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This study aims to investigate how charitable advertising effectiveness in response to threat-based awe, an emotional response that typically arises in the presence of natural disasters, is likely to depend on the construal level.

Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the positive and negative effects of threat-based awe on charitable advertising effectiveness. Further, the moderating role of construal level was tested and the underlying mechanisms established.

Consumers who experience a high (vs low) level of threat-based awe donate more when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a high construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “why” message) but donate less when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a low construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “how” message). Further, the authors established two distinct mechanisms underlying these divergent effects. At a high construal level, consumers are driven by concern for others, whereas at a low construal level, consumers are driven by feelings of powerlessness.

The present research contributes to the literature on how emotions influence charitable advertising effectiveness by establishing the divergent effects of threat-based awe and the moderating role of construal level.

This paper offers managerial implications for nonprofits and charities in developing effective charitable advertising strategies in the context of natural disaster-relief campaigns.

The present research provides a novel perspective on when and why threat-based awe, a unique emotion arising in the case of natural disasters, can lead to positive or negative effects on charitable advertising effectiveness.

As a complex social emotion, awe includes both positive emotion and negative emotion. But few studies have explored the downstream effects and psychological mechanisms of two different types of awe. As a self-transcendence emotion, awe will arouse the small self, that is, reduce self-awareness. In the era of the sharing economy, the obstacle to sharing is the strong self-awareness that consumers have built about their belongings. Therefore, this paper aims to explore how two different types of awe can affect consumers' sharing, especially with different relationships.

This study conducted two experiments to test the effect of awe on consumer sharing of their own products. Study 1 aimed to examine the main effect of different awe on consumer sharing of their product as well as the underlying mechanism. Study 2 aimed to examine the interacting role of tie strength in the effect of awe on consumer product sharing.

Through two empirical tests, the authors have found that, relative to the control group, the sense of awe arouses the feeling of small self and significantly increases the consumers' willingness of sharing. Also, the authors have found that threat-based awe which leads to self-diminishment is more conducive to promoting the sharing of weak ties; on the contrary, the nonthreat-based awe which leads to a feeling of vastness is more conducive to promoting the sharing of strong ties.

This research expands the literature in the field of sharing. While the mainstream sharing a focus on information sharing, this research extends it to product sharing. What is more important is, this research explores how to encourage sharing to weak ties, which contributes to sharing economy.

The current research aims to develop a measurement scale of consumption rituals. On the basis of literature review and second-hand data, this paper conceptualizes consumption rituals and compiles the initial items. Furthermore, through the scale development process, this paper constructs and verifies the four dimensions of consumption rituals, namely, uniqueness, commitment, ceremoniality and nonfunctionality.

First, qualitative data gathered in an open interview and secondary data from the Internet were examined, and then they were converted into initial statements. Then researchers refined and evaluated the statements to form the initial items. After two rounds of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the items were tested and improved to make them clear representatives of the conceptual structure and the final items of the Consumption Ritual Scale were formed. Finally, through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the items were retested and revised, and the reliability and validity of the scale were assessed, so as to obtain the final scale.

Empirical studies show that the scale has good reliability and validity, and has good discriminative validity with related variables (such as the sense of sacredness, sense of participation, feeling of awe, sense of control and sense of identity).

This paper selects rituals in the consumption context as the research object, explores and verifies the conceptual dimension, constructs a four-factor dimensional model and develops a measurement scale of consumption rituals.

In daily marketing practices, when launching and promoting new products, marketers often induce consumers’ awe of nature via exposing consumers to beautiful natural scenes. Does this marketing practice really facilitate consumers’ subsequent new product choice? Existing awe research and new product research have not examined this issue yet. The purpose of this study is to study whether the marketing practice of awe induction faciliates consumers' new product choice.

This paper examines the double-edged sword effect of different types of awe on consumers’ adoption of new products. The authors conducted five experiments using various product categories (soft drinks, juices, cookies and watches), various many sources of sample types (college student samples and adult samples) and various manipulation of awe. The authors also focused on both new products with incongruent visual appearance (Experiment 1a, Experiment 1c, Experiment 2 and Experiment 3) and new products with incongruent conceptual attributes (Experiment 1b) to enhance the rigor of the experiments and the generalizability of the conclusions.

The authors find that when consumers perceive awe of threatening natural phenomena, they decrease their choice of moderately incongruent new products (positive effect), while when consumers perceive awe of beautiful natural phenomena, they increase their choice of moderately incongruent new products (negative effect). Also, this paper finds that the emergence of the positive of the double-edged sword effect is driven by the sequential mediation of the need for accommodation and openness to new experiences, while the emergence of the negative of the double-edged sword effect is driven by the uncertainty reduction motive.

