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This study aims to examine the younger generations’ experiential consumption of foreign contemporary music online (i.e. digital music streaming services) by generation and gender in the US market.

The author proposes a sequential experiential consumption model by applying Jacoby’s refined stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory to better understand the experiential sequences in foreign music consumption among young generations in the US market. The proposed model, using structural equation modeling (SEM), examines a cognitive permeable role and a hierarchical affective mediating role. Also, moderating roles of generation and gender are simultaneously tested in overall and specific causal relationships.

The refined S-O-R framework is superior to a linear one in better understanding young consumers’ online experiential foreign music consumption behavior. Moreover, hierarchical sequenced affective organismic behavior is crucial to enhance young consumers’ online music consumption experiences to regulate subsequent behavioral responses. Furthermore, gender differences but no generational differences exist in the experiential consumption process among young consumers. Nevertheless, the strength of S-O-R factors affecting experiential consumption seems idiosyncratic simultaneously in gender and generation.

The study suggests foreign music streaming services boost profitability by focusing on young consumers' psychological ownership and tailored experiences, encouraging a shift from freemium to premium subscriptions. Also, the findings recommend adopting phygital experiences using technologies like AR, VR and MR to enhance engagement and create unique, emotionally resonant experiences for young consumers, thus fostering a more profitable business model.

The authors address under-researched topics relevant to young generations by applying Jacoby’s refined S-O-R framework to foreign music consumption through online streaming. This approach delves into a lesser-explored consumer behavior framework, highlighting young generations’ musical trends. The model reveals cognitive and affective roles, offering advantages over traditional linear S-O-R models. It also uniquely incorporates the moderating effects of generation and gender in music consumption studies, addressing a gap in music-related studies.

Previous research found that when exercise partners provided social support to each other, both participants engaged in higher levels of activity (Gellert et al., 2011). These results suggest that there may be benefits to providing inclusive physical activity (PA) programming to individuals with autism; however, little research has explored specific strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of a behavioral intervention consisting of visual social stories and additional intervention components (i.e. prompting, checklists) to teach adolescents/young adults with autism and their workout partners without disabilities to provide social support to one another during partnered PA.

A multiple probe across dyads was used to explore the effects of the intervention on social support (i.e. verbal encouragement and feedback).

The results indicate the treatment was effective during the intervention phase. When partners and settings changed during generalization, results were maintained in all but one participant.

Areas for future research and implications for practice to support inclusive PA for autistics are discussed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) allows the brand to co-create value with young customers through mobile apps. However, as many brands claim that their mobile apps are using the most updated AI technology, young customers face app fatigue and start questioning the authenticity of this touchpoint. This paper aims to study the mediating effect of authenticity for the value co-creation of AI-powered branded applications.

Drawing from regulatory engagement theory, this study conceptualize authenticity as the key construct in customers’ value experience process, which triggers customer value co-creation. Two scenario-based online experiments are conducted to collect data from 444 young customers. Data analysis is performed using ANOVA and Process Hayes.

The results reveal that perceived authenticity is an important mediator between media richness (chatbot vs AI text vs augmented reality) and value co-creation. There is no interaction effect of co-brand fit (high vs low) and source endorsement (doctor vs government) on the relationship between media richness and perceived authenticity, whereas injunctive norms (high vs low) strengthen this relationship.

The finding provides insights for marketing managers on engaging young customers suffering from app fatigue. Authenticity holds the key to young customers’ technological perceptions.

This research highlights the importance of perceived authenticity in encouraging young customers to co-create value. Young customers consider authenticity as a motivational force experience that involves customers through the app’s attributes (e.g. media richness) and social standards (e.g. norms), rather than brand factors (e.g. co-brand fit, source endorsement).

Social media have been associated with social benefits and enhanced psychological well-being among non-disabled individuals; the purpose of this study is to examine whether social media may have similar benefits for young neurodivergent adults with autism, anxiety, or attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder who may experience communication differences. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this first-of-its kind study explores the nature of social media use and related psychological well-being among neurodivergent college undergraduates.

This qualitative study is part of a larger effort. The authors surveyed undergraduates with and without disabilities at U.S. higher education institutions on their social media use and psychological well-being. A total of 131 students responded, including 24 neurodivergent individuals, the results of which are reported elsewhere. Participants were 18–25 years old, of varied genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds; for neurodivergent adults, questions focused on social challenges. From the survey, a sample of five neurodivergent individuals was drawn for this small-scale, exploratory interview study.

This paper reports descriptive statistics from survey results to contextualize analysis of students’ social media use (e.g. purposes, practices, benefits and harms). Students used mainly Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to promote well-being primarily through engaging positive relationships and positive emotions. Students reported several benefits of using social media to develop their disability identity and few harms.

