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This discourse-pragmatic study examines why a past or on-going action become the focus of customer complaints in e-commerce service encounters. Analyzing interactions between customers and service agents on Taobao, the study reveals how customer complaints are triggered by perceived moral transgressions attributed to service agents. The findings identify two types of transgressions: distributive and interactional. The study highlights metapragmatic expressions that reveal customers' beliefs about appropriate standards in the complaint resolution process. Customers perceive service agents as violating distributive justice by infringing on their benefactive, epistemic, and deontic rights, and as breaching interactional justice through lapses in responsibility and honesty. Overall, the study illustrates how customers' metapragmatic perceptions of moral transgressions shape complaint interactions in e-commerce settings, providing crucial insights for both theoretical analysis and practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer perceived value (CPV) is a cornerstone of marketing literature. However, myriad studies have generated contradictory empirical findings. In addition, though some existing literature reviews help clarify the conceptual foundations of CPV, the literature lacks a meta-analysis of empirical evidence about the CPV model and its effects. To consolidate existing research, the current meta-analysis assesses the findings of 687 articles, involving 780 independent samples and 357,247 customers. The most integrative CPV model, which includes benefits, sacrifices, and overall value, performs best. Empirical generalizations also reveal the relative weights of various benefits and sacrifices integrated into this CPV model and causal chains between CPV and different outcomes (satisfaction, word-of-mouth, and repurchase intentions). Finally, this analysis uncovers moderating effects of multiple relational contexts: nonprofit/for-profit, public/private, contractual/non-contractual, online/offline, business-to-business/business-to-consumer, and goods/services. For scholars, this article synthesizes existing findings on CPV; for managers, the results provide suggestions for ways to increase CPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Governmental regulations aiming to protect environmental goals often require firms to increase sales prices with negative consequences on price fairness perception. Companies might therefore either justify the price increase by highlighting the good cause (environmental framing) or they could blame the government for the regulation (governmental framing). Firms might also communicate their investments in the relationship to motivate customers to stay. This paper aims to examine the impact of such communication content on price increase fairness perception and switching intention in a contractual service setting. Design/methodology/approach: This paper first examines the content of 119 price increase letters from electricity suppliers in a qualitative pilot study. The main study then tests our research framework with 552 respondents using a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental scenario design (manipulating framing, effort and regret communication). Findings: Customers perceive governmental framing as fairer than environmental framing. Effort and regret communication by firms weaken or reverse this effect. They reduce customers' fairness perception for the governmental framing, while regret communication increases it for the environmental framing. However, regret communication also increases switching intention in both framings through a strong direct effect. Research limitations/implications: Cost-induced price increases are perceived on a "locus continuum" on which reason-framing and relationship investments can shift the consumer perception. Future studies may apply our framework in different industries and contexts. Practical implications: The results provide guidelines for communicating price increases. Firms should prefer a governmental framing and they should also hesitate to communicate relationship investments, which signal internal locus of the firm, such as effort or regret. Originality/value: Our results question the naive assumption of general positive effects of environmental framings and relationship investments on customer responses. Based on a new view on attributions of cost-caused price increases, we suggest and find several counterintuitive results. We argue that the framing and relationship investments shift the cause perception of an external cost increase on the attributional locus continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the goal of helping consumers bounce back from the financial challenges they faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many firms developed and announced consumer-targeted resiliency programs (e.g. Walgreens waived delivery fees, Associated Bank allowed deferred mortgage payments). However, there is a paucity of research examining the unique features of these programs, and whether firms' investors (the first external stakeholder group to provide them with feedback regarding their strategies) were receptive to these programs during a period of time in which firms themselves were suffering financially. Drawing on resilience theory and stakeholder theory, the present research incorporates an event study of consumer-targeted resiliency program announcements to understand their financial implications for firms, and to learn whether firms witnessed different financial effects as a result of firm- and program-specific factors. Design/methodology/approach: This study referred to business news publications and newswire services to collect a comprehensive list of consumer-targeted resiliency programs announced by publicly traded U.S. firms during the pandemic. The resulting dataset consisted of 145 announcements made during the period of February–June 2020. An event study was conducted in order to precisely measure the main effect of consumer-targeted resiliency programs on firm value, as manifested through abnormal stock returns. Finally, a moderation analysis (regression) was conducted to uncover whether firm characteristics or specific features of firms' consumer-targeted resiliency programs lead certain firms to witness stronger financial effects than others. Findings: The main effect of consumer-targeted resiliency programs on firm value was found to be positive – a 1.9% increase on average. The moderation analysis finds that non-financial firms were rewarded more positively than financial firms (e.g. banks and credit card companies). In addition, financial aid (i.e. allowing customers to defer their payments to a firm for its products/services, versus a reduction in the price of a product/service or offering it for free or giving cash back to customers) and temporal characteristics (i.e. an offer being framed as limited-time, vs being indefinite or for the foreseeable future) are not found to have a moderating effect. Originality/value: This theory-driven empirical study uncovers practical implications for managers of firms interested in whether investing in corporate social