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Examines the effects of four factors (the bundle: pure or mixed, the price discount, the functional complementarity of bundle components, and the number of bundle components) on consumers’ intentions to purchase product and service bundles. The findings were relatively consistent across product (automobile) and service (automotive service) contexts, and illustrate that pure bundles are preferred to mixed bundles, and a greater price discount is preferred to a lesser one. The results also indicate that five component bundles generate greater purchase intention than either three or seven component bundles, and that “very related” bundle components result in greater purchase intention than either moderately or not related components. Additionally, several interactions are present.

This study aims to examine the mechanisms underlying social media commerce by investigating the interplay between platforms, people and information. Drawing upon trust transfer theory, the research model proposes that the platform’s information provision enhances the credibility of the information source, leading to increased information usefulness, adoption and sharing, ultimately influencing purchase intention.

The research design used in this study was a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey method. The study developed a research model based on trust transfer theory and hypothesized relationships between the platform’s information provision, information source credibility, information-related responses and purchase intention. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data and test the research hypotheses.

The findings supported most of the hypotheses and provided valuable insights into the role of information credibility in shaping consumers’ purchase intentions. Specifically, the study revealed that the platform’s information provision enhances the credibility of the information source, leading to increased information usefulness, adoption and sharing. Furthermore, information usefulness and adoption mediate the relationship between information source credibility and purchase intention.

The limitations of this research include the use of convenience sampling, which may not represent the broader population, and the cross-sectional design, which does not provide an in-depth understanding of the adoption process. The reliance on self-reported data and the limited scope of investigation with only six constructs are additional limitations. Future studies should consider national random sampling, longitudinal designs, multiple data sources and explore negative effects and other potential mediating variables. Despite these limitations, this research contributes to the understanding of social media commerce mechanisms and provides valuable insights for practitioners in the field.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights for platform providers and marketers in the social media commerce environment. First, the study emphasizes the importance of effective messaging in improving information credibility. Platform providers should focus on delivering accurate and trustworthy information to enhance consumers’ perceptions of product quality and increase purchase intentions. Second, marketers can leverage the information-related factors identified in this study, such as information usefulness and adoption, to optimize their marketing efforts. By understanding how consumers perceive and interact with information on social media platforms, marketers can tailor their strategies to effectively engage and influence potential customers. Overall, these practical implications can enhance success in the competitive social media commerce landscape.

The social implications of this study are significant for social media commerce practitioners. The findings highlight the importance of effective messaging and information provision on social media platforms in improving information credibility, thereby enhancing purchase intention. By understanding the mechanisms that drive consumer behavior in the context of social media commerce, platform providers and marketers can optimize their marketing efforts. This includes focusing on delivering trustworthy and useful information, fostering information adoption and sharing among users and ultimately increasing the likelihood of successful transactions. These insights provide valuable guidance for practitioners to navigate the competitive landscape of social media commerce and enhance their chances of success.

The originality of this research lies in its application of trust transfer theory to investigate the mechanisms driving social media commerce. By examining the interplay between platform, people and information, the study specifically focuses on the role of the platform’s information provision in enhancing information credibility and its impact on information-related responses and purchase intentions. This study extends the understanding of the trust transfer mechanism between customers and sellers/brands in customer-to-customer social commerce by emphasizing the importance of effective messaging and information credibility in shaping consumer behavior. The empirical findings contribute to the understanding of information trust transfer and provide a unique perspective on the underlying mechanisms that drive social media commerce.

Online food delivery applications (OFDAs) provide an expedient platform, and consumers’ access to food has been drastically altered, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to completely explore the attributes that influence consumers' purchase intention and how an app's aesthetics can evoke feelings that predict continuous usage intentions for OFDAs. The food industry, especially restaurants, heavily relies on mobile technology to facilitate critical online food delivery during the pandemic crisis.

The data for this study are gathered from 477 food consumers located in the federal capital territory (FCT) of Islamabad, Pakistan, through convenient sampling by developing a self-administrated online survey. SmartPLS is used for structural equation modeling to test the proposed research model and perform bootstrapping and algorithmic analysis.

Our findings revealed that perceived value positively predicted consumers’ purchase intentions. Moreover, perceived value mediates the association of information quality, familiarity, time-saving, usability and reputation with purchase intentions and fear of COVID-19 moderates the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention.

This research work has significant implications for researchers, web developers, app designers, delivery services, restaurants and other enterprises as it demonstrates the importance of aesthetically pleasing OFDAs in eliciting positive emotions and bolstering consumers’ intentions to continue using the app for efficient food delivery services.