This research has important theoretical implications. First, this paper advances existing awe research by reconciling the inconsistent findings in existing awe research by categorizing awe of nature. Second, this paper advances existing research on new products and moderate incongruity effects by exploring when the moderate incongruity effect exists and when it reverses in the new products field through the classification of awe of nature.

This study has rich implications for marketing management. First, marketers can facilitate consumers’ adoption of moderate incongruent new product via priming consumers’ awe of beautiful nature. Second, this paper suggests that marketers and brand managers should carefully choose the timing of new product launches to avoid inducing consumer awe of threatening nature (e.g. immediately after a severe natural disaster). Finally, the results of Experiment 3 in this paper suggest that when marketers want to launch new products with moderate incongruity, they need to target consumers with high cognitive flexibility.

This paper discusses how different types of awe affect consumers’ attitudes and choice of moderately new products. This research question has its social value in helping marketers, companies, consumers and society know the power of awe of nature on the behaviors and decision-making.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is among the first ones to examine the double-edged sword effect of different types of awe of nature on consumers’ new product adoption.

Global brands have become increasingly vulnerable to external disruptions that have negative spillover effects on consumers, business and brands. This research area has recently garnered interest post-pandemic yet remains fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the most impactful exogenous brand crisis (EBC) and its affective and behavioural impact on consumers.

In Study 1, we applied repertory grid technique (RGT), photo elicitation method and ANOVA comparisons, to identify the most significant EBC, in terms of repercussions on consumer purchases. In Study 2, we performed collage construction and content analysis to ascertain the impact of the identified significant crisis (from Study 1) on consumer behaviour in terms of affective and behavioural changes.

Study 1 results reveal Spread-of-diseases and Natural disaster to be the most impactful EBC based on consumer’s purchase decisions. Study 2 findings uncover three distinct themes, namely, deviant demand, emotional upheaval and community bonding that throws light on the affective and behavioural changes in consumer behaviour during the two significant EBC events.

The collated results of the two studies draw insights towards understanding the largely unexplored conceptualisation of EBC from a multi-level (micro-meso-macro) perspective. The integrated framework drawn, highlight the roles and influences of different players in exogenous brand crisis management and suggests future research agendas based on theoretical underpinnings.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which identifies the most important EBC and explicates its profound impact on consumer purchase behaviour, providing critical insights to brand managers and practitioners to take an inclusive approach towards exogenous crises.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on innovation and education towards innovation in China.

The Guest Editors discuss the impetus behind the special issue and describe the papers published in it.

It is evident in the papers presented in this special issue that China is on its way towards becoming world‐class in a number of technological areas.

The paper introduces the special issue on innovation and education towards innovation in China, as well as an agenda for future research in the area.

This paper aims to explore the psychological mechanism in the relationship between paternalistic leadership (PL) and employee well-being (EWB) in cross-cultural nonprofit organizations. It also aims to further promote the integration of research on PL and self-concept by examining the relationship between PL and collective self-concept (CSC).

Data were collected on 72 supervisors and 233 expatriate Chinese teachers from 42 Confucius Institutes and 15 Confucius classrooms in Canada and the USA.

PL has a significant effect on EWB. Benevolent and moral leadership are positively related to CSC, while authoritarian leadership is negatively related to CSC. CSC mediates the relationship between PL and EWB. Furthermore, employees’ cross-cultural adaptability positively moderates the relationship between CSC and EWB; the indirect effect between PL and EWB via CSC is stronger for employees with stronger cross-cultural adaptability.

This is the first study that has examined the psychological mechanism under which PL affects EWB in cross-cultural nonprofit organizations. It contributes to the integration of research on PL and CSC by examining its relationship for the first time. It provides important implications for improving the well-being of expatriate employees in cross-cultural organizations.

This chapter integrates both structural and symbolic interactionist perspectives used in the study of collective behavior to provide a thorough examination of the campus culture and student–police interactions that precipitated a riot near James Madison University (JMU). While the analysis is anchored by Smelser’s (1971 [1962]) “value-added” model, it also accounts for cultural conditions common on college campuses. Importantly, the dynamics associated with this case may be similar to other riots – at sporting events, at religious processionals, etc. – occurring when authorities disrupt gatherings that have strong cultural resonance among participants. In these cases, attempts at disruption may be seen as an assault on norms strongly associated with a group’s identity. The study also used a unique data source – 39 YouTube videos posted of the riot event – that made it possible to capture the interactive and emergent quality of rioting behavior in real time from multiple vantage points.

In this, the second edition, the experience of actually running a marketing planning process in organisations further updates and revises the highly practical emphasis. The need for vision, how to enunciate it, and the interface between various levels of managers are integrated specifically into the process. Further analysis using the SWOT technique is provided together with enhanced insight into maintaining competitive advantage. Essentially a practical manual on running a planning process, the worksheet method has been well tried and tested. The experience of managers who have implemented the process using the first edition is included to enhance the technique′s dynamism and effectiveness.