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Drawing from the social-functional perspective, this research explored the differences in consumers’ responses to two types of spokesperson’s smile: broad and slight. The authors identified two boundary conditions: consumer self-construal (independent versus interdependent) and relationship norm (communal versus exchange). The results from two studies show that a spokesperson’s broad smile is more persuasive for consumers with interdependent self-construal in the communal relationship. By contrast, a spokesperson’s slight smile is more persuasive for consumers with independent self-construal in the exchange relationship. Processing fluency serves as the underlying mechanism. The results provide implications for marketers regarding how to use a spokesperson’s smile effectively.

Despite the popular use of cuteness in product designs, especially for foods, little is known about how cuteness influences consumption. This article contributes to the evolving stream of research on cuteness by designing two experiments based on the compatibility principle to examine the contextual factors that moderate the effect of cuteness on food consumption (i.e., food type and consumption motivation). We found that cute food induced more consumption when the food is perceived as vice or under hedonic motivation, whereas neutral food induced more consumption when the food is perceived as virtue or under utilitarian motivation.

Food companies that choose to differentiate themselves by marketing their products as organic assume that the organic label tells consumers that the food is healthy. This research examines whether the organic label on a food product always increases consumer consumption of that product. Two moderators are considered: food type (virtue vs. vice) and consumer differences in health locus-of-control (HLOC) (externals vs. internals). Study 1 indicates that an organic label enhances consumers’ intention to consume vice food, but eliminates their intention to consume virtue food. Study 2 suggests that the joint effect of the organic label and food type differs for externals and internals. The results for externals are consistent with those in Study 1: an organic label increases vice food intake but reduces virtue food intake. Different results are observed for the food intake of people with an internal HLOC: an organic label actually eliminates vice food intake but has no effect on the intake of virtue food. These results show that an organic label can either increase or decrease food consumption depending on food type and HLOC, simultaneously. The findings provide managerial implications for food companies and public policy makers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how quality dimensions in independently owned online brand communities influence purchase intentions via uncertainty reduction and the role of involvement. Design/methodology/approach This work validates the model and hypotheses through non-probabilistic sampling. The online questionnaire was made on the website of MySurvey and an invitation letter was posted to the forums. The respondents received the questionnaire items translated into Chinese. The final survey sample consisted of 235 respondents. Findings Empirical results confirm that as for independently owned online brand communities, their information quality and relationship quality are effective tools for influencing purchase intentions via uncertainty reduction. In addition, the authors demonstrate that involvement has a positively moderating influence on the relationship between uncertainty reduction and purchase intentions. Originality/value The current study moves beyond uncertainty reduction to demonstrate that information quality and relationship quality of forums influenced purchase intention via uncertainty reduction and the moderating variable such as involvement.

This study examines how justifications that are offered by service providers affect the impacts of inferred motives and negative emotions on perceived fairness after service failure. Some researchers have indicated that justifications enhance perceived fairness, whereas others argue that they decrease the post-recovery satisfaction. After analyzing 270 responses, this study found that justifications mitigate the negative effects of inferences regarding service providers’ motives on perceived fairness, while they amplify the effects of negative emotions. Furthermore, when the affective relationship strength between service providers and consumers is greater, justifications effectively minimize the negative consequences of inferred motives and negative emotions.

Recent research suggests that there are increasing opportunities for customer-firm co-production as a means to achieve competitive advantage. This study proposes a model of co-production and investigates the link between co-production and its antecedent factors in a financial services context. The model is empirically tested in a survey of 288 customers of banks (or financial holding companies). Support is found for a contingency model involving customer expertise, service provider expertise, communication and interpersonal relationships along with perceived importance of service and dependence. Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are discussed.