Search results

Increasing demand for goods and services strains environmental sustainability, driving interest in green products. Trust in these products is vital for adoption. Scholars have examined factors affecting green trust, but a comprehensive framework involving cognitive and affective factors as antecedents and behavioral outcomes as consequences is lacking. This study aims to address this gap and introduces cultural and socio-demographic variables as moderators.

The study consolidates the outcomes of 79 empirical publications on green trust and conducts a meta-analysis.

All the cognitive and affective factors and behavioral outcomes are significantly associated with green trust. The moderator analysis provides many valuable insights as it highlights the context dependency of various relationships of green trust.

Using an extensive literature review, this study introduces an integrated framework that clarifies the antecedents and consequences of green trust. This work enriches the existing body of knowledge by investigating the influence of cultural and socio-demographic factors as moderators on these relationships, offering significant insights into the realm of green trust.

This research yields valuable guidance for providers of green products/services, shedding light on the factors that foster trust in their offerings and emphasizing the importance of customized strategies that take into account cultural and socio-demographic variables.

This is an original study that contributes to the green trust literature.

By integrating the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM), and social capital theory, the purpose of this paper is to: develop a model of consumer behavior and trial willingness toward nano-foods from product, consumer, and social perspectives; examine the effects of innovative features, consumer characteristics, and trust in authority on subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit) as well as the social influence on attitudes toward nano-foods and trial willingness; examine the moderating role of product uncertainty on the relationship between these characteristics and subjective perceptions; and examine the effect of perceived benefit on perceived trustworthiness.

The results of the structural equation model (SEM), with nano-food knowledge data collected from 431 respondents, supported the research model and revealed the main effects hypothesized in this study and the moderating effect of product uncertainty. Simple slope analysis was further adopted to test the significant moderating effects.

The SEM results indicated that innovative characteristics (relative advantage, lack of observability, and novelty), consumer characteristics (perceived technology application), and social characteristics (trust in authority) affect perceived trustworthiness or perceived benefit. Social influence also has a direct effect on attitude toward nano-foods and trial willingness. Product uncertainty significantly moderates the relationship between characteristics (relative advantage and perceived technology application) and subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit).

With increasing numbers and kinds of nanotechnology products now being developed and sold, it is important to go further to determine consumer perceptions and attitudes toward these. This study, thus, applied the DOI, TAM, and social capital theory to examine this issue. However, other theories might also be used to carry out research from other perspectives. This study should, thus, be seen as preliminary, and it is hoped that more works will discuss consumer attitudes toward nanotechnology products in the future.

When a new nano-food is introduced, the current study suggests that food manufacturers use the description on the package as a communicative tool. Detailing the advantages of nano-foods on food packages might be a useful way to enhance trial willingness and to reduce the fears and insecurities related to the use of nano-related products. In addition, if food manufacturers could cooperate with organizations or individuals seen as having some authority in this area (e.g. nanotechnology researchers) in order to disseminate accurate information about nanotechnology and related food products, this might be an effective way to increase sales and profits.

This is the first paper integrating the DOI, the social capital theory and the TAM to empirically investigate consumer willingness to try nano-food products.

The present study is aimed at examining the antecedents of online shopping user behavior and customer satisfaction. More specifically, (1) the effect of social influence, variety seeking behavior, advertising and convenience on user behavior, and (2) the effect of user behavior on customer satisfaction are examined.

A conceptual model is developed and tested after verifying the psychometric properties of the survey instrument. Data were collected from 556 respondents from three major cities (Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore) in the southern part of India using structured instrument. Hierarchical regression is performed. Measurement model was checked using structural equation modeling (Lisrel package).

The results reveal that (1) social influence, (2) variety seeking, (3) advertising, (4) convenience, (5) trust and (6) product factors were positively related to online user behavior. Results also show that user behavior is significantly and positively related to customer satisfaction. The hierarchical regression results also showed moderating effects of (1) trust in the relationship between social influence, variety seeking and user behavior, and (2) product factors in the relationship between advertising, convenience and user behavior. Finally, results suggest that user behavior is partially mediating the relationship between trust and customer satisfaction, i.e. trust has both direct and indirect effect on customer satisfaction.

As with any survey-based research, the present study suffers from the problems associated with self-report measures viz., common method bias and social desirability bias. However, the authors attempted to minimize these limitations by following appropriate statistical techniques.

This study contributes to both practicing managers and the literature on advertising. The study suggests that trust and product play a major role in strengthening the relationship between antecedents and user behavior.

This study provides new insights about the importance of gaining trust in influencing consumer behavior. The conceptual model the authors developed is novel in the sense not many studies are available in India to empirically examine the moderating relationships of trust and product in consumer behavior.

