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Impulsive buyers are a dream segment for retailers and marketers. Stimulants in the retail environment and cognitive aspects evoke a sudden urge the acquisition of products spontaneously. This paper aims to examine key cognitive aspects of impulsive buying behaviour and purchase regret in an online context.

An online survey was conducted to collect the data of 317 online consumers with the help of a convenience sampling technique. The structural equation modelling technique was carried out to establish the validity and reliability of measures and examine the proposed relational paths.

The study results suggest that cognitive aspects recede impulsive buying, resulting in purchase regret. The empirical findings on the impulsive buying behaviour and purchase regret to yield several important implications, including developing marketing strategies and policies to evoke the intentions for impulsive buying behaviour, consumer innovation and balancing the feelings of regret.

The study also provides some significant contributions to the literature on online impulse buying and its related paradigms.

This study mainly attempted to determine the precursors of online impulse buying and purchase regret from the perspective of hedonic and experiential consumption motivation and consumer innovation. Getting reflections from cognitive dissonance theory and the post purchase evaluation, a theoretical model was developed and empirically tested for impulsive online buyers.

During these unprecedented times, acts of charity are deemed essential to help individuals in need and support the social safety net. Given the importance of prosocial behavior for survival through the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the authors investigate the effects of partitioning experiential consumption and self-construal on consumer responses.

Based on the literature on partitioning and self-construal, the findings across three experimental studies provide novel insights into the interplay between partitioning and self-construal, and offer psychological processes on prosocial and behavioral intention.

Individuals with predominantly independent (vs. interdependent) self-construals and those primed with independent (vs. interdependent) self-construals showed higher prosocial intention when the experiential product ad was in an aggregated (vs. partitioned) format. The fit between the type of format and self-construal leads to the high control coping mechanism, and ultimately prosocial intention.

Partitioning experiential consumption has not been directly examined using self-construal, providing novel insights into consumer reactions during the pandemic. This paper provides practical implications to practitioners and researchers to better understand and adapt to shifting digital consumption patterns.

As luxury goods are losing their importance for demonstrating status, wealth or power to others, individuals are searching for alternative status symbols. Recently, individuals have increasingly used conspicuous consumption and displays of experiences on social media to obtain affirmation. This study aims to analyze the effects of luxury and nonluxury experiences, as well as traditional luxury goods on status- and nonstatus-related dimensions.

After presenting the theoretical foundation, the authors conduct a study with 599 participants to compare status perceptions elicited by the conspicuous consumption of luxury goods, luxury experiences and nonluxury experiences. The authors investigate whether experiences that are visibly consumed on Instagram are replacing traditional luxury goods as the most important status symbols. Furthermore, the authors examine the effects of the content shown on nonstatus-related dimensions and analyze whether status perceptions differ between female and male social media communicators. Finally, the authors analyze how personal characteristics (self-esteem, self-actualization and materialism) influence the status perceptions of others on social media.

The results show that luxury goods are still the most important means of displaying status. However, especially for women, luxury experiences are also associated with a high level of social status. Thus, the results imply important gender differences in the perceptions of status- and nonstatus-related dimensions. Furthermore, the findings indicate that, in particular, the individual characteristics of self-actualization and materialism affect status perceptions depending on the posted content.

While the research has already considered some alternative forms of conspicuous consumption, little attention has been given to experiences as status symbols. However, with their growing importance as substitutes for luxury goods and the rise of social media, the desire to conspicuously consume experiences is increasing. The authors address this gap in the literature by focusing on the conspicuous display of luxury and nonluxury experiences on social media.

While the spatial dimensions of augmented reality (AR) have received significant attention in the marketing literature, to date, there has been less consideration of its temporal dimensions. This paper aims to theorise digital timework through AR to understand a new form of consumption experience that offers short-lived, immersive forms of mundane, marketer-led escape from everyday life.

The authors draw upon Casey’s phenomenological work to explore the emergence of new dynamics of temporalisation through digitised play. An illustrative case study using AR shows how consumers use this temporalisation to find stability and comfort through projecting backwards (remembering) and forwards (imagining) in their lives.

