전자상거래를 이용한 해외직구는 가격과 품질을 우선시하고 합리적으로 물품을 구매하는 소비자의 인식변화, 모바일을 포함한 인터넷의 확산, 국제배송의 신속화, 온라인 쇼핑몰 운영자의 적극적인 마케팅과 결제방법의 편리성 등으로 인해 2011년부터 2017년까지 매년 평균 40% 이상 증가하고 있다. 해외직구물품은 목록통관을 원칙으로 하나, 밀수․관세탈루 방지와 미화 150불 이상에 해당하는 경우에는 목록통관을 배제하고 일반통관절차를 적용하고 있다. 그러나 일반통관절차는 기업이 수입하는 물품에 적용되는 절차이므로 개인이 수입하는 해외직구물품에 적용하는 것은 적합하지 않다. 따라서 본 연구는 간이통관이 배제되는 해외직구물품에 대한 관세 등의 납세신고 방법 개선, 물품신고시 전자 상거래에 적합하도록 신고항목 축소, 그리고 서류보관 의무 면제 등의 방안을 제시하였다.

In the retail environment where online-shopping malls are growing, offline store are find it difficult to survive simply by selling their products. As a result, offline retailers are trying to find unique services that are appealing to their customers. In such a market environment, marketing strategies that stimulate the five senses other than the sight can be an alternative. Therefore, this research is aimed at observing the effect of the senses on emotion and purchase intention in a fashion retail context. A two by two experimental design (existence vs non-existence of scent x existence vs. nonexistence of eating chocolate) between subjects was used. A total of 120 participants were randomly assigned to the four situations, and they were asked to complete the questionnaires about emotion and purchase intention. The survey data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 23.0, and results are as follows. After a two-way ANOVA, we observed a statistically significant effect of the scent service on pleasure and purchase intention the sweet offering service on purchase intention. Moreover, when scents service and sweet offering service were provided at the same time, the highest purchase intention was obtained among other services. In addition, we studied the effects of emotions on purchase intentions, and the pleasant emotions resulting from the services have a positive effect of on purchase intentions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceived risk, community usage motive, and price sensitivity of customers who purchase children’s wear directly from overseas on customer satisfaction. Specifically, this study is aimed at verifying the moderating effect of price sensitivity when perceived risk and community usage motive significantly influence customer satisfaction. A survey was conducted among consumers who experienced directly purchasing children’s wear from overseas and engaging in communities. A total of 415 questionnaires were distributed, which 41 responses were insincere and excluded; thus, 374 responses were analyzed. Results of this study are as follows. First, the analysis on how perceived risk and community usage motive influence customer satisfaction reveals the significant influence of economic and social psychological risk on customer satisfaction. Moreover, informational, recreational, and social emotional usage motive have a significant influence on customer satisfaction. Second, the effect of perceived risk and community usage motive on customer satisfaction based on different levels of price sensitivity was verified. As a result, delivery and economic risks affect customer satisfaction for consumers with high price sensitivity. Moreover, recreational usage motive has a significant influence on customer satisfaction for high price sensitive consumers. In conclusion, perceived risk negatively impacts customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is essential to provide a system that can reduce the perceived risk of consumers who purchase children’s wear directly from overseas.

Recently, the textile and fashion industry has adopted 3D printing technology, through which filaments are accumulated continuously in the form of sections to produce digitalized three-dimensional fashion products. Little research has been done regarding the consumer perspectives on 3D printed fashion product. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of consumer innovativeness, uniqueness, and perception factors on consumer attitudes and purchasing intentions for 3D printed fashion products. A questionnaire was given to consumers living in Seoul and Kyunggi, South Korea. The data obtained from the 159 completed questionnaires was analyzed by regression analysis, factor analysis, and Cronbach’s alpha using SPSS 24.0. The results were as follows: First, consumer innovativeness and uniqueness, in descending order, positively affect the perceived social image. Consumer innovativeness positively affects perceived aesthetics and consumer uniqueness positively affects perceived novelty. Second, social image has a positive effect on consumer attitudes to 3D printed fashion products. Third, consumer attitude positively affects purchasing intentions towards 3D printed fashion products. Fourth, consumer innovativeness and uniqueness, in descending order, have a positive effect on consumer attitudes and purchasing intentions for 3D printed fashion products. Fifth, social image and novelty, in descending order, positively affect purchase intentions for 3D printed fashion products. Therefore fashion firms should develop their marketing strategy to focus on innovative, unique consumers as a main target and aim to enhance buyers’ social image by using 3D printed fashion products.

This study analyzed what premium features significantly affect customer satisfaction and their recommendation, and what factors significantly affect product attributes. In the process, first, the loyalty program and the customer compensation program were studied to determine the impact of the customer satisfaction and recommendation. The study analyzed that quality and design of product properties had significant effects on all factors, but the brand was not significantly affected. Second, while superiority, differentiation and scarcity of luxury items are significant to customer satisfaction but superiority is only significant in relation to recommendation intention. Third, the preceding study shows that the customer compensation program has a significant impact on sales growth, but the study found that it was not for imported luxury car customers. Fourth, if the royalties program is low in awareness, it has been analyzed that the scarcity and customer satisfaction relationships among luxury goods have been adjusted. On the contrary, if there is a high level of awareness, it is analyzed that there is a control effect customer satisfaction and differentiation among luxury brands. In the conclusion, in order to satisfy customers at the import luxury car market, the differentiation of luxury goods by standard index must be strengthened and the brand must be strengthened among the attributes of the product. In addition, by raising awareness of the royalties program, the relationship between differentiation and customer satisfaction can be enhanced.

