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The principal purpose of this study is to analyze the consumer emotions on virtual merchandising in the context of social consumption ecosystem driven by value and lifestyle across the big middle consumer segment.

The qualitative information has been collected from 114 respondents selected through snowballing technique within the metropolitan area of Mexico City. A semi-structured research instrument was used to conduct the in-depth interviews online.

The results of the study indicate that technology-led virtual merchandising stimulates arousal and merriment among consumers, which converges the self-image congruence and appearance similarity. The subjects of the study have endorsed that visual stimulus leading to self-image and body image congruence develop consistent arousal and merriment, which lead to positive purchase intentions and buying decisions and inculcate the perception as seeing is experiencing.

The samples drawn for this study may also limit the possibilities of generalization of the study results and map the consumer behavior in a predetermined pattern.

This study is founded on the theoretical maxims of theory of visual perceptions, cognitive theory of reasoning, theory of appearance and reality and Heider’s balance theory and contributes to these theories by explaining the relationship between the social self-concept and self-image congruence.

Firms retailing online fashion apparel should also be engaged in developing user-generated contents through communications on social media encouraging experiential videos, slogans and reviews.

This paper significantly contributes to theoretical and practical implications on virtual shopping, emotions and beliefs and consumption culture.

Though online impulsive buying emerged mostly in Western cultures, it has been widely expanded as a key pattern among online customers in emerging markets. Interestingly, while few studies suggest that engaging in unplanned purchase actions (i.e. impulsive buying) is not always associated with negative emotions among customers (i.e. postpurchase cognitive dissonance), others suggest that impulsive buying is directly associated with cognitive dissonance. This paper aims to investigate and understand the key antecedents of online impulsive buying among Moroccan Gen Z consumers, and how it contributes to postpurchase dissonance. The authors also try to gain deeper insights by investigating the disparities between males and females using mutigroup analysis.

Based on data collected from 333 Moroccan Gen Zers, the hypothesized model was empirically tested using a partial least squares estimation.

First, the results confirm that impulsive buying is positively associated with postpurchase dissonance. Second, while hedonic shopping motivation, fear of missing out and materialism were found to significantly impact online impulsive buying, price value and online reviews had no significant effect on online impulsive purchases. The importance–performance matrix also suggests that the fear of missing out is the most important factor leading to online impulsive buying, followed by hedonic shopping motivation and materialism. Finally, the results confirm that female shoppers are more likely to engage in impulsive buying behavior, and this was mainly due to higher fear of missing out, hedonic shopping motivation and materialism.

First, the study findings can help online merchants to construct well-designed online shopping platforms and effective e-marketing tactics to stimulate purchase intentions among Gen Z shoppers. Online merchants should also attempt to reduce the negative feelings associated with unplanned buying behavior by introducing additional incentives, effective consumer interactivity and flexible return policies. This would help online suppliers in retaining customers and transforming impulse purchases into more recurrent ones. Second, online retailers should take into consideration the differences between male and female consumers by appealing to the role of gender in purchase situations when marketing their products and services. Finally, the findings offer interesting implications to society by allowing online shoppers to make well-informed purchase decisions without being influenced by personal and products’ traits.

While prior research assessed the investigated constructs in separate models, the study suggests an integrated framework that incorporates different determinants of online impulsive shopping as well as its impact on postpurchase cognitive dissonance. Additionally, the authors explored the moderating effect of gender to gain deeper insights with regard to the disparities between males and females while engaging in online impulsive buying. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to investigate the antecedents of online impulsive buying among Gen Z consumers in Arab countries and Africa.

The study aims to draw on existing knowledge and investigates how luxury is perceived in a developing nation with economic and cultural diversity. The present study aims to develop a conceptual framework to understand luxury buying behavior in a developing nation context.

The study utilizes qualitative research (focus group discussions) with 72 luxury consumers (and partly with practitioners) of apparel and accessories in two major metro cities and two major non-metro cities of India.

