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Concerns related to the ethical issues are evident in the increasingly socially conscious marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of fair-trade communication activities in the buying decision-making process of chocolate. The role of emotional empathy in influencing the willingness to pay and the purchase intention was also explored.

A mail survey with a sample of 199 Italian chocolate consumers was conducted. Respondents were equally and randomly distributed among the four print advertising stimuli: conventional brand with conventional campaign; conventional brand with pro-social campaign; pro-social brand with conventional campaign; and pro-social brand with pro-social campaign. A between-subjects factorial design was used to test the hypotheses.

Results showed the effectiveness of pro-social marketing campaigns in increasing consumers’ willingness to pay and purchase intention for fair-trade chocolate. Contextually, consumers with a high level of emotional empathy showed a greater purchase intention as opposed to those with a low level.

As the ethical nature of the product should be communicated in several ways, the effect of different types of textual information on the dependent variables should be considered.

The study enriches the literature on ethical consumption and provides some guidance to manufacturers and product managers for understanding the role of pro-social marketing communication in influencing consumer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of different spatial representations (foreground and background) of a product image on the package on the consumer emotional state and intention to buy the product, drawing upon the construal level theory (CLT).

Two between-subjects experimental designs were conducted. A face-reading software was used to measure the emotional reactions of participants while watching the stimuli.

Empirical results showed that the foreground representation of the product, triggered by a lower perceived psychological distance between the subject and the product, generates more positive emotional responses compared to the background representation. However, the purchase intention did not significantly differ between the foreground condition and the background condition.

The study enriches the literature on CLT and provides some guidance to manufacturers and product managers for the understanding of the role of packaging in influencing consumer behaviour.

The paper contributes to the research on the presence of the product imagery on the package. The focus is shifted from the presence/absence of the picture to its position (proximal or distal). This aspect has been neglected in previous studies. Moreover, it is the first application of face reading to support CLT basic assumption and enrich extant marketing research on packaging.

The research carried out a bibliometric analysis of the literature on environmental sustainability from a demand perspective by analyzing the scientific contributions published in the last twenty years.

A bibliometric analysis was carried out to outline the scientific studies development, identifying the most discussed topics and those that would require future research. In total, 274 articles published between 1999 and 2021 were collected through the Web of Science database and analyzed with the SciMAT software.

By systematizing the literature results, the study revealed a steady growth in the number of publications and in the research areas, highlighting a substantial evolution of the research topic.

The study contribute for conceptual, methodological and thematic development of the topic, systematizing the results of existing studies and providing useful indications for the promotion of sustainable consumer habits.

The study attempts to bridge the gap in current literature by offering a holistic view on the role of consumer behavior in pursuing sustainability goals, identifying both the most treated areas and the emerging ones that can represent opportunities for future research.

The study aims to contribute to the knowledge on the role of the fashion bloggers in the product adoption process in both advanced and emerging markets. Specifically, the study investigates the impact of credibility, engagement and homophily on intentions to buy fashion products recommended by the blogger.

The empirical research builds on an online survey with a sample of 402 consumers (189 Italian and 213 Taiwanese). The proposed model was tested through structural equation modeling.

Results showed that homophily and the fashion blogger credibility positively influenced the engagement within the blog. Moreover, perceived similarity with the other blog's followers (homophily) and a higher engagement with the blog both translated in a stronger intention to buy the sponsored products and to spread a positive word-of-mouth about the fashion blogger.

The study has practical implications since it identifies strategic suggestions for both companies that create partnerships with famous fashion bloggers and bloggers who have turned their diary-style websites into a business.

The study contributes to a better understanding of the influence exerted by blog engagement on intentions to follow blogger's recommendations. The study also examines credibility and homophily as antecedents of engagement, which have not been extensively researched in the past with respect to blogs.

The palm oil debate has become highly polarised in recent years and is of crucial importance for multinationals and their policies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the consumers’ response towards product packs communicating this food ingredient in different ways: through “palm oil free” and “with sustainable palm oil” claims or without mentioning it.

A mail survey with a sample of 191 consumers was conducted. Respondents were equally and randomly distributed among the experimental conditions. The hypotheses were tested by a between-subjects factorial design.

Results revealed that consumer exposed to the “palm oil free” products showed a lower risk perception compared to those exposed to the “with sustainable palm oil” products and to products without claim. Moreover, the product evaluation was better in the “palm oil free” condition compared to the “with sustainable palm oil” condition. No differences emerged in attitude, expected tastiness and willingness to pay.

The study sheds light on the consumer valuation of palm oil products and provides some useful managerial implications to manufacturers and product managers.

Results enrich the literature on food claims on pre-packaged foods as the source of information and on consumers’ perception towards palm oil.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether gambler’s cognitive errors affect gambling involvement and addiction. As the popularity of gambling has grown, questions are being raised about its excessive use and factors related to addictive behaviours.

An online survey on 508 gamblers was conducted. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the relationships among gambling beliefs, gambling involvement and problem gambling.

Among the three sets of erroneous beliefs investigated, luck and superstition were significant predictors of both gambling involvement and the severity of gambling problems (according to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)), while the illusion of control showed a negative relationship with the PGSI. Moreover, gambling involvement positively affected the potential risk of disease and mediates the relationship between luck and superstition and PGSI.

Because not all cognitive dimensions apparently influence gambling behaviour, future research should extend the analysis to include other variables that may moderate or mediate the causal relationship.

The results are useful to marketers in developing social marketing campaigns wishing to discourage gambling. Moreover, factors that influence gambling involvement and addiction may be used as diagnostic tools to correct gamblers behaviour.

The paper proposes a deeper exploration of the relationships among beliefs, gambling involvement and dysfunctional gambling and an appropriate scale to capture the entire spectrum of gambler’s beliefs in relation to every form of gambling activity.

The study aims to investigate the impact of store flyer characteristics on store performance for different formats (hypermarket and supermarket) and customer segments (additional and regular shoppers). Specifically, the paper tests propositions on how flyer duration, variety of featured purchasing options, the category and brand mix on feature and the method used to communicate the deal price affect store traffic and sales.

Data were made available for analysis by a grocery chain that utilizes a hi-lo pricing strategy. To test the hypothesis a multiple linear regression analysis was used.

Results indicate that optimal store flyer configuration is related to the store format. Moreover, the response to flyer promotion programs varies across customer segments in relation to their degree of store loyalty.

Findings can assist marketers to develop more effective promotional strategies with regards to the bundle of promotions to be offered and the way they should be communicated. Future research should extend the analysis to other retailers and trading areas. Furthermore, it would be useful to replicate the analysis by separating the impact of in-store activities and store flyer effects.

This is the first attempt to analyse flyer impact on store performance for different formats and customer segments. Prior research is confined to supermarkets, although the enhancement of store traffic is related to format size. Moreover, the traffic and sales implications of store flyer composition have so far been analysed in an aggregate manner, disregarding customers' shopping patterns.