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Social commerce and buying intention post COVID-19: Evidence from a hybrid approach based on SEM -fsQCA
Abstract
In the post COVID-19 era, social commerce witnessed significant growth due to increasing numbers of consumers choosing online channels as their preferred means of shopping. Consumer attitude and trust are key factors influencing customers purchase decision of buying products and services marketed through online platforms such as social commerce. A positive consumer attitude towards a brand or product can lead to greater level of perceived trust and, hence, increase the likelihood of purchasing. Further, a negative consumer attitude or low trust may deter individuals from purchasing, even if they are interested in the product. This study aims at investigating the mediating role of customers attitude and perceived trust on the relationship the relationship between social commerce and buying intention post-COVID-19 pandemic. Using a full-structured questionnaire directed to 570 e-commerce consumers, the obtained data were analyzed by hybrid approach based on PLS-SEM and fsQCA. The study results may help understand the variables that can affect consumer behavior in the post-COVID-19 era, and businesses can better modify their marketing strategies and fulfill the customers' needs.
... The rise of e-commerce has brought about profound transformations in both business operations and consumer shopping habits [1]. The continuous growth and evolution of the e-commerce sector have significantly influenced shifts in consumer behavior [2][3][4]. These changes in consumer shopping patterns, particularly those facilitated through various e-commerce methods using social media platforms, are collectively referred to as "social commerce" [5]. ...
... We developed a questionnaire grounded in the previous literature, drawing upon sources such as Han and Windsor [48]; Elshaer et al. [2]; Chou and Hsu [49]; Zadeh, Zolfagharian, and Hofacker [50]; Zhang, Guo, Hu, and Liu [13]; and Jahn and Kunz [51]. This questionnaire was then refined through collaboration with a panel of experts in this field. ...
... SC was operationalized using three distinct but related dimensions (suggestions and recommendations, forums and communities, and ratings and reviews). Each dimension had four reflective variables, as suggested by Han and Windsor [48] and validated by Elshaer et al. [2]. ...
The advent of social commerce (SC) has transformed the landscape of online consumer behavior, emphasizing the significance of customer-to-customer relations in shaping sustainable relationships with customers. This research investigated the intricate relationships between social commerce dimensions, particularly suggestions and recommendations, forums and communities, and ratings and reviews, and their influence on customer-to-customer value co-creation (C2CVCC) and sustainable customer relationships (SCRs). A questionnaire was designed and administered to 635 respondents. We examined the psychometric properties of the measurements and subsequently applied partial least squares as a structural equation modeling method (PLS-SEM) for hypothesis testing. The findings revealed that the dimensions of SC significantly impact C2CVCC, with ratings and reviews playing a pivotal role. Furthermore, C2CVCC emerged as a substantial mediator in the path between SC and SCRs. The empirical analysis showcased strong support for the proposed model, with robust path coefficients (β) and p-values confirming direct and indirect effects. These findings offer valuable insights for businesses seeking to leverage SC and customer interactions to enhance SCRs in the digital era. Understanding the dynamics of C2CVCC within the context of SC has become essential for marketers and businesses aiming to thrive in today’s competitive online marketplace.
... The rise of e-commerce has brought about profound transformations in both business operations and consumer shopping habits [1]. The continuous growth and evolution of the e-commerce sector have significantly influenced shifts in consumer behavior [2]. These changes in consumer shopping patterns, particularly those facilitated through various e-commerce methods using social media platforms, are collectively referred to as "social commerce" [3]. ...
... We developed a questionnaire grounded in the previous literature, drawing upon sources such as Han and Windsor [36]; Elshaer et al. [2]; Chou and Hsu [37]; Zadeh, Zolfagharian, and Hofacker [38]; Zhang, Guo, Hu, and Liu [8]; and Jahn and Kunz [39]. This questionnaire was then refined through collaboration with a panel of experts in this field. ...
... and Windsor[36] and validated by Elshaer et al.[2]. ...
The advent of social commerce (SC) has transformed the landscape of online consumer behavior, emphasizing the significance of customer-to-customer relations in shaping sustainable relation-ships with customers. This research investigated the intricate relationships between social com-merce dimensions, particularly suggestions and recommendations, forums and communities, and ratings and reviews, and their influence on customer-to-customer value co-creation (C2CVCC) and sustainable customer relationships (SCRs). A questionnaire was designed and administered to 635 respondents. We examined the psychometric properties of the measurements and subse-quently applied Partial Least Squares as a Structural Equation Modeling method (PLS-SEM) for hypothesis testing. The findings reveal that the dimensions of SC significantly impact C2CVCC, with ratings and reviews playing a pivotal role. Furthermore, C2CVCC emerges as a substantial mediator in the path between SC and SCRs. The empirical analysis showcases strong support for the proposed model, with robust path coefficients (β) and p-values confirming direct and indirect effects. These findings offer valuable insights for businesses seeking to leverage SC and customer interactions to enhance SCRs in the digital era. Understanding the dynamics of C2CVCC within the context of SC has become essential for marketers and businesses aiming to thrive in today's competitive online marketplace.
... Social commerce is currently regarded as a vital component in retailing; social networking has become a dominant strategy in the contemporary retailing industry, catering to the postmodern consumer's desire for personalized and communal brand interactions. In addition, "the COVID-19 pandemic" has profoundly impacted various retailers, necessitating the utilization of technology as a crucial factor for business survival, particularly in the social commerce setting (Abeds, 2020(Abeds, , 2022Elshaer et al., 2024). The concept of SC has sparked an abundance of interest from researchers due to the swift growth of e-commerce (Helmy Mohamad et al., 2022;Pang and Zhang, 2024;Xu et al., 2023). ...
... This country possesses unique cultural aspects, norms, and economic development, which could challenge the generalization of existing theories on users' adoption of social commerce. While customers intent in social commerce has been studied in various cultures, such as the UK, USA, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia (Elshaer et al., 2024;Khan et al., 2022;Mou and Benyouicef, 2021;Qin and De-Juan-Vigaray, 2021a,b), this topic has not been explored in Algeria. ...
... Gaining insights into customer behavior within social commerce is now vital for retailers striving to enhance consumer experience and gain access to their social connections Zhang and Benyoucef, 2016). Multiple theories and frameworks have been developed to comprehend social commerce intention (Elshaer et al., 2024;Han, 2023;Lam et al., 2019;, with "the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology" (UTAUT) being prominent, focusing on ease of use and perceived usefulness Mou and Benyouicef, 2021). Instead, some studies adopt social science-based theories such as trust transfer theory (Han, 2023) and social learning theory Chen et al., 2017), recognizing the influence of peers' opinions, interactions, and perceived social pressures on consumer behavior in social commerce adoption. ...
