Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services最新文献

{"title":"Virtual or human, male or female? exploring the gender effect of virtual influencers on consumers’ purchase intentions for emerging brands","authors":"Teng Liu,&nbsp;Shenyuan Xue,&nbsp;Kexin Zhang,&nbsp;Cisheng Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As artificial intelligence continues to develop rapidly, partnering with virtual influencers is becoming an important marketing strategy recognized and accepted by brands. Analogous to human influencers, whether virtual influencer gender triggers different marketing effectiveness for emerging brands attracts growing scholarly attention. Grounded in celebrity endorsement, parasocial interaction theory, and social role theory, this study conducted four scenario-based experiments (Study 1, N = 317; Study 2a, N = 285; Study 2b, N = 301; Study 3, N = 295) to examine how influencer type and gender affect consumers' purchase intentions across different product type contexts. Results reveal that, regardless of product types, female virtual influencers outperform male virtual influencers in boosting consumers' purchase intentions. In contrast, gender differences among human influencers show no significant differences in marketing outcomes. Further analysis shows that male human influencers generate stronger purchase intentions compared to male virtual influencers, while no such disparity exists between female human and virtual influencers. Additionally, for utilitarian goods, human influencers outperform virtual influencers in enhancing brand awareness and brand attitude, thereby boosting purchase intentions. For hedonic goods, although human influencers do not significantly improve brand awareness, they positively influence brand attitude, which also contributes to increased purchase intentions. Overall, female influencers consistently demonstrate stronger brand promotion effectiveness across different product contexts. Beyond this, influencer type moderates the indirect effects of influencer gender on consumers’ purchase intentions through brand awareness and brand attitude.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104765"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189953","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":"Conspicuous vs. inconspicuous travel consumption displays on social media: Emotional arousal through self-evaluation maintenance lens","authors":"Hao Wang ,&nbsp;Timothy J. Lee ,&nbsp;Sunghyup Sean Hyun","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104757","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104757","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the growing role of social media in shaping consumption experiences, travel-related posts have become a salient arena for identity signaling and social comparison. Drawing on Self-Evaluation Maintenance theory (SEM), this research develops and tests a dual-path model explaining how conspicuous versus inconspicuous travel consumption displays evoke distinct emotional and self-system processes that drive differentiated envy responses. Across two controlled experiments (N₁ = 282; N₂ = 420), conspicuous displays elicit negative emotional arousal, which amplifies self-identity threat and subsequently increases malicious envy. In contrast, inconspicuous displays generate positive emotional arousal, enhancing state self-esteem and fostering benign envy. Boundary-condition analyses revealed that tie strength and perceived self-relevance further intensified the negative emotional route associated with conspicuous displays. These findings reveal asymmetric emotional mechanisms underlying adverse versus constructive consumer reactions to social media consumption cues, extending SEM and social comparison-based accounts to digital, experience-consumption contexts. Implications are discussed for consumer experience management, travel and lifestyle service branding, and platform/interface design aimed at reducing harmful social comparison while facilitating healthier engagement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104757"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189949","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":"Decoding the drivers of consumer engagement and purchase intentions in live streaming by foreign ambassadors: A two-phased SEM-ANN approach","authors":"Zhao Han ,&nbsp;Yuan Meng ,&nbsp;Hongnai Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104741","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104741","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The purpose of this research is to examine the determinants of consumer engagement in live streaming sessions hosted by foreign ambassadors. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model and media richness theory (MRT), the study examines how five key stimuli in live streaming by foreign ambassadors, along with consumer affinity and social gratification, shape consumer behavior. Using survey data from Chinese consumers, the study employs least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis to test a model in which perceived uniqueness, ritual, reliability, novelty, and interactivity influence purchase intention mainly by enhancing consumer affinity and social gratification. Consumer affinity and social gratification increase consumer engagement, which further strengthens purchase intention. Overall, the findings suggest that the diplomatic identity of foreign ambassadors and the way they present culture, interaction, and ritual in live streaming can foster both emotional attachment to their home countries and a sense of social enjoyment among viewers. These insights extend theoretical discussions on streamer identity and international marketing by (a) introducing foreign ambassadors as a novel, diplomatic streamer category, and (b) empirically validating consumer affinity and social gratification as dual, parallel psychological mechanisms within the SOR framework that explain how ambassador-specific stimuli translate to consumer responses in cross-cultural digital diplomacy contexts. The study also offers practical guidance for foreign ambassadors and live streaming platforms in designing cross-cultural live streaming strategies and facilitating international consumer communication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104741"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146079573","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":"Unveiling the augmented human agent: How communication style mitigates the heuristic barriers of human-AI collaboration in online customer service encounters","authors":"Atish Kissoon,&nbsp;Shixuan Fu,&nbsp;Xiangbin Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104744","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104744","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Augmented Human Agents (AHAs)—hybrid systems that combine AI with human agents—are increasingly utilized in online customer service. In response to regulatory demands for AI transparency, this paper examines how disclosing an agent as an Augmented Human Agent (AHA), compared to a Human , influences customer