Search Results (475)

Customers’ repurchase intention is a key driver of sustained profitability for companies. However, the influencing factors of customers’ repurchase intention and their direct mechanisms of action are not yet clear. This study empirically examines the relationships among intrinsic quality, perceptual quality, brand equity, customer satisfaction, online word-of-mouth, and customers’ repurchase intention using a structural equation model. A customer repurchase intention model is constructed with customer satisfaction as the mediating variable and online word-of-mouth as the moderating variable. The empirical results show that intrinsic quality, perceptual quality, and brand equity have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Notably, intrinsic quality exerts an indirect effect on customers’ repurchase intention primarily through customer satisfaction, with no significant direct impact, while perceptual quality and brand equity have significant direct effects on repurchase intention. Customer satisfaction plays a partial mediating role between intrinsic quality, perceptual quality, brand equity, and repurchase intention. Online word-of-mouth has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customers’ repurchase intention. These findings provide actionable insights for smartphone enterprises to optimize product development, brand management, and online reputation strategies, thereby enhancing customer loyalty and market competitiveness. Full article

Purpose: As online social platforms have increasingly become a key arena for enterprises to disseminate information, enhancing the heat of enterprise positive topic on such platforms plays a critical role in improving brand value and achieving high-quality development. Against this backdrop, it is critically important for enterprises to precisely identify the key factors influencing positive topic heat and to reveal the causal relationships between these factors and topic heat. Method: This paper focuses on the influencing factors and causal pathways of enterprise positive topic heat on online social platforms. To achieve this, this paper collects data on enterprise positive topic publicity from Sina Weibo, taking topic heat as the dependent variable, and uses regression analysis to examine its causal relationships with independent variables such as topic host attribute and activity level. Subsequently, a cost performance indicator was constructed and quantitatively evaluated to assess the effectiveness of different host attributes based on both performance and cost. Result: This research shows topic hosts play an active role in the topic spreading process, but some of them an exhibit asymmetric ability to increase topic heat compared to their level. The relationship between the topic heat contribution and host’s activity level changes with the change of the host attribute. In addition, the host’s cost performance for each attribute is significant different. By empirically analyzing the influencing factors of positive topic heat and revealing their underlying mechanisms, enterprises can identify the key factors for enhancing positive topic heat on online social platforms and optimize decisions such as the selection of hosts for related topic promotion. Full article

This study aims to analyze the effects of responsible consumption behavior on impulsive buying, and the mediating role of brand literacy in this relationship. Data collected from 524 Turkish participants using an online survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Responsible consumerism exhibited a negative direct effect on impulsive buying and a positive effect on brand literacy. Brand literacy, in turn, was negatively associated with impulsive buying and partially mediated the responsible consumerism–impulsive buying link. Over-consumption and impulsive buying have received considerable scholarly attention. Yet, only a small number of studies have tested whether value-driven orientations, such as responsible consumerism, can curb these impulses. Even fewer still probe the mediating cognitive role of consumer knowledge (e.g., brand literacy). Furthermore, most existing evidence comes from Western high-income settings. This study addresses that gap by empirically testing the responsible consumerism, brand literacy, and impulsive buying pathway in Türkiye, an emerging and rapidly digitalizing economy. Considering its cross-sectional nature and cultural limitations, this study recommends conducting future longitudinal studies and research in various cultural contexts. Full article

As Generation Z gradually becomes the dominant consumer group, the catering industry, as a critical sector affecting people’s livelihood, warrants an in-depth investigation into its consumption decision mechanisms. This study, grounded in the online–merge–offline (OMO) context, empirically examines the impact mechanism of frontline employee service competence on the repurchase decisions of Generation Z consumers in the foodservice sector, while testing the mediating roles of customer satisfaction and brand trust, as well as the moderating effect of the OMO scenario. Data were collected via a survey of 326 Generation Z customers who consumed in integrated OMO dining environments. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for the data analysis. The findings reveal that frontline employee service competence significantly and positively influences consumer repurchase intention and customer satisfaction, but does not have a significant effect on brand trust. Customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between employee service competence and repurchase decisions, whereas brand trust, despite having the strongest direct effect on repurchase intention, is predominantly shaped by systemic factors such as food safety and supply chain transparency, rendering its mediating pathway non-significant. Furthermore, the OMO context does not exhibit a significant moderating effect between employee service competence and customer satisfaction, nor between employee service competence and brand trust, reflecting that the current digital integration has yet to effectively address Generation Z’s core needs for privacy protection and emotional resonance. This study elucidates the “contact–cognition–behavior” pathway by which service competence influences consumer decision-making through satisfaction, while clarifying the systemic formation mechanism of brand trust. Based on these results, it is recommended that enterprises prioritize emotional service training for frontline employees to enhance satisfaction, build brand trust through ingredient traceability systems, and optimize OMO scenario design to better align with Generation Z’s expectations for emotional interaction. Full article

