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This study aims to explore the factors that encourage Generation Z consumers to turn an ethical purchase intention into purchase behaviour. Theory of planned behaviour model is applied to understand the Generation Z ethical consumerism.

Qualitative method in the form of 18 semi-structured interviews was conducted on participants aged within the Generation Z cohort in the UK.

Research findings show that Generation Z has strong awareness and desire towards ethical and environmental issues. Driven in the main by the cohorts unlimited exposure to social media platforms and online resources where information is shared. Generation Z’s frugality limits them to purchase truly ethically in their current life stage. Financial aspirations from this target market suggest a future desire to purchase high value ethical items. Further trends discovered highlighted sustainable lifestyle choices within the generation. Recycling, diet choices and reduced consumption on clothing were expressed. The paper highlights that Generation Z are aware of ethical issues prevalent in society and are doing what they can at this life stage to make a positive impact.

This research has valuable implications for both academics and marketers. It provides new insights for scholars into understanding Generation Z decision-making in ethical consumption. It successfully applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand generational consumer behaviour. The findings can assist practitioners to determine effective marketing strategies to persuade Generation Z to act ethically. The research can also be considered when dealing with government legislation when tackling social change in younger population as this appeared important factor for the researched consumers. Marketers should also consider digital influencers as part of their communication campaigns targeting Generation Z users.

This search offers a valuable contribution to current academic findings towards Generation Z research as ethical consumers incorporating TPB framework.

This study aims to examine the effects of pathos in sustainable brand stories featuring masculinity on brand masculinity and men’s sustainable brand attitude using Aristotle’s rhetoric theory.

Three independent online experiments (N = 398; N = 216; N = 247) were conducted to observe how participants responded to a sustainable brand story. Data collected through a post-experimental survey were used to test the proposed model. Research hypotheses were inspected using SPSS.

The authors reveal brand masculinity is influenced by varying degrees of pathos: participants who read stories with all three pathos elements (metaphor, humor and empathy) demonstrated the highest level of perceived brand masculinity. Male consumers showed more positive attitudes toward masculine sustainable brand stories than feminine ones. The authors also identify the moderating effect of consumer generation: Gen Z (versus Gen Y) consumers demonstrated stronger character identification with hybrid masculinity (versus hegemonic masculinity) sustainable brand stories, resulting in more favorable sustainable brand attitudes.

The study provides a new angle for exploring the relationship between gendered sustainable brand stories and sustainable brand attitudes. It is the first (to the authors’ knowledge) that links Aristotle’s rhetoric theory to brand gender research, and it empirically demonstrates how male consumers from different generational cohorts respond to different masculinity strategies used by sustainable brands.

This study aims to gain insights into the rise of virtual social media influencers and identify the significant theories governing virtual influencers’ (VIs) interaction with followers on social media platforms. Studies on VI being scarce in marketing literature, the authors attempt to propose a theoretical model to understand the acceptance of VIs by social media users (SMUs).

Using a structured literature review and a case study approach, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are offered.

Parasocial interaction (PSI) between the SMU and VIs builds up source credibility, thereby leading to the acceptance of VIs. Thus, the authors establish that PSI and source credibility theory combine to explain the acceptance of VIs by SMUs. Furthermore, similarity with the VI is another added dimension of source credibility, as suggested by this study. A comparative analysis of the growth of five major VIs elucidates that the fashion, electronic, tourism and health-care industries can use them for promotions and as influencers, especially for luxury products.

VIs are a potent tool to achieve improved brand awareness and to target young consumers (especially Gen Y and Gen Z – millennials).

The emergence of VIs being recent; little is comprehended about their interaction with SMUs. Hence, it becomes important to delineate the foundations of VI–SMU interaction. Thus, this study addresses the gap in identifying the theoretical background and proposes a conceptual model elucidating VI acceptance by SMUs.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the wine consumption preferences and behavior of Gen Z wine consumers in the USA and to determine if and how Gen Z differ from other major generational cohorts in the USA. This study applies the concepts of generational cohort theory to the US wine market to examine similarities and differences between age cohorts and their potential impact on future wine sales.

A quantitative survey was conducted with a quota sample of 1,136 US wine consumers located in all 50 states. Data analysis included one-way ANOVA analysis to test the null hypothesis that the generational cohort means are equal. If the test detected at least one mean difference across cohorts, then pairwise comparisons were performed to identify, which groups differed. The Tukey–Kramer method was used for all post hoc tests. Basic descriptive statistics were also calculated.