The use of social media has experienced a surge in popularity globally in recent years, with a rapidly increasing rate of adoption. Retailers are experimenting with various strategies to promote their products and services to customers, taking advantage of the popularity of these websites. Nevertheless, there is significant controversy within the scholarly and practitioners regarding the main motivations of consumers purchase behavior in the social commerce (SC) setting, as well as the effective techniques that may make them a viable alternative for future business endeavors. Drawing upon value motivation theory and prior research on privacy/security in the SC setting, our study developed an integrated model to understand the impact of utilitarian value, hedonic value, perceived privacy/security, and trust at social commerce platform (SCP) on purchase intentions via social media over time. This study employed two-wave data (“T = 736 and T+1 = 601”) and used the “cross-lagged panel” technique to analyze the “longitudinal data”. The results of this study offer meaningful insights about the cause-and-effect relationship and significant effect of utilitarian value, hedonic value, and perceived privacy/security on consumer trust and purchase intentions. Furthermore, it suggests that customer trust plays a mediating role on these relationships over time. This study offers meaningful implication for theory and practice.
... The integration creates a synergy significantly influencing eco-friendly behavior. Social commerce platforms, acting as influential channels, disseminate information on sustainable products, shaping consumer attitudes and fostering environmental responsibility [8,9]. Investigating how these platforms effectively communicate and reinforce green values is crucial for strategies leveraging the synergistic effects [7]. ...
... Referrals and recommendations occur when people gather information regarding goods or services from family, friends, or other trusted avenues [8]. These types of social commerce have a large impact on customer attitude and trust [9]. ...
... Through forums and communities, customers can obtain information and receive feedback from others, enabling them to make informed purchase decisions [22]. Furthermore, it is argued that internet-based consumer communication inside social commerce frameworks fosters social support, which raises network trust [9]. In addition, Kaššaj and Peráček [36] indicate that the growth of digital content should be aided by mobile connection, data security, and technical advancements. ...
Understanding the factors and motivations that drive consumers to engage in eco-friendly behavior within the realm of social commerce is essential to provide insights into crafting targeted marketing efforts and campaigns. By aligning eco-friendly initiatives with the inherent motivations of social commerce users, businesses can enhance the effectiveness of their sustainability efforts. Despite that, limited research has investigated the potential impact of social commerce, aligned with green customer citizenship, on eco-friendly behavior and staying in green hotels. To address this gap, this study aims to examine the level to which social commerce practices contribute to shaping customers’ eco-friendly behavior in the context of eco-friendly hotels. A quantitative approach design using a questionnaire survey to collect primary data was conducted. Based on valid responses from 336 participants, a structured equation modeling was performed using Smart PLS 4.0 to examine the conceptual model and justify the hypotheses of the study. The findings highlighted the critical role of social commerce in shaping customer eco-friendly behavior and staying in green hotels. The results also confirmed the moderating role of green customer citizenship in supporting the linkage between social commerce and customer eco-friendly behavior in hotel settings. These results contribute to the growing hospitality body of knowledge and provide some valuable practical implications enabling eco-friendly hotels to leverage social commerce as a medium for promoting green initiatives and services.
... -Intelligent systems affect a very weak rate in improving the performance of start-up projects in Algeria. This is because projects do not depend on appropriate programs and strategies that help them to make decisions (Elshaer, Alrawad, Lutfi, & Azazz, 2024;Khassawneh, 2014). -Intelligent operations affect a very weak rate in improving the performance of start-up projects in Algeria. ...
This study aims to investigate the role of technological intelligence in enhancing the performance of start-ups in
Algeria. It seeks to explore fundamental concepts such as performance and technological intelligence to bolster
the efficiency of start-ups and foster economic development in the country. Employing a descriptive-analytical
approach, the study distributed questionnaires to a random sample of 213 start-up companies. Additionally, it
utilized an experimental approach, employing neural network modelling and fuzzy logic to test hypotheses. The
study reveals that the elements of technological intelligence collectively exhibit a weak impact on the performance improvement of start-ups in Algeria. Approximately 31% of the observed weak impact of technological
intelligence elements on start-up performance is attributed to the underutilization of available market technology
for product development. This study underscores the importance of integrating technological intelligence into
various activities of Algerian start-ups to augment performance, development, and growth. Furthermore, it aims
to advance the start-up sector, alleviate unemployment challenges, integrate youth into the business landscape,
and generate value addition. Moreover, the study contributes to advancing scientific research and leveraging the
role of universities and research centers in supporting economic sectors through research endeavors aimed at
enhancing start-up performance.
... This study investigated two components of SCCs: recommendations and referrals (RERs), and ratings and reviews (RARs). These SCCs are determined to have a positive impact on customers' Sustainability 2024, 16, 2338 6 of 23 SC-based purchase intentions [41]. In addition, it has been stated that SCCs can help customers to manage the overwhelming amount of information in SC platforms and focus on the appropriate products and merchants [92]. ...
Understanding Organic Food Purchases on Instagram: Insights into Customer Behavior in Social Commerce. This study explores the behavior of customers purchasing organic foods through the Instagram platform. By conducting a quantitative survey of 410 customers in Iran and employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we develop a comprehensive model to elucidate the factors influencing customers' social commerce trust, purchase intentions, and behaviors. This research offers valuable insights for marketers seeking to enhance sustainable production and consumption practices through Instagram social commerce
... Many researchers have studied intention (Durgun & Davras, 2024;Elshaer et al., 2024;Halim et al., 2023;Halim & Dinaroe, 2019;Musa et al., 2021;Sari et al., 2022;Wattanacharoensil et al., 2024;Wong et al., 2024;Zhang et al., 2024). However, several earlier studies have provided valuable insights if we focus on entrepreneurship education and Islamic principles. ...
This study explores strategies to enhance students' interest in entrepreneurship within the framework of Islamic entrepreneurship, emphasizing principles of justice, honesty, anti-usury, and social responsibility. Through a literature study methodology, the research delves into integrating Islamic values into academic curricula, establishing business incubators, providing seed capital, organizing Sharia-the-centric competitions, recognizing entrepreneurs' real achievements, and forming Muslim entrepreneur communities on campus. Entrepreneurs have found these strategies pivotal in cultivating a robust entrepreneurial spirit aligned with Islamic principles, contributing to individual student growth and broader economic and ethical development within the Muslim community. The study concludes with recommendations for universities and proposes avenues for advanced research to enrich this emerging field.
... No entanto, é consenso entre os pesquisadores que estudam o varejo que há ainda muito a se investigar acerca desses fenômenos (Untaru & Han, 2021;. Nesse sentido, algumas pesquisas pós-COVID já desenvolvidas sinalizam a transição das preferencias por comidas frescas e com garantia de qualidade garantidas por meio de compras online (Chen et al., 2023;Timur et al., 2023), influência da pandemia no materialismo de consumidores (Moldes et al., 2022) e importância da manutenção do relacionamento com os consumidores por meio das redes sociais (Elshaer et al., 2024), para mencionar alguns tópicos. ...
Objective of the study - The aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of perceived quality and service satisfaction on the relationship between brand familiarity and patronage intention towards retail stores. Methodology/approach - Through a survey of 400 respondents, this study employed structural equation modeling and mediation tests to test the direct and conditional hypotheses. Findings- Perceived service quality acts as an important mediator in the link between familiarity and patronage intention. Satisfaction is also a mediator, but perceived quality is more important. In addition, consumer response to patronage intention is stronger when influenced by satisfaction than directly by perceived quality Theoretical/methodological contributions - The study advances knowledge about quality in services, as a mediating mechanism for familiarity and impacts on favorable consumer responses. Relevance/originality - The study is a pioneer in proposing the relationship between familiarity and quality in services.
