{"title":"The higher the better? A study on the dark side of high engagement atmosphere in live streaming sales on consumer post-purchase satisfaction","authors":"Xiaojun Fan, Wenxia Tao, Haowei Yu, Zheng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104303","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104303","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Research on live streaming engagement has long focused on its positive aspect of promoting consumer conversion but has neglected the potential loss of post-transaction value due to high interaction intensity. This study reveals the “engagement paradox” through a mixed study of actual live streaming and post-purchase evaluation data and survey-based research: although high engagement enhances immediate purchase intention, it significantly reduces post-purchase satisfaction through the dynamic imbalance of cognitive-emotional resources. Based on the integrated framework of elaboration likelihood model, expectation confirmation theory, information overload theory, and flow theory, it is found that the paradox stems from the contextual differentiation of dual paths contextual differentiation, i.e., information dissemination and high interactivity features in live sales contexts trigger information overload and flow experiences, which can lead to satisfaction decay by amplifying the expectation-confirmation gap. This finding bridges the perceived divide in the existing literature on the paradoxical validity of engagement. Further applying gender schema theory, the study breaks new ground by finding that male consumers exhibit more significant flow attrition effects in high-engagement live streaming due to heuristic decision-making tendencies, providing key boundary conditions for gender marketing theory in digital contexts. And these findings also provide practical guidance for designing consumer engagement strategies on live-streaming platforms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104303"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143868352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hao Liu , Peilin Zhang , Hongqing Cheng , Najmul Hasan , Raymond Chiong
{"title":"Impact of AI-generated virtual streamer interaction on consumer purchase intention: A focus on social presence and perceived value","authors":"Hao Liu , Peilin Zhang , Hongqing Cheng , Najmul Hasan , Raymond Chiong","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104290","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104290","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The immense growth of virtual streaming is reshaping shopping habits. However, limited research, if any, has focused on the differentiated effects of interaction types—namely product interactions versus social interactions—used by virtual streamers, and their distinct impacts on purchase intentions. This study, focusing on China's booming virtual streamer market, examines how artificial intelligence (AI)-generated virtual streamers' interaction types impact consumer purchase intention, considering the mediating roles of social presence and perceived value, and the moderating effect of product types. Utilizing a randomized scenario experiment among young consumers, the data was collected during a cross-sectional timeframe for two case scenarios, from which we analyzed 100 valid responses in Case 1 and 201 valid responses in Case 2. Results showed that product-focused interactions enhance purchase intention for utilitarian products via perceived value, while social interactions boost purchase intention for hedonic products through social presence. These findings suggest that AI-generated virtual streamers can strategically tailor interaction styles based on product categories to maximize livestream commerce effectiveness. This study enriches understanding of digital consumer behavior and provides actionable insights for retailers deploying AI-generated virtual streamers. It also highlights social presence and perceived value as key psychological mechanisms in shaping consumer responses to virtual streamer interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104290"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143863578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Muhammad Shahzeb Fayyaz , Amir Zaib Abbasi , Sanjeev Kumar , Ammar Qureshi , Khalil Hussain , Lakhi Muhammad
{"title":"Integrating digital influencer persuasion model and theory of planned behavior: The mediating role of consumer involvement in endorsed brands","authors":"Muhammad Shahzeb Fayyaz , Amir Zaib Abbasi , Sanjeev Kumar , Ammar Qureshi , Khalil Hussain , Lakhi Muhammad","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104309","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104309","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the integration of the Digital Influencer Persuasion (DIP) model with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine customer buying behavior. It also investigates the mediating role of consumer involvement in linking persuasion factors to attitudes towards the endorsed brand. Data was collected from 322 valid participants using a survey study approach, and the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was employed to test the structural model rigorously. The findings indicate that perceived influence and trustworthiness significantly enhance customer involvement with endorsed brands, whereas reputation does not exhibit a significant effect. Furthermore, customer involvement serves as a strong predictor of customer attitudes toward endorsed brands. While customer attitudes and perceived behavioral control significantly influence purchase intention, subjective norms do not demonstrate a significant effect. Additionally, purchase intention is found to be a significant determinant of actual purchase behavior. Importantly, customer involvement in endorsed brands positively mediates the relationship between attitude toward endorsed brands and key persuasion model factors (i.e., perceived influence and trustworthiness). This study offers valuable theoretical and practical insights by expanding the understanding of how DIs' perceived influence, trustworthiness, and reputation collectively shape consumer behavior. The findings also provide marketers with guidance on selecting suitable DIs who align with their target audience and brand objectives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104309"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143863577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multicategory choice modeling by