The proliferation of novel digital technologies and platforms has radically transformed consumption experiences as the boundaries between the physical and the virtual, fantasy and reality and play and work have become increasingly blurred. The findings show how temporary escape is carved out within digital space and time, where controlled imaginings provide consumers with an illusion of control over their lives as they re-establish cohesion in a ruptured sense of time.

The authors consider the more critical implications of the offloading capacity of AR, which they show does not prevent cognitive processes such as imagination and remembering but rather puts limits on them. The authors show that these more short-lived, everyday types of digitised escape do not allow for an escape from the structures of everyday life within the market, as much of the previous literature suggests.

The authors argue that corporations need to reflect upon the potential threats of immersive technologies such as AR in harming consumer escapism and take these into serious consideration as part of their strategic experiential design strategies to avoid leading to detrimental effects upon consumer well-being. More nuanced conceptualisations are required to unpack the antecedents of limiting people’s imagination and potentially limiting the fully fledged escape that consumers might desire.

Prior work has conceptualised AR as offloading the need for imagination by making the absent present. The authors critically unpack the implications of this for a more fluid understanding of the temporal logics and limits of consumer escapism.

This paper aims to tests a conceptual model capturing the influence of personalized advertising on customer perceptions of brands in social media and identifies three market segments based on customers’ reactions to personalized ads.

Two studies are developed to test the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Additionally, cluster analysis, multi-group analysis (MGA) and serial mediation tests are also conducted to provide better insights into the results.

The results of the two studies show that all nine hypotheses are supported except for H4 in Study 1. Three market segments (ad lovers, ad adjusters and ad haters) are identified. Each segment has a typical attitude toward personalized advertisements.

Built on self-congruence literature, the current research posits that consumer-brand self-congruence can be established when a customer sees a brand advertised on Facebook after searching for that brand online. Consistently, this paper finds that through self-congruence, personalized advertising has a positive impact on brand-related outcomes.

Three segments identified – “ad lovers,” “ad adjusters” and “ad haters” are important for marketers. Companies should develop an appropriate advertising campaign for each segment, especially once the general data protection regulation is in place. Companies will be subject to a noncompliance penalty if an advertisement is posted on a user s account without approval. Identifying this segment promptly will not only enable companies to save resources but also help avoid legal complications associated with privacy concerns.

This research sheds light on the effects of personalized advertising on customer perceptions of brands in social commerce.

Drawing from the Personal Construct Theory, this study aims to analyze the impact of using gamified apps on user behavior by investigating the service-related images and individual preferences of Generation Z (GenZ) consumers, as these emerge from gamified applications in a tourism context.

The repertory grid analysis (RGA) elicited the top elements that reflect GenZer perceptions in tourism from empirical studies in the UK and Greece. Generalized procrustes analysis was used to investigate the structure of the data for the creation of representative consensus biplots of the most important conceptual constructs to advance consumer decision-making modeling via gamification.

As per different gamified app best-practices considered, the authors extract not only common perceptual elements (e.g. place informative aspects, exploration, lodgings, food/catering) but also different image components (e.g. virtual/interactive, business vs commercial traveling, entertainment, heritage/cultural informative aspects) from comparing UK with Greek GenZers’ responses. These extracted attributes are then presented in two dimensional charts, respectively, toward creating tourist perception scales.

Notwithstanding the wide availability of gamified apps, research on gamification design in tourism and hospitality is still in the early phase. This study demonstrates the need to identify and optimize the formation of different images among GenZers. It also highlights the advantageous nature of the proposed combination of procrustes analysis with the RGA.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first empirical ones toward creating scales for measuring tourist perceptions of GenZers coming from different consumer markets. It responds to scholars’ recent calls for better informing gamification design and improving contemporary consumer experience.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactive effect of timing and framing of hotel’s upselling message on consumer attitudes toward the message. The mediating role of reactance between the timing of upselling message and consumer attitudes is also explored.

