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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 September 2022

Wojciech Trzebinski, Piotr Gaczek and Beata Marciniak

This paper aims to investigate the effect of product-related description abstractness/concreteness on perceived trustworthiness and the role of consumer product expertise and…

1762

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of product-related description abstractness/concreteness on perceived trustworthiness and the role of consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset in the persuasiveness of abstract vs concrete product descriptions.

Design/methodology/approach

Two online experiments were conducted: Study 1 (description abstractness – manipulated between-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, purchase intent – measured), Study 2 (consumer shopping-stage mindset – manipulated between-subject; description abstractness – manipulated within-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, abstract/concrete description preference – measured).

Findings

The negative effect of the abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with relevant product details) on description trustworthiness was evidenced in Study 1. Trustworthiness was positively related to purchase intent, especially for high product expertise. Study 2 replicated the effect of product description abstractness on its trustworthiness in terms of two other forms of abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with irrelevant product details and product benefits vs attributes). The goal-oriented (vs comparative) mindset had a positive effect on the benefit (vs attribute) description preference, especially for high product expertise.

Practical implications

For marketers, the results suggest the positive consequences of presenting concrete information on product attributes and the conditions enhancing the effectiveness of presenting product benefits.

Originality/value

The paper integrates the existing views on consumer response to abstract vs concrete information (lexical abstractness/concreteness, means-end chain theory) and links them to consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2020

Jian Mou, Wenlong Zhu and Morad Benyoucef

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of product description and involvement on purchase intention in a cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) setting from a…

4704

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of product description and involvement on purchase intention in a cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) setting from a psychological perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a research model of purchase intention in CBEC based on the involvement theory and commitment-involvement theory. The research model was tested using the covariance-based structural equation modeling technique. Data were collected from consumers on a popular CBEC platform in China.

Findings

A high-quality product description has no significant positive effect on purchase intention, but it has significant positive effects on product cognitive involvement, product affective involvement, platform enduring involvement and platform situational involvement. In addition, product affective involvement, platform enduring involvement and platform situational involvement all have significant positive effect on purchase intention, but this effect is not significant in the relationship between product cognitive involvement and purchase intention.

Practical implications

This study calls for sellers to optimize product descriptions on CBEC platforms in order to attract more buyers and generate more profits.

Originality/value

This study integrates two theories of involvement into the research model in the CBEC context. Based on this model, the authors analyzed how product description affects purchase intention under the joint influence of two involvement factors.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 120 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Yuhong Peng, Jianwei Ding and Yueyan Zhang

This study examines the relationship between streamers' product descriptions, customer comments and online sales and focuses on the moderating effect of streamer–viewer…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the relationship between streamers' product descriptions, customer comments and online sales and focuses on the moderating effect of streamer–viewer relationship strength.

Design/methodology/approach

Between June 2021 and April 2022, the structured data of 965 livestreaming and unstructured text data of 42,956,147 characters from two major live-streaming platforms were collected for the study. Text analysis and regression analysis methods were employed for data analysis.

Findings

First, the authors' analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped relationship between comment length and product sales. Notably, comment volume and comment emotion positively influence product sales. Furthermore, the semantic richness, emotion and readability of streamers' product descriptions also positively influence product sales. Secondly, the authors find that the strength of streamer–viewer relationship weakens the positive effects of comment volume and comment emotion without moderating the inverted U-shaped effect of comment length. Lastly, the strength of streamer–viewer relationship also diminishes the positive effects of emotion, semantics and readability of streamers' product descriptions on product sales.

Originality/value

This study is the first to concurrently examine the direct and interactive effects of user-generated content (UGC) and marketer-generated content (MGC) on consumer purchase behaviors in livestreaming e-commerce, offering a novel perspective on individual decision-making and cue utilization in the social retail context.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 42 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2021

Minxue Huang, Xiu Hu and Shiyong Zheng

There is always a matching effect in advertising persuasion – the information that matches product characteristics or target consumer characteristics is considered to be…

213

Abstract

Purpose

There is always a matching effect in advertising persuasion – the information that matches product characteristics or target consumer characteristics is considered to be relatively more persuasive. Based on the accessibility-diagnosability theory, this paper discusses the influence of the matching degree between the information presentation (vague description and precise description) and product attribute (vertical attribute and horizontal attribute) on people's attitudes toward advertising.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 aims to explore the impact of the matching effect of different information presentation methods (precise presentation vs vague presentation) and product attribute (horizontal attribute vs vertical attribute) on consumers' attitudes toward advertising; secondary data was used to support this research. Study 2 mainly used the situational simulated experiment to examine the results of study 1, and further explored the mediating mechanism of its matching effect.