responsibility during times of crisis is a wise allocation of resources. Any form of financial aid for consumers, regardless of temporal limitations, is received positively by investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined companies' use of social media platforms for CSR communication during the pandemic lockdown. We examined 1768 companies' posts on Weibo and tested how the content and the features of the posts influenced retweets and likes. We used "fit" to describe a circumstance where an outside factor made a certain business more capable to alleviate the situation. We defined it as high in the perceived firm-situation fit. Results showed that for high-fit companies, the inclusion of pandemic content and CSR had a significant positive effect on retweets, while for low-fit companies, pandemic content hurt the number of retweets; the CSR factor did not influence retweets. The inclusion of CSR information had a significant positive effect on likes for both high-fit and low-fit companies. The results indicated that consumers have more moral expectations of high-fit companies to provide help during the pandemic lockdown. Moreover, increased interactivity has a significant positive effect on retweets and likes. Drawing from these results, practical suggestions on how to use social media platforms for future CSR communication to promote social good were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When companies take a stance on sociopolitical issues, it is considered corporate social advocacy (CSA). This article examines to what extent perceived corporate motives of engaging in CSA affect consumer skepticism and brand equity. It is one of the few published studies of consumer attitudes toward companies' CSA involvement. An online survey was conducted (N = 375). It provides evidence that consumer assessments of the motives that inspire CSA are similar to the better-researched motives that inspire CSR. The findings imply that companies need to develop a good understanding of the consumers' attributions when engaging in CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explain why low social conduct in corporate social responsibility (SC-CSR), especially employee exploitation, has a stronger negative impact on consumer reactions for service firms than for manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach: Five experiments compared consumer reactions to service and manufacturing firms with low SC-CSR. Study 1 used a choice-based conjoint design to examine the relative importance of various shared attributes when consumers chose services versus goods. Study 2 revealed that low SC-CSR led to more pronounced negative consumers reactions toward service firms. Studies 3A and 3B explained this difference through a serial mediation analysis. Study 4 ruled out an alternative explanation regarding the differentiated effects. Findings: The results reveal that consumer reactions to employee exploitation in service firms are more negative compared to manufacturing firms. This is because consumers' sense of presence (i.e. feeling of being there) is stronger in a service setting, leading to more intense empathetic emotions toward service employees. Originality/value: This research contributes to the CSR literature by challenging the conventional notion that sweatshops are more problematic for manufacturing firms. By contrast, the results indicate a stronger negative effect on service firms. It contributes to the services marketing literature by conceptualizing a novel cognitive mechanism. Traditionally, consumers' negative reactions are driven by anger. However, the authors show that empathetic feelings toward mistreated employees play a predominant role. While it is imperative for all firms to ensure fair treatment of their employees, the findings underscore the heightened significance of this aspect for service firms, given their susceptibility to more pronounced negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Contrary to want-based services, customer participation has got lesser attention in high-credence services like health care. Customer participation for patients with chronic illnesses could be life-threatening and goes beyond the service organization's physical environment. Realizing the importance of transformative service research in health-care services, this study aims to propose and validate the conceptualization of customer participation for patients with chronic illnesses. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses sequential exploratory research design with mixed method research. The first phase is a qualitative exploration of the nature and meaning of customer participation by synthesizing theory and insights from semi-structured interviews (N = 75) with doctors, patients and paramedical staff. Next, survey data (N = 690) of patients with chronic illnesses is used to validate the proposed conceptualization. Finally, nomological validity was also tested on an additional survey data set (N = 362) using SEM and FsQCA. Findings: The findings reveal that health-care customer participation is a three-dimensional behavioral construct in which a customer can participate by sharing information, involving in decision-making and ensuring compliance. The study also demonstrates that customer participation is a critical driver of satisfaction with life and perceived control on illness. Practical implications: The research provides policy guidelines for owners and operators of health-care organizations in developing frameworks for collecting participation data, which can be used in strategies for seeking customer participation. Originality/value: The research conceptualizes and validates "customer participation" as a multidimensional higher-order construct for patients with chronic illnesses, rarely focused in services marketing and management research on health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a Comparative Analysis of Attributions method to explore sensemaking after customer experiences and journeys. Its foundation rests on the constructs of attribution theory by which actors make sense of the causes of events. Customer experiences and journeys involve both consumers and the firm's employees interacting at touchpoints in a value co-creation attempt; each actor then makes attributions about the exchange experience. The qualitative inquiry compared attributions across actors after value co-creation (co-destruction) in a banking services context during the financial crisis. This showed how misunderstandings of one's own and others' sensemaking attributions can affect value co-creation during the customer experience and journey. The analysis thus offered managerially actionable information. Marketers may then improve internal and external messaging, touchpoints, and operations for better customer journeys. Academic researchers may use this method to map the continuum of attributional biases, errors, and styles across actors, industries, and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of corporate socially responsible (CSR) activities (using Carroll's four dimensions) on consumer's purchase intentions (CPI) in Pakistan's consumerpackaged goods (CPG) industry. A structured questionnaire is employed