A 2 (timing: immediately after the booking vs one week prior to arrival) by 2 (framing: concrete vs abstract) experimental design was used. A total of 250 Chinese consumers were recruited and were randomly exposed to a hotel online upselling scenario. The consumer attitudes and reactance were measured.

When the framing of upselling message involves specific room attributes, consumers show more favorable attitudes when receiving the promotion one week prior to arrival (vs immediately after the booking). However, when the framing of upselling message involves price, consumer attitudes do not differ across the time of receiving the promotion. Reactance mediates the effect of message timing on consumer attitudes when the message framing involves specific room attributes.

This research suggests that hotel managers should offer concrete message framing that includes specific room attributes at the time proximal to consumers’ arrival to increase acceptance of online room upselling. In addition, it is important for hotel managers to take consumers’ reactance into consideration when developing an online upselling strategy.

Research on online hotel room upselling is scant. This study adds to the upselling literature by examining the joint influence of timing and framing of upselling promotions on consumer attitudes toward such messages. Furthermore, this study extends our understanding of the role of reactance in the online upselling process.

Purpose – This paper compares the experiential consumption values that motivate consumer choice to purchase online for both male and female purchasers and non‐purchasers. Design/methodology/approach – Using the theory of consumption value the study examines gendered perceptions of the functional, social and conditional value of using a virtual consumption setting for purchasing. Data was collected through an online survey and analysed using multiple discriminant analysis to determine meaningful differences between male and female purchasers and non‐purchasers. Findings – The findings show that male online purchasers are discriminated from female purchasers by social value and from male non‐purchasers by conditional value. Female purchasers are discriminated from male purchasers by functional value and from female non‐purchasers by social value. Female non‐purchasers are discriminated from female purchasers by conditional value. Male non‐purchasers are discriminated from male purchasers by functional and social value. Research limitations/implications – Limitations include using an Internet survey and an Australian sample which may impact the generalisability of the findings to a wider population of Internet users. Future research should involve replication of the study in a country more or less developed in terms of gender composition of internet users to extend the generalisability of the findings. Additionally, researchers should examine whether other dimensions of consumption value, such as social influence through on‐ and off‐line communication networks, may influence consumer choice to purchase online. Practical implications – The study provides practical implications for marketers to leverage consumption values that influence male and female consumers' choice to purchase online and then drive their behaviour online through integrated marketing campaigns that involve both on‐ and offline strategies. Originality/value – The research makes an original contribution to the consumer behaviour literature as to date, no research has been found that undertakes such a comprehensive gender‐based comparison of the perceived value of using a virtual consumption setting for purchasing.

This paper aims to explore the interaction between consumer empowerment and social interactions as fundamental social media elements. It demonstrates their relationship in both experiential and informative social media setting where social media complements an offline consumer activity. The study aims to contribute to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through these fundamental elements.

The paper reports three experimental designs that manipulate the empowering and the socializing elements of complementary activities to show their effects on both the complementary online and the complemented offline activities.

The paper presents three empirical studies that reveal the effects of two fundamental social media elements (i.e. empowerment and socialization) on consumers’ responses toward consumption episodes that consist of complementary online and complemented offline activities. It reveals that that these elements increase positive consumer responses toward both the online and the offline activities through psychological empowerment. However, the interaction between the elements changes with respect to specific empowerment types.

The paper contributes to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through its empowering and socializing elements. It bridges research on consumer empowerment and socialization in a way that reveals their interaction beyond the extant definitions of empowerment resulting from enhanced communication among consumers. The paper also demonstrates the complementary role of social media on offline consumer behaviors through the effects of these two fundamental elements.The participants of the experimental studies are presented with hypothetical scenarios and asked about their behavioral intentions. Thus, future studies should address the research questions in real-world settings.

The paper includes implications for social media usage as a complementary activity to offline real-life consumer behavior through the effects of consumer empowerment and social interactions. Thus, it may benefit marketers seeking to optimize the empowering and socializing components of their social media strategies.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how social media may affect real-life consumer behavior. It also identifies the interaction between the empowering and the socializing elements of social media offerings in both experiential and informative settings.