This study was conducted to evaluate children’s purchase behavior (frequency of snack consumption and purchase) and preference for high protein snack products developed for weight control and nutritional balance. A total of 80 elementary school students (from the 3rd to 6th graders) in the Gyeonggi-do learning center were participated and 76 were used for the analysis. The most common response for liking snacks was taste (71.4%), and the most preferred types of snacks were chips (42.1%) and puff snacks (34.2%). The highest frequency of snack ingestion was 1-3 times per week (48; 63.2%), and the main purchasers were parents (65.8%). Cheese, corn and chili flavors were more preferred than the control, while yogurt taste was slightly less preferred than the control. The results of this study showed the possibility of commercialization of new protein snacks according to children’s seasoning preference and provide the insights into the snack preferences of children as main consumers.

본 연구는 호남지방 소비자 들의 곤충 제품과 관련하여 식품구매 행동, 곤충제품에 대한 인식, 식용, 학습, 애완용, 사료용 곤충에 대한 인식 등에 대한 기초 자료를 얻고자 수행하였다. 연구의 대상은 광주, 전주, 순천 등 대도시 학생과 성인 230여명을 대상으로 2018년 5월부터 9월까지 설문조사를 실시하였다. 설문조사 결과, 새로운 음식을 맛보는 소비자는 36%인고 맛보지 않는 소비자는 32%이지만 새로운 음식을 신뢰하는 소비자는 19%로 신뢰하지 않은 소비자 45%보다 더 적었으며 음식 재료를 모르면 맛보지 않은 소비자가 47%로 많지만 먹어 본적 없는 음식을 꺼리지 않고(46%), 까다롭지 않으며(45%), 무엇이든 잘 먹는(57%) 소비자가 더 많았다. 곤충 제품에 대한 인식은 곤충을 잘 알고 있으며(97%), 체험해보거나(89%), 구입해본 적이 있는(59%) 소비자가 더 많아 소비자들의 거부감이 크지 않음을 알 수 있었으며, 구입장소는 다양하고 주로 TV, 라디오를 통해(48%) 알게 되며 체험 종류나(59%), 구입 용도(63%)는 대부분 식,약용 곤충이었다. 식용곤충 구입은 어쩌다 한번이 79%로 아직까지 주기적으로 구입은 하지 않았으며 멋져 보이거나(54%), 건강을 생각하여(28%) 구입하는데 요리재료(46%), 건조, 튀김(24%) 형태로 누에(74%), 갈색거저리(6%), 흰점박이꽃무지(5%) 등을 구입하였다. 가격 만족도는 47%이며 품질(52%), 구입경로(53%), 맛(70%) 만족도도 긍정적으로 높았다.

본 연구는 중국소비자들이 가진 한국 인터넷 면세점에 대한 구매의도를 파악하고자, 인터넷 면세점의 e-서비스품질과 한류문화에 대한 태도를 주요 변인으로 설정하여 논의해 보았다. 분석 결과를 살펴보면, 첫째, 기존연구와 일치하게 홈페이지 시각적 디자인, 고객서비스, 안정성, 그리고 경제성 및 편리성 모든 인터넷면세점 e-서비스품질 특성요인들이 중국관광객의 구매의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 도출되었다. 둘째, 한국 인터넷면세점의 e-서비스품질 특성 요인 중 홈페이지 시각적 디자인과 경제성 및 편리성이 구매의도에 미치는 영향에 있어서, 한류문화에 대한 태도가 유의미한 조절효과를 가지고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과는 중국 마케팅의 전략적인 관점에서 정부나 면세업체가 양국의 대한 경제적인 정책 및 한류문화 콘텐츠 전략을 수립하는데 도움을 줄 수 있을 것이다.

In recent years, maintaining transparency has become a trend among brands, and a better level of supply chain transparency has been demonstrated to positively affect consumer environmental concern and conscious behavior. Consumers may accept transparency efforts as a signal of the brand goodwill and perceive it as a visibly sustainable effort that can convert brand trust. In the information transparency trend, eco-certification plays an important role as a tool to inform consumers about sustainability. However, facing large amounts of information, consumers spend much time filtering information, so the accuracy of the obtained information can be compromised. The Higg index is a sustainable verification platform that reveals the entire activities of supply chains. However, most consumers are facing an overload of information that could confuse their processing of any information. In this context, the present study seeks to examine the effect of business transparency to conscious consumer behavior and purchase intention. Second, this study deals with the moderating effects of sustainable knowledge on the relationship between business transparency, environmental concern, and brand trust. Third, we explore the effects of high and low level of consume knowledge of sustainability on the relationship between business transparency and brand trust. In terms of the methodology used in the present study, an off-line survey of Korean consumers was conducted. SPSS 21.0 was used for data analysis aiming to test the proposed model and research hypothesis. The mains results of this study are as follows. First, business transparency has a positive effect on environmental concern, brand trust, and consumer willingness to conscious behavior. Second, consumer sustainable knowledge has a moderating effect on business transparency for environmental concern and brand trust. Taken together, the findings of the present study provide meaningful implications for marketers by highlighting the importance of transparency and introduction of a transparent eco-certification for communication with consumers. To successfully influence consumer willingness to assume conscious behavior, brands are advised to provide standardized transparency labels, rather than complicated information.