... No entanto, é consenso entre os pesquisadores que estudam o varejo que há ainda muito a se investigar acerca desses fenômenos (Untaru & Han, 2021;. Nesse sentido, algumas pesquisas pós-COVID já desenvolvidas sinalizam a transição das preferencias por comidas frescas e com garantia de qualidade garantidas por meio de compras online (Chen et al., 2023;Timur et al., 2023), influência da pandemia no materialismo de consumidores (Moldes et al., 2022) e importância da manutenção do relacionamento com os consumidores por meio das redes sociais (Elshaer et al., 2024), para mencionar alguns tópicos. ...
Objetivo: Examinar o efeito da qualidade dos serviços do m-commerce na satisfação e lealdade na consumidores. Além disso, analisaram-se as propriedades psicométricas da escala MS-SQ (mobile shopping service quality) em um país emergente, tropicalizando o instrumento para esse contexto. Metodologia: Foi realizada uma survey (n=110), cujos dados foram analisados por meio de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (MEE). Originalidade: Este estudo apesar de replicar a escala de mensuração da qualidade percebida de serviços mobile, é o único a testar estas medidas em um país emergente (Brasil). Principais resultados: Os resultados deste estudo confirmam as quatro dimensões da MS-SQ (eficiência, realização, capacidade de resposta e contato). Além disso, confirmou-se o efeito da qualidade dos serviços de compras móveis na satisfação e lealdade dos consumidores. Contribuições teóricas: Este estudo traz, na escala traduzida para o português e aplicada no Brasil, uma ferramenta gerencial eficaz para que o operador mensure cada um dos itens que a compõem, como um termômetro para a lealdade do consumidor.
Background: Mobile social commerce is a collection of e-commerce activities accessed via mobile devices and supported by users actively engaging in commercial activities on social media. As a country with a substantial number of social media users, Indonesia has sufficient opportunities to implement mobile social commerce as application for online shopping. Objective: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the use of mobile social commerce for online shopping, using Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). In this context, some variables were excluded, namely user behavior, price value, and moderating variables (age, gender, and experience). Additional variables considered included price saving orientation (PSO), privacy concerns (PC), social commerce construct (SCC), social support (SS), and trust (TR). Methods: Data were collected by distributing questionnaires to respondents who had used mobile social commerce for shopping, resulting in 320 collected responses. Furthermore, the collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method through SmartPLS 3.3.3 application. Results: The results showed that among the 17 proposed hypotheses, 6 were rejected, while 11 were accepted. Conclusion: In conclusion, the factors influencing the use of mobile social commerce consisted of effort expectancy, habit, hedonic motivation, SCC, SS, and PC. Therefore, future studies should concentrate on exploring the continued intention of users towards mobile social commerce application. Keywords: Mobile Social Commerce, Privacy Concern, Social Construct, Social Support, UTAUT
The digitization of consumption, led by information and communications technology (ICT), has reshaped the urban commercial spatial structure (UCSS) of restaurants and retailers. However, the impacts of ICT on UCSS and location selection remain unclear. In this study, based on on-demand food delivery data and real-time traffic data, we used two types of machine learning algorithms, random forest regression (RFR) and the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN), to study the spatial distribution patterns, driving factors, and new geographical location phenomena of 'brick-and-click' (B&C) stores in Xinjiekou's central business district (CBD) in Nanjing, China. The results show that the UCSS in the CBD is being decentralized, but the degree of influence is related to the business type. Additionally, the scale of demand and the distance from core commercial nodes greatly affect the scales of B&C stores. Moreover, the agglomeration of high-sales B&C stores seems to indicate a micro-location advantage, characterized by the concentration of delivery riders, which is usually located in the commercial hinterland with dense traffic. This makes stores situated in traditionally advantageous locations more attractive for online sales. Thus, ICT enhances the Matthew effect in business competition. These findings deepen our understanding of urban digital planning management and business systems.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dampak inovasi bisnis Social Commerce bagi pelaku UMKM, keberadaan Tiktok Shop sebagai Social Commerce sudah lama diantisipasi oleh pemerintah luar negeri, sedangkan pemerintah Indonesia juga sudah mengeluarkan kebijakan larangan praktek monopoli melalui Social Commerce, sebagaimana diatur dalam Permendag 31/2023. Globalisasi dan kemajuan teknologi menjadi tak terelakkan dalam mengubah perilaku bisnis di Indonesia, namun jangan sampai hal tersebut justru dapat membunuh pelaku usaha kecil (UMKM). Sehingga peran pemerintah untuk menyusun regulasi menjadi penting untuk melindungi kelangsungan UMKM. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian Socio-Legal Studies yaitu melakukan analisis hukum doktriner dan studi interdisipliner dengan melakukan analisis wacana kritis terhadap statement dari aktor-aktor yang berkelindan dalam kebijakan Social Commerce. Dalam penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa perlindungan UMKM melalui Permendag 31/2023 tidaklah cukup, praktek monopoli bisnis tidak hanya terjadi pada Social Commerce saja melainkan juga terjadi di sektor E-commerce konvensional sehingga perlu adanya komitmen khusus untuk mengawasi Social Commerce dan E-commerce. Disisi lain pemerintah juga perlu meninjau perjanjian internasional dalam hal ini seperti ACFTA agar dapat sesuai dengan kebutuhan UMKM dan dapat menghindari praktek predatory pricing.
Social media live streams (SMLSs) are becoming mainstream e-commerce platforms, especially for direct selling, offering online retailers (e-tailers) immense consumer interaction and engagement levels. Despite their growing prevalence, e-tailers face difficulties capitalising on this platform to enhance retail operations. This paper explores how SMLSs affect consumers' purchase intentions by exploring their motivations for participating in e-commerce SMLSs. To this end, we used the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory to explain how using SMLSs to satisfy consumers' needs could lead to high or low purchase intentions. It was done by collecting cross-sectional data from 795 consumers who have participated in e-commerce SMLSs. The data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Our findings revealed that people use SMLSs to satisfy their need for value, social identification, and the medium's attributes. Based on these findings, we show six configurations that lead to high or low purchase intentions and make corresponding theoretical propositions. Thus, our study contributes to the research and practice of using SMLSs for online shopping.
Increasing evidence shows the role of perceived risk in customers' attitude and intention to use online shopping services. However, the literature shows disagreement regarding the types of risks that influence purchase intention. Therefore, this study aims to empirically identify the most relevant sources of risks and uncertainties associated with online shopping services and to investigate the influence of sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, and online shopping experience) on the levels of perceived risk using data collected through a survey questionnaire. A total of 558 participants were selected across three countries (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait). The responses were evaluated using structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. The analysis showed that of the tested types of risks and uncertainty, only three had a significant influence on customers' purchase decisions: financial risk, information risk, and privacy risk. Regarding the moderating role of sociodemographic variables, the analysis showed that previous experience has a significant moderating effect. At the same time, gender and age were found not to affect the relationship between perceived risks and customers' purchase intention. These findings may help online stores understand customers’ concerns when considering online shopping. The limitations and theoretical and managerial implications of the present study are discussed.