With the rapid development of e-commerce, ensuring product quality on online platforms has become increasingly important, especially in developing countries where market regulations are still underdeveloped. By treating different sellers offering the same brand’s products as an industry, this study examines the impact of flagship store entry on online product quality by constructing a multiple period difference-in-difference model and conducts detailed empirical tests using full-category and large-span data from Taobao. The empirical results demonstrate that flagship store entry not only prompts the exit of incumbent sellers and deters potential new entrants due to the competition effect, but also facilitates the exit of low-quality sellers while attracting high-quality sellers as a result of a consumer-learning effect. Consequently, the overall quality of the industry is improved, and this effect is more pronounced in high-priced and durable goods industries. The findings of this study have important implications for market structure design and online quality governance in online marketplaces. Full article

This study focuses on cultural and urban development policies under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, exploring the content and semantic structure of discussions on the “East Asian Cultural Capital” project on the Weibo platform. It analyzes how national cultural development policies are reflected in the discourse system related to the “East Asian Cultural Capital” on social media and emphasizes the guiding role of policies in the dissemination of online culture. When China announced the 14th Five-Year Plan in 2021, the strategic direction and policy framework for cultural development over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025 were clearly outlined. This study employs text mining and semantic network analysis methods to analyze user-generated content on Weibo from 2023 to 2024, aiming to understand public perception and discourse trends. Word frequency and TF-IDF analyses identify key terms and issues, while centrality and CONCOR clustering analyses reveal the semantic structure and discourse communities. MR-QAP regression is employed to compare network changes across the two years. Findings highlight that urban cultural development, heritage preservation, and regional exchange are central themes, with digital media, cultural branding, trilateral cooperation, and cultural–economic integration emerging as key factors in regional collaboration. Full article

The influence of social media personalities has grown significantly, especially among youth audiences who spend substantial time on platforms like TikTok. The emergence and popularity of different types of social media influencers accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries, including South Africa. In turn, this period also saw a surge in youth audiences following these influencers. This rapid growth of influencer followings among young people is largely driven by specific types of content that resonate with them, thus encouraging continued engagement. However, the benefits that these young followers gain from engaging with various influencers and the factors driving their preferences for specific influencers remain underexplored, particularly within the context of South African students within higher education. Therefore, this study explores the types of social media influencers most followed by university students at a South African University and investigates the key factors that drive their preferences. A structured online questionnaire was distributed, gathering both multiple-choice and open-ended responses from students. The data were analyzed using categorical frequency counts and thematic analysis. The data highlight how students actively turn to influencers as emotional anchors, role models, and sources of practical guidance. Their engagement reflects a deep need for connection, inspiration, and identity formation in a challenging academic and social environment. These patterns show that influencer content is not just entertainment but plays a critical developmental role. Understanding these motivations helps educators, policymakers, and brands to align better with youth values. The significance of these results lies in how influencer content is now coming in to fill the emotional, cultural, and educational gaps left by traditional systems among the young South African university students in this modern era. Full article

In today’s competitive environment of online service industries, particularly e-commerce, meeting consumer expectations is essential for service providers to ensure service quality. However, service failures are unavoidable, leading to unfavorable consequences for businesses. Understanding the mechanisms for customer recovery after negative service experiences is crucial. Using cognitive–emotional personality systems theory and benign violation theory, this study constructed a theoretical model. A total of 351 samples were collected through a situational simulation experiment for a linear regression analysis. A self-mocking response strategy positively influenced brand trust through perceived brand authenticity regarding the dimensions of credibility, integrity, and symbolism. Simultaneously, brand trust was identified as a key driver of post-recovery satisfaction. This study proposes a chain mediation model, which incorporates perceived authenticity and brand trust, to fully comprehend the mechanisms underlying consumers’ satisfaction after service recovery. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the effects of self-mockery on post-recovery satisfaction, as well as suggestions for marketers seeking efficient means to meet consumers’ emotional and cognitive demands during service recovery situations. Full article