A framework of luxury buying behavior was constructed with cultural background, antecedents, buying process and post-purchase consequences of luxury buying behavior as its sub-constructs. Gender was identified as a moderating variable between antecedents of purchase and purchase behavior.

The most important contribution of the present study is the creation of a comprehensive framework of luxury buying behavior within a developing nation context and a set of testable propositions to further validate using quantitative research.

Provides the manager with a workable model of luxury buying behavior that he/she could use to generate the right consumer responses.

The present study is the first of its kind which integrates cultural backdrop, antecedents and consequences of luxury consumption in the context of a developing nation.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the nature of emotion, self-esteem and life satisfaction tendencies amongst Iranian Muslim consumers when making impulse purchases.

Questionnaires were distributed amongst female Muslim participants at a shopping centre in Yazd, Iran – each of which were selected using cluster and random sampling methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling techniques, where LISREL software was used to measure the direct and indirect relationships between variables.

Within the sample, there was a direct causal relationship between impulse buying tendencies, impulse buying behaviour and purchasing. Second, there was a negative relationship between self-esteem and life-satisfaction within impulse buying tendencies. Finally, a positive relationship exists between emotion and impulse buying tendencies, which elicits impulse buying behaviour culminating in purchases. Emotion drives these consumers towards dissonance-reducing behaviour, which mediates low self-esteem and life satisfaction – through consumerism as a form of retail therapy. Some of the items purchased on impulse, that fulfilled this role, were hijabs (headscarves) and mantos (a type of tunic/shirt-dress/coat common in Iran).

The hijab is worn by Muslim females across the globe. However, the manto is an item of clothing worn almost exclusively by Iranian females. Therefore, it is likely that Muslim females in different geographies may exhibit similar behavioural traits, but their consumption patterns would substitute this item with a different one, such as an abaya or jilbab, for example.

Whilst the notion of retail therapy is widely understood, the novel contribution of this study lies in highlighting that the purchase of clothing such as hijabs and mantos by Iranian Muslim females is not just driven by rational and emotional decision-making seeking to fulfil religious obligations. There are cases where these religious artefacts are used to raise feelings of self-esteem and life satisfaction within the same individuals.

The purpose of this paper is to verify if the gender effects described in the wine consumer behaviour literature, namely, concerning information search and the motivations to buy, may be explained by the mediating effect of subjective knowledge, taking into consideration that the importance of knowledge in the decision process is gender specific.

A path analysis was modelled with an exogenous variable (gender), a mediating variable (subjective knowledge) and four dependent variables (need for information and three motivational dimensions). The model was assessed with empirical data obtained from a sample of 523 shoppers in large supermarkets in the areas of Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal. Structured interviews were conducted at checkout, collecting information on the relevant variables. Scales measuring the latent variables (knowledge, information and motivation) were previously validated through confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 217 wine consumers.

Subjective knowledge fully mediates the effects of gender on motivation and information needs. Men think of themselves as more knowledgeable in wines and the mediation effect explains why, compared to women, they use less personal information sources and are more motivated to purchase wine.

The authors suggest promotion programmes in large supermarkets focussing on opportunities for wine knowledge development.

The study contributes to the literature by introducing and validating an alternative formulation of gender effects on wine shopping, emphasising the role of the purchaser’s perceived or subjective knowledge.

The current research has dual motives. Firstly, this study aims to evaluate the effect of gamification on the behavioural intention (BI) of the young female consumers to use online websites for making purchases. Secondly, it examines the role of social interaction and perceived enjoyment (PE) – two antecedents that are considered to have an impact on the female buying behaviour in e-commerce.

A model is developed based on the technology acceptance model. The conceptual framework is augmented with additional constructs such as gamification, PE and social interaction. Data from a survey of 898 female respondents from India was collected to assess the proposed framework. The study uses partial least squares structural equation modelling technique to empirically validate the model.