This study aims to investigate the perceptions of near-field communication (NFC) usage for mobile payments in Saudi Arabia. In order to develop a mathematical framework for the acceptance of NFC quality of information for mobile payments, researchers have combined the technological acceptance model (TAM) and the idea of perceived risk. An online and physical study of 1217 NFC portable credit card holders in Saudi Arabia was conducted. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were utilized to analyze the factor structure of the measurement items, and Smart PLS 2.0 from structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the theories and hypotheses that had been put forth. The results show that (1) social influence, perceived element of risk, and subjective norms each have a negative influence on preconceptions of trust in online payment methods using NFC; (2) social influence, perceived element of risk, and social norms all have a positive effect on satisfaction with the security of electronic payment using NFC; (3) perceived ease of use has a negative effect on perceived confidence in digital payment using NFC; and (4) perceived ease of use has a negative effect on perceived trust in online payment using NFC. As a consequence of these findings, users’ attitudes regarding the use of NFC and behavioral intentions to utilize NFC mobile payment can be revealed. This study created a unique approach for assessing perceptions, perceived trust, and NFC information quality in mobile payment uptake in Saudi Arabia. As a consequence, banks may find this research useful as they implement new strategies to attract more customers, such as perceived security, brand trust, and NFC information quality in mobile payment adaption.
Big data analytics (BDA) adoption has gained attention in both practical and theoretical circles owing to the opportunities and advantages that can be reaped from it. In theory, the majority of researchers have evidenced the benefits of BDA, although barriers to its adoption have also been mentioned. This study draws upon the technology-organisation-environment framework and resource-based view theory to propose an integrated model that examines the drivers and impact of BDA adoption in the retail industry in Jordan. The proposed single model encapsulates the aspects of BDA adoption and performance. The study makes use of an online questionnaire survey to collect the required data, and the research model is eventually validated based on 132 responses gathered from the retail industry in Jordan. The findings highlight two major observations. The first is that relative advantage, organisational readiness, top management support, government support, data variety and data velocity all have a significant influence over BDA adoption. The second observation is that a significant association exists between BDA adoption and firm performance, providing information on the way firms can enhance their BDA adoption for enhanced performance. This study contributes to literature dedicated to examining BDA in terms of its drivers and impact on performance and can be used as a reference in developing nations.
The investigation of users' satisfactions and intentions in using the services provided by commercial banks needs to be focused on internet banking, since this is the widely used banking service. This paper analyzed the satisfactions and behavioral intentions of Malaysian customers in using Internet Banking, applying the Information System Success Model (ISSM) by the integration of adoption and application technology (UTAUT) theory. Some criteria, which were taken into consideration, are as follows: perceived Risk (PR), facilitating Conditions (FC), Price (PV), Performance expectancy (PE), Information Quality (IQ), Service Quality (SEQ), and System Quality (SQ). These aspects are important to measure customers' satisfaction and behavior toward Internet and Online Banking. A sample of 362 valid responses, consisting of Malaysian customers who used E-Banking, was used for the purpose of data collection. The relationship between customers' satisfaction and factors influencing their contentment in using Online Banking was investigated. In order to evaluate this, a model called “Structural Equation Model (SEM)” was developed and used. Findings showed that most of the Online Banking users were satisfied with the system. Hence, it proves that Online Banking System was generally accepted in the Malaysian community. However, this current research is solely focused on the Malaysian community. Therefore, it may provide the necessary grounds for the study of internet banking accreditation, some useful information for the practitioners, policy makers, and the researchers to improve the system of online banking in Malaysia only. For a future study, a more well-structured research, which can accommodate the global need, would be required.
This study aims to investigate students’ perceptions about the Madrasati platform as well as to identify the crucial factors that could influence the adoption of the Madrasati platform. Online quantitative survey method was employed to collect the data. SEM modelling method was adopted to analyze the hypotheses in the research model. The findings of the study indicate system quality,
service quality and content quality, technology infrastructure, awareness, university management support, security concerns and training have a primary role in increasing the usage of the Madrasati platform in Saudi Arabia. The findings indicate that all factors have a significant influence on Madrasati platform-adoption among students. This research contributes to the body of knowledge
and Madrasati platform-adoption practices. Likewise, it may help facilitate and promote the usage of Madrasati platform among students in Saudi universities.
Big data and machine learning technologies facilitate various business intelligence activities for businesses. However, personal data collection can generate adverse effects on consumers. Big data collection can compromise people’s sense of autonomy, harming digital privacy, transparency and trust. This research investigates personal data collection, control, awareness, and privacy regulation on people’s autonomy in Saudi. This study used a hybrid analytical model that incorporates symmetrical and asymmetrical analysis via fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze consumer sense of autonomy regarding big data collection. The symmetrical shows that ‘Control’ had the most significant influence on people’s autonomy, followed by ‘Big data collection’ and ‘Awareness’. The fsQCA shows 84% of the variation, explaining the people’s autonomy.
In recent years, due to the extensive use of social media advertisement and the development of social commerce tools, scholars and practitioners pay more attention to interaction with the digital channel, shopping intention, satisfaction, and retention. The objective of this study is to understand the shopping cart abandonment behavior as an outcome condition of ad avoidance on social media platforms. This research takes into consideration of cognitive, affective, and behavioral ad avoidance; alongside its antecedent conditions of perceived goal impediment, perceived add clutter, and prior negative experiences on social media. The research is conducted in Germany and Fuzzy sets/Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) is applied to understand the outcome condition of shopping cart abandonment. The findings imply that ad avoidance can create a learning mechanism for consumers about shopping cart abandonment of a brand or product if interrupted by a futile message or content. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Social interactions through social commerce platforms empower consumers to share their personal experiences with others, but its role becomes more significant for societal protection during COVID-19. Numerous scholars have studied e-commerce extensively, but there is a lack of studies to identify social commerce characteristics to attract potential consumers during COVID-19. This study aims to examine the role of social commerce constructs by integrating social presence as a moderator in the model to explain consumers online shopping intentions in a Pakistani context, where lack of trust on the reliability and validity of comments from other consumers being considered the growing concern toward the success of social commerce. The quantitative data were collected from the respondents living in different cities of Pakistan. Most of the hypothesis supported and demonstrate the positive response from the Pakistani consumers having experience in shopping through social commerce platforms. The findings of this study will help scholars and managers to understand the attitude of Pakistani consumers.
Without question, 2020 was an unprecedented period for all businesses and consumers in the world, especially for social commerce businesses. Growing online shopping during the pandemic has proliferated the appetite of social commerce websites. Drawing on the situational influences’ theory and social support theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of situational influences during the COVID-19 pandemic on online purchase intention across the big five personality traits. The data were collected via online survey. The sample consisted of 349 social commerce website users in the UK. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares-Structured Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results showed the different cohorts of buying intention on social commerce websites. Social support does not impact online purchase intention, while other situational factors do. Moreover, the model varied across the big five personality traits. The study substantially contributes to social commerce by investigating the social support and situational influences across different types of personality traits on online purchase intention during the pandemic.