The results show some parallels in terms of similar consumption levels and a higher preference for red wine across all cohorts. However, on the majority of other common wine consumer research topics, Gen Z shows significant differences. Of specific interest, Gen Z consumers report higher levels of preference for sparkling wine than other cohorts; prefers to drink in social situations; are much more interested in labels and package; make decisions based on varietal and alcohol level and are much more engaged on Instagram and Snapchat social media platforms – all pointed to new marketing tactics needed to reach this new consumer segment.

This is the first empirical wine research study to explore the wine preferences and behaviors of Gen Z in the US market. This is valuable because Gen Z is a very large population of consumers, comprising 32% of the world population (Miller and Wei, 2018) and already represent more than $143bn in buying power (Dill, 2015). They are expected to have a huge impact on consumer products, not only in the USA but also on a global basis. Given that the USA is currently the largest wine market in the world in both volume and value (Wine Institute, 2019; VinExpo, 2018), it is important that research is conducted on this new and powerful generation.

In this digitalization age, smart technologies are on the cusp of changing all business sector including retailing. Today’s consumers desire to shop in a smart store where the physical products on display are connected to the internet world. This study aims to propose a model for investigating Generation Z (Gen-Z) consumers’ expectations towards the smart retail technology (SRT) in the Malaysian context through the application of the stimulus-organism-response framework.

By using a purposive sampling technique, a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. A total of 220 usable responses were collected from Gen-Z consumers who had experience in using SRT. The data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

This study underscores the role of perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived value on Gen-Z consumers’ attitude and word-of-mouth (WOM). Expectations on usefulness, enjoyment and value provide some ideas on Gen-Z consumers’ value who put a high emphasis on functional value, fun value and value for money when adopting the SRT. On the other hand, the result also demonstrates the mediating role of consumers’ attitude in connecting perceived value and perceived enjoyment on WOM towards SRT.

The findings of this study provide beneficial insights for a retailer who desire to pursue a smart-related acquisition strategy. Retailers are recommended to embrace on the following three key features: innovative solution (high usefulness), reliable benefits (high perceived value) and fun experience (high enjoyment) to provide Gen-Z consumers with compelling experiences. Additionally, retailers are suggested to acknowledge the importance of managing consumers’ attitude in driving positive WOM evaluations.

This paper responds to Ting et al.’s (2018) call in uncovering values and lifestyles of generation in details. In Malaysia, retailers ought to incorporate of the high level of usefulness, value and enjoyment when designing their SRT to constitute the Gen-Z consumers’ expectations. Moreover, similar to Ting’s conclusion, this cohort members are very much into technologies and they tend to embrace SRT in their lifestyles.

This study aims to identify the preferences of wine consumers based on age cohorts to identify differences in consumption from a developing country perspective, with a predominantly younger population, to determine wine consumption longevity.

The target population was wine consumers in South Africa. Through convenience sampling, the data were collected in 2020 via a self-administered online questionnaire. In total, 20,997 fully completed the questionnaire. The age categories of the respondents were assigned to a particular age cohort to differentiate the market.

The age cohorts revealed five cohorts, namely, Gen Z: 18–24 years (11%); Young Gen Y: 25–34 years (32%); Mature Gen Y: 35–44 years (25%); Gen X: 45–54 years (17%); and Baby boomers: 55+ years (15%). Segmenting South African wine consumers based on their age cohorts revealed statistically significant differences based on their socio-demographics, wine preferences and consumption behavior. A typology of domestic wine consumers is consequently proposed: basic, budget conscious and image-oriented wine drinking Gen Z’s; experimenting and enjoyment-oriented wine drinking Young Gen Y-ers; aspirational and purposive wine drinking Mature Gen Y-ers; ritual-oriented, avid and conspicuous wine drinking Gen X-ers; and conservative, value-seeking and experienced wine drinking Baby Boomers.

This knowledge has important marketing implications and can create a greater appreciation for South African wines among the different age cohorts. The research shows the value of the generational theory in understanding wine consumers’ consumption and highlights the importance of analyzing different generations rather than solely focusing on one, as this could lead to mismanagement of resources.

This is one of the most comprehensive national surveys aimed at the South African wine consumer. The research fills the current literature gap regarding the characteristics of the different age cohorts and shows how wine consumption and preferences may change over time.

“Contactless service” refers to the use of technology in providing products or services without a salesperson. This study explores the mechanism underlying Millennial and Generation Z (M/Z generations) consumers' preference for contactless service over salespersons in retail stores. In addition, this study tests differences between the M/Z generations.

The researchers predict characteristics to be antecedents of young consumer's preference for contactless service over salespersons and that the effects are mediated by technology self-efficacy. Next, a moderating variable (perceived consumer conformity) is added in the path between technology self-efficacy and the preference for contactless service. The hypotheses are tested among 142 Gen Z and 137 Millennial respondents.

