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This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of ethnically targeted ads in developing consumer–brand relationships through an application of social identification theory and elaboration likelihood model among African American consumers in the service sector.

Study 1 used a 2 (service type: hedonic vs utilitarian) × 2 (strength of ethnic identification: high vs low) between-subjects experimental design. Study 2 used the same experimental design, procedure and ads as Study 1.

Taken together, the findings from these two studies demonstrate how ethnically targeted advertising, in conjunction with service type, can influence consumer–brand relationships. The results showed that those with high strength of ethnic identification had more brand love, as well as higher intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth, purchase intention and brand loyalty for hedonic services, but that this effect was not significant for utilitarian services.

The environments in which advertisements appear (e.g. in an in-store display or a magazine advertisement) is important, and consumers’ reactions to targeted ads in various environments should be considered in future research. Future studies should also examine the role of individuals’ personality traits and level of acculturation in determining their relationships with brands.

Across two studies, the authors demonstrated that ethnic ads are more effective for African American individuals with high level of ethnic identification especially for hedonic services.

This study aims to draw on the malleable nature of processing fluency to identify the role of consumer expectation in generating diverging effects of metacognitive experiences on perception of product innovativeness and product evaluation. It also examines critical boundary conditions to offer a more sophisticated understanding of the interactive effect of expectation and processing fluency.

Studies 1, 2A and 2B recruited 1,922 online participants, and Studies 3 and 4 recruited 644 college students. The authors manipulated product innovativeness expectation by exposing participants to expert reviews of new products, and processing fluency by presenting product detail in either easy-to-read font/color contrast or difficult-to-read font/color contrast. Subsequently, perceived product innovativeness and product evaluation including actual product adoption were measured.

When a product was expected to be innovative (ordinary), feelings of difficulty with processing its detail increased (decreased) perceived innovativeness and, in turn, interest in purchase. The observation occurred only when a credible external source (vs firms) generated the innovativeness expectation or consumers’ elaboration level was not high. Furthermore, when innovativeness became associated with negative implications, perceived innovativeness no longer enhanced but impaired purchase intention.

Studies used incrementally new products only. Really new products involving a high adoption risk might produce a diverging effect. The findings need to be replicated with higher involvement products. An ideal level of difficulty with comprehending product information was not examined in the present research.

Results carry significant weight for firms who seek to draw consumer attention to their new products by choosing an optimal format of product presentation. The findings suggest that they can proactively administer a proper level of ease/difficulty with comprehending product detail depending on the extent of product innovativeness and target audience.

Extant research has not addressed how the malleable nature of processing fluency systematically affects innovativeness perception and product evaluation. The key contribution of this paper to the metacognition literature is the role of consumer expectation that alters the meaning of metacognitive experiences in relation to innovativeness perception. In addition, this is one of the first to empirically investigate perceptual processing fluency in the elaboration likelihood model theory.

This research paper aims to examine consumers' perceptions and behaviours towards “pre-loved luxury fashion products” and focusses on analysing the moderating influence of consumers' attitude strength. Additionally, it investigates the impact of desirability in sustainable luxury experiences (LEs) on consumers' purchase intentions (PIs). The study draws inspiration from the Norm Activation Model theory and operationalises attitude strength using the Elaboration Likelihood Model theory.

Purposive sampling technique was employed to collect 317 useable samples from respondents who had previously purchased or intended to purchase pre-loved luxury fashion goods. SPSS and AMOS version 25 was used for data analysis.

The findings reveal that consumers' environmental concern influences their intention to purchase pre-loved luxury fashion products. Furthermore, sustainable LE acts as a significant mediator in this relationship. The study also demonstrates that the intention to purchase pre-loved luxury fashion products is strengthened when consumers possess a strong attitude towards them.

Luxury marketers can strategise accordingly to motivate consumers to purchase pre-loved luxury fashion products by resonating with their cultural correlates through persuasive advertising to favourably affirm their attitude towards pre-loved luxury fashion products.

This study contributes to the literature by addressing the unresolved area of PIs for pre-loved luxury fashion products, considering the moderating role of attitude strength in emerging markets. It highlights the significance of advocating and promoting pre-loved luxury fashion products and provides valuable insights for luxury marketers.