With the advancement of digital technologies, the importance of inbound marketing in the B2B is increasing rapidly. Previous studies on B2B marketing suggested that compelling content is a key component in B2B suppliers' inbound marketing. The most representative marketing content of B2B supplier firms is BRC (business reference content). BRC refers to a content, such as a ‘case study’ and/or a ‘success story’ that describes, in detail, deliveries of existing satisfied customers. Prior researchers argued that using existing customers as referrers enhances the confidence of potential customers, lowers perception of purchase risk. For these reasons, many B2B marketing experts consider BRC as the core of B2B digital marketing. Nonetheless, little is known regarding with researches on BRC in the academic domain. Therefore, there is urgent need for empirical research and an integrated model that can clarify the underlying mechanism of BRC. The focus of this study is to identify how BRC influences prospective customers' purchase decisions. To examine the underlying mechanism of BRC, our research focused on two unique aspects of BRC: 1) BRC format (narrative formant vs non-narrative format), and 2) ‘transportation’ to explain BRC effect process. Using a scenario-based online experiment, our results provide several interesting insights on the BRC. Results showed that stronger transportation takes place in narrative BRC (vs non-narrative BRC). In addition, narrative BRC has a positive impact on a favorable attitude toward referrer through transportation, which in turn lowers purchase risks (e.g. product performance risk, psychosocial risk, potential financial risk, and potential time risk). The results provide a clear basis for why it is important to use BRC in B2B supplier firms' marketing communication.

Purchase engagement reflects the attitudes and behaviors of the customer in relation to their present and future purchases of the firm’s service (Kumar & Pansari, 2016). However, the concept of engagement in marketing has received less attention in business-to-business (B2B) contexts due to the complexity and heterogeneity in which the number of people involved in B2B buying decisions remains high than in consumer markets (Lilien, 2016). The challenges in developing B2B marketing theory also depends on the context and one such area that has been under-researched is the professional service firm (PSF) context (Casidy & Nyadzayo, 2017). According to Heirati et al. (2016, p.51) “…the field of B2B marketing contains limited research examining the role of PSFs' simultaneous collaboration with customers and suppliers under differing environmental conditions.” Also, there are calls for research to examine the drivers and outcomes of purchase engagement as it is a relatively nascent construct (Kumar & Pansari, 2016). Thus, this study sought to examine the drivers and outcomes of purchase engagement in B2B professional services. Using the structural equation modelling approach, the results from a survey of CEOs and/or owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia found that customization and loyalty to the account manager are two salient drivers of purchase engagement. In turn, purchase engagement is found to impact three outcomes namely consideration set size (CSZ), dependence and willingness to pay a premium price (WTP). An interesting finding in this study is the mediating role played by dependence as a mechanism through which engagement can impact CSZ and WTP. Practical and theoretical implications as well as research limitations and future research are discussed.

Certification labeling is a system which confirms the quality and appropriateness of pr oducts according to the standard set. It is usually evaluated by the third party to assure being reliability. Certification labeling can be used as one of the important sources of i nformation when consumers evaluate the products. Especially, certification labeling gi ves customers trust and confidence about products because the label can be the signali ng that the quality of the products is good. Although certification labeling influences p urchase decision making, many consumers do not trust the labels because of insufficie nt information of certification and distrust in the certifications. As consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about environment and wellbeing, manufacturers are turning a convention product into the production of a sustain able product. Sustainable certification can be environmental cues to evaluate a sustain able product based on the categorization inference. The aim of this research is the inte raction effect among sustainable cues on purchase intention. Consumers tend to perceive organic label of products as high-price. Thus, although they concern environment and well-being, they tend to purchase conventional products more than an organic product. In addition, an organic label can have a positive influence on perceived risk, and then perceived risk may affect purchase intention. However, the product with organic label including traceability may have a negative impact on perceived risk. Therefore, perceived risk can mediate the relationship between the interaction between organic label of products and traceability and purchase intention.

