{"title":"How Algorithmic Bias Shapes Consumer Acceptance of AI Recommendations: The Roles of Recommendation Strategy, Self-Identity Threat, Perceived Warmth and Privacy Concerns","authors":"Wei Du, Wenping Jiang","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70272","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Algorithmic bias, as a socio-technical phenomenon, may produce discriminatory outcomes that violate norms of justice and equality, thereby adversely affecting specific groups in society. Although algorithmic fairness has received widespread attention, how different recommendation strategies interact with algorithmic bias to influence consumers' psychological responses in intelligent recommendation scenarios remains underexplored. Grounded in identity process theory, this study focuses on two recommendation strategies (relevance-based vs. similarity-based recommendations) to examine the impact of algorithmic bias on consumers' recommendation acceptance intention, and further analyzes the moderating roles of perceived warmth and privacy concerns. Through four experimental studies (total <i>N</i> = 895), we find that algorithmic bias reduces consumers' acceptance intention, and this effect is more pronounced under similarity-based (vs. relevance-based) recommendation strategies. Perceived warmth and privacy concerns moderate the mediation pathway of self-identity threat, such that relevance-based recommendations (vs. similarity-based recommendations) enhance recommendation acceptance intention by reducing self-identity threat. These findings reveal that similarity-based recommendations may exacerbate user resistance in the context of algorithmic bias. This study deepens the theoretical understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying algorithmic unfairness in the digital age, extends the application of identity process theory to the domain of human-computer interaction, and provides actionable empirical implications for enterprises in the ethical design and strategic optimization of intelligent recommendation systems.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Consumer Decision-Making Styles Across Product Involvement Levels: A Mixed-Methods Study of Online Flash Sale Events","authors":"Wee Thiam Low, Xiaoxian Zhu, Neesa Sajjad Butt","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70271","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Online flash sale events create urgency, scarcity and deep-discount conditions, yet little is known about how consumer decision-making styles vary across product involvement levels and how they are associated with situational involvement. Grounded in consumer decision-making styles and involvement theory, this sequential exploratory mixed-methods research examines these variations across high-, medium- and low-involvement product categories and associations with situational involvement. A preliminary study identified package holidays, high-street clothes and takeaway food vouchers as high-, medium- and low-involvement categories, respectively. Semi-structured interviews with 28 UK online shoppers were analysed using content analysis with intercoder reliability assessment. Questionnaire data from the package holidays (<i>n</i> = 464), high-street clothes (<i>n</i> = 521) and takeaway food vouchers (<i>n</i> = 420) were analysed using structural equation modelling. Brand consciousness, perfectionism, price consciousness and web security were positively associated with situational involvement across all three categories. Fulfilment and impulsiveness were positively associated, and inertia negatively associated, for high-street clothes and takeaway food vouchers. Fashion consciousness was positively associated for high-street clothes, whereas health consciousness for takeaway food vouchers and safety for package holidays were not significantly associated. The findings qualify product-neutral applications of consumer decision-making styles by identifying category-invariant, partially shared and category-specific dimensions. Retailers can use these patterns to tailor product information and communication to the decision-making styles relevant to each product category.</p>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijcs.70271","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mingli Huang, Daniel P. Hampson, Eunkyung Lee, Yining Yu, John Byrom
{"title":"Responding to Competitor Praise: How Downgrading Praise Shapes Consumer Responses Across Cultures","authors":"Mingli Huang, Daniel P. Hampson, Eunkyung Lee, Yining Yu, John Byrom","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70268","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Research has shown that praising competitors on social media can benefit brands, yet how recipient brands should respond remains unclear. This uncertainty may limit opportunities to improve brand outcomes through these interactions. Drawing on a conversational norms perspective, this research examines whether downgrading competitor praise (minimizing praise to convey agreement and modesty norms) can enhance brand outcomes. A field observation of 105 brand-to-brand praise posts on X first reveals that most praise does not receive a response. Across three experiments involving 974 participants recruited from China and the United States (US), we compare downgrading praise with no response, a simple thank-you, and upgrading praise. The results show that downgrading praise increases consumers' perceived