Findings

The authors found that the matching degree between the information presentation method and product attribute will positively affect the fluency of advertising information processing, that is, the use of vague description of product vertical attribute can positively affect consumers' extraction fluency; while the use of precise description of product horizontal attribute can positively affect consumers' processing fluency, and both extraction fluency and processing fluency will positively affect consumers' attitude toward the advertisement.

Originality/value

An essential enlightenment of the research is that it sheds light on the interaction between product attribute (vertical attribute vs horizontal attribute) with the information presentation method (vague description vs precise description) from the perspective of accessibility-diagnosability theory, which explains consumers' information processing mechanisms in dealing with different advertising information.

Details

Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-7480

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2021

Han Jia, Sumin Shin and Jinfeng Jiao

This paper aims to offer a framework explaining how product experience (i.e. think vs feel) and product involvement (high vs low) influence the helpfulness of online reviews. It…

1095

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a framework explaining how product experience (i.e. think vs feel) and product involvement (high vs low) influence the helpfulness of online reviews. It also reexamined how online consumer review dimensions help to build online review helpfulness under different contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using content analysis on 1,200 online customer reviews on 12 products from four categories to measure the relationships between online review dimensions and the helpfulness of reviews. The regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that the effectiveness of length of a review is moderated by product type; for think products, longer reviews yield higher helpfulness. Furthermore, the level of consistency between individual review ratings and overall product ratings is associated with review helpfulness. The length of product descriptions and product ratings is moderated by the level of involvement. For products with high involvement, longer descriptions yield higher helpfulness.

Originality/value

A conceptual connection to customer interaction is proposed by online customer reviews that vary by product type. The findings provide implications for online retailers to better manage online customer reviews and increase the value of product ratings.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Xianchuan Yang, Yin Ma and Jiashi Han

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of product information on purchase intention and evaluate the moderated mediation effect of return policy leniency in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of product information on purchase intention and evaluate the moderated mediation effect of return policy leniency in cross-border e-commerce.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is to use multiple regression analysis on 406 qualified online survey responses to determine the influence of product description, product display, and product content on consumer purchasing intention through product involvement as well as the moderated mediation effect of return policy leniency.

Findings

The results show that product description and product content were positively associated with product involvement, while product display did not exhibit a significant relationship between it and product involvement. As hypothesized, product involvement mediated the relationship of product description and product content with consumer purchasing intention. The return policy leniency was also found to positively moderate the mediation path of product content on purchasing intention through product involvement.

Originality/value

This study bridges a gap in the literature on the influence of three kinds of product information on purchasing intention through product involvement in a cross-border e-commerce context. Especially the study is one of the first attempts to determine that good return policy do not apply universally due to implied boundary conditions. The results can be used to expand consumption in cross-border e-commerce.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 35 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 May 2021

Carmela Donato and Maria Antonietta Raimondo

This paper aims to analyze the effects of web communities vs company websites in providing tactile information considering different types of product in terms of touch…

1550

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the effects of web communities vs company websites in providing tactile information considering different types of product in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products).

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the effect of online information sources (i.e. web communities vs. company websites) in providing tactile information on consumer responses, considering the moderation role of product type in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products, Study 1), the moderating role of type of information (tactile vs. generic, Study 2a); and the moderating role of need for touch (NFT) (Study 2a and 2b).

Findings

While previous research converges on the idea that the provision of a written description of tactile properties deriving from the product usage is particularly effective for products for which tactile information is diagnostic and for individuals high in NFT, the results demonstrated that the presence (vs. the absence) of the description of the tactile properties provided by web communities (vs. company websites) matters for those products for which touch is not diagnostic and for individuals low in NFT.