This study aims to clarify the relationship between two plausible conflicting attitudes in cross-cultural context-consumer affinity and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and to explore their interactive effect on product trust and willingness-to-buy.

A total of 392 usable responses were obtained. Previously validated scales of consumer affinity, CET, product trust and willingness-to-buy were used and showed good reliability. Hierarchical multiple regression and the bootstrapping method were conducted to test the hypotheses.

This study revealed that consumer affinity is positively associated with product trust, which in turn promotes consumers’ intention to buy products from the affinity country; CET moderates the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust; and CET also moderates the mediating effect of product trust on the relationship between consumer affinity and willingness-to-buy.

First, this study helps to explain how consumer affinity boosts willingness-to-buy, and it reveals the type of consumers whose product trust is most notably influenced by their level of ethnocentrism. Second, this study examines the moderating effects of CET on the relationship between consumer affinity and product trust, which can help to identify the situations in which consumer affinity influences product trust most strongly. Third, this study examined the interactive effect of consumer affinity and CET on product trust and its subsequent effect on willingness-to-buy. The findings help to explain the CET’s critical role in the effect of consumer affinity by relating it to the literature of product trust and willingness-to-buy.

Given the crucial role that consumer affinity plays in improving consumers’ trust in and buying intention for a country’s products, governments, multinational enterprises and international marketers should strategically construct, maintain and magnify a positive national image to the world. This study’s results also clarify that consumer affinity does not conflict with CET; not only can they coexist but also they are positively related. The crucial implication is that CET is not always a barrier to purchasing foreign products.

Although research interest in consumer attitudinal conflict issues is increasing, the real relationship and interactive effects of plausible conflicting attitudes between consumer affinity and CET remain to be understood. This study bridges a gap between CET and willingness-to-buy by considering the boundary conditions of consumer attitudes toward a specific country (inherent in consumer affinity). Furthermore, this study is, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the first to link consumer affinity with willingness-to-buy through the mediating effect of product trust. These findings are helpful for understanding how consumer affinity positively effects willingness-to-buy.

The purpose of this study is to examine the simultaneous effects of the product, brand, and vendor trust beliefs on consumers' online intentions, i.e. the intention to purchase and the intention to provide personal information online.

The study uses an online 2×2×2 between‐subjects factorial experiment design with two vendor trust beliefs levels (high/low), two brand trust beliefs levels (high/low), and two product trust beliefs levels (high/low). Multivariate analysis of covariance, linear regression, and the SOBEL test were used to analyze the hypotheses.

The results suggest that brand trust beliefs affect online intentions, and may be needed to increase online sales. The influence of vendor trust beliefs on online intentions varies with brand trust, beliefs for products and for services is augmented by brand trust beliefs.

The limitations are those typically applied to experimental methodology. Intentions were used as surrogate for behavior, and a fictitious e‐tailer selling two products with fictitious brands was used.

E‐tailers are encouraged to carry reputable brands and prominently display information about these brands on their web sites. This will improve consumers' trust beliefs, increasing conversion rates, and reducing shopping cart abandonments.

The influence of trust beliefs on online behavior, notwithstanding its importance, remains under‐researched. The paper addresses this gap in the literature. Specifically, it addresses the effects of the simultaneous influence of vendor, brand, and product trust beliefs on shoppers' online intentions. And it decomposes online intentions into its components, i.e. intentions to provide personal information and intentions to purchase, to understand these simultaneous effects not addressed before. The results contribute to the growing literature on trust and consumer online behavior.

This study examines the inverted U-shaped relationship between a live-streaming seller’s disclosure of two-sided product information and consumers’ trust in the seller and product. It also explores the interaction between these two types of information disclosure and their impact on purchase intention in the live-streaming sales context.

An e-questionnaire survey was conducted in China, followed by multiple regression and structural equation modeling analyses.

The disclosure of both negative and positive product information is positively correlated with consumers’ trust in the seller or product but does not directly affect their purchase intention. Negative information disclosure neither enhances nor diminishes the positive impact of disclosing positive information on consumer trust.

Live-streaming sellers (i.e. retailers or manufacturers) should disclose both positive and negative product information to form consumers’ trust toward them (or products) and enhance sales.

Live-streaming sellers often worry about the negative effects of excessive promotions or disclosure of positive or negative product information. However, these negative effects were not statistically significant.

Since some researchers have found nonlinear effects of two-sided product information in other contexts, this study is the first to focus on the impact of live-streaming sellers’ disclosure of two-sided product information on consumers’ trust in the live-streaming sales context rather than on the information per se.

Live streaming commerce, a new form of social commerce where firms integrate with broadcasters, community members and customers in live chat rooms for real-time interaction to help sell products, has become increasingly popular. However, factors that impact the success of live streaming commerce are not fully explored. The purpose of this study is to examine these factors by exploring the relationships among customer trust (i.e., trust in broadcasters, community members, and products) and customer engagement, and the mediating role of swift guanxi.

