Search results

This research delves into the dynamic realm of app design by examining the impact of app icon familiarity and authority on image fit, influencing users' app usage intention. Focusing on the distinctive circumstances of Chinese and Korean customers, the study aims to provide insightful information about how application user behavior changes.

Utilizing structural equation modeling, the study employs data from 293 Korean and Chinese consumers. The research design incorporates a thoughtful approach, including parallel translation methods, focus group interviews, and pre-experimental testing to ensure survey accuracy and validity. The study strategically selects stimuli from the Apple App Store rankings, emphasizing icon features and type considerations.

The results provide important new information about the connections between usage intention, image fit, authority, and familiarity with app icons. Notably, app icon familiarity and authority positively influence image fit. Furthermore, app icon image fit emerges as a positive predictor of usage intention, mediating the complex interplay between familiarity, authority, and intention. The study also identifies moderating effects, shedding light on the nuanced role of app icon features and types.

Originating from a comprehensive exploration of icons, this study significantly contributes to the field by exploring icon differences and uncovering the intricate mechanisms guiding users' decisions. The findings offer valuable insights for app designers, marketers, and researchers seeking a deeper understanding of user behavior in diverse cultural contexts, thereby enhancing the theoretical and practical foundations in app usability and consumer behavior.

The objectives of this study are threefold: to delineate the phenomenon of “You Share, We Donate” (YSWD) campaigns and what distinguishes them from sales-based cause-related marketing; to contrast the effectiveness of YSWD and sales-based cause-related marketing campaigns and provide an explanation for the differences in the effectiveness; to explore boundary conditions of the proposed differences.

Three experiments were conducted to empirically test the differential effect of campaign formats (i.e. YSWD vs sales-based cause-related marketing), the underlying mechanism and structural as well as contextual features moderating the differential effect.

The findings suggest that YSWD messages elicit consumers’ message-sharing intentions more than traditional cause-related marketing messages. The effect is explained by consumers’ sense of empowerment and can be enhanced through donation cap non-specification. The findings further indicate that YSWD campaigns are especially fruitful in low power distance cultures.

This study contributes toward corporate donation campaign literature by focusing on the usage of social media.

From a managerial perspective, this research provides marketers with guidelines on how to choose between the two cause-related marketing campaign formats and how to enhance the effectiveness of YSWD campaigns.

This paper extends cause-related marketing literature by not only introducing the phenomenon of YSWD campaigns to the literature but also exploring strategies to enhance the effectiveness of such campaigns and shedding light on an outcome beyond the sales impact of cause-related marketing campaigns, i.e. an increase of visibility in social media. From a managerial perspective, this research provides marketers with guidelines on how to choose between the two cause-related marketing campaign formats and how to enhance the effectiveness of YSWD campaigns.

Potato-based snacks (PBS) are widely popular among people of all age groups despite known negative health aspects. University students, due to their busy routines and less familiarity with diets are more prone to selecting unhealthy meals and snacks. The study aims to explore the outlook of university students regarding their consumption of processed and packaged PBS in their daily lives and compares gender’s PBS choices with dietary habits and food environment.

A total of 122 students from various universities across Pakistan were included in this study. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and distributed using the snowball method.

The university students showed a significant difference in their living habits (p = 0.016), where 25.4% of enrolled male students were hostellers as compared to females (14.8%). Significant differences were noticed in choosing PBS that further depends on the familiarity of the product, (p = 0.030), where 9.0% of female students rated familiarity with the product as being important while 20.5% of males responded familiarity as a critical factor. Studying the usual location/point of purchase for a PBS, a significant difference was observed (p = 0.008%) where more male students (27.9%) choose to buy their PBS from a local convenience store as compared to female students (18.9%). Female students (13.1%) would rather choose to buy their PBS on their weekly grocery runs.

This study concluded that female and male students’ attitudes regarding the consumption of PBS were almost the same regardless of environment and brand repute.

Highlights

1. Dietary behavioral studies of consumption of PBS

2. The environment and brand reputation have no impact on the consumption of PBS

3. Gender differences have no impact on the selection of PBS

4. Awareness and healthy selection of PBS are critical factors that need to be focused

Dietary behavioral studies of consumption of PBS

The environment and brand reputation have no impact on the consumption of PBS

Gender differences have no impact on the selection of PBS

Awareness and healthy selection of PBS are critical factors that need to be focused

Consumer-perceived review attitude determines consumer overall information adoption and is a core part of consumer’s online-shopping. This study aims to focus on factors that could influence consumer review attitude and can be used by marketers to shape individual information perception.

The study used the questionnaire method to collect data from online shoppers and the modelling of structural equations as an empirical approach to analyse the data.

The findings demonstrate that both systematic and heuristic cues impact the reviewer’s credibility and perceived website attitude differently, which, in turn, influence review attitude. Review characteristics, such as factuality, consistency and relevancy, have a positive relationship with reviewer credibility, while only review consistency and relevancy appears to have a relationship with review attitude. Website characteristics such as reputation, familiarity and social interactivity positively influence the website attitude, which positively influences review attitude. Apart from this, review skepticism has a significant negative relationship with review attitude.

This study could help to foster a positive attitude towards online reviews. Digital marketers need to motivate trusted reviewers to post consistent, fact-based reviews. Further improving the overall website reputation and interactivity could bring a positive attitude towards the reviews. Also, digital marketers must filter and avoid contradictory reviews or reviews that have a bipolar message and reviews expressing numerous emotions to enhance review relevance and consistency.

