Search

Purpose: This paper aims to empirically identify foodie features and examine their relevance in segmenting German consumers. Furthermore, this study explored potential differences between foodie segments in terms of food involvement and food knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 500 German respondents in October 2015 by means of two online surveys using a newly developed version of the foodie instrument based on existing literature. Confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance and post hoc tests were applied to analyse the data. Findings: Six distinct consumer segments were identified: passionate foodies (12.0%), interested foodies (21.5%); moderate foodies (21.7%), traditional foodies (17.1%), light foodies (18.2%) and non-foodies (9.5%). The nutritional knowledge questionnaire suggests that passionate foodies have only an average level of food literacy compared to other segments. Research limitations/implications: Behavioural traits and socio-demographic characteristics of foodies and other culinary consumer segments could be time-sensitive, thus future research should take a longitudinal approach so that subsequent decision-making is appropriately dynamic. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is a first step towards the development of a new foodie lifestyle scale which will be useful to identify, characterise and develop effective marketing strategies for targeting highly involved food consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of cultural differences and the types of relationship closeness involved in recipients' emotional and behavioral reactions after receiving disliked gifts. Design/methodology/approach: Collecting data from Thailand and the USA, two experiments were conducted in a 2 (self-construal: independent/interdependent) × 2 (relationship closeness: close/distant) between-subjects design. Study 1 explores the recipients' feelings and reactions upon receipt of a disliked gift. Study 2 explores the disposition process for a disliked gift. Findings: The results show that a recipient's emotions, reaction and disposition process can be affected by cultural differences and relationship closeness: specifically that close and distant relationships moderate the relationship between self-construal and gift-receiving attitudes and behaviors. Research limitations/implications: Future research can investigate representative groups from other countries to broaden the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications: This understanding can guide gift-givers when selecting gifts for close or distant recipients across cultures. Additionally, it can help retailers develop and introduce new marketing strategies by applying self-construal as a marketing segmentation tool for gift purchase and disposition. Originality/value: This research is among the first studies to offer insights into how individuals in different cultures manage disliked gifts they receive from people in either close or distant relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present an exploration of possible associations between the Jungian archetypes frequently used in marketing and three well-known products based on artificial intelligence (AI), namely, Sophia, Alexa and Articoolo. Design/methodology/approach: The study conducted emotionalist interviews to gather thick data from 11 participants on how they conceptualize these AI-based products. In the absence of any existing relevant hypotheses, this paper attempts to build theory using a case study approach and qualitative analysis of interview narratives. Findings: Despite the human attributes ascribed to these products, participants were principally concerned with their purpose, efficiency and the degree of trust which they felt could be accorded to the product. Anthropomorphism emerged as significant with participants making some associations with common archetypes traditionally exploited in marketing and this suggests a possible means of enhancing consumer trust in AI products. Originality/value: Little research has been conducted on the marketing of AI and this study presents a timely identification of some potentially significant issues. As AI is intended to mimic some aspects of human intelligence, the role of the archetype in creating a personality to enhance trust may prove crucial in securing consumer confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the ritual, roles and symbolic meanings of family grilling consumption experiences in northeast Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a phenomenological approach and conducted 73 in-depth interviews and in situ observations during family grilling experiences. Findings: Based on an examination of the phases, symbolic meanings, and ritual elements of grilling events in Mexico, the results of this study identify a third type of family food consumption ritual, the escape ritual, which has different characteristics than routine and festive family food consumption rituals. Practical implications: The findings indicate the emergence of a more sophisticated family grilling experience that uses new accessories and products. Companies could align their marketing strategies for grilling products and segment their communication messages based on the roles of participants and the symbolic meanings identified in this study. Originality/value: This research studies an experience in light of both ritual and escapism literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine how an organization's Web-based marketing communication strategies drive feelings of customer gratitude and desired behavioral responses. The study specifically examines how a key cultural characteristic, ethnic identity, works in conjunction with Web quality to influence customers' gratitude perceptions, thereby driving increases in positive word of mouth, repeat purchase intentions and price tolerance. Design/methodology/approach: A major soccer e-retailer based in the USA collected survey data for the study. The authors examined the direct and indirect effects of Web quality through conditional process analysis. Findings: Study findings indicate that customers' Web quality and ethnic identity perceptions significantly influence customer gratitude and performance outcomes. Study findings also demonstrate the central mediating role of gratitude on the main and interactive effects of Web quality and ethnic identity. Practical implications: Study findings suggest that online strategies of cultural-adaptation should go beyond integration of native language to include all key dimensions of website quality, to drive consumer gratitude and ultimately favorable outcomes such as word of mouth, price tolerance and repurchase intentions. Originality/value: This research demonstrates empirical support for the successful deployment of relationship marketing efforts that impact all three dimensions (affect, cognition and behavioral intention) of customer gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of co-competition, within service-dominant logic, whereby multiple parties with mutually exclusive goals compete for the rights to co-create with a firm.Design/methodology/approach Within the context of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the paper uses a naturalistic inquiry approach guided by the core objectives of qualitative research provided by Belk et al. (2012). These objectives include understanding the construct of study, the antecedents and consequences of what is being studied and, finally, the process used by the consumer during the phenomena. Additionally, the results are presented within an idiographic framework.Findings This study finds that co-competition arises when heterogeneous segments of consumers attempt different co-creation strategies with the firm, an overlooked dark side of co-creation and co-production of value. Additionally, the study finds evidence that co-competition may have led to co-destruction of value for both consumer parties and the firm.Originality/value The outcomes of this process could have significant financial and reputational impacts for the firm resultant from alienating both types of consumers competing for the rights to co-create. The conceptual framework established here provides a guide through which further investigation of co-creative forces can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study aims to examine how message strategy influences consumer behavioral engagement in social media. To this end, the study develops a comprehensive typology of branded content in social media and tests for its effect on consumer behavioral engagement.Design/methodology/approach A sample of brand posts derived from the official Facebook pages of top corporate brands was double-coded using an elaborate coding instrument. Message strategy was operationalized using three main message strategies (i.e. informational, transformational and interactional) and their paired combinations. Consumer behavioral engagement was operationalized using consumer actions of liking and sharing brand posts. Proposed relationships were tested with MANCOVA and univariate ANOVAs.Findings Results indicate that the transformational message strategy is the most powerful driver of consumer behavioral engagement, while no significant difference is observed between the informational and the interactional message strategies. Further, complementing the informational and interactional message strategies with the transformational message strategy markedly enhances their effectiveness.Practical implications Useful managerial guidance to develop effective message strategies is offered. In particular, the importance of transformational messages, both as a standalone and a complementary message strategy, is underscored. By mastering and deploying transformational messages more frequently in their social media communication, marketers could improve their effectiveness.Originality/value Drawing on a theory-driven typology, this study sheds light on how message strategy shapes consumer behavioral engagement in a social media context. Importantly, the study documents pioneering empirical evidence regarding the effect of combined message strategies on consumer behavioral engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Brand architecture and brand portfolios have been regarded as absolute entities to be analysed from the company’s perspective. The purpose of this study is to question such a uniform view by adding a perceptional dimension to the two concepts.Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 58 marketing professionals and customers were used to explore ten propositions and map associations in the perceived brand portfolios, based on the brand concept map methodology.Findings The study reveals systematic differences between the collective view of company representatives, who name fewer brands associated through more sophisticated and highly connected brand systems and customers who include more partners and competitor brands in the portfolio, who also name more brands and connections in total.Research limitations/implications Implications of the results are analysed and future research is suggested to determine the generalizability of the findings and the economic implications of discrepant internal and external views of a brand architecture and brand portfolio.Practical implications Academics should relate to this dualism by compensating for the effects of the associative predisposition of employees versus customers when interpreting results of studies related to brand portfolios and brand architecture. Marketing practitioners must actively acknowledge and manage the role of partners and competitors as part of the company’s external brand portfolio.Originality/value This study is the first to problematize the unilateral interpretation of brand portfolios and brand architecture by introducing a dual view of these concepts based on internal (employees) and external (consumers) perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of surprise in reducing the negative impact of an undesired emotion, such as embarrassment, on the attitudes and behavioral intentions of consumers taking part in an event.Design/methodology/approach In total, 220 consumers took part in a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental within-subject design. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings Findings show that an in-store social event designed to elicit young customers’ surprise and feelings of romantic love might also give rise to a relevant negative emotion such as embarrassment, and that surprise can act as a powerful managerial tool in limiting the negative effects of this negative emotion. Moreover, brand attitude and purchase intention are outcomes of positive emotions elicited by the event.Practical implications The study shows that event marketing is an appealing but risky strategy. Evoking surprise is an effective way to manage negative emotions such as embarrassment that can arise unintentionally during an event.Originality/value The research contributes to the understanding of the role of contradictory emotions in a specific social experience, namely, the event, and focuses on unplanned and undesired the affective contributions of customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of different spatial representations (foreground and background) of a product image on the package on the consumer emotional state and intention to buy the product, drawing upon the construal level theory (CLT).Design/methodology/approach Two between-subjects experimental designs were conducted. A face-reading software was used to measure the emotional reactions of participants while watching the stimuli.Findings Empirical results showed that the foreground representation of the product, triggered by a lower perceived psychological distance between the subject and the product, generates more positive emotional responses compared to the background representation. However, the purchase intention did not significantly differ between the foreground condition and the background condition.Research limitations/implications The study enriches the literature on CLT and provides some guidance to manufacturers and product managers for the understanding of the role of packaging in influencing consumer behaviour.Originality/value The paper contributes to the research on the presence of the product imagery on the package. The focus is shifted from the presence/absence of the picture to its position (proximal or distal). This aspect has been neglected in previous studies. Moreover, it is the first application of face reading to support CLT basic assumption and enrich extant marketing research on packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This research aims to investigate whether and how differences may exist in children’s preferences of package design across cultures, with a focus on three aspects of package design: curvilinearity, figurativeness and complexity.Design/methodology/approach A large-scale questionnaire survey has been conducted in a face-to-face setting in the USA and China, generating valid responses from 763 American children and 837 Chinese children of age 3-12 years.Findings Unlike previous findings among adults, children from both cultures were found to unanimously prefer curved package design. Nevertheless, Chinese children showed greater preferences for figurative and complex package design than American children; these tendencies increased with age, suggesting significant age–culture interactions.Research limitations/implications The surprising finding of the lack of cultural difference in children’s preferences of curved package design suggests that such cultural preferences established in studies of adults may not emerge through time via cultural/social learning until after age 12. The limited cultures, stimuli and factors included in the study call for replications of the study in more realistic and broader settings.Practical implications The findings provide package design guidelines for consumer product marketers and designers/innovators targeting the Chinese and American children’s markets. Curved package designs are preferred by children from both cultures. Nevertheless, marketers should choose figurative and complex package design in accordance with the target children’s age and cultural background.Originality/value This study contributes to the limited empirical consumer behavior research on package design, especially that of children’s products. It also extends the literature on cultural psychology, experimental aesthetics and developmental psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to clarify a situational factor that might interfere with the intended outcome of a cause-related marketing (CRM) ad on social network sites (SNSs): statements about the motivation of the sponsoring company for supporting a social cause. This study also aims to explore how highly skeptical consumers and consumers with lower levels of skepticism differ in their responses to CRM ads.Design/methodology/approach In Study 1, a total of 409 college students took part in an online experiment through Qualtrics. The online experiment followed a 2 (statement of motivations: both of firm and public benefits vs public benefit only) × 2 (skepticism: high vs low) between-subjects design. Skepticism was determined post hoc as a two-category variable to analyze its effect on the relationship between the statement of motivations and attribution. In Study 2, a total of 533 adults took part in an online experiment. Multigroup analysis was used to test the hypotheses.Findings This study found that firm’s acknowledgments of firm-serving motivation, as well as of public-serving motivation, could be an effective marketing strategy to reduce consumer skepticism about the firm’s motives. The procedure by which a consumer perceived and evaluated the motives of a company determined the effectiveness of the company’s CRM ads. Temporary state of skepticism induced by an attributional thinking process is found to play a significant role in diminishing perceived corporate credibility. Finally, a consumer’s perception of a company’s credibility has a great impact on their intention to join that company’s brand page.Research limitations/implications This study advances theories about consumers’ defensive