Introduction India consistently has been the largest movie producer worldwide for the last few years, releasing more than a thousand films each year selling 2.2 billion movie tickets in 2016 (Film Industry in India, n.d.). In a similar vein, the designer wear industry fueled with the growth of the organized retail in India is poised to reach about 1.7 per cent of the global designer wear industry by 2020 (Designer Wear, 2012). As Indian consumers are increasingly adopting a wardrobe more varied than the traditional Indian dress including western apparel styles, the Indian clothing consumer is emerging as a research demographic, with definition of the Indian clothing consumer still in early research stages. Research indicates that fashion industries strengthen a nation’s economy, and that movies and televisions are two of the important marketing channels for it. Thus, with the rapidly growing and increasingly more affluent Indian middle-class ready to spend money, it is important to investigate the relationship between viewing Bollywood movies and their impact on fashion consumption. There is minimal research on this topic and the purpose of this study is to address the gap in literature. Rationale of the Study Fashion is a business and the specifics don't matter much, anywhere in the world anymore. Historically, credit for new fashion was given to the fashion designer, but in more recent years’ celebrities dressed in designer wear have become a medium to reach audiences because of their huge fan following. Bollywood is an influential medium, impacting everything from haute couture fashion to music. Slowly, but surely, clothes worn by Bollywood have clothes become signed artifacts, and have Bollywood styles and fashions become themselves separately marketable (Rao, 2010). Bollywood’s influence on the fashion industry as well as consumers, it is important to gain a better understanding as to how to capitalize on the “media influences” more holistically. Gender, especially in Indian context, is an important construct with respect to men and women as they differ with respect to their involvement with fashion clothing and even more with regard to their involvement with the purchase of fashion clothing (Handa & Khare, 2013). This exploratory study examined the influence of movie and television engagement on fashion involvement and eventual purchase behavior. The study utilized MIMIC model and analyzed group difference in gender. Theoretical Framework Social cognitive theory as well as the theory of symbolic interaction forms the conceptual backbone of this current study. The theory examines psychosocial components which motivate human thought and action and has been used to examine gender differentiation as well as media Influence (Bandura, 2001). According to Solomon (1983), the theory of symbolic interaction has three facets: a consumer’s perception based on the response of others, the influence on a consumers’ behavior, and a consumer’s sense of self based on the actions and responses of others to various stimuli. The symbolism in the fashion products is the primary influence for their purchase and individuals attribute meaning to these products based on the social environment in which they are presented. For this study an adapted model has been created based on two theories to examine: (1) influence of TV and movie engagement on fashion involvement; (2) effect of fashion involvement on purchase intention related to clothing as well as purchase intention- accessories; (3) impact of purchase intention – clothing on purchase intention- accessories. Methodology Data was collected via convenience sample from students at a university in a major city in India resulting in 1058 participants. The survey instrument was created using items from previous studies.: Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and LISREL. Frequency statistics were obtained for the demographic variables. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate measurement properties, including reliability and validity of the measures. To test hypotheses and explore the causal relationships, a structural equation model (SEM) was used. The current analysis utilized “multi-group” analysis, to compare parameters between distinctive groups (i.e. Male and Female). Results and Conclusions An exploratory factor analysis using principal component with varimax rotation and a minimum eigen value of one was used to identify the latent variables in the model: Movie Engagement (α = 0.82); TV Engagement (α = 0.81); Fashion Involvement (α = 0.81); Purchase Intention Overall (α = .87); Purchase Intention – Accessories (α = 0.88). The main model was initially tested using measurement and structural model in SEM and then multi-group analysis using MIMIC was used to analyze group differences. The CFA supported the exploratory factor analysis, the fit of the measurement model was acceptable (χ2 = 525.21, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.053, and NNFI = 0.98). Therefore, the measurement model was retained without any modifications. Based on the parameter estimate t value which stated that value greater than 2.00 is considered an indicator of statistical significance, the hypothesis of influence of TV engagement on fashion involvement was not supported for Male respondents. Furthermore, fashion involvement did not influence purchase intention accessories for Females, conversely, it was supported for Males however, the relationship was negative. All the other hypotheses were supported for both the groups. The analysis of gender using the MIMIC model provides valuable information for the Indian fashion industry to understand target consumers which will help them to design effective marketing strategies. Indian men and women consume media differently and it affects their fashion involvement and eventual purchase behavior. Movies and TV influence fashion involvement for both the genders differently with TV only influencing women. This finding indicate that more Indian women watch more television (Singh, n.d.) and hence are more involved with programming available on TV. Movie engagement influence fashion involvement providing support to the previous research as well as media report. It is essential for Indian brands as well as international brands to engage in brand placements and celebrity endorsements to connect with the consumer base. Fashion involvement influenced intention to purchase clothing for both the genders but did not influence purchase of accessories for the female consumer. This could be attributed to the fact that women shop “looks” i.e., the entire outfit worn including make-up and accessories, whereas men generally shop for a “product”. It is suggested that retailers pay attention to this crucial difference between the genders while shopping and accordingly ensure that due diligence is made to visual merchandising strategies with the stores as well as online. Additionally, as the influence of involvement on purchase intention – accessories is negative, it can be inferred that the highly fashionable male consumer may be looking to buy clothing rather than accessories to make a “fashion statement”.

This study aims to gain insights into consumers’ motivations when purchasing mimics of luxury cosmetics goods and their evaluation towards mimicry products. Consumers’ desire for mimicry luxury cosmetics hinges on their motivations underlying their consumption of luxury cosmetics. Attitude functions are applied to measure consumers’ underlying motivations towards luxury products. Consumers’ attitude and familiarity with luxury cosmetics and mimicry cosmetics also influence their choice between luxury brands and mimicry brands. In addition, consumers’ personality factors and perceived risk of purchasing mimicry cosmetics and their brand loyalty towards the original luxury brands restrain their purchase intention of mimicry brands. Finally, the study examines the effect of products conspicuousness (private/public visible goods) and the effect of mimicry types (feature/theme) on consumers’ preferences on concerning mimicry consumption. The findings will provide insights for policymakers, brand managers, and academics, and better understand mimicry in the luxury cosmetics industry.