This study identifies the factors that affect the knowledge of mortgage loans' total cost.

Empirical research utilizing a survey administered through in-home interviews was conducted. This study adopts the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) theory to analyze the influence of information shortcuts and borrowers' abilities and motivations on the knowledge of mortgage loans' total cost.

The results support that the use of the price–quality cue and brand credibility have negative and positive effects, respectively, on the knowledge of mortgage loans' total cost. Households' primary income earners have a higher knowledge of mortgage loans' total cost. The results also show that the household's primary income earners who are price conscious and brand nonbelievers have more knowledge of mortgage loans' total cost.

Price knowledge studies in financial services, especially in the mortgage loan industry, are scarce. Consequently, understanding the price knowledge level for mortgage loans and its potential antecedents has been insufficient.

As a business paradigm, social commerce (s-commerce) has brought about a new stage of innovation, and by extension, has transmuted the power from seller to buyer. S-commerce is a combination a commercial and social activities in which individuals may spread word of mouth (WOM) about their shopping experiences and knowledge and provide information about product and services to their to their friends. This kind of social interactions among individuals has increased the potentials of eWOM communication. Given such a backdrop, this paper aims to look into the influence of eWOM engagement on consumers’ purchase intention in s-commerce, which may complement the current effort of the research community in this area.

This study used elaboration likelihood model, theory of reasoned action and social support theory to investigate the influence of eWOM engagement on consumers’ purchase intention in s-commerce. The study used 218 respondents to evaluate the proposed model using SmartPLS.

The empirical results indicate that information characteristics, consumer behavior and technological factors exert a positive influence on consumer purchase intentions. All hypotheses between attitude toward eWOM, information credibility, innovativeness, website quality and eWOM engagement are significant. Also, eWOM engagement has a significant positive influence on consumer purchase intention. However, information quality and social support does not have any significant relationship with eWOM engagement.

This study seeks to address the dearth of research in the field of s-commerce, especially as it relates to eWOM. The study proposes a new model and empirically validates the hypothesized relationships. This research can serve as a stepping stone for future research in this field.

This study is one of the early studies focusing on the influence of eWOM engagement, especially in s-commerce. The study offers comprehensive and empirically validated factors pertaining to eWOM engagement in s-commerce. The results of this study are also important to practitioners and online companies’ managers. The study’s model has demonstrated the contextualization of what makes customers engage in eWOM and its influence in s-commerce. The study will also offer insights for firms on how to encourage eWOM engagement among customers.

A new eWOM engagement model in s-commerce is proposed with consideration on information characteristics, consumer behavior, technological and social factors. The model is validated afterwards.

Preserving the environment is fundamental to the planet’s long-term sustainability, but attempts to promote pro-environmental behaviours often do not take into account the motivational determinants of such behaviours. This study aims to present and critically evaluate the theoretical and empirical basis of goal-framing theory, which asserts that pro-environmental behaviours might stem from conflicting goals. This study compares the theory to other approaches used to explain pro-environmental behaviour, reviews the empirical evidence for it and comes up with suggestions for future research.

This study compares the theory with other popular theories to explain pro-environmental behaviour and behaviour change and systematically review 25 empirical research studies that adopt the goal-framing theory.

Most studies rely on survey data, focus on Europe and gather self-reported behaviours or hypothetical responses. Furthermore, many studies of goal frames neglect key situational factors. Thus, the directions for further research outlined herein emphasise the need for more experimental studies of real behaviours, with consideration of situational factors, using methods that can explicate unconscious processes too. Overall, goal-framing theory provides a promising approach for analysing pro-environmental behaviours, in that it explicitly deals with goal conflicts, takes situational factors into account and encompasses conscious and unconscious processes. The authors conclude that the theory can form a useful basis for the design of social marketing behavioural interventions to promote pro-environmental behaviours.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, as the first systematic review of empirical applications of goal-framing theory, this study provides refinement and validation. By also offering propositions and a research agenda, the authors hope to inspire researchers in social marketing to address the remaining gaps and refine the theory even further.

Negative media coverage has important impacts on firm financial performance, but existing studies have inconsistent views of this relationship and lack a unified theoretical framework to explain how such impacts arise. This study aims to bridge this gap in the literature.