recurrent neural nets","authors":"Harald Hruschka","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104310","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104310","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In multicategory choice, a customer may purchase multiple products or product categories at the same time. Hidden variables of recurrent nets depend on current inputs and hidden variables of the previous period. We investigate the three main variants of recurrent neural nets, which we compare to multilayer perceptrons and multivariate logit models. Model evaluation is based on binary cross-entropies for a holdout sample. We restrict further analyses to the best non-recurrent model, a multilayer perceptron, and the best performing recurrent neural net, which both include category-specific advertising (features) as inputs. We interpret these two models looking at category dependences and feature effects. Category dependences measure the strength of either complementary or substitutive relations. We show what the stronger dependences inferred from the recurrent net imply for cross-selling decisions. We also compare what these two models imply for sales promotion by optimizing features. For the multilayer perceptron we obtain features for each category, which are constant across weeks, equaling either zero or the maximum value. For the recurrent net, features assume many intermediate values and vary considerably across weeks. To illustrate managerial implications of the recurrent net, we determine weekly features for six selected categories that differ as much as possible from each other. Finally, we discuss limitations of our approach and opportunities for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104310"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143860390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Helpful or harmful? A curvilinear perspective on AI agent anthropomorphism in service failure tolerance","authors":"Ruoran Liu , Jin-Xing Hao , Yan Yu , Wei Shan","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104299","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104299","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The anthropomorphic design of AI agents often evokes mixed responses, yet it remains a common strategy to mitigate the negative impact of service failures. This study examines how AI agent anthropomorphism influences customer tolerance for service failures. Through three experiments involving 526 participants in video- and text-based scenarios, the findings indicate a curvilinear relationship between anthropomorphism and failure tolerance, following an inverted U-shape. The study investigates the underlying mechanism driving this effect, with likability serving as a mediator in the curvilinear relationship. Additionally, this study identifies boundary conditions of the effects, where failure severity (1) attenuates the curve relationship between anthropomorphism and failure tolerance and (2) weakens the indirect effect of likability. These findings contribute new factors to cognitive appraisal theory (i.e., likability to personal factor and failure severity to situational factor) and expand uncanny valley theory from emotional to behavioral responses (i.e., tolerance behavior). Practically, this study provides valuable insights for the utilization and deployment of AI agents in customer service.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104299"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143850255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura Carmen Heredero, Carmen Camarero, Ana Isabel Rodríguez-Escudero
{"title":"Walking on the tightrope: Unveiling the addictive power of hedonic motivations and marketing stimuli","authors":"Laura Carmen Heredero, Carmen Camarero, Ana Isabel Rodríguez-Escudero","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104308","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104308","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rise of online commerce and the trend towards increased consumer exposure to digital content have brought about an emerging phenomenon – particularly among younger consumers–: online shopping addiction. While it has been studied from a psychological standpoint, the influence of online marketing strategies in addiction remains underexplored. Grounded in the uses and gratifications theory, this study examines how hedonic motivations increase exposure to marketing stimuli (social media, promotions, discounts, newsletters, etc.), resulting in online shopping addiction. The findings reveal that, although the consumption of marketing stimuli and online shopping may function as a form of retail therapy, individuals with heightened levels of hedonic gratifications are prone to developing online shopping addiction. This study provides empirical evidence that marketing stimuli play a limited role in driving addiction, as individuals strongly driven by hedonic motivations are inherently more susceptible to developing addictive shopping behaviours.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104308"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143830362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Consumer behavior toward cultured meat in the foodservice industry: Insights from IPA and fsQCA analysis on shifting trends","authors":"Lanji Quan , Heesup Han","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104307","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104307","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cultured meat is gaining prominence as a food of the future, attracting the attention of researchers and consumers. This study explores the key factors influencing consumer visit intentions for cultured meat restaurants through safety, quality, and ethical value propositions. By conducting interviews with 32 participants and an online survey with 571 respondents, this study employs importance-performance analysis (IPA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze complex relationships among these factors. The findings identify eight critical attributes of cultured meat that influence consumer decisions, providing strategic insights for restaurant marketers in China. Notably, the study reveals that while novelty and ethical concerns play a role, key determinants such as price, quality, nutritional benefits, and aversion significantly impact visit intentions. The fsQCA results emphasize the importance of combined attributes rather than single factors, highlighting the interplay between consumer perceptions and restaurant success. These results advance the understanding of cultured meat adoption and contribute to both theoretical and practical discussions on consumer behavior in the foodservice industry. Ultimately, this study offers implications for restaurant industry managers and policymakers aiming to effectively develop the cultured meat market.