Every year consumers spend billions of dollars on impulse purchases across the globe. Noticeably, occasions for impulse buying have been expanding due to new technologies and the growth of e-commerce that enhanced both the consumer’s accessibility to products and the ease of purchase transactions (e.g., one-click purchase) (Strack and Deutsch 2006). For instance, the retail store have become ubiquitous—being present on our desktop, in our mailbox, on our phone, in subway platform, in gas station kiosks—and reaching every street corner in our neighborhood. Such ubiquitous nature of mobile commerce combined with the introduction of IT devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets) makes consumers even more vulnerable to the sudden, powerful, and persistent urge to buy something instantly (i.e. impulse buying) (Rook 1987; Watson et al. 2002; Danaher et al. 2015). From the perspective of firms, this indicates that marketing opportunities to influence shopper attitudes and behavior can emerge at any point in the shopping cycle from the couch in a person’s living room to the shopping cart in mobile devices and media (Shankar et al. 2010; 2011). While impulse buying has been a well-known approach to explaining empirical deviations from the rational choice model in the literature (Strack et al. 2006), previous researchers have mainly focused on antecedents of impulsive behaviors, such as mood (Rook and Gardner 1993), self-construal (Zhang and Shrum 2009), chronic goals (Ramanathan and Menon 2006) and consumers’ self-loneliness (Sinha and Wang 2013). However, relatively little has been studied on what factors drive consumers to purchase products impulsively and how firms can utilize marketing activities (e.g., 4Ps) to engage consumers in such behavior. There exist a few studies paying attention to the interaction of individual characteristics and marketing variables for impulse buying (e.g., Bell et al. 2010; Inman et al. 2009; Narasimhan et al. 1996) but several issues still can arise from measurement problems, self-selection, lack of marketing variables, and limited breadth of product categories. In particular, researchers have used the term ―unplanned‖ purchases exchangeably with impulse purchases despite a conceptual distinction between the two terms: impulse buying is defined with three key components; unplanned, difficult to control, and resulting in emotional response (Rook 1987). In other words, mostly all impulse purchases are unplanned, but not all unplanned purchases are impulse buys and we cannot rule out other alternative explanations (e.g., it is a ―reminder‖ purchase based on true needs). In this study, therefore, we aim to differentiate two terms and investigate the consumers’ impulsive purchase behaviors using the actual behavioral data with respect to product characteristics, customer demographics, timing and controllable marketing activities such as advertising. We obtained the data from one of the leading TV shopping channels in Korea on 2,657 products and 17,848 air time slots covering a broader range of both hedonic and utilitarian products including electronics, food, fashion, home appliances, and so on (7.8 million orders and 2 million order cancels). Unlike typical supermarket shopping where consumers can actively search products, programming on TV shopping channels are shown randomly to viewers which helps us rule out self-selection problems. Most importantly, distinct from previous studies, we use an objective measure for impulse buying by exploiting the actual order placement and subsequent order cancellation (i.e., regret with retrospective judgment about purchase decisions). We find that product characteristics are the primary factors explaining the half (60.5%) of impulse purchase ratio variations followed by marketing variables (20.4%), and timing fixed effects (10.9%). Interestingly, we find little evidence of consumer demographics (1%) as a driver for impulsive buying behavior. Consequently, we focus on the interplay between product categories and marketing activities. Specifically, we classified the product categories into utilitarian and hedonic on the basis of the gross product categories and investigated the roles of two main marketing activities: advertising and price promotion. We find that the informative and persuasive roles of advertising (Akerberg 2003; Mehta et al. 2004) lead to a U-shaped effect on impulse purchases over time as the informative role attenuates over time but the persuasive role increases over time. While utilitarian products are more likely to be influenced by informative role of advertising and hedonic goods are more likely to be influenced by persuasive role of advertising, we detect that the U shape would be moved to the left (right) with a price discount (increase). In other words, price information does not change over time but the persuasive role increases over time with a price discount. Hence, our results can provide managerial insights for retailers and manufacturers to utilize point-of-sale marketing tactics and to improve their shopper engagement strategies to trigger impulse purchases.