The results show that M/Z generations’ characteristics significantly influence the preference for contactless service, except for security seeking. Also, interests in new technology and safety seeking are perceived higher by M/Z generations. The influence of technology self-efficacy on the preference for contactless service is moderated by social conformity.

As retail technology rapidly develops, the service industry is expected to change from the past, where salespersons played an important role, to contactless services. This study has academic and practical values, for the authors clarify the underlying psychological mechanisms of why young consumers prefer retail technology rather than communication with salespersons.

With the increasing mobile activity of the Generation Z market (born after 1994), marketers’ interest in this social group is rising. This research paper aims to uncover the relatively unknown attitudes and behaviour of the youth market in an emerging market, South Africa, towards branded mobile applications (apps). Previous studies on mobile marketing have focused on Generation X and Generation Y and generally with a quantitative focus.

This study is based on the theoretical framework of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model 2. The study used a qualitative framework with stratified focus groups, aged between 18 and 21 years old at a private tertiary institution in South Africa.

The findings indicate that these South African Gen Z participants mainly used WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Uber and Snapchat. The participants had more positive than negative attitudes towards mobile apps. The findings also showed that privacy was a major concern for the participant’s attitudes and behaviour towards mobile apps. The findings supported the UTAUT2 model, but also discovered new themes. As a recommendation, the issue of privacy and its effect on mobile app adoption is a factor to be researched in the future. The research also provides recommendations for marketers and app developers.

This study was of a qualitative nature, and thus, the sample size was smaller than that of a quantitative study. Future research could add to this study by increasing the sample size and adding a quantitative method such as surveys.

Marketers of mobile apps targeted towards the Gen Z market should aim to be convenient for their users, as well as be entertaining, functional, time-efficient while avoiding excessive in-app adverts, being honest upfront about their pricing strategy, incorporate an element of connectivity into the app and respect their privacy. This paper also provides practical recommendations for mobile app developers (targeted towards Gen Z users) including minimising notifications and updates within the app, developing a mobile app that requires less usage of data (due to the high expense of data in South Africa for the price-conscious Gen Z market) as well as less usage of memory space on the phone and incorporating universal symbols within the mobile app.

This study supported the UTAUT2 model effects of performance and effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price value and habit on the behavioural intention of users towards a new technology, i.e. GenZ students’ attitudes and behaviour towards branded mobile apps in South Africa. However, an additional condition was discovered in this study, i.e. privacy and its impact on the attitudes and behaviour of GenZ mobile app users. Therefore, this study extends the UTAUT2 model framework. Furthermore, this study uses a qualitative design, which has not been used in previous studies, with a focus on the under-researched Gen Z market, and in particular in an emerging market, such as South Africa.

Marketplaces are changing, and customers are demanding improved experiences where they want, how they want, and when they want. The omnichannel concept is perceived as an evolution of multichannel retailing, which implies a blurring division between the physical and online stores. In the omnichannel environment, customers move freely among physical and online stores expecting seamless shopping experiences between channels. Among different generational consumer groups, Gen Z deserves marketers’ particular attention, which is the new rising segment for omnichannel experiences. The purpose of this chapter is first to verify the essence of generational differences in consumer’s omnichannel buying behavior by giving a special focus on the Gen Z segment. Secondly, this chapter discusses how retailers should integrate their online and offline store channels to provide the best retail brand experience to these distinctive Gen Z consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnocentric tendencies of Emirati Gen Z consumers and to provide empirical evidence on how demographic variables (gender and education) influence ethnocentric tendencies. The study also attempts to know the impact of ethnocentrism on the buying behavior of the segment.

Researchers collected the opinions of 310 Emirati Gen Z consumers by using a modified CETSCALE. The data was reviewed and coded by applying software R Studio and Microsoft Excel. Cronbach’s α and Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) tests were administered to check the internal consistency and validity of the 17-item CETSCALE. Then, the factor extraction method principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the data. The selected hypotheses were tested by using the Cronbach α and Kruskal–Wallis (K-W) hypothesis testing technique.

The findings suggest that Emirati Gen Z consumers substantially ethnocentric who prefer domestic products/services over foreign goods. No significant influence of gender and education on Emirati Gen Z consumers’ ethnocentric tendencies.

The targeted subjects were selected only from Dubai and the Sharjah Emirates and not covered the remaining five emirates of the UAE. Consumers were asked to assess their ethnocentrism without reference to a specific product or service.

This type of meticulous study in the UAE has never been done before to explore the ethnocentric tendencies of Gen Z consumers.