The COVID-19 crisis is among the most disruptive events in recent decades. Its profound consequences have garnered the interest of many studies in various disciplines, including consumer behavior, thereby warranting an effort to review and systematize the literature. Thus, this study systematizes the knowledge generated by 70 COVID-19 and consumer behavior studies in the Scopus database. It employs descriptive analysis, highlighting the importance of using quantitative methods and China and the US as research settings. Co-occurrence analysis further identified various thematic clusters among the studies. The input-process-output consumer behavior model guided the systematic review, covering several psychological characteristics and consumer behaviors. Accordingly, measures adopted by governments, technology, and social media stand out as external factors. However, revised marketing strategies have been oriented toward counteracting various consumer risks. Hence, given that technological and digital formats mark consumer behavior, firms must incorporate digital transformations in their process.
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has become a standard approach for analyzing complex inter-relationships between observed and latent variables. Researchers appreciate the many advantages of PLS-SEM such as the possibility to estimate very complex models and the method’s flexibility in terms of data requirements and measurement specification.
This practical open access guide provides a step-by-step treatment of the major choices in analyzing PLS path models using R, a free software environment for statistical computing, which runs on Windows, macOS, and UNIX computer platforms. Adopting the R software’s SEMinR package, which brings a friendly syntax to creating and estimating structural equation models, each chapter offers a concise overview of relevant topics and metrics, followed by an in-depth description of a case study. Simple instructions give readers the “how-tos” of using SEMinR to obtain solutions and document their results. Rules of thumb in every chapter provide guidance on best practices in the application and interpretation of PLS-SEM.
This study researches the mediating consequence of social trust (identification-based trust and information-based trust) on the relationship between social networking services (SNS) use and social commerce intention. The study also explores whether and how gender differences impact the use of SNS on endogenous constructs. The proposed research model is empirically examined using a sample of 170 consumers who have had a prior online shopping experience. The statistical analysis employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) methods such as PLS algorithm, model assessments, PLS predict, PLS goodness-of-fit, invariance assessment and multi-group analysis, and importance-performance map analysis. The study provides empirical insights into the effects of SNS on social trust towards s-commerce intention. Also, men and woman consumers are found to exhibit different emphases in using SNS to trust the s-commerce.
Purpose – This research proposes guidelines for the joint use of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to combine symmetric and asymmetric perspectives in model evaluation, in the hospitality and tourism field.
Design/methodology/approach – Our study discusses PLS-SEM as a symmetric approach and fsQCA as an asymmetric approach to analyze structural and configurational models. It presents guidelines to conduct an fsQCA based on latent construct scores drawn from PLS-SEM, in order to assess how configurations of exogenous constructs produce a specific outcome in an endogenous construct.
Findings – This research highlights the advantages of combining PLS-SEM and fsQCA to analyze the causal effects of antecedents (i.e., exogenous constructs) on outcomes (i.e., endogenous constructs). The construct scores extracted from the PLS-SEM analysis of a nomological network of constructs provide accurate input for performing fsQCA to identify the sufficient configurations required to predict the outcome(s). Complementing the assessment of the model’s explanatory and predictive power, the fsQCA generates more fine-grained insights into variable relationships, thereby offering the means to reach better managerial conclusions.
Originality/value – The application of PLS-SEM and fsQCA as separate prediction-oriented methods has increased notably in recent years. However, in the absence of clear guidelines, studies applied the methods inconsistently, giving researchers little direction on how to best apply PLS-SEM and fsQCA in tandem. To address this concern, our study provides guidelines for the joint use of PLS-SEM and fsQCA.
The investigation of established drivers of online purchase behavior is of great relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic, as companies must anticipate consumer behavior during this global crisis to maintain a competitive edge. This study investigates online shopping motives of generation Y and Z during the COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020. We use survey data from 451 German consumers to examine the relations between normative, utilitarian and hedonic motives, and purchase intentions employing structural equation modeling. The results show that normative determinants such as media reports on the economic situation are related to consumers’ purchase intentions, whereas the normative influence of close social networks is not. Furthermore, we find that hedonic motivation is a better predictor of purchase intentions than utilitarian motives and that individuals practicing social distancing, generation Z, and women show higher levels of hedonic motivation. We provide recommendations for e-commerce companies on ways to address consumers’ purchase motives and strategically harness normative influences.
Entrustment decision-making has become a topic of interest in workplace-based assessment in the health professions and is germane to the use of entrustable professional activities. Entrustment decisions stem from judgments of a trainee's competence and include the permission to act with a higher level of responsibility or autonomy and a lower level of supervision. Making entrustment decisions differs from regular assessment of trainees, which usually has no consequences beyond marking trainee progress. Studies show that clinicians generally weigh more factors in making an entrustment decision than when merely assessing trainee competence or performance without direct consequences for patient care. To synthesize the varying factors reported in literature, the authors performed a thematic analysis of key qualitative studies that investigated trainee features clinical supervisors find important when making entrustment decisions. Five themes emerged from the 13 publications: Capability (specific knowledge, skills, experience, situational awareness), Integrity (truthful, benevolent, patient-centered), Reliability (conscientious, predictable, accountable, responsible), Humility (recognizes limits, asks for help, receptive to feedback), Agency (proactive toward work, team, safety, personal development). Thoughtful entrustment decisions, made either by individual clinical supervisors or by clinical competency committees, may be enriched by taking into account these five features.
Online consumers have their own risk perception known as perceived risks. If consumers detected a variety of risks with the online purchase, consequently it will decrease the intention to shop online. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between online store image towards perceived risks (financial, product-performance, time, delivery, psychological, privacy, social, and after-sale risks) and the relationship between perceived risks towards online purchasing behaviour. Data collected from 330 respondents who have experience in online purchasing suggested that online store images have influence financial, product-performance, time, psychological, social, and after-sale risks. Surprisingly, online store image has no effect on privacy and delivery risks. Meanwhile, financial, psychological, social and after-sale risks have influence on online purchasing behaviour. In other words, increased risk in product performance, financial, psychological and after-sale risks influence the online purchasing behaviour by reducing the intention to purchase the product. Therefore, online purchase platform providers, online retailers and online marketers should identify the online store image that is capable to reduce consumers' perceived risks thus leading to a positive purchasing behaviour. Additionally, consumers can gain knowledge about the risks that might be faced during online shopping activities.