This study expanded the application of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and attention, interest, desire and action (AIDA) by examining consumers’ purchase intentions in the context of OFDAs. Further, the successful utilization of TAM enhanced the understanding of consumer perceptions and behavioral intentions about the usage of OFDAs.

Based on sensory marketing theory and cognitive appraisal theory, this study investigates whether and how the background visual complexity of live-streaming affects consumers' purchase intention and reveals the underlying mechanisms through which background visual complexity influences consumers' purchase decisions.

The experiment was conducted with 180 college students, using eye-tracking technology to explore the impact mechanism of live background visual complexity on consumers' purchase intention, considering three types of background visual complexity (high vs medium vs low) and two levels of need for cognitive closure (high vs low).

Firstly, the background visual complexity of live-streaming positively influences consumers' purchase intention by eliciting positive emotions (pleasure and arousal), and the relationship between consumer emotions and purchase intention is nonlinear. Secondly, need for cognitive closure to significantly moderate the influence of background visual complexity on purchase intention.

The limited sample size makes it difficult to generalize to other consumer groups. Also, the study only focuses on one visual factor, lacking comprehensive analysis from multiple perspectives.

It is recommended that live e-commerce companies optimize the visual design of live-streaming backgrounds and identify consumer traits to match the visual complexity with consumers' level of need for cognitive closure, thereby stimulating positive emotions and facilitating more satisfactory shopping decisions.

This paper addresses an interesting and practical issue related to the effects of live background visual complexity on consumers' purchase intention.

Restaurant operators often use auspicious connotations embedded in the names and shapes of dishes to increase consumers’ purchase intentions. However, the interaction effect of multiple auspicious cues (i.e. food name and shape) on purchase intentions has rarely been examined in the restaurant context. Thus, grounded in processing fluency theory, this study investigates the direct influence of the two-way interaction effect of food name (auspicious vs nonauspicious) and shape (auspicious vs. nonauspicious) on purchase intentions and its indirect influence via perceived auspiciousness and positive emotions.

Utilizing a 2 (food name: auspicious name vs. nonauspicious name) × 2 (food shape: auspicious shape vs. nonauspicious shape) between-subjects design, the authors conducted two experimental studies with 356 Chinese customers. In Study 1, which focused on a main dish, we investigated the two-way interaction effect food name × food shape on purchase intentions. In Study 2, we replicated this experimental study by focusing on a different food type (i.e. dessert) to test the direct and indirect influences of the two-way interaction of food name × food shape on purchase intentions through perceived auspiciousness and positive emotions.

The results reveal that the congruity condition of auspicious names and shapes significantly influences consumers’ purchase intentions. Congruity with auspicious food cues also indirectly affects purchase intentions through consumers’ perceived auspiciousness and positive emotions. These effects were consistently observed in two experimental studies analyzing different dish types (main dish and dessert).

Restaurateurs should consider utilizing auspicious food cues to attract customers. Specifically, they should combine both food name and shape to increase their perceived auspiciousness and sales.

This study tested processing fluency theory using auspicious food cues. This study contributes to the hospitality literature by improving our understanding of the congruence effect by exemplifying the conceptual alignment between food name and food shape.

Social recommendation has been recognized as a kind of e-commerce with large potential, but how social recommendations influence consumer decisions is still unclear. This paper aims to investigate how recommendations from different social ties influence consumers’ purchase intentions through both behavior and brain activity.

Utilizing behavioral (N = 70) and electroencephalogram (EEG) (N = 49) experiments, this study explored participants’ behavior and brain responses after being recommended by different social ties. The data were analyzed using statistical inference and event-related potential (ERP) analysis.

Behavioral results show that social tie strength positively impacts purchase intention, which can be fitted by a logarithmic model. Moreover, recommender-to-customer similarity and product affect mediate the effect of tie strength on purchase intention serially. EEG findings show that recommendations from weak tie strength elicit larger N100, N200 and P300 amplitudes than those from strong tie strength. These results imply that weak tie strength may motivate individuals to recruit more mental resources in social recommendation, including unconscious processing of consumer attention and conscious processing of cognitive conflict and negative emotion.

This study considers the effects of continuous social ties on purchase intention and models them mathematically, exploring the intrinsic mechanisms by which strong and weak ties influence purchase intentions through recommender-to-customer similarity and product affect, contributing to the applications of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model in the field of social recommendation. Furthermore, our study adopting EEG techniques bridges the gap of relying solely on self-report by providing an avenue to obtain relatively objective findings about the consumers’ early-occurred (unconscious) attentional responses and late-occurred (conscious) cognitive and emotional responses in purchase decisions.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of halal awareness on the relationship between halal supply chain knowledge and purchase intention for halal meat products in the millennial generation.