Practical implications

The findings have particular relevance for emerging brands intending to commercialize their products in the digital environment. These companies should be present in web communities to describe a product’s tactile characteristics, especially if not diagnostic.

Originality/value

This paper significantly contributes to a better understanding of a little studied area, namely, consumer responses toward haptic compensational strategies providing haptic cues (e.g. written description of tactile information along with pictures of products) aiming at compensating for the absence of touch, underlining the differential influence of online sources of tactile information on consumer responses across different types of products.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 September 2021

Bing Shi

This study aims to focus on whether and furthermore how aesthetics-based mystery affects consumers’ responses toward relevant products.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to focus on whether and furthermore how aesthetics-based mystery affects consumers’ responses toward relevant products.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental studies are reported. In Studies 1–2, smartphone ad flyers varying in mystery and non-mystery styles were adopted. A total of 187 undergraduate participants were recruited in Study 1 and 245 undergraduate participants in Study 2. In Study 3, a total of 193 participants who work in a range of businesses were recruited and wristwatch ad flyers were adopted.

Findings

Findings demonstrate that consumers are more willing to pay for products promoted via mystery appeal (versus non-mystery). Such positive impacts occur through consumers’ high-end perceptions of the products. Concrete, rather than abstract, verbal description of quality product features facilitate the impact of mystery appeal on consumer purchase decisions.

Research limitations/implications

The findings advance an extant understanding of mystery appeal in advertising. It is among the first few to demonstrate that high-end product perceptions carry over the positive influence of mystery on consumers. This research is enlightening by suggesting an incongruity effect between pictorial stimuli and verbal information in the advertisement. This study’s scope is limited to visual mystery-evoking stimuli and Chinese participants.

Practical implications

When marketers/advertisers promoting products/brands with high prices, aesthetics-based mystery appeal should be considered as an effective option. This appeal is implicated as effective across gender. Moreover, visual mystery-evoking stimuli, combined with a concrete (not abstract) verbal description of product features should be optimal in promoting products.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to the limited empirical research on the influence processes of aesthetics-based mystery appeal. Different from the intuition, it is suggested that incongruity between visual and verbal stimuli in mystery ads that enhances the positive effect of mystery appeal.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2020

Wenlong Zhu, Ruzhen Yan and Zhihui Ding

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of product information on impulse purchases in a cross-border electronic commerce (CBEC) setting from the perspective of cue…

1333

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of product information on impulse purchases in a cross-border electronic commerce (CBEC) setting from the perspective of cue stimulation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a research model of impulse purchases in CBEC based on the cue utilization theory and Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. The research model was tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling. Data were collected from the consumers of a popular CBEC platform in China.

Findings

A high-quality product description has a significant positive effect on concentration but not on curiosity and autotelic experience. A high-quality product display has a significant positive effect on concentration, curiosity and autotelic experience. High-quality product content has a significant positive effect on curiosity and autotelic experience but not on concentration. Curiosity and autotelic experience both have a significant positive effect on impulse purchases; however, concentration has no such effect on an impulse purchase. Curiosity and autotelic experience have a full mediation effect between product display and impulse purchases and between product content and impulse purchases, respectively.

Originality/value

This study integrates the S-O-R model and cue utilization theory to construct a theoretical model of product information-flow experience-impulse purchases. According to the model, we can understand how product information influences consumers' impulse purchases in CBEC.

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1967

The long‐awaited regulations to provide statutory compositional requirements for the ever‐increasing range of meat products have at last arrived; presented in the form of a…

Abstract

The long‐awaited regulations to provide statutory compositional requirements for the ever‐increasing range of meat products have at last arrived; presented in the form of a triology—The Canned Meat Product Regulations, The Meat Pie and Sausage Roll Regulations and The Sausage and Other Meat Product Regulations—all of which apply to England and Wales only; presumably the Scottish counterparts, modified for the geographical variations in commodities, will appear in due course. The Meat Pie and Sausage Roll Regulations come into operation on May 31 1968; the other two on May 31 1969.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 69 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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