Gamification exhibits a favourable influence on BI of young female consumers. Gamification also has a favourable and an indirect influence on BI through social interaction and PE. Although, gamification has a significant influence on perceived usefulness, the latter has no impact on the BI. The BI of using an online shopping website is directly associated with the buying intention. The online retailers need to offer an enjoyable and interactive experience to the female consumers so that the influence of gamification is sustainable.

The current research enlarges the ambit of gamification in the e-commerce segment, an area where empirical research is sparse. It highlights the significance of social interaction and PE as mediators. To the best of the author’s knowledge, gamification’s influence on female online buying behaviour has never been analysed before and hence different segmentation and marketing strategies are required to cater to their unique needs.

The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is especially relevant in the context of Indonesian Airline companies. Therefore, many airline customers in Indonesia are still in doubt about it, or even do not use it. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for e-services adoption and empirically examines the factors influencing the airlines customers in Indonesia in using e-services offered by the Indonesian airline companies. Taking six Indonesian airline companies as a case example, the study investigated the antecedents of e-services usage of Indonesian airlines. This study further examined the impacts of motivation on customers in using e-services in the Indonesian context. Another important aim of this study was to investigate how ages, experiences and geographical areas moderate effects of e-services usage.

The study adopts a positivist research paradigm with a two-phase sequential mixed method design involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. An initial research model was first developed based on an extensive literature review, by combining acceptance and use of information technology theories, expectancy theory and the inter-organizational system motivation models. A qualitative field study via semi-structured interviews was then conducted to explore the present state among 15 respondents. The results of the interviews were analysed using content analysis yielding the final model of e-services usage. Eighteen antecedent factors hypotheses and three moderating factors hypotheses and 52-item questionnaire were developed. A focus group discussion of five respondents and a pilot study of 59 respondents resulted in final version of the questionnaire.

In the second phase, the main survey was conducted nationally to collect the research data among Indonesian airline customers who had already used Indonesian airline e-services. A total of 819 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data was then analysed using a partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to produce the contributions of links in the e-services model (22% of all the variances in e-services usage, 37.8% in intention to use, 46.6% in motivation, 39.2% in outcome expectancy, and 37.7% in effort expectancy). Meanwhile, path coefficients and t-values demonstrated various different influences of antecedent factors towards e-services usage. Additionally, a multi-group analysis based on PLS is employed with mixed results. In the final findings, 14 hypotheses were supported and 7 hypotheses were not supported.

The major findings of this study have confirmed that motivation has the strongest contribution in e-services usage. In addition, motivation affects e-services usage both directly and indirectly through intention-to-use. This study provides contributions to the existing knowledge of e-services models, and practical applications of IT usage. Most importantly, an understanding of antecedents of e-services adoption will provide guidelines for stakeholders in developing better e-services and strategies in order to promote and encourage more customers to use e-services. Finally, the accomplishment of this study can be expanded through possible adaptations in other industries and other geographical contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to create a framework for broadly understanding categories and motivations behind purchasing different counterfeit products.

Focus groups provided qualitative data from 509 counterfeit purchases incidents by 95 informants.

The most frequently mentioned motivation was the utility (35 percent) received from the good over the genuine article. The second, but negative, motivation was the perceived risk involved in the purchase (22 percent), whether it is physical or social risk. Social norms, confusion, and ethical concerns each represented about 10 percent of the motivations toward the purchase of counterfeit items. The least mentioned motivations to purchase, at less than 4 percent each, were culture, habit, and desire to explore. These factors were evident across a variety of 15 product categories, headed by electronics, such as DVDs and computer software.

Through targeting negative motivations, such as perceived physical and social risks, businesses can devise strategies from a demand side perspective to overcome the problem of counterfeit consumption.

Qualitative responses, over many product categories, provide a unique overview to the perception of counterfeit consumption. The finding that consumer ethics may depend on whether the activity benefits the society as a whole is worthy of additional discussion. The authors learn that when consumers thought their counterfeit consumption caused little or no harm, they do not see much ethical concern in their actions.