and a random sampling technique is used. Furthermore, analysis of data was done through correlation and regression tests. Overall results showed that all the CSR dimensions have an impact on consumer buying intentions except economic and legal responsibilities which have little influence on the purchase intention of Pakistani consumers. This research study is beneficial for managers, practitioners, and strategists to know the attitude of consumers in Pakistan towards CSR and also enable them to plan and implement CSR strategies accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how mobile payment reconfigures checkout service by investigating role and script changes and customers' reactions to interactions beyond transactions. Study 1 utilized video analysis, showing that although checkout clerks are less involved in payment, they have chances for achieving nonpayment interactions (i.e., functional work and relational work). Study 2 adopted a survey-based experimental design to examine whether customers exhibited psychological discomfort when facing nonpayment interactions considering tie strength and customer orientation type. This study suggests the importance of nonpayment interactions in utilitarian retail contexts and reinspects the role and script of customers and employees in mobile checkouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims examining the consequences of customers' distrust toward luxury service providers (i.e. attitude, trust, and willingness to pay). The mediating role of attitude and trust is tested to understand customer behaviors in the luxury hotel context. The role of demographic characteristics on customers' skepticism and CSR behavior is investigated. Thus, this research extends previous CSR studies by 1) examining the role of customers' skepticism in the luxury service context, 2) identifying the mediating role of attitude and trust in the relationship between skepticism and its outcomes, and 3) highlighting the individual differences in relation to their CSR behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As society transitions from 'brick-and-mortar' to 'click- and-mortar', there is a loss of humanness and consumers have started to disengage emotionally from organisations. This disengagement makes it difficult for organisations to develop and maintain the strong customer-brand relationships that are needed for successful brand building. It is therefore crucial that organisations use relationship-marketing tactics that can reinstall a sense of human connection. This study examined 'thank you' notes, presented in different font types, and gifting as relationship-marketing tactics and their effect on consumers' cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses. The results from a between-subject experimental design study (n = 344) revealed no significant interaction effects, suggesting that thank you notes and gifting should not be used in combination. Moreover, it was found that the investigated relationship-marketing tactics are only effective in eliciting gratitude and warmth, both of which are fleeting. The findings also suggest that customers who are unfamiliar with a brand respond more favourably to thank you notes and gifting than those who are familiar with the brand. These findings have implications for the ways in which resources should be allocated to build customer-brand relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of a water brand's CSR message highlighting the brand's environmental concerns on brand‐related variables (attitude towards the brand and CSR) and consumer‐related variables (consumer efforts to adopt sustainable behaviours and well‐being). A research model is proposed, and the relationships postulated are tested on 414 French consumers. The study establishes the effectiveness of this kind of CSR messaging in influencing French consumers to purchase and recommend a particular brand. It then shows the direct and indirect ways in which a brand's CSR messaging can improve consumers' behavioural intentions (i.e., intentions to purchase the brand's products and to recommend the brand and/or its products). It also underscores that brand‐related variables contribute to increasing brands', and thus companies', business performance, whereas consumer‐related variables contribute to increasing their social performance. Finally, the REBUS‐PLS method emphasises the existence of several consumer groups and identifies the core target customer groups on which companies should focus their communication efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the demographic characteristics of consumers, their knowledge of the concept of CSR and the awareness of CSR activities undertaken by enterprises. This paper intends to examine whether the consumer knows the CSR activities undertaken by PKN ORLEN. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used a survey to assess the consumers' perception of activities undertaken by PKN ORLEN in the area of CSR. The survey was an electronic survey. The questionnaires were administered to consumers from southern Poland. In order to test the hypotheses, cross-tabulation analyzes were performed along with the chi-square test of independence and Mann-Whitney U tests. Findings: The research revealed that demographic characteristics do not influence the knowledge of activities undertaken by PKN Orlen in the area of CSR or the knowledge of the Orlen Foundation run by the surveyed company. The only factor that influences the awareness of CSR activities of the examined company is knowledge of the CSR concept. The results suggest that consumers who have knowledge about CSR are more aware of the activities that companies undertake in this area. It was also identified that the factors influencing knowledge of the CSR concept are gender and level of education, with people who demonstrated higher knowledge of CSR being men and people with university education. Research limitations/implications: The research was conducted on the Polish market, it concerned the activities of a large and very well-known brand in Poland (a multi-industry concern operating, among others, in the fuel and energy industry). The research can be repeated for other brands and other countries. Practical implications: Research results suggest that an important aspect that increases the effectiveness of communication of CSR activities should be the educational aspect in the area of CSR. Originality/value: The article obtained an interesting result that demographic characteristics do not influence customers' knowledge about companies' CSR activities, but the knowledge (understanding) of the CSR concept is such a factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore how authentic corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities can serve as a proactive service recovery tool and shield service providers from the negative consequences of service failures. Specifically, the authors investigate the conditions under which such activities can encourage conciliatory behavior among aggrieved consumers and how adding reactive service recovery tools to the mix interferes with the process. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct three experiments on an online panel and college student participants. The authors present a service failure scenario at a restaurant (late/subpar food delivery); vary the restaurant's CSR activity (authentic, inauthentic or nonexistent); and test CSR's impact on conciliatory behavior, the underlying mechanisms and how reactive service recovery tactics (apology/compensation) moderate the process. Findings: The authors find that authentic-CSR activities (relative to inauthentic or no-CSR activities) indirectly promote conciliatory behavior by (serially) making the failure appear as a onetime event and lessening consumer anger toward the service provider. However, the process gets disrupted when the authors add an apology/compensation to the mix, ostensibly because the latter is a more direct signal that the failure is a onetime problem. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that tests how authentic-CSR activities can serve as a proactive service recovery tool and encourage conciliatory behavior among aggrieved consumers (a serial mediation process). The authors add value by showing that the process cuts across cultures (with participants from the USA and Turkey) and that CSR activities are indispensable when customers do not complain but simply exit the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been identified as a critical factor influencing consumer decision‐making. However, there has been little empirical research on whether and how CSR affects consumer outcomes in the context of natural disasters. Against the backdrop of the Erke donation event that occurred during the flood in Henan Province, China, the present study examined the relationship between perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) and consumer purchase intention/behavior during a special period. We found that PCSR was positively related to consumers' purchase intention and purchase behavior. We also found that while national identity partially mediated the association between PCSR and purchase intentions, this mediating effect was not found in the path from PCSR to purchase behavior. Additionally, we found that herd mentality moderated the direct relationship between PCSR and purchase intention, but not the mediated path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate US consumers' willingness to pay for cotton apparel production and country of origin attributes. Using a choice‐based conjoint experiment and information treatments, we examine the preferences of 727 US shoppers for the attributes: cotton fiber production systems and country of manufacture of the cotton fiber. Random utility theory is the basis for the survey's responses analysis to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) values for the attributes. Choices made by consumers are modeled using a mixed logit model in WTP space estimated using simulated maximum likelihood procedures. Results show that consumers are willing to pay more for cotton apparel from the United States than apparel from other countries, and more for apparel made from fiber produced in organic systems than in conventional systems. Only some subgroups of consumers were found to be affected by exposure to an information treatment regarding potential labor exploitation in cotton farms and textile mills. [EconLit Citations: D12]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study how individuals assess responsibility during an uncontrollable event requiring collective action, using crises affecting service workers as contexts. Specifically, the authors examine what parties consumers hold responsible for ensuring service worker welfare following an uncontrollable event and determine what factors make customers more open to accepting responsibility for ensuring worker welfare themselves. Design/methodology/approach: The authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of US consumers regarding their attitudes toward protecting service workers during COVID-19 and used regression analysis to identify factors that predict attributions of responsibility to customers. The authors also conducted an experiment (using a new crisis context) to determine whether certain key factors impact customer perceptions of their own responsibility for helping employees during an uncontrollable event. Findings: The survey results show US consumers hold firms most responsible for worker welfare, followed by customers and, finally, government. When examining factors that drive attributions of responsibility for customers, perceptions of how sincere firms are in their efforts to help employees predict higher responsibility attributions, and experimental results confirm that higher perceived firm sincerity increases consumers' own sense of responsibility toward workers. Social implications: This research identifies factors that affect consumer support for efforts to help service employees and collective action problems more generally. Originality/value: This research highlights an under-studied crisis context – uncontrollable events that require collective action – and shows how consumers make assessments about their own responsibility (in addition to the responsibility of the service firm) in these contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers often buy products that they later do not use. How does failing to use purchased products affect subsequent spending? Six experiments demonstrate that when consumers do not use their purchased products, it decreases their subsequent discretionary spending across product categories due to an aversion to wasted money. We find that this effect is driven primarily by perceived money waste and not product waste. Consequently, the effect persists even when consumers avoid product waste, such as by donating their unused products, but is mitigated when they avoid money waste, such as when their unused products are freely acquired. We also find that failing to use products decreases discretionary spending only when consumers perceive the failure as a temporary setback on their goal to avoid waste but not as an unredeemable goal failure. Moreover, the effect is unique to perceived waste and does not generalize to other forms of financial mismanagement, such as excess spending beyond one's budget. Overall, our research builds a psychological understanding of how consumers think about unused utility and when and why it leads to a future reduction in consumption and spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the growth of e‐commerce and associated home deliveries, understanding the role of drivers in shaping the customer experience in last‐mile delivery is now more crucial than ever. Delivery drivers increasingly act as retailers' frontline employees and are thus instrumental in developing pseudorelationships between customers and retailers. Industry surveys, however, reveal that drivers admit to engaging in unprofessional behaviors with customers and often refuse to address customers' requests beyond package delivery. Following a middle‐range theorizing approach and leveraging Cognitive Appraisal Theory, we investigate how two negative driver behaviors, inappropriate behavior and inflexibility, impact customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. We also examine the moderating effect of driver affiliation, private versus outsourced, in altering the magnitude of customer responses. Results from a scenario‐based experiment indicate that while the negative effects of driver inappropriate behavior on customer outcomes are mediated by anger, the effects of driver inflexibility are mediated by sadness. Moreover, the negative effect of driver inflexibility on customer outcomes is weaker for outsourced logistics than for private fleet drivers. In turn, driver inappropriate behavior exhibits similar negative effects on customer outcomes for both driver affiliations. These findings offer important insights for last‐mile delivery strategy and operations research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Umm Al-Qura University Journal of Social Sciences is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This study aims to examine the moderating role of principle-based entity (PBE) of luxury brands and its effect on perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) motives, consumer situational scepticism and brand resonance. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modelling using multigroup analysis was used. Data were collected through a consumer panel. Findings: Values-driven motives lowered consumer situational scepticism (CSS) significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. However, egoistic-driven motives increased CSS significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. Stakeholder-driven motives and strategic-driven motives did not elicit CSS, contrary to prior studies in non-luxury brands. PBE status also weakens the relationship between CSS and brand resonance more than non-PBE status. Originality/value: This study is the first to provide empirical insights into PBE status and its effects on perceived motives, CSS of CSR initiatives and its influence in consumer and management outcomes in luxury brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of consumers' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on their anti-consumer awareness. Specifically, this study aims to uncover the mechanisms through which the consumer's CSR perception relates to their formation of anti-consumer awareness. A survey design was adopted to test this study's hypotheses. We collected data from 310 consumers in South Korea and used path analysis and bootstrapping to test the hypotheses. Our results showed that consumers' CSR perception is negatively related to their anti-consumer awareness. Notably, consumers' perception of CSR activities is positively related to their perceptions of compassion toward organizations, which, in turn, is also positively associated with their perception of CSR authenticity. Furthermore, compassion and CSR authenticity serially mediate the negative relationship between CSR perception and anti-consumer awareness. Our findings shed light on the importance of engaging in CSR activities from consumers' perspectives. Specifically, our findings suggest that organizations need to proactively engage in CSR activities with authenticity to maintain and even further their reputation among consumers. Furthermore, by demonstrating the psychological processes of how CSR activities translate into consumers' attitudes toward the organizations, our study provides fruitful avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Based on a relationship marketing approach, this paper aims to study the influence of social media use on salesperson performance and its underlying mechanisms from the perspective of salespeople in B2B settings. Design/methodology/approach: To test the proposed model, the authors used structural equation modeling with a sample of 196 French B2B salespeople. Moreover, to explore the moderating effect of emotional management between social media use and relationship quality, the authors used the Hayes macro PROCESS for SPSS and the Johnson–Newman's floodlight method. Findings: The authors confirm the direct role of social media use on salesperson performance, and its indirect role through the parallel mediation of social proximity and relationship quality. The empirical study provides evidence for the moderating effect of emotional management on the relationship between social media use and relationship quality. Practical implications: Companies should promote the use of social media to increase both the sales and creative performance of salespeople. Moreover, salespeople with low to moderate abilities to manage other people's emotions benefit strongly from the use of social media, as this directly increases their relationship with their customers. Originality/value: The research complements the conceptualization of salesperson performance as a combination of sales performance and sales creativity and shows that emotional management is an asset for social media users to develop valuable business relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the question of how employees react to the perceived fairness of their manager's treatment of customers. Current models of third-party justice reactions produce two tenable but mutually exclusive responses to observed manager-customer treatment: Relational affirmation, in which service employees engage customers in ways perceived to be congruent with manager-customer treatment, and relational restoration, in which they attempt to rebalance or restore their perceived relationship with customers to counteract observed treatment. Hypothesizing both effects, we explore the role of service employees' relational identification with customers as a moderator of these two employee reactions. Across a field study of nursing assistants (n = 107) and their supervisors (n = 7), and a laboratory study with a simulated customer service help desk (n = 100), employee-customer identification was found to interact with supervisor-customer interpersonal justice such that the relationship between perceived justice and pro-customer behavior was positive when employee-customer identification was low (consistent with relational affirmation) and negative when employee-customer identification was high (consistent with relational restoration) (Study 1: β = −.22; Study 2: η2 =.07). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, purchasing intention towards green products has gained global attention due to their extensive use and high environmental issues. Thus, the current article investigates environmental concern, environmental knowledge, green product, and eco-innovation influence on the green purchase intention of green products in Taiwan industry. The research also examines the mediating role of consumers' attention among environmental concerns environmental knowledge, green products eco-innovation, and green purchase intention. The article used questionnaires to collect the primary data from the sampled population. To examine the hypothesis, the PLS methodology was adopted. The results indicated that environmental concern, environmental knowledge, green product, and eco-innovation have a positive association with green purchase intention. The findings also exposed that consumer attention significantly and positively mediates environmental concern, environmental knowledge, green product, eco-innovation, and green purchase intention. The paper also