The authors surveyed 422 customers who have watched Taobao Live, one of the largest live streaming commerce sites in China, and used their questionnaires to test the research model employing partial least squares modeling.

The authors’ results indicate that trust in broadcasters has a positive effect on trust in products and community members, which positively influences trust in products. Additionally, swift guanxi has a fully mediating effect on the relationship between customers' trust in broadcasters and customer engagement.

First, from the theoretical perspective, this study comprehensively identifies three types of trust, explores the transfer relationships among trust in broadcasters, community members, and products based on Trust Transfer Theory. In addition, this study examines the mediating influence of swift guanxi on the relationship between customer trust and engagement. Second, from the managerial perspective, the study provides insights to help broadcasters and practitioners use live streaming to facilitate shopping.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emotional brand attachment in consumers’ evaluation of new products that represent technological innovation.

A quantitative study was conducted using survey data from a nationally representative probability sample of US consumers (n = 624) to understand the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of consumers’ evaluation of really new products (RNPs). A framework was developed and tested using structural equation modeling that included emotional brand attachment, brand trust, product incongruity, product familiarity, perceived risk, willingness to try, product evaluation and word-of-mouth intentions.

The results support the role of emotional brand attachment in the diffusion of RNPs. Specifically, results indicated that increased brand attachment reduces consumers’ perceived risk associated with a RNP and increases brand trust. Both constructs played a key role in shaping willingness to try the innovation, word-of-mouth intentions and product evaluation. Findings of this paper add explanatory power to demand-prediction models that more accurately describe the mechanism of the innovation adoption process. For marketing managers, the results emphasize the importance of consumer–brand emotional connections.

The paper used a cross-sectional design; it would be interesting to use a longitudinal design to examine if the role of emotional brand attachment changes over time and how the changes might impact consumers’ perceptions and behaviors in the context of RNPs.

This is the first paper to explore the role of emotional brand attachment in the context of RNPs and consumers’ potential behavioral outcomes.

This research proposes studying how the moderating role of consumers' familiarity with a food product with a protected denomination of origin (PDO) influences consumer behavior. Past research has ascertained that consumers confuse different brands and PDOs. For this reason, it is important to analyze whether the level of consumers' experience with PDO food products influences their decisions.

Structural equations and multi‐sample models were applied to measure the effect of familiarity on the relations between perceived risk, trust, satisfaction, loyalty and buying intention in a PDO food product. The consumer was asked to indicate his/her level of agreement or disagreement with a series of statements based on a seven‐point Likert scale. After the completion of the fieldwork, an analytic process (exploratory and confirmatory reliability analysis) was performed and 414 valid questionnaires were obtained.

Results indicate that all the relationships proposed in the structural equation model between perceived risk, trust, satisfaction, loyalty and buying intention of the air‐cured ham “Jamón de Teruel” were accepted. Multi‐sample model results suggest that there are significant differences between consumers with high and low levels of familiarity in the influence of trust on satisfaction, as well as in the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. In consumers with greater familiarity and experience with the PDO, the effects of trust on satisfaction and satisfaction on loyalty are higher.

As a result of the study's findings with respect to the moderating role of greater familiarity with the PDO, managers should design marketing strategies to emphasize two main factors, intrinsic and extrinsic quality attributes, of PDO food products that make them unique.

The study emphasizes the importance of investigating the moderating effect of familiarity with a food product certified with a PDO and provides new insight into the necessity of consumers being able to differentiate the PDO from other brands in the food market.

The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of relationship marketing and particularly customer trust in energy-efficiency labels in social marketing interventions geared towards energy-efficient consumption.

A conceptual model was empirically tested on a sample of 517 users of electronic appliances living in South Africa. The study involved a cross-sectional design, and data were collected via a self-administered survey. Structural equation modelling and mediation analysis were used to test the hypothesised relationships.

The results indicated that customer trust is influenced by customers’ perception of the price and quality of energy-efficiency products, their attitude towards such products and their level of satisfaction with the environmental performance of the products. Customer trust, in turn, showed a positive influence on the customers’ intention to purchase energy-efficiency products and their loyalty to such products. As a central variable, customer trust was found to be an important mediator in the conceptual model.

The findings provide social marketers with important insights on the critical role that customer trust plays in achieving a long-term behavioural shift towards energy-efficient consumption.

Focusing on customer trust in energy-efficiency labels, this study provides empirical evidence of the mediating role of trust in influencing the intention to purchase and the decision to remain loyal to eco-friendly products. Moreover, this paper provides greater clarity on various levers to be activated to enhance the trust that customers have in energy-efficiency labels.