The current study addresses the need to understand the formation of consumer review attitude through both review and website characteristics using heuristic – systematic model. The paper captures the complex process undergone by the consumer to decipher review attitude and thereby extend the understanding of consumer information processing.

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.

This paper's purpose is to explore the current interest and knowledge that UK consumers hold around agroforestry. Despite the many reported benefits of agroforestry systems, uptake in the UK, as well as other temperate nations, has been low. As the consumer has a role to play in the transition of agriculture to methods that are more environmentally friendly it is vital to have an understanding of their perceptions. Yet to date no work has looked at agroforestry from the perspective of the UK consumer.

An online survey was conducted using a convenience sample accessed by floating a link through social media and messaging apps. The survey was also shared to the members of a private Facebook group associated with an organic vegetable box service. A mix of multiple choice and open text boxes were used. The survey received 139 responses.

Non-parametric tests indicate that this sample of UK consumers would be mostly likely to buy, and willing to pay more for, agroforestry produce; and the sample showed a split group regarding familiarity. Inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlighted some important barriers to the purchase as well as capturing a snapshot of this sample's perceptions.

This paper presents, to the authors knowledge, the first set of data regarding a sample of UK consumers' perspective of agroforestry produce. The findings could bolster producers' confidence in adopting agroforestry practices, but also highlight the need for policymakers to bolster consumer support through parallel means.

This study aims to discover how domain familiarity and language affect the cognitive load and the strategies applied for the evaluation of search engine results pages (SERP).

This study used an experimental research design. The pattern of the experiment was based upon repeated measures design. Each student was given four SERPs varying in two dimensions: language and content. The criteria of students to decide on the three best links within the SERP, the reasoning behind their selection, and their perceived cognitive load of the given task were the repeated measures collected from each participant.

The evaluation criteria changed according to the language and task type. The cognitive load was reported higher when the content was presented in English or when the content was academic. Regarding the search strategies, a majority of students trusted familiar sources or relied on keywords they found in the short description of the links. A qualitative analysis showed that students can be grouped into different types according to the reasons they stated for their choices. Source seeker, keyword seeker and specific information seeker were the most common types observed.

This study has an international scope with regard to data collection. Moreover, the tasks and findings contribute to the literature on information literacy.

Working from home (WFH) was one of the major changes that occurred in many organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This also led to online training being conducted during this WFH period. The present study investigated the role of technology, manager support and peer support on self-efficacy and job outcomes (i.e. training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction) of employees while WFH.

The study framework incorporated Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Data were collected from 852 employees in India, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

The study found positive relationships between ease of technology use, manager support and peer support on self-efficacy and a negative relationship between self-efficacy and technostress. The study also found significant positive relationships between self-efficacy and training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction. Moreover, the study also identified the moderating effects of WFH and technical issues in the relationships of self-efficacy with training transfer, work engagement and job satisfaction.

The study is novel in that it extended self-efficacy theory regarding the WFH context with influencers such as technology, managers and peers as organizational factors. It also demonstrated the effectiveness of remote working and online training considering the potential antecedents while WFH. Moreover, the study highlighted the simultaneous role of technology and people (managers and peers) in enhancing job outcomes by increasing self-efficacy among employees.

Organizational diversity training is designed to enhance employees' skills and competencies regarding diversity and its management. The question of its effectiveness, and the conditions under which it thrives, remains a matter of debate. Unlike previous studies that have predominantly focused on the perspective of training participants, this study shifts the lens to the viewpoints of diversity training providers in Germany – a country where the formal requirement for diversity management was implemented relatively recently. The primary objective is to ascertain the critical factors influencing training effectiveness from the providers' perspective.

This research draws upon case studies based on document analysis and qualitative interviews with diversity training providers across Germany.

The investigation reveals that the effectiveness of diversity training, as perceived by providers, hinges on several key factors: the organizational environment (including the widespread recognition of diversity issues and the presence of an organizational diversity framework), the attributes of diversity trainers (notably their personal familiarity with diversity) and the setting and design of the training (such as venue, duration and a blend of instructional approaches). A notable barrier to achieving effective training outcomes is the lack of supportive conditions within client companies, exemplified by limited training budgets, which impedes the accurate assessment of training effectiveness.

This study marks a novel contribution to the field by explicitly focusing on the perspective of diversity training providers in Germany. It provides new insights into the importance of the organizational context surrounding diversity education within the private sector.

This study aims to investigate the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on consumers' evaluation of blockchain-based traceability information. It also examined how the use of quick response (QR) codes for traceability affects consumers' evaluation of traceable food products.

An online choice experiment was conducted to determine consumers' evaluation of the blockchain-based traceability of Feta cheese with a quota sample of 715 Greek consumers. Pearson bivariate correlation and mean comparison were used to examine the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and QR use behaviour. Random parameter logit models were employed to examine consumers’ valuation of the examined attributes and interaction terms.

The results show that ethnocentric consumers are willing to pay more for blockchain-based traceability information. Ethnocentric consumers tend to scan QR codes with traceability information. Spending more time reading traceability information embedded in QR codes does not lead to a higher willingness-to-pay (WTP) for traceable food products.

The findings suggest that patriotic marketing messages can draw consumers' attention to blockchain-based traceability information. The modest WTP for and low familiarity with blockchain-based traceability systems raise the need for educating consumers regarding the benefits of blockchain in traceability systems.

This is the first study to provide timely empirical evidence of a positive WTP for blockchain-based traceability information for a processed dairy product. This study is the first to attempt to distinguish the effects of the intention to scan QR codes and reading information embedded in QR codes on consumers’ valuation of food attributes.