In recent years, online retailing platforms (ORPs) have increasingly introduced private brand (PB) products as a new profit source, reshaping market dynamics and affecting their commission revenues. This shift creates a strategic trade-off for the platform: maximizing PB product profits while maintaining commission income from national brand (NB) retailers. This paper examines the platform’s pricing and quality strategies for PB products, as well as its incentives to introduce them. We develop a game-theoretic model featuring a platform and a retailer, and derive results through equilibrium analysis and comparative statics. Special attention is given to the platform’s strategy when market power is asymmetric and the PB product is homogeneous. The analysis yields three key findings. Firstly, the platform is always incentivized to introduce a PB product, regardless of its brand value. Even when direct profit is limited, the platform can leverage the PB product to increase competitive pressure on the retailer and boost commission revenue. Secondly, when the PB product has low brand value, the platform adopts a cost-saving strategy with low quality for extremely low brand value, and a function-enhancing strategy with high quality for moderately low brand value. Thirdly, when the PB product has high brand value, the platform consistently prefers a function-enhancing strategy. This study contributes to the literature by systematically characterizing the platform’s strategic trade-offs in introducing PB products, highlighting its varied pricing and quality strategies across categories, and revealing the critical role of brand value in supply chain competition. Full article

Influencer marketing is estimated to reach USD 32.55 billion by the year 2025. The extant research on virtual vs. human influencers’ effectiveness has reported mixed results. Currently, research has yet to explore how consumption motivation and influencer gender (virtual vs. human) may differentially impact consumer behavior. Likewise, whether antecedent factors such as prior attitudes toward the brand may affect the perceived authenticity and attractiveness of influencers has rarely been investigated. To fill this research gap, the current study examined virtual vs. human influencers’ effectiveness utilizing a 2 (influencer type) × 2 (product type) × 2 (influencer gender) between-subject online experiment. Specifically, Airbnb (a recreational product) and NJM (an insurance product) were respectively designated as a hedonic and utilitarian brand. The findings (N = 468) demonstrated that while prior brand attitudes toward a hedonic product had no effect on perceived influencer authenticity, the opposite was true for a utilitarian product. No significant difference was shown in perceived authenticity and attractiveness between a male and female (virtual or human) influencer. Structural equation modeling suggested that perceived social similarity between a participant and an influencer positively impacted the perceived attractiveness and authenticity of influencers and purchase intention. Hedonic instead of utilitarian motivation was found to be a positive predictor of purchase intention. Full article

Online travel agencies (OTAs) function as e-commerce platforms that facilitate transactions between accommodation providers and consumers, enabling users to efficiently search for, compare, and book travel and lodging services. As the number of OTAs continues to grow, delivering superior service quality has become essential for increasing customer repurchase intentions. Despite its significance, existing research has primarily focused on factors such as website quality, pricing strategies, brand image, and perceived value as determinants of repurchase intention. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the alignment between online information disclosure and customers’ actual offline experiences. To address this gap, the present study introduces the concept of the information disclosure gap and examines its effects on search cost, customer satisfaction, and trust, as well as the subsequent influence of these variables on repurchase intention. A questionnaire-based survey method was conducted with individuals in Taiwan who had prior experience using OTAs, yielding 365 valid responses. This study offers practical insights and recommendations for both OTAs and accommodation providers aimed at reducing the information disclosure gap and strengthening customer repurchase intention. Full article