social closeness to the brand, thereby enhancing brand outcomes. Importantly, this effect emerged in the Chinese sample but not in the US sample, indicating a cultural-contextual boundary condition. These findings extend the literature on brand-to-brand dialogue and conversational norms. From a marketing perspective, these findings suggest that brands should strategically use downgrading of competitor praise to strengthen consumer–brand relationships, particularly in collectivist cultural contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijcs.70268","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Payment Adoption and Financial Vulnerability: Global Evidence From Multilevel Models","authors":"Zewei Liu, Jing Jian Xiao, Rui Yao","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70269","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although digital financial services are emerging, whether adopting digital payment influences consumer vulnerability remains understudied and debated. This study aims to examine mechanisms linking digital payment adoption, financial fragility, financial worry, and national socioeconomic development. Guided by information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), financial capability, and consumer vulnerability theories, we utilized multilevel modeling on a unique multisource dataset including 122,717 adults across 139 economies. Digital payment adoption was negatively associated with financial fragility across levels, while its associations with financial worry were positive at the individual level and negative at the country level on average. Such associations were manifested through suppressive partial mediation pathways and exhibited heterogeneous strengths across regions worldwide. The analysis revealed double-edged effects of consumer digital payment adoption and uncovered cross-level development paradoxes in digital financial vulnerability. Specifically, although digital adoption reflects human adaptation to crisis-driven transformation, it simultaneously exacerbates specific dimensions of consumer fragility. The “macro–micro mismatch” identified a paradox capturing structural forces in shaping consumer welfare. The cross-level interactions identified another “enabling–amplifying context” functioning as diverse roles of socioeconomic development environments. This study contributes a comprehensive and comparative framework to the multidisciplinary research on digital finance and well-being. It also informs policymakers about co-creating inclusive financial ecosystems to address consumer vulnerability alongside the macro-level development of digitalization, financialization, and globalization.</p>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijcs.70269","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mingzhu Li, Junjie Shu, Fangyuan Chang, Tao Peng, Xingyan Chen, YiQiang Wu, Tao Tao
{"title":"Visual Context in AI Recommendations: Implications for Consumer Evaluation and Choice","authors":"Mingzhu Li, Junjie Shu, Fangyuan Chang, Tao Peng, Xingyan Chen, YiQiang Wu, Tao Tao","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70267","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Artificial intelligence (AI) recommendations increasingly combine product information with contextual visual presentation. In age-friendly furniture recommendations, these visuals may convey cues about home settings, product use, and older users. This study examines whether older self-buyers and adult-child proxy buyers respond similarly to such cues. The Stimulus–Organism–Response framework provides the theoretical foundation, while possible-selves theory and self-congruity theory guide interpretation of segment differences. A focus group of seven experts informed stimulus development. A 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment involved 330 participants: 165 older self-buyers aged 60–75 and 165 adult-child proxy buyers aged 40–59. Within each composite age-role segment, participants were randomly assigned to product-only presentation, home-context presentation, or an older-user use scene in a home context. Analysis of variance assessed the segment × visual format interaction in purchase intention, structural equation modelling examined relationships between consumer appraisals and purchase intention, and logistic regression examined add-to-cart behaviour. Among older self-buyers, home-context presentation was positively associated with perceived warmth, home fit, trust, and age salience relative to product-only presentation, while the older-user use scene in a home context was significantly associated with home fit and age salience. Purchase intention showed a significant segment × visual format interaction. Descriptively, mean purchase intention was highest under home-context presentation among older self-buyers and under the older-user use scene in a home context among adult-child proxy buyers. Perceived warmth, home fit, and trust were positively associated with purchase intention, which was positively associated with add-to-cart behaviour. These findings link visual context in AI recommendations to age-friendly consumption and intergenerational purchasing. Purchasing-role effects cannot be isolated from age differences, and structural paths should be interpreted as associational rather than causal. The findings suggest segment-sensitive visual design emphasising home integration for older self-buyers and cues related to older users and product use for adult-child proxy buyers.