Introduction User-generated online reviews have become an essential part of consumer decisionmaking process (Mayzlin, Dover, & Chevalier, 2014) affecting product attitudes (Schlosser, 2005), purchase intentions (Ba & Pavlou, 2002), sales (Babić Rosario, Sotgiu, De Vlack, & Bijmolt, 2016), as well as price and quantity of transactions (Berger, Sorensen, & Rasmussen, 2010). For instance, 58% of consumers prefer sites with peer reviews, and nearly all consumers (98%) reported reading peer review before making purchases online (eMarketer, 2010). Given the reach and influence of user-generated content (UGC), it is unsurprising that companies offer numerous incentives such as coupons, rebates, free samples, and monetary payments to encourage user-generated online reviews. In 2012, Tesco, a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, ran a “Share & Earn” scheme where the retailer gave loyalty points to Facebook fans sharing products. Since such reviewers are more like friends than random strangers, how does the review source and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions? Would these effects differ across individualistic and collectivistic cultures? Our research examines the cross-cultural differences in the effects of review source and incentives on reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions between Americans and Taiwanese. Review Source and Trustworthiness Extant research has shown that reviews from friends are usually more persuasive than reviews from strangers (Huang, Zhang, Liu, & Liang, 2014). Dubois et al. (2016) revealed that high levels of interpersonal closeness increased the negativity of reviews shared, whereas low levels of interpersonal closeness increased the positivity of reviews shared. Correspondingly, individuals tend to perceive friendly review sources as being more trustworthy and honest (Ben-Ner & Halldorsson, 2010). The circulation for UGC online reviews on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram could also make the review source appear like a friend. Since user-generated online reviews appear on the user’s own profile page as well as newsfeeds of each friend connected to that user (Chatterjee, 2011), individuals could easily perceive review sources as friendly and trustworthy. Given that online trust often increases purchase intention (Bart, Shankar, Urban, & Sultan, 2005), we posit that reviews from friends increase reviewer trustworthiness, which, in turn, increase purchase intentions. Incentives While online reviews from friends could be deemed as more trustworthy, incentives could muddy the waters. Sterling (2013) showed that over 40% of consumers in a survey reported some level of doubt in the credibility of UGC, fueled by reports of firms posting “fake” positive reviews, deleting negative reviews, or manipulating consumers into making positive statements that might not be a true representation of their options (Mayzlin et al., 2014). Given the level of distrust, the Federal Trade Commission sent out more than 90 letters reminding influencers and marketers that they required to clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships with brands when promoting or endorsing products on social media (FTC, 2017). Relatedly, in 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled that travel website TripAdvisor must cease claiming that it offers “honest, real, or trusted” reviews from “real travelers” since they are unable to assure consumers that all review content was genuine. Even when incentives are disclosed, incentivized reviews are often viewed with suspicion and are discounted as a means of correcting for presumed reviewer bias, even if the reviewer was not biased by the incentive (Du Plessis, Stephen, Bart, & Gonclaves, 2016). Taken together, we argue that incentivized reviews will decrease reviewer trustworthiness, and consequently, purchase intentions. Cultural Differences Existing work on the effects of review source and incentives have, at least implicitly, assumed that its effects hold globally and failed to consider individual or cultural moderating factors. In particular, individualistic and collectivistic cultures differ in their perceptions of trust violations: collectivists tend to become less trusting after experiencing a violation from in-group rather than out-group members; individualists’ trust levels are less affected by violations from in-group members (Fulmer, Gelfand, 2010; van Hoorn, 2015). In the context of our research, incentivized reviews could be regarded as trust violation, where reviewers no longer act altruistically to provide honest reviews. Thus, we posit that incentives could moderate the effects that reviews from friends have on perceived trustworthiness, and consequently, purchase intention in collective cultures (i.e. Taiwanese participants). In contrast, we expect to replicate the results of previous research where reviews from friends increases reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions; while incentivized reviews decreases reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions. Formally, we hypothesize that: Hypothesis 1a (H1a): Reviews from friends will be considered as more trustworthy than review from strangers amongst American participants. Hypothesis 1b (H1b): American participants will be more likely to purchase products reviewed by friends than strangers. Hypothesis 2a (H2a): Amongst American participants, reviewers providing incentivized reviews will be perceived as less trustworthy than reviewers providing non-incentivized reviews. Hypothesis 2b (H2b): American participants will be less likely to purchase products from incentivized reviews than non-incentivized reviews. Hypothesis 3a (H3a): Amongst Taiwanese participants, when reviews are not incentivized, reviews from friends will be considered more trustworthy than reviews from strangers. The effect will be attenuated when reviews are incentivized. Hypothesis 3b (H3b): Taiwanese participants will be more willing to purchase products reviewed by friends than strangers when the reviews are not incentivized. The effect will be attenuated when reviews are incentivized. Method Participants and Design Three hundred and sixteen participants (50% female, 18-85 years old) were recruited on Qualtrics for nominal payment. Half of the participants were American and completed the survey in English while the rest were Taiwanese and completed the survey in Mandarin. A 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) x 2 (nationality: USA vs. Taiwan) mixed design was adopted with source and incentive manipulated within-subject and nationality manipulated between-subjects. Procedure All participants were instructed to assume that they were travelling to London, and was searching for a hotel to stay for a couple of days. They were then presented with four hotel reviews. Both source and incentive were manipulated within-subjects. Source of the reviews was either a friend or a stranger. Reviews were either not incentivized or incentivized where the reviewer was given discount on their stay for leaving a review. To prevent order effects, the reviews were presented in random order. All reviews were 4 out 5 stars reviews, were generally positive, and were dated at a similar time. Measures After every review, participants indicated purchase intention on two items (e.g. “After reading this review, I feel like booking this hotel.”; “If there is a chance, I will book this hotel.”) on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)(Kim, Park, & Lee, 2013). Participants also rated how much they trusted the reviewer on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) on three items (e.g. “I trust this reviewer to choose a hotel for me.”; “I have confidence in this reviewer.”; “I believe this reviewer is being honest.”) (Smith, Menon, & Sivakumar, 2005). Individualism/collectivism as well as uncertainty avoidance was assessed using a 3-item measure (e.g. “Individuals should stick with the group even through difficulties.”; “It’s important to closely follow instruction and procedures.”) (Yoo, Donthu, & Lenartowicz, 2011) with a 7-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) Results Outliers were removed using Stem and Leaf plots, leaving 295 participants, 148 Taiwanese participants and 149 American participants (50% female, 18 to 85 years old). Contrary to previous research (Hofstede Insights, 2018), American participants (M = 6.07, SD = 0.96) scored significantly higher on the uncertainty avoidance scale than their Taiwanese counterparts (M = 5.56, SD = 1.01). In addition, American participants (M = 5.00, SD = 1.35) did not score significantly higher on the individualism/collectivism scale than their Taiwanese counterparts (M = 5.08, SD = 1.23). As predicted in Hypothesis 1a, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on reviewer trustworthiness revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 146) = 25.34, p =.00, where friends (M = 5.34, SD = 1.19) were significantly more trustworthy than strangers (M = 4.97, SD =1.24) amongst USA participants. In line with H2a, there was also a significant main effect of incentive, where non-incentivized reviews (M = 5.24, SD = 1.21) were considered more trustworthy than incentivized reviews (M = 5.07, SD = 1.22), F(1,146)=6.43, p =.01. There was no significant interaction effect, F <1. Amongst the Taiwanese participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on reviewer trustworthiness revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 147) = 13.02, p =.00, and incentive, F(1,147)=6.43, p =.01, qualified by the predicted interaction, F(1,147)=3.77, p =.05. Consistent with our predictions (H3a), when reviews were not incentivized, friends (M = 5.41, SD = 1.08) were significantly more trustworthy than strangers (M = 5.15, SD = 1.10), F(1,147)=15.63, p=.00. However, when reviewers were incentivized, friends (M = 5.20, SD = 1.05) were just as trustworthy as strangers (M = 5.09, SD = 1.15, F(1,147) = 1.85, p =.18. As predicted (H1b), amongst USA participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on purchase intention revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 146) = 4.46, p =.04, where reviews from friends (M = 5.40, SD = 1.20) elicited higher purchase intentions than reviews from strangers (M = 5.27, SD =1.20). Contrary to Hypothesis 2b, there was no main effect of incentive, F(1,146) = 1.34, p =.25, nor interaction, F<1. Amongst Taiwanese participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on purchase intention revealed a significant main effect of incentive where non-incentivized reviews (M = 5.49, SD = 0.94) elicited greater purchase intentions than incentivized reviews (M = 5.39, SD = 0.98), F(1,147) =3.74, p=.06. There was no main effect of source, F(1,147)= 2.31, p = .13 nor an interaction effect, F(1,147) = 1.81, p =.18. In line with our hypothesis (H3b), planned contrasts revealed that when reviews are not incentivized, friends (M = 5.55, SD = 0.96) elicited significantly higher purchase intention than strangers (M = 5.42, SD = 0.95), F(1,147) = 5.73, p =.01. In contrast, when reviews were incentivized, friends (M = 5.40, SD = 0.94) elicited as much purchase intention as strangers (M = 5.38, SD = 1.02), F<1. Discussion Given the ever-important role of user-generated online reviews in consumer decisionmaking, it is necessary to understand how review sources and incentives affects perceptions of trust and purchase intentions, especially across cultures. Our study demonstrates how review sources and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions differently across individualistic versus collectivistic cultures. Specifically, review source and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness independently in Americans. Friends are considered more trustworthy than strangers, and non-incentivized reviews are considered more trustworthy than incentivized reviews. In contrast, the effect of review source on reviewer trustworthiness is moderated by incentive in Taiwanese participants. In particular, friends are considered more trustworthy than stranger only when reviews are not incentivized. When reviews are incentivized, trust seems to be violated, and friends are regarded as just as trustworthy as random strangers. Our contributions to the UGC literature are twofold. To date, research on UGC have largely ignored the role of culture and nationality (as well as individual differences, more broadly) can play. This potentially concerning since the proliferation of UGC are not limited to a Western sample. Our work highlights how culture can complicate findings in the UGC literature, and suggests a need to better consider the role culture plays. In addition, our research specifies the specific mechanism through which culture might influence the effect of review source and incentives affect purchase intention, trustworthiness. Additional studies will be conducted to examine how and why incentives are deemed as trust violations and reduce purchase intentions when accepted by friendly reviewers in collectivist cultures. Moreover, we will attempt to detangle trust in the reviewer versus review.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between perceived value, ethnic identity and purchase intention of ethnic apparel. This study examines how Hanfu (traditional costume of the Han Ethnic Group of China) customers perceive certain types of values (emotional value, social value, uniqueness value, conditional value and perceived value). Then this study determined how customers’ perceptions of these values and ethnic identity were correlated with perceived value, and intention to buy Hanfu. Findings from this study indicated that perceived value and ethnic identity were generally associated with purchase intention of ethnic apparel. Hence, ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention. Finally, compared to emotional value, social value, and uniqueness value, conditional value showed the most influential impact on the perceived value. The findings provide an insight in recognizing factors which play an important role in wearing ethnic apparel. More specifically this research provides insight for traditional apparel marketers to design apparel products and reposition the existing products.