The current study aims at investigating the effect of perceived risk dimensions on consumers' attitude toward buying EVs in Jordan. The study methodology is based on quantitative approach to collect the primary data. The questionnaire of this study was adapted and developed from previous studies. Two hundred (200) buyers were targeted in the car market in Jordan called "ALHARAJ". After receiving the responses, one hundred and ninety-four (194) questionnaire forms were analyzed. SPSS, v.18 program was used to conduct some tests, such as those of outliers, normality, reliability, validity and multicollinearity. AMOS, v.12 was used to test the study hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that one hypothesis related to physical risks was unsupported and had negative and insignificant impact on consumers' attitude toward buying EVs in Jordan. Further, this study indicated that four hypotheses related to financial risk, functional risk, social risk and time risk were supported and accepted and had negative and significant effects on consumers' attitude toward buying EVs in Jordan. Finally, some recommendations for practitioners and academics were presented to enrich this field with some empirical studies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown and social distancing mandates have disrupted the consumer habits of buying as well as shopping. Consumers are learning to improvise and learn new habits. For example, consumers cannot go to the store, so the store comes to home. While consumers go back to old habits, it is likely that they will be modified by new regulations and procedures in the way consumers shop and buy products and services. New habits will also emerge by technology advances, changing demographics and innovative ways consumers have learned to cope with blurring the work, leisure, and education boundaries.
This study enhances the existing literature on the role of trust and online perceived risk in shaping consumer purchase decision-making in social commerce. The aim of this article is to investigate consumers’ purchase decision-making process, the determinant components of social commerce purchase intentions and attitudes, the effect of perceived risk on intention to go shopping in online settings, and consumer trust and buying behavior on online retailing platforms. The insights obtained from our research extend current knowledge as regards determinants of consumer attitudes and intentions toward online purchases, consumers’ perceived shopping risk and repurchase behavior when buying products online, and perceived consumer online trust and purchase decisions. Limited research has considered consumers’ decision-making processes on social commerce platforms by investigating how their perceptual attitudes, behavioral intentions, and immediate gratifications affect the purchase of products and services online. Our study addresses this gap and extends prior research by focusing on the relationship between online consumer purchase intention, social commerce adoption behavior, and consumers’ trust together with risk factors affecting online buying decisions, in light of the characteristics of source credibility. Our findings point toward important avenues of research on psychological determinants of consumer engagement in social media, decision mechanisms lying behind evaluation of prices, the types of perceived risk incurred, and online repurchasing behavior and intention on social commerce platforms. Subsequent directions should clarify whether adoption of mobile payment services may shape online consumers’ impulsive buying behavior and decision-making, especially under the influence of online product reviews.
Digitalization benefits supply chains but also creates new challenges for buyer–supplier relationship governance. An imbalance of digitalization between exchange partners increases dependence, information asymmetry, and data leakage, which can result in a high risk of opportunism for the less digitalized firm. However, few studies have examined how to handle this opportunism in today's digital economy. Adopting a transaction cost economics perspective, we examined the customization of combinations of traditional governance instruments, including contracts, monitoring, communication, and relational norms, to efficiently combat opportunism. Applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to data collected from 137 manufacturing firms, we identified five customized combinations of various governance mechanisms that effectively reduce opportunism between supply chain partners. However, transactional mechanisms alone offer the best empirical explanation for lowering perceived opportunism than a combination of relational and transactional mechanisms. This study contributes to the literature on supply chain relationship management in the digital economy and provides practical guidance to help firms establish an appropriate governance structure to mitigate opportunism.
This research proposes a conceptual model based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework which links perceived website/app quality and image (stimuli) to satisfaction and trust (organism) which in turn influence customer repurchase intention (response). The data was collected from 680 consumers via Amazon MTurk. Following Covariance based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) analysis to validate the proposed model, fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) technique was also performed. According to the findings, perceived website/app quality has a direct impact on both satisfaction and trust in online food delivery services. Additionally, customer familiarity moderates the relationship between website/app quality and repurchase intention. Next, customer reviews moderate the association between repurchase intention and trust. Holistically, this study offers significant implications for academicians, managers and policymakers. Academically , this study contributes to online food delivery literature. Practically, the results provide guidelines to marketers, managers and policymakers interested in devising marketing strategies to promote customer's repurchase intention in online food delivery context.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, safety is one of the top priorities for travellers when choosing a hotel. This work examines the effect of customers’ pre-stay expectations of a hotel about its safety-focused services, shaped through its official star-rating, on the during-stay confirmation of those expectations, satisfaction, and revisit intentions. A cross-sectional research design is used spanning temporally from the pre-stay to the during-stay phases. The pre-stay phase was the peak COVID-19 period in India (June–July 2021) to stimulate the safety concerns in the travellers planning their travel, while the during-stay phase was when the planned travel was undertaken with the traveller staying at the planned hotel (October 2021–January 2022). Data were collected from 452 customers and the results supported the proposed model. Further, the star-rating, as a signal for safety-focused services, was found to have a serial effect on revisit intentions, through the pre-stay expectations of safety services, and the during-stay confirmation of expectations and satisfaction.
With the popularity and growth of social commerce, scholars and practitioners are particularly interested in how the integration of social media with e-commerce practice may resolve the challenge related to developing consumer-seller trust. Adopting a cognitive-emotional trust perspective, this study investigated the process by which consumers' trust in seller builds in a social commerce setting. Specifically, perceived familiarity, situational normality, cognitive and emotional trust in platform, and social interactivity were proposed as key antecedents of consumers' cognitive and emotional trust in seller. The model was examined with two complementary data sets collected from leading social commerce platforms in China: WeChat Store (N = 430) and Xiaohongshu (N = 397). This work advances the theoretical understanding of consumer's social shopping intention through extending the cognitive-emotional trust perspective and lends insights into the contextualized sources of trust building. In addition, these findings offer practical implications that help practitioners cost-effectively build consumer trust in the social commerce setting.
The utilization of chatbots has grown in popularity in recent years, leading to an increasing interest among academics and practitioners. This study investigates the effect of chatbot language style on customers' continuance usage intention and attitude toward brand. Two scenario-based experiments were conducted to examine the underlying mechanism. The results show that when chatbots adopt an informal (vs. formal) language style, customers’ continuance usage intention and brand attitude increase through the mediating role of parasocial interaction. Further, this study identifies brand affiliation as a pertinent moderator, such that the effect of chatbot language style is attenuated for people who have no prior relationship with the brand. The findings contribute to the existing chatbot literature and offer practical implications for brand managers to develop optimal language strategies when deploying chatbots in e-commerce.
Although cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has experienced rapid development, severe issues remain, including information asymmetry and uncertainty. Social commerce platforms have emerged to provide consumers with new approaches to solving these issues and enabling shopping decisions. However, there is still a dearth of knowledge about the underlying mechanism that explains why and how CBEC consumers employ social commerce platforms to facilitate information processing. To address this critical issue, we employed SEM and ANN analytical approaches to examine the research model developed from the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) framework. The results revealed associations between the identified motivational factors (information seeking, serendipity, relaxation, and symbolic motivation), opportunity factors (time availability, platform empowerment, and electronic Word-of-Mouth), the ability factor (self-efficacy), involvement, and purchase intentions. In addition, an importance ranking of the most critical drivers of consumers’ shopping decisions was derived from various antecedents.