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104307"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143823319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of infrastructure and technological factors on slum online commerce and product delivery: A structural functionalism perspective","authors":"Abdul Karim Armah , Jinfa Li , Mengdi Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104292","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104292","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global e-commerce market has surged, with Greater China and the U.S. generating over $3 trillion in combined revenue in 2023. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains a marginal player, contributing less than 2 % to global e-commerce. This disparity is particularly evident in SSA's slum communities, which house over 60 % of the urban population. These slums face significant barriers—socioeconomic, infrastructural, and technological—that restrict their participation in online commerce and product delivery. While research has focused on health, sanitation, and poverty alleviation in SSA slums, the challenges of digital inclusion and integration into the global digital economy have been largely ignored. This study aims to address this gap by examining the infrastructural and technological factors that hinder online commerce and product delivery in SSA slums. Using a 5-point Likert scale and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study reveals that while education and digital literacy and security concerns have no significant impact on slum online product delivery, factors like addressing systems, transportation infrastructure, telecommunications, and digital divide significantly influence online commerce and product delivery. Mediation analysis further indicated that enhancing product delivery systems can partially mitigate the adverse effects of poor infrastructure online commerce. The findings highlight the urgent need to improve physical infrastructure, including transportation and addressing systems, alongside technological solutions like telecommunications and digital divide. Without addressing these barriers, slum residents will remain disconnected from the digital economy, limiting their access to economic opportunities and essential goods and services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104292"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143820336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Prisco, Irene Ricciardi, Martina Percuoco, Vincenzo Basile
{"title":"Sustainability-driven fashion: Unpacking generation Z’s second-hand clothing purchase intentions","authors":"Anna Prisco, Irene Ricciardi, Martina Percuoco, Vincenzo Basile","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104306","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104306","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This investigation probes Generation Z's proclivity towards acquiring sustainable merchandise, incorporating the Normative Activation Model (NAM) and the Model of Goal-Directed Behaviour (MGB) with a specific lens on circular goods. A purposive sampling method was employed to ensure that the selected participants possessed the specific characteristics required for this study. The total sample consisted of 711 surveys, of which only 457 fully completed responses were considered for analysis. The analysis utilized in this investigation is conducted through the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. The findings indicate that individuals' norms and aspirations substantially sway their procurement decisions, highlighting the importance of ecological consciousness and moral adjudication in sustainable consumption. The outcomes imply that the predilections of Generation Z are driven by altruistic intentions and the intrinsic valuation of sustainability, suggesting that corporations should conform to their sustainability ethos and anticipations, particularly within the sphere of circular commodities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104306"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review lifecycle analytics and importance–obsolescence analysis: A data-driven design approach to product circularity","authors":"Jisoo Won, Jiyeong Son, Minjung Kwak","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104305","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104305","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Designing products and components with long-term appeal that cater to both early adopters in the new product market and late adopters in the second-hand or remanufacturing markets is essential for extending product longevity and advancing a circular economy through reuse and remanufacturing. Achieving such a circularity-focused design necessitates an understanding of the shifts in customer preferences across different adopter groups, a gap insufficiently addressed in the existing literature. This study seeks to bridge this gap by introducing novel design frameworks called review lifecycle analytics (RLA) and importance-obsolescence analysis (IOA). This systematic review analytics framework reveals dynamic changes in customer preferences over the product adoption lifecycle, enabling design strategies to support product circularity. The RLA-IOA framework analyzes temporal changes in review content through attribute-level sentiment analysis, identifying shifts in the importance and performance of individual attributes between early and late adopters. By generalizing the findings across multiple products, the framework derives the patterns of importance change and obsolescence speed for each attribute, providing valuable design insights for enhancing product longevity through reuse and remanufacturing. As a novel data-driven approach, the RLA-IOA establishes a link between review analytics and sustainable design for circularity. To demonstrate its application and value, this study conducted a case analysis using 63,391 online customer reviews of 12 smartphone models from two brands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"85 ","pages":"Article 104305"},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143791754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}