The millennials are an important generational group of consumers who purchase luxury online and therefore to know their attitude to luxury has become a significant subject for our study. This study explores whether materialism, need for uniqueness, susceptibility to normative influence, and social media usage affect millennials’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward luxury fashion brands online. In addition, this research examines moderating effect of each dimension of national culture on the relationship between factors and millennials’ attitudes toward luxury fashion brands online. Hofstede’s framework is considered to be the most reliable measure of national culture (Yeniyurt & Townsend, 2003). We used four dimensions of Hofstede’s model of national culture: masculinity, individualism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance. In study 1, we examine millennials’ attitudes toward luxury fashion brand through Q methodology. In study 2, we examine relationships between variables using the SPSS 20.0 program for descriptive statistical analysis and the AMOS 20.0 program for structural equation model (SEM) analysis. The findings will enable marketers of luxury fashion brands to understand millennials’ attitudes toward luxury fashion brands and increase the sales among this target group.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between perceived value, ethnic identity and purchase intention of ethnic apparel. This study examines how Hanfu (traditional costume of the Han Ethnic Group of China) customers perceive certain types of values (emotional value, social value, uniqueness value, conditional value and perceived value). Then this study determined how customers’ perceptions of these values and ethnic identity were correlated with perceived value, and intention to buy Hanfu. Findings from this study indicated that perceived value and ethnic identity were generally associated with purchase intention of ethnic apparel. Hence, ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention. Finally, compared to emotional value, social value, and uniqueness value, conditional value showed the most influential impact on the perceived value. The findings provide an insight in recognizing factors which play an important role in wearing ethnic apparel. More specifically this research provides insight for traditional apparel marketers to design apparel products and reposition the existing products.