With the emergence of content-driven social commerce, designing marketing content that better stimulates consumer purchase behaviors has become increasingly essential. However, it remains unclear what and how linguistic features of marketing content in emerging social commerce influence consumer purchase behaviors. Drawing on speech act theory, this paper proposes a multi-level research model to conceptualize the linguistic features of content from the aspects of word usage (micro level), within-content argument development (macro level), and between-content linguistic mimicry (meta level), and investigate their impact on consumer purchase behaviors. With a unique dataset that includes 44,256 textual posts from JD WeChat shopping circle (a content-driven social commerce platform), this paper combines text mining methods with a series of regression analyses to test the research model. The empirical analyses find that the number of customers who make a purchase increases 1) at the micro-level due to self-referencing and detailing, 2) at the macro-level due to argument structuring, and 3) at the meta-level due to linguistic style matching, while linguistic content matching negatively affects the number of customers. These findings reveal how content creators strategically use language to design marketing content that encourages consumer purchase behaviors in emerging social commerce. This study has important theoretical contributions and practical implications.
The enhancement of consumer well-being is critical for technology companies in building customer loyalty. Voice assistants (VAs), as the intelligent products launched by technology companies, are increasingly used by consumers in their daily lives. While many technology companies are striving to increase the intelligent attributes of VAs to improve product functionality, little is known about how such attributes affect consumer well-being. Drawing on the means-end chain theory, this study aims to explore the effect of VAs’ intelligent attributes (i.e., autonomy, interactivity) on consumer perceived consequences (i.e., psychological ownership, perceived intrusiveness) and subjective well-being, involving the moderating effect of technology readiness and brand credibility. The resulting relationships were tested by analyzing survey data collected from 412 valid samples in China through partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). PLS-SEM indicates that intelligent attributes have significant impacts on perceived consequences, thus affecting subjective well-being. Findings also reveal the moderating roles of technology readiness in the link between intelligent attributes and perceived consequences. Finally, brand credibility moderates the effect of perceived intrusiveness on subjective well-being. The fsQCA results reinforce the PLS-SEM findings and indicate five configurations leading to high subjective well-being. These findings can help technology companies develop novel strategies for improving consumer well-being.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an increase in online shopping because of government-imposed restrictions and consumer anxiety over the potential health risk associated with in-store shopping. By end of 2021, many health concerns had been alleviated through efforts such as vaccinations and reductions in hospitalizations in certain countries. Some governments started to relax their restrictions and consumers started to return to in-store shopping, creating the possibility that the volume of online shopping would decrease once stores reopened. However, consumers may continue to shop online more than they did prior to the pandemic because of their experience during the lockdown. This study seeks to understand the factors that explain the potential of online shopping continuance. A novel model is constructed by extending ES-QUAL, and adding hedonic motivation, social shopping and health susceptibility as mediators. Empirical data is collected from Canada, Germany and the US. We find that convenience and efficiency, as well as security for some females, are important factors contributing to online shopping's perceived usefulness and, ultimately, intentions to continue shopping online. In addition, creating an enjoyable online shopping experience adds to these continuance intentions.
Building on the premises of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), this study introduces the concept of mobile servicescape (m-servicescape) and explores the drivers of purchase intentions in the mobile service environment. Data were collected from a sample of 284 service mobile users and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results show that the dimensions of m-servicescape (i.e., aesthetic appeal, perceived security, and layout and functionality) generate mobile value (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian), which in turn, leads to user purchase intentions. Utilitarian value was found to have a higher effect on purchase intentions than hedonic value and trust was found to enhance this effect. We highlight theoretical contributions and offer managerial insight for mobile marketers and designers on the specificities of consumer behavior in the service mobile environment.
COVID-19, combined with firms' multichannel adjustments, has accelerated changes in consumer shopping behaviors. This paper explores these issues through a segmentation study to examine consumers’ pre- and during-COVID-19 channel shopping behavior. Using survey data from 485 U.S. participants, Latent Profile Analysis identified six segments that vary in three dimensions: in-store vs. online behavior pre-COVID-19, in-store vs. online behavior during-COVID-19, and the change in channel shopping behavior from pre- to during-COVID-19. Motivation (utilitarian and hedonic), opportunity (time and physical), and ability play significant roles in explaining the findings, while psychographic and demographic variables play lesser roles. Further analysis revealed that these segments have different channel switching intentions when the focal retailer closed its physical store. These findings add greater understanding and support to the assumption that consumers more frequently shopped online than in-store during- than pre-COVID-19. In sum, this research addresses how changes in the shopping environment may affect consumer segments and their behavior.
Purpose
The conclusions of studies on the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews are inconsistent due to differences in research perspectives, research objects, research methods and data types. This study conducted a meta-analysis to verify a proposed model of perceived usefulness to obtain general conclusions.
Design/methodology/approach
A meta-analysis was conducted to study the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews based on 51 studies.
Findings
The results indicate that, with the exception of negative reviews, the order of relevance for the perceived usefulness of online reviews is as follows: the trust tendency of review readers, review replies, review depth, review pictures, reviewer trustworthiness, positive reviews, reviewer expertise, review time and reviewer information disclosure. Perceived usefulness was significantly positively correlated with purchase intention. Review time, positive reviews and negative reviews were also more significantly correlated with perceived usefulness for search products than for experiential products. Review depth, reviewer trustworthiness, reviewer expertise and purchase intention had greater positive correlations with perceived usefulness for experiential products than for search products.
Originality/value
This study proposes an extended information adoption model based on argument quality and source credibility. The model includes personal factors such as the trust tendency of review readers, constructs a theoretical model of the factors correlated with the perceived usefulness of online reviews and considers the moderating effects of product type.
During the past quarter-century, digital technologies-based innovations for creating, communicating, and delivering products of value to customers have significantly risen in importance to the competitiveness of firms. Digital technologies-based innovations have been transformational in numerous ways, such as the impact on firms’ marketing behaviors, consumers’ search and buying behaviors, and the structural characteristics of markets and industries. Against this backdrop, this article provides a perspective on the evolution of research and practice in digital product innovations and digital marketing innovations. Specifically, this article focuses on (a) innovations for the greater good in the domain of the former and (b) direct and mediated communications through social media platforms and omnichannel marketing in the domain of the latter. Regarding each of the above, this article also provides an overview of the evolution and current state of the field, highlights certain current issues and the trajectory of the field, and proposes directions for future research.
Drawing on uses and gratification theory, this article elucidates how consumers capitalize on online reviews for purchase decisions in three markets (Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam). Three studies demonstrate this objective. Study 1 considers online reviews as a one-dimensional construct consisting of three behavioral components, including textual comments, contextual images, and star ratings, that had been validated by using reliability and validity analyses. Study 2 employs an ANOVA to analyze how these components relate to different consumer groups in terms of gender, age, and location. Study 3 explores the mediating role of online trust in the online reviews and purchase decision relationship under the moderating effect of the perceived effectiveness of social media platforms. Using a cross-national survey and a two-stage partial least squares analysis, the authors substantiate the proposed relationships and discuss the theoretical and managerial contributions of this research.
