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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 2 April 2024

Lingling He, Miaochan Lin, Shichang Liang, Lixiao Geng and Zongshu Chen

This research explores the impact of classical aesthetics (e.g. order and symmetry) and expressive aesthetics (e.g. creativity and distinctiveness) on consumer green consumption.

Abstract

Purpose

This research explores the impact of classical aesthetics (e.g. order and symmetry) and expressive aesthetics (e.g. creativity and distinctiveness) on consumer green consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

This research conducted three studies. Study 1 explored the main effect of appearance aesthetics (appearance: plain vs classical vs expressive) on green products purchase intention through a one-factor between-subjects design. Study 2 verified the mediating role of perceived naturalness through two types of appearance aesthetics (appearance: classical vs expressive) between-subjects design. Study 3 verified the moderating role of product identity-symbolic attributes through a 2 (product identity-symbolic attributes: non-identity-symbolic vs identity-symbolic attributes) × 2 (appearance: classical aesthetics vs expressive aesthetics) between-subjects design.

Findings

Consumers will be more likely to purchase a green product that has classical aesthetics appearance (vs expressive aesthetics). Perceived naturalness mediates the effect of aesthetic appearance on consumer green consumption. Product identity symbol attributes moderate this effect. Specifically, for non-identity-symbolic green products, classical aesthetics can effectively enhance consumer purchase intention. For identity-symbolic green products, expressive aesthetics can effectively enhance consumer purchase intention.

Originality/value

Existing research suggests that aesthetic appearance can increase consumers’ evaluation of electronic products, beauty products and food, but the difference between aesthetics has not yet been explored. This research compares two aesthetics, contributing to the literature on aesthetic appearance in green products and offering valuable insights for managers’ green products marketing.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2022

Geeta Marmat

This paper aims to empirically explore the influence of website aesthetic attributes (classical and expressive) on customer brand engagement (CBE) intention.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to empirically explore the influence of website aesthetic attributes (classical and expressive) on customer brand engagement (CBE) intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This research develops a framework and a few research hypothesis based on available literature on the concept of aesthetics, aesthetic attribute of websites and CBE, as well as other reliable resources, relevant theories, wherever required and tested it on the data collected from 400 respondents of the Y generation (Gen Y) of India by means of structural equations modelling using SPSS AMOS 21.

Findings

The findings indicate that expressive aesthetics of the brand Web pages of the beauty products is positively associated with drawing attention. Expressive aesthetics and classical aesthetics together explained 16% of the variance in attention. This indicates that aesthetic attributes indeed play a role in drawing the attention of the customer. However, mere attention is not sufficient to form the behavioural intention in the customer to engage with that particular brand unless the customer does get fully absorbed with aesthetic attributes of the brand Web pages.

Research limitations/implications

The outcome of this research is based on the view of only 400 Gen Y individuals from the city of Indore in India. This limits its generalizability across India and other country context. This study makes important contribution to brand website aesthetic and CBE literature by empirically investigating the concept of brand website aesthetics as important in interactive marketing approach to initiate CBE intention formation. It further argues that cognitive engagement is the first and foremost engagement dimension and underscores aesthetic attributes as important in forming the customer first perception based on which subsequent CBE behavioural intention develops.

Originality/value

This research adds novel insight in the relationship of the brand website aesthetic attributes and CBE by studying the impact of the aesthetic attribute of brand Web pages on the two cognitive elements, namely, attention and absorption and further its effect on brand behavioural intention taking as sample of Gen Y of India.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. 72 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 November 2023

Minna Eronen

This study aims to explore aesthetic atmospheres and their affordances in urban squares to advance knowledge on the research and design of attractive living environments.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore aesthetic atmospheres and their affordances in urban squares to advance knowledge on the research and design of attractive living environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Descriptions of pleasant and unpleasant experiences of urban squares were collected using qualitative questionnaires with open-ended questions. The theoretical framework and the lens of aesthetic affordances were applied to pinpoint and understand the connections between the place attributes and experiences.

Findings

This study found four distinct aesthetic atmospheres formed by perceived synergies of both the material and immaterial aspects of the environment. It was also found that the atmospheres may shift. A model that shows the aesthetic atmospheres and their potential affordances as layered and emerging is presented.

Research limitations/implications

Everyday aesthetics considered as affordances open new research perspectives for the understanding of what generates attractive living environments – or not.

Practical implications

Aesthetics affordances may provide the design professionals and alike means on how to design places that engender specific aesthetic atmosphere.

Social implications

Gathering and discussing commonplace aesthetic experiences in everyday life may enhance democratic participation in place development among people with different levels of design expertise.

Originality/value

This study combines theories of place with a novel concept of aesthetic affordances to identify distinct aesthetic atmospheres. A holistic overview structure of how the various constituents of aesthetic atmospheres relate to each other provides new ways of studying and understanding urban aesthetic atmospheres.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 February 2024

Mark Buschgens, Bernardo Figueiredo and Janneke Blijlevens

This paper aims to investigate how and when visual referents in brand visual aesthetics (i.e. colours, shapes, patterns and materials) serve as design applications that enable…

362

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how and when visual referents in brand visual aesthetics (i.e. colours, shapes, patterns and materials) serve as design applications that enable consumer diasporic identity.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an innovative methodology that triangulates 58 in-depth interviews with diasporic consumers, 9 interviews with brand managers and designers and a visual analysis of brands (food retailer, spices and nuts, skincare, hair and cosmetics, ice cream and wine) to provide a view of the phenomenon from multiple perspectives.