mechanisms that can help predict their favorable responses to the brand pages featuring CRM on SNSs.Originality/value This study extends previous literature by directing academic attention to consumers’ perceived attribution as a theoretical mechanism that can help predict consumers’ favorable responses to brand pages featuring CRM on SNSs. This study also extends previous research on skepticism by showing that consumer skepticism can be either an enduring trait or a temporary state. The findings suggest that marketers may be able to inhibit the development of consumer skepticism by publicly stating the potential firm-serving benefits of its actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study adds to the research on disgust by proposing a theoretical framework encompassing contamination-based, moral and structural disgust dimensions. The study empirically assesses the impact of these three dimensions on consumers’ purchase intentions for different product categories.Design/methodology/approach The study investigates consumer reaction to disgusting stimuli related to attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness products by means of closed-ended questionnaires administered to three consumer samples.Findings Contamination-based disgust reduces the intention to purchase expertise products. Similarly, structural disgust reduces the intention to purchase trustworthiness products. Moral disgust seems to have a positive effect on the intention to purchase attractiveness products.Research limitations/implications Marketing strategies for expertise and trustworthiness products should emphasize their pureness and capacity to match consumer expectations, respectively. Ad hoc strategies centered on moral disgust could be designed for attractiveness products.Originality/value This study proposes a new conceptualization of consumer disgust and shows that the identified disgust dimensions have different effects on consumer intention to purchase attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The current research contributes to the marketing literature by examining, and more importantly, better understanding a presentation format (i.e. PACE) in which caloric information is complemented with physical activity time required to offset consumption. The purpose of this paper is to systematically evaluate the impact of this approach in both actual and simulated consumption settings while providing evidence of its contribution to healthier decision-making. This research uncovered several important insights into how consumers are influenced by, and respond to, the presence of physical activity time.Design/methodology/approach The paper used experiential designs in five studies to examine how the presence of physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) information affects consumption. The studies measured both intended and actual consumption behavior. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance as well as bootstrapping methods.Findings The paper establishes that PACE information reduces consumption compared to NLEA-mandated information. We show that the effectiveness of PACE information differs based on consumers’ level of health consciousness as well as food type. Our research also uncovers a moderating effect based on perceived difficulty of the featured activity. Finally, we show the psychological process underlying the effectiveness of PACE information.Research limitations/implications Future research can address the generalizability of current findings across different consumption domains and contexts. Our work focuses on the efficacy of information delivery at the point of consumption. The results of the current study may differ when the decision is being made at the point of purchase for future consumption.Practical implications The paper’s findings represent a win-win scenario for consumers and manufacturers alike. Manufactures stand to benefit from PACE information as many consumers are seeking healthier food options and are willing to pay a premium for items that help them make more healthful choices. Consumers will benefit as well, given the struggle with obesity and other diet-related ills, by being provided with a more effective means of making healthier choices.Social implications Obesity and diet-related chronic diseases are global pandemics affecting consumers throughout the world. This paper contributes to this issue by presenting manufacturers and researchers with a better understanding of how consumers can be encouraged to make healthier choices and overcome the barriers to healthier lifestyles.Originality/value This paper addresses a gap in the literature as well as an important social concern by better understanding how healthier nutrition choices can be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose With the development of location-based services and mobile phones, local retailing stores have the opportunity to send location-based advertisings (LBAs) to consumers at a right time and right place. However, knowledge about the influence of LBAs on consumers’ store patronage is limited. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the content of LBAs influences consumers’ store patronage intention. In particular, the paper investigates the influence of perceived accuracy and transaction cost reduction from the content of LBAs on consumers’ store patronage intention through the emotional reactions of pleasure and arousal.Design/methodology/approach This study developed a theoretical model to examine how the content of LBAs influences the store patronage intention of consumers. Empirical data were collected from 351 undergraduate and graduate students. The partial least squares technique was used to test the research model.Findings Perceived accuracy and transaction cost reduction from the content of LBAs have a significant influence on the store patronage intention of consumers through pleasure and arousal. Brand image and purchase plan are control variables.Originality/value Knowledge about the influence of LBAs on consumer store patronage is limited. This study provides empirical evidence