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When AI Moves to the Forefront of Creativity: How Transparent Disclosure Shapes Consumer Acceptance Through Legitimacy Judgments","authors":"Dong Lv, Rui Sun, Xuxin Jiang, Qiuhua Zhu, Yue Cheng","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70270","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Generative artificial intelligence is increasingly used in brand content production, yet disclosing AI involvement can reduce consumer evaluations of creative work. Existing explanations primarily emphasize ability and reliability judgments, offering only a partial account of negative responses to AI-related creator cues. Drawing on institutional legitimacy theory, this study develops a context-specific AI disclosure evaluation framework integrating prior work on legitimacy, the associative–propositional evaluation model, and schema incongruity. The framework proposes that AI disclosure can reduce acceptance by lowering perceived legitimacy, elicit early differential attentional processing, and shape later evaluative integration depending on the work's emotional involvement. Study 1 uses a scenario experiment (<i>N</i> = 300) and finds that an AI-generated creative arrangement reduces acceptance through lower perceived legitimacy, alongside a countervailing positive direct effect. Study 2 uses an event-related potential (ERP) experiment (<i>N</i> = 27). ERPs are voltage changes time-locked to stimulus presentation. The AI condition elicits a more negative N1, an early negative-going component associated with differential attention allocation across work types. Larger P3/P300, a later positive component associated with resource allocation and evaluative updating, and lower explicit acceptance emerge only for highly emotionally involved work. Study 3 analyzes 11,572 Weibo texts and a regression subset of 9175 observations, identifying an analogous association between high emotional involvement and lower levels of acceptance in public discourse. Collectively, the studies shift attention from AI ability to the perceived legitimacy of disclosed creative arrangements and distinguish early cue processing from later context-dependent evaluation. Perceived legitimacy is the behavioral mechanism tested in Study 1, whereas ERP measures characterize temporal processing differences. The findings suggest that managers should evaluate disclosed AI involvement in relation to the emotional significance of the content and clearly communicate human responsibility; the effectiveness of specific disclosure wording remains untested. Because experimental evidence comes primarily from younger Chinese participants and archival evidence from one Chinese social media platform, generalizability requires further testing across age groups, cultures, creative domains, and platforms.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149205351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seeing Is Believing, Experiencing Is Deciding: How Augmented Reality Attributes Drive Confidence in Choice and Willingness to Pay","authors":"Syed Javeed, Gowhar Rasool, Anjali Pathania","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70266","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70266","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Augmented reality (AR) now defines online retail, yet most research focuses on its usefulness and enjoyment rather than on how specific attributes shape consumer judgements. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework and self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines how AR attributes (interactivity, vividness, novelty, and quality) relate to psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and in turn to confidence in choice and willingness to pay, comparing AR and non-AR platforms among 468 shoppers using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Interactivity and novelty were the most consistent drivers of need satisfaction, whereas quality was associated with autonomy alone, and only marginally so, and vividness offered no consistent advantage over non-AR displays, pointing to a ceiling effect in already-immersive settings. Autonomy predicted willingness to pay, and competence and relatedness predicted confidence in choice, so decision certainty and price valuation followed distinct motivational routes. Mediation analysis indicates that need satisfaction transmits these effects, and product uncertainty weakens the autonomy and relatedness pathways but not the competence pathway. Configurational analysis revealed five equifinal combinations of attributes and needs, indicating that no single condition is sufficient on its own and that AR attributes can substitute for one another. The study therefore establishes need satisfaction as the mechanism through which AR attributes shape judgements, and it shows practitioners how to align specific attributes with the psychological need most relevant to the intended outcome rather than maximising visual richness.