engagement in online customer service encounters. Despite its practical relevance, little is known about the psychological effects of such disclosure. To address this gap, we comprehensively explore the fundamental psychological mechanisms underlying AHA disclosure and customer engagement, as well as the boundary conditions influencing this relationship. Grounded in the Human-AI Interaction Theory of Interactive Media Effects (HAII-TIME) Framework, we conducted a 3 (identity disclosure of the agent: AHA vs. AI vs. Human) × 2 (communication style: social-oriented vs. task-oriented) online experiment on Prolific and developed a moderated mediation model. Our findings reveal a paradox: although the net effect of AHA disclosure on engagement is positive, the disclosure itself also acts as a cue that activates substantial negative cognitive heuristics. Specifically, disclosure of AHA reduces social presence heuristics and heightens negative machine heuristics. However, a social-oriented communication style completely neutralizes these negative heuristics, acting as a protective buffer that enables the full positive effect of the AHA to be realized. In contrast, a task-oriented style exacerbates the negative mediating pathways, suppressing engagement. These findings shift the theoretical narrative from a simple “best of both worlds” model to a more nuanced compensatory model. Theoretical and practical implications for AHA disclosure and implementation are discussed in the context of online customer service encounters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104744"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039717","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":"The role of streetscapes quality in coffee shop location shifts: A case study of the Hongdae retail district in Seoul","authors":"Gyuna Hwang,&nbsp;Jina Park","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the experience economy and omnichannel retail expand, retailers increasingly prioritize residential-adjacent streets beyond traditional centers. Specifically, coffee shops—low-barrier, pedestrian-oriented third places—are spreading along alleyways and mixed residential streets. This study examined how visual (e.g., enclosure and openness) and perceptual (e.g., liveliness and beauty) streetscape qualities are associated with coffee shop location patterns. Using deep learning and semantic segmentation on street view images in the Hongdae retail district in Seoul, we quantified physical and perceived streetscape characteristics. The results reveal phase-dependent locational shifts. In the establishment phase, new coffee shops were concentrated along boulevards with vehicular exposure. In the growth phase, new openings were associated with higher subway accessibility and aesthetic quality. In the spillover phase, openings were increasingly observed in visually vibrant alleyways—characterized by higher enclosure, openness, and perceived liveliness—despite limited transit access. These findings suggest that coffee shop locations become progressively aligned with street-level experiential qualities, which can be interpreted as an outdoor servicescape operating alongside traditional location mechanisms. By extending servicescape from store interiors to surrounding streetscapes, this study highlights offers an exploratory framework for linking the spatial configuration of retail environments with customers’ experiences of everyday consumption spaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104730"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039713","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":"How to promote reusable express packaging: Shaping consumer conversion behavior by adapting habitus","authors":"Jiahui Yang,&nbsp;Li Cai,&nbsp;Xiaona Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104762","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104762","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The extensive acceptance of reusable express packaging (REP) by consumers is essential for the sustainable transformation of logistics businesses and the construction of waste-free cities. This study emphasizes the habitus formed through consumers' practical experiences with disposable express packaging (DEP), developing a theoretical model that encapsulates “habitus-construction of social structure-behavior conversion” to identify intervention strategies that enhance consumers' conversion reaction toward REP. The proposed theoretical model was validated by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with data from 1381 respondents in Jiangsu Province. Descriptive statistics revealed that around 40% of consumers recognize the environmental burden caused by DEP. The principal barrier limiting the promotion of REP is consumers' perception that they only have usage rights and are obligated to return packages after use. The empirical analysis proves that the DEP habitus is a three-dimensional construct consisting of recognition, affection, and behavior. Significantly, habitus negatively influences consumers’ conversion reaction to REP. Affective habitus mediates the interaction between cognitive habitus and conversion reaction, while behavioral habitus mediates the negative relationship among cognitive habitus, affective habitus, and conversion reaction. Perceived instrumental support and perceived flexible constraints lessen the negative effects of affective habitus. These findings provide significant theoretical insights for stakeholders in improving promotional strategies for REP.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104762"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189959","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":"The paradox of emotional intelligence: How resource scarcity and emotion regulation facilitate consumer fraud","authors":"Guocheng Li ,&nbsp;Shengcheng Xie ,&nbsp;Hongyu Huang ,&nbsp;Kai Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104749","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104749","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Consumer fraud has become a growing challenge for businesses, eroding trust in marketplace transactions. While prior research has linked perceived resource scarcity to an increased likelihood of fraudulent behavior, the psychological mechanisms behind this relationship remain underexplored. Drawing on the dual-process theory of moral decision-making, this research examines how perceived resource scarcity and emotional intelligence jointly influence consumer fraud. Across six experimental studies, we find that consumers experiencing resource scarcity who possess high emotional intelligence demonstrate greater propensity toward fraudulent actions. This relationship operates through a reduction in embarrassment, which weakens the affective constraints on fraudulent conduct. By unveiling the paradoxical role of emotional intelligence in facilitating unethical behavior under resource scarcity, this research advances theoretical understanding of moral decision-making in consumer contexts and offers actionable insights for organizations aiming to mitigate consumer fraud.