Findings

This study illustrates how and when particular applications and compositions of product and design referents support diasporic identity for Middle Eastern consumers living outside the Middle East. Specifically, it illustrates how the design applications of harmonising (applying separate ancestral homeland and culture of living product and design referents simultaneously), homaging (departing from the culture of living product and design referents with a subtle tribute to ancestral homeland culture) and heritaging (departing from the ancestral homeland culture product and design referents with slight updates to a culture of living style) can enable diasporic identity in particular social situations.

Research limitations/implications

Although applied to the Middle Eastern diaspora, this research opens up interesting avenues for future research that assesses diasporic consumers’ responses to brands seeking to use visual design to engage with this market. Moreover, future research should explore these design applications in relation to issues of cultural appreciation and appropriation.

Practical implications

The hybrid design compositions identified in this study can provide brand managers with practical tools for navigating the design process when targeting a diasporic segment. The design applications and their consequences are discussed while visually demonstrating how they can be crafted.

Originality/value

While previous research mainly focused on how consumption from the ancestral homeland occurred, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine how hybrid design compositions that combine a diaspora’s ancestral homeland culture and their culture of living simultaneously and to varying degrees resonate with diasporic consumers.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 58 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2023

Ying Zhu, Yong Wang, Joicey Wei and Andy Hao

Few studies illustrate how contextual effects (e.g. assimilation and contrast) in pay-per-click ad design may impact consumers' attitudes and purchase intention. To fill this…

Abstract

Purpose

Few studies illustrate how contextual effects (e.g. assimilation and contrast) in pay-per-click ad design may impact consumers' attitudes and purchase intention. To fill this research gap, the authors provide theoretical predictions and empirical evidence on how ad design may prompt an assimilation and/or a contrast effect that may influence consumers' attitudes toward the ad and the brand and purchase intention. They also investigate whether the impact of contextual effects on consumers' decisions depends on the level of vividness in the ad.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 (vividness: dynamic motion vs. static page) × 2 (information design: assimilation vs. contrast) × 2 (aesthetic design: assimilation vs. contrast) between-subjects experimental design is used to examine the effects of vividness, information design and aesthetic design. Conditional process analysis is used to assess the mediating role of attitudes toward the ad and the brand in the relationship between contextual effects and purchase intention.

Findings

For dynamic ads (i.e. high vividness) but not for static ads (i.e. low vividness), combined information contrast and aesthetic contrast designs generate a more favorable attitude toward the brand and a higher purchase intention than do combined information assimilation and aesthetic assimilation designs. Notably, combined information contrast and aesthetic contrast designs have the strongest effects than any other combination of assimilation and contrast designs of information and aesthetics. Attitudes toward the ad and the brand are significant mediators between contextual factors and intention to purchase.

Research limitations/implications

The study examines the effectiveness of online ads from a new theoretical angle based on the attributes of pay-per-click ads.

Practical implications

The results suggest that when advertisers decide to use dynamic ads, they should adopt a contrast design for both the ad information and its aesthetics.

Originality/value

This study fills a research gap in the contextual effects literature, including providing evidence of an underlying process in the relationship between certain contextual effects and purchase intent. It also extends previous findings of assimilation/contrast in information design to aesthetics design and advances the literature on vividness by examining a moderation effect of vividness.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Fangfang Hou, Boying Li, Zhengzhi Guan, Alain Yee Loong Chong and Chee Wei Phang

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social…

273

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social relationship (PSR), this study aims to capture viewers’ lively social feelings toward the streamer as the key factor leading to the purchase behavior of virtual gifts. It also aims to establish a theoretical link between PSR and viewers’ holistic experience in live streaming as captured by cognitive absorption and aims to investigates the role of technological features (i.e. viewer–streamer and viewer–viewer interactivity, streamer-level and viewer-level deep profiling and design aesthetics) in shaping viewers’ experience.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 433 survey responses, this study employs a combination of structural equation modeling and neural networks to offer valuable insights into the relationships between the technological environment, viewer experience and viewer behavior.

Findings

Our results highlight the salience of PSR in promoting the purchase of virtual gifts through cognitive absorption and the importance of the technological environment in eliciting the viewer experience. This study sheds light on the development of PSR in a technological environment and its relationship with cognitive absorption.