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149145801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Minimalist Consumption Shapes Voluntary Simplicity and Product Retention Through Life Satisfaction","authors":"Yasin Yılmaztürk, Çağatay Akdoğan","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70265","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Why do some consumers deliberately choose to own less—and does this choice make them happier? This study explores how minimalist consumption shapes voluntary simplicity and product retention tendency, with life satisfaction serving as a key mediating mechanism. Data were collected from 398 participants across Turkey through an online survey using simple random sampling. Structural equation modelling was used to test both direct and indirect relationships. The findings reveal that minimalist consumption is positively associated with voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction, yet negatively associated with product retention. More importantly, life satisfaction mediates both pathways, connecting minimalist consumption to voluntary simplicity and to reduced product retention. These results advance the theoretical understanding of sustainable consumption and carry meaningful implications for consumers, industry practitioners, and policymakers. At a time when consumption habits are under growing scrutiny, this study offers fresh evidence that consuming less, in fact, leads to living better.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149145592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Follower Skepticism Toward Green Influencers: E-WOM Insights on Authenticity and Greenwashing","authors":"Thi-Thao Nguyen, Thai-Thinh Dang","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70262","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study examines how followers of green influencers negotiate skepticism toward authenticity and greenwashing through electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) on TikTok, whose short-form, highly interactive format makes such negotiation publicly visible as it unfolds. Using a qualitative netnographic approach, reflexive thematic analysis was applied to 1453 comments from 21 videos posted by 16 green influencers, predominantly in Vietnam. Findings reveal three skepticism themes, targeting the influencer's personal authenticity and motives, the efficacy of promoted sustainability actions and greenwashing risk, and the environmental legitimacy of recommended green alternatives, alongside a counter-theme in which admiration and inspiration accompany expressed pro-environmental intentions despite this doubt. Skepticism is interpreted here as a dynamic process negotiated along two proposed pathways rather than a static barrier. In a disruptive pathway, perceived theatricality appears to be read as discrediting, and commentary turns negative. In a parallel pathway, environmental decoupling may allow followers to separate judgment of the influencer from the environmental cause, so that skepticism and admiration coexist alongside expressed positive engagement. The contribution extends the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework by specifying its organismic state and proposes the target-dependent branching of the two pathways, rather than decoupling itself, as an emerging proposition open to testing. Practically, green influencers and brands should keep recording subordinate to the activity, close the loop by reporting outcomes and verification, and state the conditions under which claimed benefits hold. A shift toward demonstrable green leadership may help sustain support alongside residual doubt.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149146797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Online Ratings as Constructed Signals: A Systematic Review of Generation, Interpretation, and Consumer Outcomes","authors":"Arun Saxena, Diptiman Banerji","doi":"10.1111/ijcs.70264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70264","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Aggregate ratings remain embedded in research on electronic word-of-mouth and online reviews, rather than being examined as distinct constructs. This review synthesizes how ratings are generated, interpreted, and translated into consumer outcomes across provider-user streams. Following the SPAR-4-SLR, we searched Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost and retained 423 peer-reviewed articles published between 2002 and 2025. We organized the evidence using the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodology (TCCM) framework and an actor-based Antecedents–Decisions–Outcomes (ADO) framework. Ratings function as constructed signals shaped by participation, affect, social influence, platform architecture, and distortion. Rating generation and use form a recursive system, whereas effects operate through decision mechanisms whose competing theoretical explanations remain insufficiently distinguished. Behavioral influence does not establish consumer benefits; signal fidelity and judgment accuracy are distinct, whereas evidence on decision quality and welfare remains limited. These findings establish ratings as a distinct construct that integrates provider and user streams, diagnoses theoretical fragmentation, and separates fidelity, accuracy, decision quality, and benefits. Five research priorities extend these insights across recursion, theory adjudication, fidelity and accuracy, welfare, and boundary conditions. For platforms, the findings distinguish between interventions that target signal fidelity and those that support judgment accuracy.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":48192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Consumer Studies","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149029145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}