-dominant logic (SDL) and related perspectives, which suggest that value is co-created through the integration of resources, the purpose of this study is to propose a model which considers two value co-creation sources: firm resources, in the form of process electronic-service quality (ESQ) and outcome ESQ, and consumer resources, as represented by consumer expertise and its antecedents (i.e. social expertise and Internet skills). The effect of product type on the relationship between both co-creation sources, and the value is analyzed.

This study adopts a post-positivist approach. The study begins with cause and effect thinking to build a literature-driven model. Subsequently, pre-existent measures are adapted to the research context, and a Web-based questionnaire is built. The survey administration process yields 1,024 usable responses from Spanish Internet shoppers. To analyze the validity and reliability of the proposed scales and test the relationships hypothesized, the multivariate statistical techniques confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used.

For low-outlay/high-frequency (LO/HF) products, consumers rely more on their own resources, and expertise is more important than process and outcome quality. For high-outlay/low-frequency (HO/LF) products, however, firm resources have a stronger impact.

The study findings may be useful to design e-commerce strategies combining specific ESQ and expertise-related policies according to the type of product offered by the e-service provider.

The empirical study reported here confers similar salience to both consumer resources and firm resources to explain value perception, which is unusual. This is the first study addressed to explain perceived value in a business-to-consumer e-commerce context by jointly considering firm resources (process ESQ and outcome ESQ), consumer resources (expertise) and product type. The moderating effect of product type is consistent with insights from prior marketing research but counterintuitive. It could be thought that expertise should be more important for HO/LF products, which is contrary to the results of this study.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of brand strategies and spokesperson expertise on consumer responses to hypermarket private-label products by combining concepts from consumer attitude change, resistance to persuasion and construal level theory (CLT).

Two experiments were conducted to test the propositions.

Consumers perceived the low-price (low-quality) characteristic of private-label products as a high-level (low-level) construal consideration when forming purchase decisions. Product relevance negatively affected consumers’ perceived product distance. Compared with store brands, separate brands enhanced consumer product attitudes and purchase intentions. Brand strategies and product distance affected consumer message-processing mindset (i.e. resistant to persuasion or open to persuasion) when processing advertisements, ultimately moderating the effect of spokesperson expertise.

The findings are useful for hypermarkets seeking to implement brand strategies and select spokespersons for private-label products. Additionally, the findings show that advertisers should design advertising elements to match consumers’ construal approaches to product-related information.

This study contrasts two common hypermarket brand strategies, identifies the construal levels corresponding to the dual roles of private-label products and expands CLT dimensions. Additionally, the results bridge two research approaches (persuasion and resistance to persuasion) and demonstrate the pivotal influence of brand strategies. The findings also advance understanding of the effects of spokesperson expertise and contribute to resistance theory by showing how to effectively reduce attitude certainty after resistance to persuasion.

As globalization promotes mobility and tourism around the world, the substitution effect of outbound tourism on domestic tourism becomes increasingly apparent. Knowing how to increase customers' loyalty toward domestic tourism is an urgent and critical question for policymakers and tourism managers, especially from the perspective of customer segmentation. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how consumer expertise affects domestic tourism loyalty. This paper also provides comprehensive research for understanding differences between married and unmarried consumers in responses to the impact of expertise on loyalty.

The study is based on a survey of 384 individuals. We use Partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation model, and statistical comparison to test research hypotheses.

Results suggest that consumer expertise has a “double-edged sword” effect on domestic tourism loyalty. On one hand, it increases the perceived benefit of domestic tourism and reduces consumers' motivation to switch to outbound tourism, resulting in a higher level of domestic tourism loyalty. On the other hand, consumer expertise improves consumers' switching ability and switching opportunity to travel abroad, leading to a lower level of domestic tourism loyalty. Furthermore, this paper documents that married and unmarried customers present heterogeneous attitudes in the decision process. We found that married customers are less sensitive to the impact of consumer expertise on the perceived benefit and the impact of consumer expertise on switch ability. However, married customers are more sensitive to both the impact of perceived usefulness on the switch motivation, and the impact of switch motivation, switch opportunity and switch ability on domestic tourism loyalty.

Our findings enrich the literature on consumer expertise and loyalty. Future studies may consider examining similar relationships by utilizing multiple research methods as well as testing the research findings and mechanisms in different contexts.

This research provides practical guidance for cultivating and maintaining domestic tourism loyalty, such as consumer segmentation in terms of tourism knowledge and information.

This paper examines the relationship between consumer expertise and loyalty in the context of tourism and uncovers the mechanism behind it. More importantly, to our knowledge, this paper is the first to identify consumers' marital status as a key factor that influences the process of how consumer expertise affects domestic tourism loyalty.

The study examines consumer expertise for services and its measurement. Specifically, measures of subjective expertise or confidence, experience or frequency of usage, and two measures of objective expertise are used for two services varying in degree of tangibility. As hypothesised, positive relationships between the different types of expertise do not always exist, particularly as intangibility of the service increases.