Understanding the impact of social media use on undergraduates with disabilities could help us not only improve services as teachers, counselors and other helping professionals who support young adults to leverage their everyday technologies-in-use but also address digital equity issues.

Social media has become an inescapable part of our lives. However, recent research suggests that excessive use of social media may lead to fatigue and users’ disengagement. This study aims to examine which brand-related factors contribute to social media fatigue (SMF) and its subsequent role on driving lurking behaviors, particularly among young consumers.

Based on survey data from 282 young users of social media, a holistic model of brand-related drivers and outcomes of SMF was tested, emphasizing the contribution of brands’ social media presence to users’ disengagement.

Research shows that branded content overload and irrelevance, as well as branded ads intrusiveness significantly impact SMF, which in turn plays a mediating role between brand-related drivers and lurking behaviors. The authors further conclude that the impact of SMF on lurking is stronger for users who follow a larger set of brands.

The study contributes to social media research by addressing its “dark side” and empirically validating the role of brands’ social media presence in developing young users’ fatigue and disengagement. The study further adds to the scant literature on SMF, which was mostly developed outside the branding field. Research also provides valuable insights to brands on how to improve their social media performance.

This study aims to examine the factors influencing trust toward mobile health applications (mhealth apps) among young consumers. By building on the socio-technical systems framework and self-congruence theory, the authors develop and examine a conceptual model of the trusting intentions of young consumers toward mhealth apps.

The data for the study was collected from a sample of 285 young consumers via an online survey by using a purposive sampling method. All the respondents were existing users of health apps and resided in the urban areas of the country. The sample comprised 53% male respondents and 47% female respondents. Subsequently, the data was analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique.

The findings revealed that psychological factors like self-congruence and technical factors such as flow experience and perceived playfulness aid in building trust among young mhealth app users, which in turn influences the purchase intention and user loyalty toward the application. Social factors like perceived critical mass and social influence did not significantly impact trust.

The data was collected from Generation Z, recognized as the most influential consumer demographic worldwide, primarily involved in mhealth app usage. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand that these findings might only partially apply to a specific user group. In addition, the study did not focus on any specific mhealth applications. Hence, it is prudent to exercise caution when generalizing these results to the broader population.

This study advances the comprehension of socio-technical elements in establishing trust, subsequently impacting purchase intentions and loyalty among young users in the context of mhealth apps. In addition, it expands the socio-technical framework by incorporating a psychological factor that could influence trust and purchase intentions toward mhealth apps. Furthermore, the post hoc findings reinforce this comprehension by identifying the moderating effects of operating system type and gender. These insights could provide valuable guidance for developing tailored marketing strategies targeting the young consumer base.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of four motivational elements (i.e. utilitarian, hedonic, social and escapism motivations) on the propensity of customers to utilize a metaverse hotel, as well as whether age, gender and mobility disability play substantial moderating roles in these relationships.

Data was gathered from 843 US residents who had experienced a hotel stay within the past two years. We tested the hypotheses using structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis.

The findings indicated that, in both age and gender groups, hedonic, social and escapism motivations had significant effects on intentions to use a metaverse hotel, whereas utilitarian motivation did not. The influence of escapism motivation on customers’ usage intentions was significantly more pronounced for males than females, suggesting the moderating role of gender in this relationship. Hedonic and social motivations exerted significant effects on usage intentions in both mobility disability and non-disability groups. The relationship between escapism motivation and intentions to use was significant for the non-disability group only, suggesting the moderating role of disability in this association.

This research provides recommendations for hotel managers and technology providers aiming to enhance the adoption of metaverse hotels by customers and to augment the worth of this technology.

This research fills the voids in the current literature by formulating and empirically evaluating a research framework to gain deeper insights into the motivations that drive the acceptance of a metaverse hotel.

This study explores the coping strategies employed by people of color in response to racial discrimination and examines how cultural norms inform these strategies.

In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 34 Black and Asian Americans about their experiences with racial discrimination.

Findings reveal that participants cope through humor, seeking social support on social media, from family and friends, and through avoidant coping strategies. Seeking social support from empathetic others, especially when they shared the same racial background as participants, contributes to feelings of comfort, sanity, and a sense of community. Group differences emerge in seeking family support with Black Americans more likely to seek parental support, likely because of racial socialization practices by their parents that prepared them for experiencing bias. Asian Americans preferred talking to siblings or cousins, citing a cultural gap between them and their parents.

The study underscores the importance of considering the quality of social support, not just its use, as a buffer against harms related to discrimination.

Racial discrimination is a routine experience for many people of color. This study demonstrates how the type of coping strategy matters for coping with the distress that often accompanies these experiences.

In contrast to monoracial-focused studies, this research demonstrates the convergence and divergence of coping strategies among different racial groups.