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This paper seeks to promote an understanding of gender effects on retirement plan participation as a function of fund assortment size.

A decision simulation was conducted among 349 US adults whose task was to invest in a hypothetical 401(k) retirement plan. The number of mutual funds offered for investment was varied and the effects on the incidence and extent of participation observed.

The results indicate that larger fund assortments tend to reduce participation among women, but increase it among men.

Replication in other contexts and with other data sets would be worthwhile.

To enhance retirement plan adoption/participation, financial service firms may want to tailor such plans according to gender (and other consumer characteristics) according to the present set of findings.

First time authors are aware that the interaction between gender and assortment size is examined.

This study aims to follow a rigorous approach to identify, critically analyze and synthesize 75 papers published from 2000 to 2022.

The study presents a systematic literature review on identity expressiveness (IE), clarifying and expanding what is currently known about the concept.

To synthesize current knowledge on IE, the study uses the overarching framework of antecedents-phenomenon-consequences, using this same framework to identify gaps and future research directions. The findings show individual and brand-related factors such as the need for uniqueness and anthropomorphism as antecedents of IE, and eWOM/WOM, impulse purchases and upgrading to more exclusive lines as consequences of IE.

The study contributes to theory by synthesizing and mapping current understanding of the state of knowledge on the concept of IE while highlighting gaps in the extant literature and paving future research directions for scholars in the field.

The study offers useful insights for practitioners, broadening marketers’ actionable options in identity-based marketing. Marketers can use insights from this study to inform marketing strategy and communication campaigns for different types of brands.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind and offers an integrative review of the current literature on IE, thus enhancing understanding of the concept, its antecedents and consequences. The study also contributes to knowledge by highlighting future research priorities for researchers in this field of enquiry.

This paper argues for the following sensitizing proposition. At its core, much of consumer behavior that involves brand meanings is an attempt to influence, or symbolically mark, interpersonal relationships.

This paper presents a conceptual argument based on a literature review.

First, I argue that our pervasive concern with other people is a basic genetic component of human beings, and discuss some possible evolutionary pressures that may have led to this result. Then I discuss how this pervasive concern influences consumer behavior related to brand meanings. This discussion is structured around two aspects of social relationships: interpersonal closeness and social status. Relationship closeness is discussed with regard to brand communities, gifts, special possessions and brand love, and the often hidden ways that social relationships permeate everyday consumer behavior. Social status is discussed with reference to materialism. Materialism is sometimes misunderstood as an obsession with physical object, or as occurring when people care more about products than they do about people. In contrast, I argue that materialism is better understood as a style of relating to people.

This paper integrates a range of disparate findings in support of a broadly applicable generalization that nothing matters more to people than other people. This generalization can function as a sensitizing proposition that managers and researchers can bear in mind as they seek to interpret and understand how brand meaning influences consumer behavior.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of flow experience on repurchase intention. In this context, this paper examines the mediating role of e-customer satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic. This study is based on flow theory using two consequent factors, which have not been investigated together previously.

A questionnaire consisted of flow experience dimensions and e-customer satisfaction, repurchase intention. An online survey was conducted with 478 consumers who experienced flow in online shopping. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to test research hypotheses. The research study data were collected between 20 March and 31 May 2020, during the spread of COVID-19.

Telepresence, concentration and control dimensions of flow experience have a significant effect on e-customer satisfaction. In addition, it was determined that the change in repurchase intention was caused by concentration and telepresence dimensions of flow experience. Therefore, it was found that e-customer satisfaction has a significant effect on repurchase intention. As a result, it was determined that e-customer satisfaction has a partial mediating role in the effect of flow experience dimensions of telepresence, concentration and control, and a full mediating role in the effect of flow experience dimension of time distortion on repurchase intention.

The limitations of the study are that research was conducted on only one retail company and a limited number of participants were reached. In addition, some flow experience dimensions were excluded in the study, constituting another limitation.

This paper contributes flow theory literature by modelling flow dimensions as an independent variable that affects e-customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. In addition, different dimensions of flow experience in online retailing have been discussed, and no study has been found that discusses flow experience dimensions (goal clarity, enjoyment, curiosity, control, telepresence, time distortion, concentration) together. This study conducted during COVID-19 pandemic would produce a different perspective on flow experience in e-retailing

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of nostalgic marketing on consumer decisions, including the relation of nostalgia to perceived self-continuity, brand attitude (BA), and purchase intent (PI).

The study uses an experimental design that compares individuals’ responses to past-focussed (nostalgic) vs present-focussed (non-nostalgic) advertising across a range of three product types. Analyses include structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate direct and mediated relationships.

Nostalgic past-focussed advertisements (as compared to present-focussed advertisements) elicited higher perceived self-continuity which led to more favorable ratings of BA and greater intent to purchase the product. These effects held up regardless of product type. SEM showed that the relation of advertising-evoked nostalgia to BA is partially mediated by consumer’s perceived self-continuity. BA also directly predicted PI.

These findings provide two implications for marketing managers. First, the perceived self-continuity plays an important role in the success of nostalgia marketing. As such, advertising designed to directly influence perceived self-continuity should be used for framing a nostalgic marketing purposes that aims to connect consumers to particular brands. Second, evoking nostalgia in marketing communications is not just effective for one product type but appears to be useful across a variety of product type (i.e. utilitarian, hedonic, and neutral).

The study is based within an experiential marketing framework but is innovative in examining the specific experience of nostalgia and linking it to consumer’s identity (i.e. self-continuity). This area has received little attention and appears to be a promising area for future research on consumer decisions.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) that want to compete in markets worldwide should not underestimate the influences of religion on consumer demand. Almost one quarter of the world’s population is Muslim so it is important for MNCs to get into the Muslim mind set when operating in countries where Islam has a large influence. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which consumer-based brand equity in a religious market results from the psychological and behavioural characteristics of consumers rather than from product characteristics.

A quantitative survey method was adopted, using a total sample of 551 Muslim consumers in Malaysia and Pakistan. A holistic model conceptualising three potential psychological and behavioural predictors of consumer-based halal brand equity (CBHBE) was created and then tested using structural equation modelling.

The strength of an individual’s religious identity was found to be a strong predictor of consumer halal choice behaviour and perceived self-expressive religious benefits. Consumers’ halal choice behaviour and perceived self-expressive benefits directly predict CBHBE. Moreover, consumer halal choice behaviour partially mediates the relationship between self-expressive benefits and CBHBE.

The authors conclude that firms targeting Muslim consumers can maximise CBHBE by focussing their marketing strategies on the three psychological and behavioural constructs identified in the model. For example, by using halal certification logos and providing convincing information about the halalness of their brand, businesses can facilitate Muslim consumers’ search processes in relation to their choice behaviour.

The study contributes to the existing international branding literature in two main ways. First, it introduces and defines the concept of CBHBE. Second, it identifies and empirically validates the important psychological and behavioural predictors of CBHBE.