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104749"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189955","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":"Forming purchase intention from the metaverse to the real world: A mixed-method study on metaverse experiential consumption values in digital fashion","authors":"Warinrampai Rungruangjit ,&nbsp;Kulachet Mongkol ,&nbsp;Kitti Charoenpornpanichkul","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104753","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104753","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fashion industry is evolving rapidly, with numerous brand managers emphasizing user experience via the metaverse. The integration of these two realms to develop purchase intention from the metaverse to the physical world presents a considerable yet still underexplored challenge for brand managers. By examining how metaverse experiential consumption values (MECVs) affect virtual purchase intention for digital fashion products, this study aims to fill gaps in the literature and clarify how these values subsequently influence real-world purchase intention. This study offers relevant theoretical insights into the progression of knowledge in the fashion industry by utilizing a sequential mixed-methods approach. It is one of the first efforts to augment the theoretical framework by incorporating the theory of consumption values and experiential marketing. Using a qualitative methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 Generation Z participants to delineate five context-specific dimensions of MECVs within the fashion industry: utilitarian, symbolic, hedonic, immersive experience, and creator economy values. These insights guided the creation of a quantitative online survey targeting 404 Generation Z participants, with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) used for analysis. The results indicate that each of the five MECVs positively affects virtual purchase intention, which in turn strongly predicts real-world purchase intention. Moreover, virtual purchase intention serves as a mediator in the relationships between the five MECVs and real-world purchase intention. The managerial implications allow marketers, fashion brand managers, and developers of metaverse platforms better understand the experiential consumption values of Generation Z consumers in relation to the fashion industry's metaverse platforms, enabling them to base their marketing strategies on these values with developing varied activities to produce MECVs across five dimensions that influence purchase intentions in both the metaverse and the physical world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104753"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189950","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":"Interactive effects of reminder methods and E-shopping types on consumers' timely parcel pickup intention in self-collection service contexts","authors":"Yu Zhang ,&nbsp;Ping Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104758","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104758","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Self-collection services have emerged as a key solution to urban last-mile delivery challenges, handling massive parcels amid the surge in e-commerce. However, persistent pickup delays often result in issues like parcel loss and station overcrowding, increasing repeat delivery costs and delaying e-commerce merchants' payment collection, thus urging logistics service providers to optimize reminder strategies. Based on media richness theory and cognitive fit theory, this study explores how reminder methods (robotic calls <em>vs.</em> text messages) and e-shopping types (goal-oriented <em>vs.</em> experiential) influence consumers’ timely pickup intention across different reminder contexts. Findings from three scenario-based experiments reveal that in experiential e-shopping scenarios, text message reminders outperform robotic calls in boosting timely pickup intention. In goal-oriented scenarios, reminder methods show no significant direct effect, but robotic calls more strongly enhance intention by promoting perceived information usefulness. Furthermore, compared with initial reminders, follow-up reminders more effectively improve perceived information usefulness and timely pickup intention regardless of the combination of reminder method and e-shopping type. Consumers with habitual pickup delay exhibit a stronger positive relationship between perceived information usefulness and pickup intention. The conclusions provide guidance for logistics providers to rationally adopt appropriate reminder methods and design personalized, stratified reminder systems to enhance last-mile efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104758"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189954","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":"Unpacking live streaming addiction: The perspective of self-presentation","authors":"Xiaofei Song ,&nbsp;Xiaohui Liu ,&nbsp;Shiying Zheng ,&nbsp;Wen Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104763","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104763","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As live streaming has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, concerns over addiction to it are rising. Drawing on self-presentation theory, this study examines how viewers' desire for online self-presentation contributes to live streaming addiction. An online survey collected a sample of 400 responses from viewers of live streams. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to test our proposed research model. Our findings indicate that social influence and personal control both enhance viewers' inclination to engage in online self-presentation. This inclination indirectly enhances addiction via viewer engagement, which was measured through a two-dimensional construct: monetary and non-monetary engagement. Using moderated mediation analysis and structural equation modeling–artificial neural network (SEM-ANN) methods, we further validated the mediating effect of viewer engagement, with streamer expertise as the moderator. Streamer expertise positively moderates the relationship between online self-presentation desire and engagement, whereas it negatively moderates the impact of engagement on addiction. This study makes three key contributions to the literature: (1) it extends the focus of live streaming research to addiction, highlighting its dark side; (2) it applies self-presentation theory to the live streaming context, thereby enhancing our understanding of online self-presentation; and (3) it offers deeper insights into how the contextual factor-streamers' expertise-influences addiction mechanisms in live streaming. Furthermore, the findings provide valuable practical implications for platforms and policymakers regarding viewer management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48399,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 104763"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189946","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}