proposed some guidelines to the practitioners which help them in the development of green-related policies to increase purchase intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There are numerous studies on satisfaction, but not enough on dissatisfaction when its consequences can be harmful. This study aims to examine different unsatisfactory situations during customer–supplier relationships in industrial markets combining the appraisal theory with the critical incident technique to identify potential problems and strategies to minimize their effect. Design/methodology/approach: This research follows an exploratory qualitative approach based on 18 in-depth interviews with managers from business-to-business firms. The information obtained was object of a textual and conceptual analysis using the analytical software ATLAS TI 9.0. Findings: The results show that negative cognitions have greater influence than negative emotions, and those dissatisfied customers may respond by expressing complaints, ending transactional relationships, reporting the other party legally, asking for explanations or continuing commercial relationships, even though they are dissatisfied. This will depend on the severity of the critical incident and the negative cognitions and emotions perceived. Proactivity and understanding of this situation will allow for understanding what specific actions to take to resolve conflicts and mitigate the negative effects among the parties. Originality/value: This paper focuses on dissatisfaction, instead of satisfaction, in industrial markets through the appraisal theory. Furthermore, it applies the critical incident technique to understand the cognitions and emotions related with dissatisfaction in the commercial relationships. Finally, it provides ideas on what are the main source of dissatisfaction and how to manage them to anticipate and better manage those incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental awareness is a growing concern for consumers, and effective green messaging strategies are crucial for businesses. This 2 × 2 between-subject experiment investigates the influence of message style and sidedness on consumer participation in green practices and explores the role of message usefulness and skepticism. Our results show that a narrative message style and a two-sided message increase perceived usefulness, reduce skepticism, and lead to greater behavioral intent. Further, the study supports the moderated serial mediation role of message usefulness and skepticism. These findings offer significant implications for businesses seeking to promote sustainable practices and engage consumers in green initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social media is increasingly used to communicate corporate social responsibility (CSR). Stakeholders respond to CSR messages with user-generated content (UGC), signalling approval or disapproval, potentially shaping consumers' perceived legitimacy and scepticism towards CSR. Few studies have explored how UGC shapes these consumer responses. In the context of the UK food retail industry, this study explored what makes UGC more or less believed than company-generated CSR communication on social media. Through qualitative inquiry, the study identified that unique characteristics of social media, such as system-generated cues, lead UGC to be more believed than company-generated content, shaping perceived legitimacy. The study indicates the risks of communicating CSR through social media may be greater than previously suggested. It identifies recipient-related conditions under which these risks can be minimised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effect of top management's customer interactions (TMCI) on customer satisfaction. This study argues that TMCI's overall relationship with customer satisfaction follows an inverted-U shape due to its positive and disruptive effects on the customer relationship efforts of frontline service/sales employees (FSEs). This paper further investigates the frontline competence of both FSEs and the top management team (TMT) as moderators of the impact of TMCI on customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: The conceptual model was tested empirically using data from managers, frontline employees and customers of microfinance firms. A multilevel structural equation modeling approach was used to test the hypothesized model. Findings: The results show that TMCI has a curvilinear relationship with customer satisfaction. The results also show that frontline employees' collective efficacy attenuates this relationship by shifting the turning point of the curvilinear effect to the right. Furthermore, TMT frontline competence amplifies both the positive and negative effects of TMCI on customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: This study advances knowledge on the effects of TMCI on customer satisfaction and highlights the nuanced relationship between top management involvement and indicators of firm performance. Practical implications: The findings show the importance of considering the frontline competence of both top management and frontline employees when encouraging TMCI in organizations. Originality/value: To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine TMCI's direct impact on customer satisfaction and propose the frontline competence of both top management and frontline employees as boundary conditions on this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has marked key milestones including a transition to sustainable consumption. Eco-brands could exploit this conjuncture to advertise their products while pondering how green ad claims are judged as misleading, unsubstantiated, and opportunistic, but also useful and efficient. This study revises the notion that green consumers distrust green advertising by analyzing how green consumerism, conceptualized as a hierarchical construct, moderates the effect of three factors on the credibility of green advertising. An experiment involving the ad claim, product type, and familiarity with the eco-brand was performed in the context of an emerging economy. The statistical analyses show complex interrelationships between the experimental factors and cross effects between factors and the dimensions of green consumerism. Results indicate that eco-brand familiarity increases green ad credibility for products that were designed and launched as green (e.g., hybrid cars and tissue paper) while the type of ad claim (environmental vs. self-benefit) has no significant effect if the product is recognized as green. Results also indicate that of the three dimensions comprising green consumerism, only green purchasing has a direct negative effect on ad credibility. This effect is stronger for low-cost goods whose environmental benefits against regular products are easier to confirm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Management / Revista de Administração da UFSM is the property of Brazilian Journal of Management / Revista de Administracao da UFSM and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article extends current models of how consumers judge or perceive organizations as greedy using the theoretical framework of motivated moral reasoning. We