This study investigates the effect of high-level customization experience delivered via information and communication technology (ICT) on consumers’ patronage behavior toward a brand. The results indicate that customization experience increases purchasing intention for it enhance the level of happiness about the product. The relationship between customization experience and happiness is found to be mediated by autonomy (i.e., feeling of being in charge of one’s own action), competence (i.e., feeling that one effectively utilize one’s skill and abilities) and the pride of authorship (i.e. feeling of pride when creating an artifact of one’s own). Introduction The advancement of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has led the paradigm shift in managing a producer and consumer relationship in the fashion industry. In particular, it has blurred the boundaries between the role of a producer and the role of a consumer. For example, Adidas, one of the biggest sportswear companies in the world, has built SpeedFactory, which offers a special customization service for their users to build sneakers according to their own design specifications. There it takes only five hours for a customized design put together by its users to be produced in a real pair of sneakers and ready to be delivered to their home (Wiener, 2017). The term, prosumer (i.e., producer and consumer) indicates such people who not only purchase and use a product a company offers but also actively participate in the production process by communicating and reflecting their preference (Toffler, 1980). This phenomenon is particularly evident with millennial consumers who desire customer-centric experiences with which they feel wanted and valued. They are willing to engage with brands through producing consumer-generated contents and suggesting their ideas during the production process (McGee, 2017). Such desire has driven the growth of customization services and the rapid development of technology further enabling companies to provide customization more easily and at lower costs (Mitrea, Werner, & Greif, 2010). Despite its increasing significance, not much attention has been paid to understanding the psychological underpinnings as to how and why customization services may enhance consumer patronage behavior toward a brand. This study fills this void by examining the underlying mechanism of the relation between personalization experiences and purchasing intention. Literature review and research questions Customization Experience and Happiness “Experience” has emerged as an important keyword for marketing professionals in the last couple of decades (Pine & Gillomore, 1999; Schmitt, 1999). Consumers wanted and were willing to pay for unique, personalized events that are not the same as anyone else’s, and those that can surprise and impress them beyond providing mere satisfaction (Pine & Gillomore, 1999). Customized services thus have a great impact on consumer patronage behavior such as purchase intention and brand loyalty. Recently, marketing and psychology research has also observed that customized experiences bring happiness (e.g. Bhattacharjee, & Mogilner, 2014; Guevarra & Howell, 2015). Happiness refers to a cognitive and emotional evaluation of one's own life (Diener, 1984). While, to some extent, happiness can be assessed by external criteria such as socioeconomic level or objective indicators, subjective well-being is argued to be important for individuals to assess their own psychological states (Diener, 1984). In general, studies have found that material goods provide lower level of happiness than life experiences, since consumers tend to evaluate happiness through specific events. However, Guevarra & Howell (2015) illustrated that the dichotomous distinction between material items and life experience is ambiguous at the boundary, and in the middle of continuum from material items to life experiences exists “experiential products,” which give consumers the same level of happiness as life experiences. Offering consumers the ability to reflect their preferences in product designs is a way to tap into this psychology. Customization can be a unique experience in that consumers themselves participate in production processes. It is expected that the experience of designing one’s own good will positively affect consumer's happiness level. What Drives Happiness from Customization Experiences? Self-determination theory of Deci & Ryan (2012) (e.g., Maltby & Day, 2001; Wilson, Rodgers, Fraser, & Murray, 2004) is used as the conceptual framework to identify the underlying psychological mechanisms for this study. In particular, the selfdetermination theory posits that people feel happiness when they are satisfied with such psychological needs as autonomy (i.e., engaging in behaviors that express one’s true identity and feeling of being in charge of one’s own action), competence (i.e., feeling of fulfillment that one effectively utilize one’s skill and abilities), and relatedness (i.e., feelings of closeness to a desired social group) through experience (Deci & Ryan, 2012). Given the focus of this study is the customized service delivered online, the variable of relatedness is less relevant since our study focuses on independently designing a product to a user’s unique preferences. The variable of relatedness is excluded in our research model. Instead, we include the “pride of authorship” (Trentin, Perin, & Forza, 2014), which refers to the feeling of pride generated when creating an artifact of their own and a sense of being the creator of it (Schreier, 2006). Customized services can enhance the sense of accomplishment as an author which is also found to affect happiness (Schreier, 2006). We thus formulated the following hypotheses. Hypothesis 1-3. Perceived customization experience will have a positive influence on autonomy (H1), competence (H2), pride of authorship (H3). Hypothesis 4-6. Autonomy (H4), competence (H5), pride of authorship (H6) will have a positive influence on happiness. Hypothesis 7. Happiness will have a positive influence on purchase intention. Method The data were collected via an online experiment in May 2017 with women in their 20s and 30s residing in South Korea, nationwide. Procedure The target site we used as an experiment stimulus was a shoe retail site (http://www.shoesofprey.com) that offers customization options (e.g., shapes, colors, and heel height). The data were collected for a week with 180 participants in total. After entering a designated computer lab, participants were given a detailed instruction of how to use the customized services of this brand. Experiment assistants provided real-time help to participants for any technical difficulties. We asked respondents to visit an online website of this brand. The participants were asked to explore the site and to design customized shoes to their liking. After spending some time on the site and finish customization, they were asked to answer questions in our questionnaire. Measures/Data Collection and Analysis The measures of our constructs were developed based on previous literature. All items (except for demographic characteristics) were measured using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = “strongly disagree;” 7 = “strongly agree”). About 12 responses were deleted from a total of 180 responses due to incomplete data, thus168 were used for final analysis. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0. Results Underlying Mechanism of the Relation between Personalization Experience and Happiness: Autonomy, Competence, and Pride of Authorship With the pooled data (n=168), the results of the confirmatory factor analysis on the entire measurement model showed that our measurement model had a reasonably good fit (χ2(df=145)=300.546, p=.000; Normed χ2(CMIN/DF)=2.073; GFI=.847; CFI=.924; NFI=.864; TLI=.910; RMSEA=.080). The measurements of reliability yielded Cronbach’s α coefficients above 0.7. The convergent validity and discriminant validity were confirmed between the measurement variables, and the measured values were found to be appropriate. Customization experience had a significant influence on the path of autonomy, competence, and pride of authorship at the .001 level. Specifically, the results showed that the coefficient of the path from “customization experience to autonomy” to be .71***, that from “customization experience to competence” was .81***, and that from “customization experience to pride of authorship” was .68***. We thus accept Hypothesis 1, 2, and 3. These mediation variables were found to have a positive influence on happiness at the .001 level. The coefficient of the path from “autonomy to happiness” was .38***, that from “competence happiness” was .29***, and that from “pride of authorship to happiness” was .25***. We thus accept Hypothesis 4, 5, and 6. It was identified that happiness was positively related to purchase intention with coefficients, 0.49***. Thus, Hypothesis 7 was supported. Discussion and implications Previous research found that offering customization service positively influences purchase intention and willingness-to-pay. This paper extends the current understand as to the effect of customization service experience on consumer patronage intention by identifying underlying psychological mechanism. The customized products allow and demand consumers to engage in the designing process. This distinctive experience generates psychological reactions that are linked to personal happiness. In particular, we find that a heightened sense of autonomy, competence, and the pride of authorship are critical mediators linking the customization experiences to happiness. The results also indicate that feeling of happiness is a significant driver for consumer patronage behavior. Our results imply that millennial consumers want to experience consumer-centric events and to engaging in creating their own contents to feel fulfilled with consumption experiences and that customized services can be a power tool to meet this desire.