This study examines the psychological mechanisms through which BTS’s perceived star attributes—expertise, authenticity, likability, and similarity—influence fan loyalty within fandom-driven tourism. Anchored in activity theory and content theory of motivation, the proposed model identifies psychological need fulfillment and emotional satisfaction as sequential mediators linking celebrity perception to loyalty behaviors. Data were obtained from 916 BTS fans across six English-speaking countries via a structured online survey. To test the hypothesized relationships, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed. Results demonstrate that perceived star attributes significantly enhance psychological need fulfillment, which subsequently predicts emotional satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, the attributes exert direct effects on emotional satisfaction, supporting both reflective and intuitive engagement pathways. All hypothesized paths were statistically significant, and the model exhibited strong overall fit (SRMR = 0.039; NFI = 0.875). Theoretically, this study advances loyalty research by foregrounding the roles of symbolic consumption, emotional resonance, and identity-based alignment in global fandom contexts. Practically, the findings offer insights for tourism marketers, destination planners, and entertainment brands seeking to design emotionally immersive, narrative-rich tourism experiences. Recommendations are provided for developing BTS-themed content aligned with fans’ identity motivations to foster sustained emotional engagement and destination loyalty. Full article

In an increasingly digitalized marketplace, understanding Generation Z’s (Gen Z) online consumer behavior has become a critical priority, particularly in relation to newly launched technological products. Although online consumer behavior has been widely studied, a gap remains in understanding how the location of the e-shop (domestic vs. international) moderates this behavior. Addressing this gap, the present study adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional design with data from 302 Gen Z participants, using a hybrid sampling method that combines convenience and systematic techniques. A structured questionnaire, grounded in 19 well-established behavioral theories, was employed to examine the influence of six key factors, behavioral and attitudinal traits, social and peer influences, marketing impact, online experience, brand perceptions, and Gen Z characteristics, across various stages of the consumer journey. Moderation analysis revealed that e-shop location significantly affects the strength of relationships between these factors and both purchase intention and post-purchase behavior. Notably, Gen Z’s values and marketing responsiveness were found to be more predictive in the context of international e-shops. These findings highlight the importance of marketing strategies that are both locally relevant and globally informed. For businesses, this research offers actionable insights into how digital engagement and brand messaging can be tailored to meet the unique expectations of Gen Z consumers across diverse e-commerce contexts, thereby enhancing consumer satisfaction, loyalty, and brand advocacy. Full article

Background/Objectives: Beef is a significant dietary component, and the concept of food quality is inherently complex and multidimensional. This study addresses this complexity within the context of beef products by examining four key attributes: price fairness, freshness, portion size, and packaging. It further investigates the structural relationships among food quality, consumer trust, and revisit intention, with particular attention to the moderating role of price fairness in the link between trust and revisit intention. Methods: Data were collected through an online survey administered via the Clickworker platform, targeting 415 U.S. consumers selected for their cultural relevance and substantial beef consumption. Structural equation modeling using maximum likelihood estimation was employed to test the hypotheses, and Hayes’ process model 15 was applied to assess the moderating effects. Results: The results show that consumer trust is positively influenced by all four quality attributes, and that freshness, portion size, packaging, and trust are positively associated with revisit and repurchase intentions. Moreover, price fairness demonstrated a significant moderating effect, framed within the heuristic decision-making perspective. Conclusions: This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the determinants of consumer trust and repeat purchasing behavior in beef consumption. It underscores the heuristic role of price fairness and the interplay between perceived quality attributes and trust, offering practical insights for businesses seeking to enhance consumer perception and foster brand loyalty. However, this work is limited to the selection of the sample. Full article

In the context of growing interest in sustainable plant-based alternatives and sustainable eating, this study focused on the impact of visual elements of packaging design—specifically the presence of mascots—on consumer sustainable decision-making when choosing plant-based food products. The quantitative research, conducted through an online questionnaire, consists of four parts: the evaluation of the visual attractiveness of authentic brands of plant-based products; the identification of key factors influencing consumers’ choices when purchasing plant-based foods; the selection between graphic packaging designs featuring different types of mascots; and the assessment of the perceived importance of mascots in dietary habits. The collected data allows an analysis of how much mascots influence consumer sustainable preferences and willingness to try plant-based products. The findings suggest that mascots may be an effective tool in shaping positive perceptions of plant-based food and strengthening brand trust within sustainable concepts. The results offer practical implications for marketing strategies of producers of plant-based alternatives and highlight the potential of visual communication to promote sustainable consumption. This study contributes to understanding how packaging design affects consumer sustainable behavior in the plant-based food sector, with a focus on mascots as a previously underexplored visual element. Full article