show that inherent features of an organization (size and 'black sheep' status) and its behaviour (relative frequency) bias consumer perceptions of organizational greed. We use an experimental methodology, present subjects with vignettes describing different scenarios, validate our questionnaire using confirmatory factor analysis, and test our hypotheses using a general linear model with covariates. Our findings suggest that consumer perceptions of organizational greed are subject to three effects: the underdog effect (Study 1, n = 496), the black sheep effect (Study 2, n = 229) and the 'common is moral' heuristic (Study 3, n = 249). This is the first study to investigate greed under a motivated reasoning paradigm and to show that perceptions of organizational greed are subject to socio‐psychological biases. This study also provides advice on branding and positioning strategies that appeal to the underdog status of an organization or its local origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research identifies and portrays the under-researched segment of sustainable fashion consumers, drawing a comparison with the average consumers in Spain, and defines the drivers and barriers for sustainable fashion consumption, further contributing to the attitude-behaviour gap literature. Based on a sample of 1,063 respondents and 23 focus group participants, and following the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the results indicate that lack of trust in fashion companies and their sustainable statements is the main reason preventing consumers from buying sustainable products or doing it more often, followed by higher prices. It appears that the more sustainably conscious consumers are, the less they buy brand-new, preferring alternatives such as second-hand (mainly) and renting. Sustainable fashion consumers demonstrate greater fashion consciousness, environmental concern, perceived consumer effectiveness, and a higher subjective norm than average consumers. Conversely, price is still a critical purchasing driver for the average consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista FACE is the property of Universidad de Pamplona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous research mainly concentrated on the link between the company size and consumer perceptions related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here we aim to extend the previous findings to the context of the consumer's individual trait of social responsibility. Building on signaling theory, we analyze such signals as company size and demonstrate that consumers have a decreased willingness to buy a product originating from a large company as compared to a small company. However, the effect flips for consumers with low social responsibility as they show a higher willingness to buy large company products. We contribute to signaling theory by showing that consumer traits such as consumer social responsibility can play an important role in the effectiveness of the signal. In addition, these findings contribute to consumer social responsibility research as well as consumer behavior literature by showing that the company size effect is moderated by consumer social responsibility. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed together with directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As companies rely on social media to communicate corporate social responsibility (CSR), the need to understand the implications of using this channel grows. This study explored such implications in the context of food retailers' CSR. Drawing on attribution theory, it adopts a mixed method approach to explain how social media communication shapes CSR attributions and influences consumers' scepticism towards CSR. Results identify company-generated social media communication as an important antecedent of CSR attributions. It finds that attributions play a key role in determining the extent to which consumers interact with user-generated content (UGC), influencing whether it shapes their scepticism. The study offers several implications for academics and practitioners, extending current theoretical arguments related to the use of social media for CSR communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the gap between the consumers' subjective propensity to engage in sustainable consumption and their actual behavior to develop an understanding of the consumers' practical contribution to sustainable development. This study examined the gaps between the consumers' subjective propensity to hold sustainable consumption attitudes or beliefs and their practical behavior by focusing on the value consumers assign to sustainable consumption while engaging in such behavior. Additionally, the effects of the consumers' social relationships and civic participation on sustainable consumption and the propensity‐behavior gap were investigated. Survey data were collected by a professional market research organization from 422 panel consumers. The results indicate that functional value influences actual behavior, while subjective propensity is affected by emotional and altruistic values, as well as by functional value. Bridging social capital negatively affects actual practice of sustainable consumption, whereas the consumers' civic roles have the opposite effect. Finally, the gap between propensity and actual behavior is more likely to occur when consumers are led by emotional and altruistic values of sustainable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brands increasingly take a stance on political issues, whereas consumers increasingly choose to either support a brand by buying their products ("buycotting"), or turn away from a brand ("boycotting") for political reasons. While buycotts can be understood as a rewarding and cooperative form of mostly individual behavior, boycotts are a conflict-oriented form of collective punishment. Even though research has acknowledged these conceptual differences, studies have failed to analyze the difference in the absolute effect of consumers' disapproval and approval. Moreover, research to date has not identified boundary conditions that might explain variation in the difference between consumers' willingness to boycott or buycott. This research investigates this different effectiveness by conducting two experiments with different sets of brands, issues, and countries. Our results suggest that boycotting outweighs buycotting, implying that political brand communication is a risky strategy. Furthermore, we identify consumers' political interest and category involvement as moderators of this imbalance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customers have obvious occupational gender stereotypes for service employees. In recent years, intelligent service robots have been widely used in the hospitality industry and have also been given gender characteristics to attract customers to use them. However, whether and when the usage of gendered service robots is effective remains to be explored. This research focuses on customers' occupational gender stereotypes and the gender of service robots, examining the influences of their consistency on customers' willingness to use service robots through three scenario studies. The