This study uses two sets of data encompassing publicly listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2013 to 2019, which are covered by the China Stock Market and Accounting Research Database.

This study finds that the number of negative news coverages has an inverted U-shaped relationship with firm financial performance; this relationship is weakened by the proportion of shares held by institutional investors and strengthened by advertising intensity.

This study suggests that corporate executives should be aware of the potential value of a limited amount of negative news coverage and react with tolerance and caution when their companies encounter it.

This study uses two different routes provided in the elaboration likelihood model theory to fully explain the processes underlying changes in investors’ attitudes toward firms experiencing negative media coverage.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to transformative service research by drawing on self-determination, elicitation of emotions framework and feelings-as-information theories to explore how customer participation, task-related affective well-being, customer knowledge, task complexity and service outcomes relate with each other.

A synthesis of relevant literature on customer participation and customer well-being reveals a conceptual model with 11 testable propositions.

The conceptual model shows that task-related affective well-being mediates the link between customer participation and service outcomes. Moreover, customer knowledge and task complexity moderate these links.

An empirically testable conceptual model models the roles of task-related affective well-being, customer knowledge and task complexity in the process by which customer participation influences service outcomes.

Service managers can use the model to design services based on the effects of different types of customer participation on task-related affective well-being.

This paper is one of the first to study the mediating role of task-related affective well-being in the relationship between customer participation and service outcomes. It does so by revealing the differential impact various types of participation have on service outcomes and the moderating role of customer knowledge and task complexity.

The aim of this paper is to enhance the effectiveness of pharmacovigilance programs that provide information about medical products to benefit consumers, aid health care professional’s decision-making and improve community health. This research sought to determine whether distinct segments of consumers can be identified for prescription drug safety social marketing and communication activities and if these segments would respond differently to information about prescription drug products.

Theories of risk information-seeking behavior were used to develop questions for respondents in an online survey panel. Latent class analyses identified clusters that were similar in their ability to accurately interpret risks and benefits, preferred sources of health information, medication use and other related factors. Multinomial logistic regression models identified demographic and psychographic differences across the segments. Logistic and linear regression models were then used to compare each segment’s responses to a specific drug safety information product.

The 1,244 respondents were clustered into four segments: not engaged (12 per cent), low-involvement users (29 per cent), careful users (50 per cent) and social information seekers (9 per cent). These segments were distinguished by perceived seeking control, self-appraisal of skill, information insufficiency, self-efficacy, information competency and health literacy. Sources of health information and health-seeking behaviors were also different across the four segments. Significant differences were found among the segments in their comprehension and perceived utility of the content and their intentions to take relevant actions.

From an array of potential behavioral influences, adults can be segmented by risk information-seeking constructs and related behaviors. These segments respond differently to drug safety information. Use of the personas developed in this work can help pharmacovigilance programs around the world develop more relevant and tailored social marketing products, services and content.

A social marketing approach using empirically tested theoretical constructs can be useful for drug safety or pharmacovigilance programs. The results were used to create personas that quickly convey relevant information to drug safety program managers and staff.

The continued evolution of influencer marketing has created a need to better understand influencer marketing effectiveness. With brands increasingly partnering with influencers, research is yet to provide an integrated perspective examining the critical role of both parties. This study aims to draw on the source credibility model and signaling theory to explain the mechanisms that matter in influencer marketing effectiveness.

The proposed model of influencer marketing effectiveness is analyzed using partial least squares with data from 281 followers of social media influencers.

The authors establish influencer characteristics of popularity and attractiveness as heuristic cues that inform judgments of influencer efficacy. Further, category involvement and altruistic motives for collaboration are shown to moderate followers’ reliance on these heuristic cues. Then, a sequential mediating effect demonstrates the critical roles of the influencer and partner brand in three desired outcomes: enhanced perception of brand authenticity, enhanced brand engagement and positive attitudes toward influencer posts.

Future research should consider other heuristic cues that could inform influencer efficacy judgments and switch the focus toward the partner brand’s impact on such judgments.

A step-by-step visual framework is presented to help marketers and influencers translate these findings into key responsibilities for developing more effective and collaborative partnerships.

Besides presenting an integrated perspective, signaling theory provides an original lens for explaining influencer marketing effectiveness, addressing the need to expand the theoretical boundaries of influencer marketing research.