about how perceived accuracy and transaction cost reduction from the content of LBAs affect the emotional reactions of consumers and then determine their store patronage intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Political marketing is unable to reach out or influence voters as it once did. This study aims to identify means for political marketers to effectively reach to voters. Specifically, this study examines the role of different WOM/e-WOM political messages (shallow vs deep) delivered through various communication channels on voters’ message evaluation, believability, attitude towards the message and communication, message involvement, voting intentions and WOM/e-WOM intentions.Design/methodology/approach Two experimental design studies were conducted to test the research hypotheses. Data were collected from age-based voting cohorts through snowball sampling and online consumer panels.Findings The results suggest that political WOM/e-WOM messages received via different communication modes are perceived differently by age-based voting cohorts in terms of message evaluation, believability and attitudinal dispositions. The perceived credibility of the communication source makes a difference in such evaluations and dispositions. Also, the complexity of message impacts behavioral intentions of age-based voting cohorts differently. Older (younger) voter cohorts are more receptive to complex and detailed (short and brief) messages. Political message involvement mediates the relationship between message believability and voting intentions, as well as WOM/e-WOM intentions.Research limitations/implications The results are limited in terms of generalizability due to the experimental nature of the studies. Future research may seek to use actual candidates and examine the effects of moderators such as the cognition-based needs of respondents to engage in central or peripheral processing.Practical implications Political marketers can achieve greater credibility and effectiveness and partially restore political marketing’s reputation by honoring three guidelines: construct shallower (or deeper) political marketing messages when targeting younger (or older) voting cohorts through internet-connected (or traditional) delivery modes.Originality/value This paper explores an important but under-researched area in political marketing (i.e. the use of WOM/e-WOM messages in political marketing) and identifies important differences in attitudinal and behavioral dispositions of age-based voting cohorts impacted by the choice of communication mode and message complexity. Moreover, the perceived credibility of the communication source (sender) can sway communication mode preferences for age-based voting cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The present study aims to further examine the persuasive effect of pictures in a print ad according to the recipient’s ability to process the information and to observe to what extent the presence of a picture could negatively influence recipients’ attitude toward the ad’s verbal claim.Design/methodology/approach Two studies were designed to manipulate the presence vs absence of an attractive/unattractive picture, the kind of verbal claims (affectively based vs rationally based) and the recipient’s ability to process the ad (cognitive load vs no cognitive load).Findings Main findings showed that the presence of an attractive picture elicited an unfavorable attitude toward the functional verbal claim when recipients were not cognitively charged. Furthermore, it proved to be a mediator of the influence of pictures on attitude toward the ad. The positive influence of an attractive picture on product evaluation and purchase intention was greater under a cognitive load but showed contrasting results for price perceptions. For the unattractive picture, cognitive load was found to be a moderator only when recipients had to infer the product price.Research limitations/implications The present research emphasized the negative influence of attractive pictures on functional verbal claims and the moderating role of cognitive load on pictorial stimuli either acting as peripheral or central cues in the persuasive process.Practical implications Practitioners may want to consider that an attractive picture in advertising is not always the best route for persuasion, especially when the verbal ad content emphasizes the product’s properties.Originality/value The present study provides new insights regarding the role of pictures in advertising persuasive effectiveness. Until now, no research had addressed the extent to which the presence of a picture could affect processing of an ad’s verbal claims. Additionally, the present study expands research on persuasive communication and affirms the necessity of more intensively investigating the role of pictures in advertising under the rubric of information processing level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Marketers often combine products in bundles to increase demand. Research has shown that itemizing the prices of the individual products in the bundle raises evaluations in some situations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how bundle size influences the effect itemizing prices have on bundle evaluation.Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct two experiments. In the first, they test the effects of price presentation formats (itemized vs consolidated) and bundle size on consumers’ evaluations of product bundles. In the second experiment, they test the proposed mechanism that itemizing the price leads to a more realistic price expectation which in turn enhances evaluation. The authors also test whether this effect is stronger for larger bundles.Findings In Study 1, the authors find that large, but not small, bundles are evaluated more positive when presented with itemized prices. In Study 2, mediated moderation analysis supports the prediction that price expectation mediates the effect of the price presentation × bundle size interaction on bundle evaluations. The findings show that itemizing prices results in more realistic price expectations and that this effect is stronger for larger bundles. In turn, more realistic price expectations lead to higher evaluation.Research limitations/implications The implication of this research is that by directing attention to individual items in the bundle, consumers are better able to assess bundle benefits. More research is needed to investigate other potential explanations for the findings in Study 1. Further research should also investigate whether the findings reported here holds in other settings, with other products and with other types and size of bundles.Practical implications Managers are recommended to itemize the prices of product bundles, particularly when bundles are large.Originality/value This paper extends our knowledge about the effect itemizing the prices of individual items in a bundle has on consumer evaluation by demonstrating the moderating effect of bundle size and showing that more realistic price expectation explains these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of adaptive selling (AS) when “click and brick” in control multichannel consumers (MCCs) encounter in-store salespeople.Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered to 387 college students from several southeastern colleges in the USA. The study consisted of a single manipulated factor (AS: high vs low) and a second measured factor (degree of MCC search: high vs low). Covariance-based structural equation modeling was selected and analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0.0.0.Findings The findings indicate that while perceptions of control in the retail store increase as customers engage in more multichannel search behavior, the path from perceived control (PC) to purchase intention (PI) is also positively affected by AS as multichannel search increases.Practical implications To increase in-store purchases by consumers using the physical location as an information channel, professional sales training, specifically AS skills, should be considered by retail managers for in-store sales personnel. Our findings suggest that salespeople can use AS skills to increase the likelihood of the MCCs’ in-store PI while not reducing their feelings of PC.Originality/value In a time where many marketers struggle with how to combine multichannel retailing efforts effectively, this research confirms that new channels create MCCs who desire control. AS shows promise as a technique for retailers to use when selling to a consumer who values control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In promotional ads that contain both the Regular Price and Sale Price information, this paper aims to investigate whether changing the font sizes of these two prices has an effect on how consumers process the ad message. The authors use acquisition-transaction utility perspective to identify key differences in mechanisms invoked by the larger font size of the Regular Price vs that of the Sale Price.Design/methodology/approach Study 1 uses eye-tracking apparatus to study subjects’ responses to a full-color, realistic-looking ad for a digital camera. Study 2 uses a survey questionnaire to gauge subjects’ responses to a similar print ad. The font sizes of Regular Price and Sale price were manipulated while keeping all the other elements of the ad the same. Subjects were undergraduate students who participated in the study for a small incentive.Findings The authors find that making the relative font size of Regular Price bigger invokes a transaction-utility mechanism where customers’ attention is focused on the savings that can be had using the promotion. A bigger font size of Sale Price invokes an acquisition-utility mechanism that draws on the customers’ value consciousness.Research limitations/implications The use of student subjects and only one product category in the experiments may limit the generalizability of the study’s findings.Practical implications In print ads, managers predominantly use a bigger font size for the Sale Price. This study suggests that the choice of a bigger font size should really be driven by the objective of the promotion: a bigger font size for Sale Price is advised if the objective is to take an acquisition utility approach, whereas a bigger font size for Regular Price is advised for using a transaction utility approach.Originality/value This study is the first attempt at using an acquisition-transaction utility perspective for understanding the use of relative font sizes in the context of price promotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of brand equity on Chinese consumers’ affective attitudes toward luxury brands and their behavioral intentions by applying the cognitive-affective model. The interaction effect between face saving and consumer’s affective attitude on luxury consumption is also examined.Design/methodology/approach A field survey was conducted using a sample of 248 luxury consumers in three Chinese cities.Findings Brand equity was found positively to predict Chinese consumers’ affective attitudes and their willingness to pay a premium price for a luxury brand. Moreover, consumers who highly value face saving were found to be more willing to pay a premium price, even though they hold a less positive attitude toward the brand.Research limitations/implications The use of cross-sectional survey data with young Chinese consumers in first-tier cities may limit the generalizability of the findings as well as precluding the making of causal inferences.Practical implications Global luxury marketers who plan to enter the China market can utilize marketing strategies to create prestigious value and appeal to consumers who seek for social approval and status.Originality/value Previous published studies of brand equity and luxury consumption have primarily emphasized Western markets. These findings advance our understanding of luxury purchase intention among young Chinese consumers, for whom the need for social acceptance acts as a crucial motivator in luxury consumption. The results contribute to amplifying the brand equity concept by taking cultural context into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]