findings suggest that: (1) The consistency between occupational gender stereotypes and service robot gender positively affects customers' willingness to use service robots. (2) Performance expectancy and trust are two psychological mechanisms underlying the above effect. (3) In the context of service failures, the consistency backfires and brings negative effects on willingness to use. This research extends the literature on customers' acceptance of anthropomorphized robots from the perspective of gender stereotypes and identifies the mechanisms behind the stereotype consistency effect. For practical implications, hotels should design and deploy gendered robots consistent with corresponding occupational gender stereotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intentional service failures (e.g., overbooking or overcharging) have received little scholarly attention, despite their regular occurrence and immense costs. Using a multi-method approach combining experimental and field data from online reviews, it was found that intentional (vs. unintentional) failures lead to greater negative word of mouth (nWOM) and patronage reduction. This research extends these findings by demonstrating that intentional failures are less harmful when the failure is reversible (vs. irreversible) and occurs at an employee (vs. firm) level. Further, while either psychological (e.g., apology) or monetary compensation is effective in mitigating the consequences of intentional failures at an employee level, a combined service recovery (psychological and monetary) is the best solution when the failure is at a firm level. Drawing on attribution theory, the article unveils the key role of trust (as opposed to justice) as the mechanism to explain the effects of intentionality on customers' nWOM and patronage reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing interest being given to dysfunctional customer behavior in multiple service sectors, it is unclear how and why different types of dysfunctional customer behavior (verbal abuse, disproportionate demand, and illegitimate complaint) affect frontline employees' emotional labor during the service interactions. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, we propose a conceptual model in which verbal abuse, disproportionate demand, and illegitimate complaint differentially influence frontline employees' emotional labor strategies (surface acting and deep acting). Further, the boundary conditions of these relationships are considered by introducing perceived organizational support and customer orientation as moderators. Using survey data from 436 frontline employees of five call centers in China, hypotheses were tested through a hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that verbal abuse and illegitimate complaint exerted positive effects on surface acting. Particularly, these positive effects were weaker when frontline employees perceived organizational support was high. Also, verbal abuse's positive effect on surface acting was weaker when frontline employees' customer orientation was high. Customer's verbal abuse, disproportionate demand, and illegitimate complaint negatively influenced frontline employees' deep acting. The negative effect of disproportionate demand on deep acting was weaker when perceived organizational support was high. However, when frontline employees' customer orientation was high, the negative effects of disproportionate demand and illegitimate complaints on deep acting were weaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers tend to hold a focal firm responsible for its suppliers' unsustainable practices (chain liability), suggesting that firms need effective responses that can mitigate negative consumer reactions. In applying psychological contract theory to investigate recovery efforts related to such chain liability, the current study addresses three broad focal firm responses: Do nothing, choose a nonsubstantive response that verbally clarifies its own and the supplier's roles in the incident, or substantively rectify the supplier's wrongdoing with sustainability‐focused responses, such as termination, monitoring or development. With a vignette‐based experiment, we examine consumer perceptions and behaviors in three stages: before the unsustainable supplier incident (pre‐incident), after the incident (post‐incident) and after the focal firm has responded (post‐response). A nonsubstantive, clarification response decreases consumers' purchase intentions; substantive focal firm activities increase purchase intentions, though not fully back to pre‐incident levels. For consumers, termination, monitoring and development seem like equally adequate responses. Although combining several substantive responses offers even greater effectiveness for recovering purchase intentions, it still falls short of reaching pre‐incident levels. Thus, our findings demonstrate the focal firm's capacity to address suppliers' unsustainable practices substantively and recover, at least partially, its damaged relationship with consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual agents (VAs) are used increasingly as representatives of the firm in retail and service settings – particularly in online environments. Existing studies indicate that the customer's experience is enhanced if VAs resemble humans, which seems to imply that what has been learned over the years in research about the influence of the human employee's behavior on customer satisfaction may be applicable also to VA behavior. This study explores one factor, effort, which has a positive impact on customer satisfaction when it characterizes the human employee in service encounters. Although a VA (i.e., a computer program) cannot experience effort, it was assumed that human sensitivity to other humans' effort, and a tendency to anthropomorphize non-human agents, would make human customers susceptible to effort-expending signals when they interact with a VA. To examine this assumption, data were collected from customers who had been interacting with existing VAs. The results indicate that three specific behaviors (engaging in personal conversation, listening, and display of warmth) boost the customer's perceptions of VA effort, and that perceived VA effort has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the UN for 2030 implies designing strategies that promote socially responsible consumption. The effectiveness of these strategies will depend on understanding the variables that influence socially responsible behaviour. We must also bear in mind that these variables and this behaviour are of a dynamic, multidimensional and non‐universal nature. The objective of this work is to identify how three attitudinal variables (emotional engagement, perceived consumer effectiveness and perception of personal gain) influence socially responsible consumption, through a model of structural equations. To do this, a survey was conducted of 415 Spanish consumers. The results reflect that socially responsible consumption is mainly explained by emotional engagement and to a lesser extent by perceived consumer effectiveness. In contrast, it is not influenced by perception of personal gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]