This paper aims to evaluate the relationships among consumer expertise, hedonic orientation, price consciousness, and consumption using wine as the focal product. While these variables' impact on decision making within this industry have been examined in isolation, this is believed to be the first study marrying these hedonic and non‐hedonic characteristics.

Data were collected from a convenience sample of wine purchasers consisting of faculty, staff and upper level students at a major southwestern university using a 95 item questionnaire. In total, 241 usable surveys were included in the analysis.

The findings indicate support for all five hypothesized relationships. The importance of hedonic orientation as a psychographic characteristic emerges. The relationship between expertise and consumption is moderated by hedonic orientation as is the relationship between expertise and price consciousness. Price consciousness mediates the relationship between expertise and consumption, but only for those consumers who have a high hedonic orientation.

The results may not be generalizable across all consumers given the convenience nature of the sample. Additionally only one product category, wine, is included.

This study examines wine consumers' hedonic orientation and its impact on ultimate consumption. Further, this study is also valuable to the field of consumer behavior through development of a scale to capture the dimensions underlying the construct of hedonic orientation. Previous researchers have established profiles of persons who engage in hedonic consumption, but have not assessed an individual's hedonic orientation.

Set in an emerging economy context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of green consumers’ purchase behavior on organic food by analyzing the impact of word-of-mouth (WOM) effects (i.e. tie strength, sender’s green expertise, receiver’s green expertise), conformity behaviors (i.e. normative interpersonal influence and informational interpersonal influence) on green purchase intention, and the relationship between green purchase intention and green purchase behavior.

Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire completed by respondents who had purchase experience of organic food in the last six months. The specific context of this study is green consumption for organic food in Taiwan. Data collection was implemented in a convenience sampling method. Among the 578 consumers who had filled the questionnaire, 147 did not have any purchase history of organic food, resulting in a final usable sample of 431 (response rate 74.57 percent) in Taiwan. The data were collected during a five-week period in late 2015.

Through structural equation modeling analysis, data were analyzed and the empirical results indicate that tie strength, sender’s green expertise, and receiver’s green expertise have a positive influence on green consumer’s susceptibility to informational interpersonal influences and normative interpersonal influences, separately. In addition, informational interpersonal influences and normative interpersonal influences both have a positive relationship on green purchase intention, which will further positively influence the green purchase behavior.

This study reminds marketers of the impact of WOM effects as well as interpersonal influences on consumers. It examines the impact of tie strength, senders’ green expertise, and receivers’ green expertise on green purchase intention and green purchase behavior. This study also explores the mediation effects of green consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influences. Consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence is discussed in the marketing literature. However, few prior studies have explored its effect in the green setting. Last, few attempts have discussed the relationship between green purchase intention and green purchase behavior. This study contributes to the literature by examine the relationship between green purchase intentions and green purchase behavior.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between consumer self‐confidence, product expertise, and travel experience in the context of travel information search during vacation planning.

The research design is based on a panel study to monitor trip planning processes of Austrian travelers. A structural model is used to assess to what degree consumer self‐confidence, product expertise, and travel experience affect travel information search and to examine the influence of consumer self‐confidence on product expertise.

Findings from the study show that consumer self‐confidence significantly affects product expertise. Travel experience, on the other hand, positively influences product expertise that again is positively related to travel information search. No significant relationship is established between travel experience and travel information search.

While most of the previous studies investigated information search using cross‐sectional data, this study addresses the need for more accurate research on information search adopting a panel design. One major limitation of the study is the small sample size. Results from a larger sample might be different in regards to the magnitude of the relationships.

This study contributes to the overall understanding of how knowledge and ability‐related factors impact travel information sourcing. The tourism literature reveals no other study that has simultaneously quantified consumer self‐confidence and product expertise during trip planning.

It is generally accepted that the launch of a new product is critical to its success. Key to this is that manufacturers understand the market segment which is targeted for the launch. However, recent research and criticism suggest that modern segmentation strategies, aligning products with lifecycle typologies do not work. It is no longer possible to align consumers and products into neat and stable lifecycle segments. It is suggested that more importance should be attached to products having a familiarity fit with consumers – what they know and expect from a particular product. These views are moderated by a consumer's enthusiasm or involvement with the product as well as their level of expertise in understanding complex products. This paper aims to look at these issues.

This research looks at consumer perceptions to the changes to two automotive models launched by one of the major manufacturers at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Germany, held in September 2005, to discover which changes had the most appeal and to identify correlations with consumer lifecycles.

Results revealed that consumer lifecycles had no correlation with any of the data, whereas familiarity, expertise and product involvement will provide manufacturers with more accurate segmentation tools in the launch and marketing of new automotive products.

These findings suggest that a customer's expertise, product involvement and familiarity with the product are likely to provide more appropriate market segmentation tools.

This paper reveals useful information on consumer lifestyles and market segmentation tools.