The quantitative approach with the respondents of 177 millennial generations in Indonesia is selected to understand the relationships between variables. Structural equation model-partial least square is used to analyze the relationship between variables.

The findings of this study found that the purchase intention of halal products in the millennial generation is influenced by several factors such as halal supply chain knowledge, halal certification and logo and religious beliefs. However, the results of this study also show that concern for halal products failed to moderate the relationship between these three main variables on the purchase intention of halal products.

This study provides insights into the concern that strengthens the relationship between the main variables on the intention to purchase halal meat products for the millennial generation.

Understanding how attributes, consequences and values (A-C-V) influence the predisposition to purchase and buying intention of organic food consumers (OFC) is crucial for its stakeholders. This study aims to (1) investigate whether OFC perceptions of the A-C-V impact their predisposition to purchase and buying intention; (2) examine the mediating effect of predisposition to purchase on the relationship between OFC personal values and their buying intentions and (3) verify whether consumers with distinct levels of organic food-buying intention perceive differently of the A-C-V, predisposition to purchase and consumption frequency.

This quantitative study comprised 307 consumers who filled out a form about their perceptions of organic foods’ A-C-V and their consumption frequency, purchasing predisposition and buying intention. Partial least squares strutural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) tested the hypothetical model that resorted to the means-end chain (MEC) theory (Gutman, 1982). Cluster analysis based on OFC’s buying intentions compared their perceptions of the A-C-V, purchasing predisposition and consumption frequency.

The OFC’s perception of the attributes of these foods impacts the consequences of their consumption and values. Such values positively influence their purchase predisposition and buying intention. Predisposition to purchase measured the relationship between OFC values and purchase intention. Three OFC clusters were identified according to their buying intentions. Such groups perceive the A-C-V singularly and have different purchasing predispositions and consumption frequencies.

OFC values directly influence buying intentions. However, the predisposition to purchase strongly mediates the relationship between values and buying intentions, producing an indirect impact more notable than a direct one. It brings academic and managerial contributions to organic food stakeholders.

This study examines the relationship between green psychological benefits and green apparel purchase behavior using stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory and a serial multiple mediation model.

Data were collected from 250 Lithuanians using a standardized questionnaire. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses were performed to ensure validity and reliability, and variable relationships were assessed using structural equation modeling.

The findings revealed utilitarian environmental benefits and warm glow benefits positively impacted Generation Z's (Gen Z's) attitudes toward green apparel. In contrast, the self-expressive benefits had no effect. In addition, attitude and purchase intention significantly predict green apparel purchase behavior. Attitudes and purchase intentions are crucial as serial mediators between green psychological benefits and green apparel purchase behavior.

These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers in Lithuania and highlight the importance of emphasizing the psychological benefits to encourage the purchase of green apparel. Moreover, policymakers and marketers should design apparel products that appeal to Gen Z, promoting green apparel adoption. By leveraging the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory, this research contributes to understanding pro-environmental behavior. It bridges the gap between attitudes, intentions and actual behavior in sustainable fashion research.

Emojis are quickly becoming a popular new language in social media and marketing. The capability to express emotions and make message understanding easier is one of the primary reasons for using emojis. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and involvement on customer engagement due to emojis used in digital marketing communications among Generation Z (Gen Z) in South Africa.

Following the descriptive research approach, quantitative research was used in this study. A questionnaire (self-administered) was utilized to test the effectiveness of using emojis among 1,000 young consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The findings of the study yielded positive relationships between the variables, namely between trust and involvement; involvement and the perceived ease of use; involvement and perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness; trust and customer engagement; perceived usefulness and customer engagement; involvement and customer engagement; customer engagement and intention to purchase; trust and intention to purchase; and perceived usefulness and intention to purchase.

This study can help organizations in emerging markets use emojis in their digital marketing communications to engage customers and stimulate intention to purchase among young people, especially the Gen Z cohort, who seek organizations and brands that understand and connect with them.

By investigating the effects of emojis in digital marketing communications, this study contributes to the customer-centric process and the literature on emoji usage while also involving a credible digital language when communicating with members of Gen Z. By extending TAM, the findings of this study contribute to the TAM literature by demonstrating that emoji usage in digital marketing communications positively influences various attitudinal associations among Gen Z consumers.