Originality/value

By applying PSR to conceptualize viewers’ perceived connection with the streamer, this study extends the research on purchase behavior in the non-shopping context by providing an enlightened understanding of virtual gift purchase behavior in live streaming. Moreover, by theoretically linking PSR with cognitive absorption, virtual gift purchase and technological features of live streaming, it enriches the theory of PSR and bridges the gap between the design practice of supporting the IT infrastructure of live streaming and research.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2022

Ephraim Zulu, Sambo Lyson Zulu, Mwansa Chabala, Neema Kavishe, Charles Chifunda and Innocent Musonda

While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to…

Abstract

Purpose

While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to which design teams in developing countries consider environmental sustainability at the building design stage. Therefore, using Zambia as a case study, this study examined the extent to which infrastructure design teams in a developing country consider environmental sustainability at the design stage.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative research approach using structured interviews because there are hardly any studies which have explored the extent to which designers incorporate environmental sustainability in infrastructure designs in developing countries. The data is analysed thematically using the ATLAS.ti software.

Findings

The results show that environmental sustainability is not an important design consideration because it is secondary to functional, technical and aesthetic considerations. Environmental considerations are also made in an ad hoc manner and when it is cost-effective for the project. Regulatory requirements pertaining to environmental protection are adhered to without any cost considerations. It was, therefore, theorised that building design teams in developing countries make technical, functional and aesthetic consideration during the infrastructure design stage ahead of environmental considerations.

Originality/value

There is a paucity of studies that have investigated whether building infrastructure designers consider issues of environmental sustainability at the design stage in developing countries. The findings have practical implications on how developing countries can foster environmental sustainability at the design stage and avoid generating a building infrastructure stock that will require environmental resilience adaptation in the future.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2023

Hamid Reza Saeidnia, Marcin Kozak, Bakthavachalam Elango and Hamid Keshavarz

The purpose of this article is to examine the structure and determine the MDA framework for use in the development and design of library websites. The topic of innovation in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to examine the structure and determine the MDA framework for use in the development and design of library websites. The topic of innovation in libraries is frequently discussed; thus, we have tried to offer techniques for innovation in website design for libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compares these two approaches to determine if the mechanical, dynamic and aesthetic (MDA) framework can also be used to create library websites. Each of the MDA framework’s three components was assessed for their applicability to the development of a library website.

Findings

When building a library website, three crucial characteristics that must be carefully taken into account are, among other things, being supporting and safety-oriented; adaptable and accessible; and aesthetically pleasing to the user. Studies have also revealed several additional criteria that may be regarded as success factors for library websites. In addition, there is also a framework for creating touch- and gesture-based interactions. It is also a method for understanding the creation and playing of video games. The acronym MDA stands for the three components of its structure: mechanical, dynamic and aesthetic.

Originality/value

Many kinds of library websites exist, including those for academic, public, school and special libraries. So far, models and approaches for designing pages have been offered for each of these library website categories.

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 July 2022

Bushan Mathavan, Ali Vafaei-Zadeh, Haniruzila Hanifah, T. Ramayah and Sherah Kurnia

This paper aims to investigate the key enablers and inhibitors that influence the intention to use fitness wearables using the value-based adoption model (VAM).

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the key enablers and inhibitors that influence the intention to use fitness wearables using the value-based adoption model (VAM).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a structured online questionnaire from 323 respondents who had never used fitness wearables. A purposive sampling technique was used in this study. Smart PLS was employed to test the research framework and hypotheses using a two-step approach.

Findings

The findings support some of the hypotheses developed with R2 values of 0.622 for perceived value (PV) and 0.567 for intention to use fitness wearable. Perceived enjoyment, perceived social image and perceived usefulness had a positive effect on PV. In addition, health information sensitivity (HIS) was positively related to perceived privacy risk and health information accuracy was positively related to perceived usefulness. Surprisingly, this study did not find any significant relationship between perceived fee, perceived privacy risk, perceived health increase and perceived design aesthetics with PV.

Practical implications

This study's findings can help designers and manufacturers design fitness wearables by considering factors that users find valuable, thus satisfying consumers' needs.

Originality/value

This study tries to model behavioural intention of fitness wearable usage of individual users by using the VAM with the addition of two new antecedences, HSI and health information accuracy, to better explain the behaviour.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2024

Youngjoon Yu, Jae-Hyeon Ahn, Dongyeon Kim and Kyuhong Park

While prior studies have explored the relationship between visual appeal and purchasing decisions, the role of bookmarking has largely been underemphasized. This research aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

While prior studies have explored the relationship between visual appeal and purchasing decisions, the role of bookmarking has largely been underemphasized. This research aims to address this gap by focusing on the impact of bookmarking on consumer behavior, guided by the cognitive load theory and dual-system theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors executed a controlled experiment and analyzed the results using a two-stage regression method that linked visual appeal, bookmarking and purchase intent. Further empirical analysis was conducted to authenticate the authors' proposed model, utilizing real-world mobile commerce data from a clothing company.

Findings

This study's findings suggest that visual appeal influences purchase intent primarily through the full mediation of bookmarking, rather than exerting a direct influence. Furthermore, an increase in colorfulness corresponds positively with visual appeal, while visual complexity exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with it.

Originality/value

This study provides novel insights into the choice-set formation process through the theoretical lens of dual-system theory. Additionally, the authors employed an image processing technique to quantify a product's visual appeal as depicted in a photograph. This study also incorporates a comprehensive econometric analysis to connect the objective aspects of visual appeal with subjective responses.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000