Drawing on social learning theory, this study investigates the relationship between (hedonic & utilitarian motivations) and online purchase intention (OPI) under Chinese social commerce environment. Additionally, two moderators (eWOM & social values) and one mediator (customer engagement) were used in the relationship between (hedonic & utilitarian motivations) and OPI. A conceptual model including ten hypotheses was developed and tested based on 585 valid questionnaires. The result indicates that utilitarian and hedonic motivations positively affects OPI. In addition, the eWOM and social value significantly and positively moderates the relationship between (hedonic & utilitarian motivations) and OPI. Finally, two motivations (hedonic and utilitarian) and OPI significantly mediated by customer engagement. Implications for managers are discussed in the manuscript – how e-venders manage the online websites activates to improve the consumer purchase intention.
Hospitality service providers' reputation and sales can be strongly damaged by low ratings on platforms such as Tripadvisor, Booking, or Yelp. In this research, we investigate how the potential damaging effects of poor ratings of a hospitality service providers' can be mitigated by corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Building on the self-affirmation theory, we suggest and provide evidence for the notion that CSR (vs. non-CSR) cues affect more positively guests’ evaluation of a service provider when online ratings are low. When the ratings increase, CSR cues are not better than other cues to improve evaluations. Further, we detail the underlying mechanism whereby guests allocate more weight to CSR (vs. non-CSR) cues when they form an evaluation of a low-rated (vs. higher-rated) service provider, which increases the warm-glow feelings that they anticipate and, eventually, their evaluation. We test our model with two experiments on two different samples (US and European), involving different CSR cues (environmental and social) and different types of service provider (hotel and restaurant). We then discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our research for hospitality professionals, as well as for policy makers.
This research sought to investigate the relationships between hotel attributes, well-being perceptions, attitudes, and brand loyalty in the hotel context considering the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study's data analyses revealed how tangible and intangible hotel attributes improved individuals' well-being perceptions before and during the COVID-19, as well as how these perceptions in turn influenced cognitive attitudes, affective attitudes, and brand loyalty during these periods. Furthermore, the moderating role of COVID-19 was identified in the link between well-being perceptions and cognitive attitudes and in the association between cognitive attitudes and affective attitudes. In light of these findings, a discussion and insightful implications for both theory and practice were provided. Finally, the limitations of the study and future research directions were addressed.
The primary objective of this study to find the underlying mechanism of luxury
counterfeit product in social commerce. Based on flow theory, this study examines the mediating role of CIU in the relationship between influencing factors (such as materialism, novelty-seeking behavior, and hedonic benefits) and consumers’ attitudes toward luxury counterfeit products. Additionally, the moderating role of product conspicuousness and positive online reviews also examined the direct effects. Data were collected from active online users of Taobao.com. Results show that materialism and novelty-seeking behavior are significantly related to CIU and subsequently influence the attitude of luxury counterfeit goods. Furthermore, product conspicuousness and positive online reviews have moderated the direct effect of the conceptual framework. Therefore, the current research contributes to the existing literature by addressing the mediating CIU and moderating (product conspicuousness and positive online reviews) factors that
played a significant role in promoting counterfeit purchase intention, comparing the direct effect encourage the counterfeit purchase intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.
The purpose of this research is to contribute to an understanding of the trends and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer buying behaviour. The results document changes in consumer behaviour patterns that came to dominate at the start of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the Czech Republic. The questionnaire survey using an online panel in a selected country was conducted to identify how consumers from the Baby Boomers, X and Y generations changed their shopping behaviour and which needs they gave preference to during the pandemic crisis in relation to their fears. Using a multiple regression analysis, we demonstrated that fear appeal (fears for health and economic fears) are associated with the changes in customer behaviour and influence traditional and online shopping related to COVID-19. The findings demonstrate significant differences as well as similarities in consumer behaviour between generations. Through empirical investigation, this research supports and expands generation cohort theory in relation to changes in consumer behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic from a Central European perspective, and provides useful information for researchers and practitioners, particularly for retailers and marketers, to implement appropriate strategies.
The impact of organic food corporate image on customers' surpassing purchasing behavior is absent in prior literature. Based on the S–O-R framework, the current study focuses on organic food member customers to explore the influence of corporate ability (CA) image and corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of organic food company on the consumption behavior and co-developing behavior of customers. The consumer samples came from 269 member customers of an organic food enterprise in southwest China. The results show that organic food company CA and CSR image positively affect consumer trust and co-developing behavior. CSR image enhances consumer trust and co-developing behavior than CA image does. Additionally, consumer trust and purchase intention play a multi-step mediating role in the relationship between corporate image (CA and CSR) and consumers' co-developing behavior. In conclusion, our findings provide new insights for understanding the relationship between the corporate image of organic food and the co-developing behavior of customers. The research results provide support for organic food companies that can effectively promote consumer trust, continuous purchase, and active engagement in the co-development of products and services by creating an image of ability and social responsibility.
Increasing interests in the development of green purchase intentions have elevated the importance of theories that explain the relationships between attitudes and intentions. The aim of the present research is to meta-analytically integrate the model of green purchase behavior (GPB) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We synthesized the research findings of 90 studies (94 samples, n = 38622) and employed meta-analytic structural equation modeling to investigate the empirical fit of the integrated TPB-GPB framework. The findings demonstrated support for the integrated framework and showed mediation role of consumer attitude in the development of green purchase intent. Moreover, the results suggested that the integrated framework assisted the TPB model to enjoy huge fertility by integrating the constructs and/or combining with the GPB model to develop the explanatory power and predictive lenses of green consumer attitudes and green purchase intention.
Mobile payments are the future as we move towards a cashless society. In some markets, cash is already being replaced by digital transactions, but consumers of many developing countries are slower in transition towards digital payments. This study aims to identify major determinants of consumer mobile payment adoption in India the country with second largest mobile subscribers in the world. Existing mobile payments adoption studies have predominantly utilised Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was primarily developed in organisational context and criticised for having deterministic approach without much consideration for users’ individual characteristics. Therefore, this study adapted meta-UTAUT model with individual difference variable attitude as core construct and extended the model with consumer related constructs such as personal innovativeness, anxiety, trust, and grievance redressal. Empirical examination of the model among 491 Indian consumers revealed performance expectancy, intention to use, and grievance redressal as significant positive predictor of consumer use behaviour towards mobile payment. Moreover, intention to use was significantly influenced by attitude, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The major contribution of this study includes re-affirming the central role of attitude in consumer adoption studies and examining usage behaviour in contrast to most existing studies, which examine only behavioural intention.
Increasing interest in social commerce has been accompanied by concerns about creating high-quality customer relationships. Brands are particularly interested in how they may foster the creation of commitment and loyalty regarding their online social commerce communities. The present study contributes to this question by examining the relationship between social presence and customer relationship quality by means of customer commitment and loyalty. More specifically, this study clarifies the role of social commerce trust in this relationship. Based on 189 questionnaires from social commerce users, the direct relationships between social presence and commitment as well as loyalty are not supported, in contrast to prior findings. The results show that social commerce trust fully mediates the relationship between social presence and commitment as well as loyalty in social commerce online brand communities.