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This paper aims to investigate how the perception of physical coldness (vs warmth) influences consumers to make charitable donations.

Three experiments were conducted involving charitable donation scenarios.

Studies demonstrate that cold (vs warm) temperature cues result in greater intentions to donate to charities. Specifically, cold (vs warmth) cues activate the need for social connection which, in turn, motivate consumers to donate more money to charities. Furthermore, this effect holds even when the actual temperature instead of temperature cues is changed, and participants’ actual donation behavior instead of donation intentions is measured, thereby, strengthening the findings of this paper.

Boundary conditions associated with the effect of temperature cues need empirical investigation. Future research needs to investigate if the effect holds with variability of coldness. Future research also needs to determine whether the documented effect occur across various pro-social contexts.

The results suggest that non-profit organizations incorporate “cold” cues into advertisements (people feeling cold or cold landscapes) to increase monetary donations and that these organizations should focus on targeting donors during wintertime (vs summer time) to get more donations.

This is the first research to demonstrate the effects of temperature cues on charitable donations. The added value of this paper is the use of physical temperature change to highlight the phenomenon, and the link between cold (vs warm) temperature cue and the need of social connection.

This paper aims to examine how consumers evaluate and respond after failing to receive the promotional price for a quantity discount because the minimum purchase requirement (MinPR) is out of reach. Although quantity discounts are effective in terms of increasing sales volume, the outcome of using them is not always positive.

Two 2 × 2 experiments are carried out to test the research hypotheses in the context of apparel shopping.

The results of Experiment 1 demonstrate that offering quantity discounts with a high MinPR (e.g. “4 for 30 per cent off”) can result in greater willingness to buy (WTB) a single product at the full price than offering promotions with a low MinPR (e.g. “2 for 30 per cent off”) in the wake of a missed quantity discount. In other words, the purchase quantity has a positive effect on the consumers’ WTB even when they are not able to take advantage of the discount. However, this relationship weakens when the selection of discounted items is limited (i.e. the scope of the promotion is narrow). The results of Experiment 2 reveal that when the missed quantity discount is based on dollars rather than on the number of pieces (e.g. “Buy $100, get 30 per cent off” vs “Buy four pieces, get 30 per cent off”), the effect of purchase quantity on WTB is enhanced. Finally, perceived closeness of purchase outcome to the MinPR mediates the effect of purchase quantity on WTB.

To maximize internal validity, hypothetical scenarios were used as stimuli rather than an actual consumption experience, and the setting involved only a single product category (clothing). Future work including other types of merchandise and a more natural setting is needed to generalize our findings.

The purchase quantity or MinPR serves as a reference point that influences consumers’ purchase decisions, even those who do not buy enough to qualify for the price reduction. Our findings suggest that retailers should specify a relatively high MinPR for quantity discounts. In addition, proper selection of the promotional scope and discount base will significantly improve consumers’ behavioral reactions when they are not able to take advantage of a quantity discount.

The primary contribution of this article to the marketing literature is that it provides empirical results that shed some light on the situational influences that missing a quantity discount has on the consumer’s WTB a single product at the regular price, and what the mechanisms for the purchase quantity effect might be.

This study aims to investigate the factors driving viewers' purchase intention in live-streaming by incorporating stimuli–organism–response (S–O–R) framework and extroversion–introversion personality perspectives.

Data collected from 228 users on live-streaming platforms in Taiwan were used to test the proposed model. The partial least squares method was used to test the measurement and the structural models.

Product attractiveness and trust in streamer significantly impacts purchase intention. The results also reveal that interactivity, breadth of information and uniqueness of information significantly impact product attractiveness, whereas social presence, breadth of information and uniqueness of information positively affect trust in streamer. Furthermore, streamer attractiveness has a greater effect on the purchase intention of extroverts.

This study investigates how the features of media, message and streamer impact purchase intention through their reactions to live-streaming. This research is also one of the earliest studies to examine the moderating role of extroversion–introversion personality on purchase intention and its antecedents in live-streaming commerce.

This study aims to develop a comprehensive LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) restaurant service quality scale by using a rigorous qualitative and quantitative research process to effectively measure the service quality of LOHAS restaurants. Moreover, this study aims to further identify the Kano quality characteristics and strategic meanings of service attributes in LOHAS restaurants.

This study designed the preliminary items of the service quality scale for LOHAS restaurants (LORSERV scale) based on relevant literatures and expert interview procedures. This study identified the goodness of fit of the questionnaire content, construct validity and validity of the LORSERV scale using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The moderated regression was conducted to identify the Kano quality characteristics and strategic meanings of each service attribute in LOHAS restaurants.

The results indicated that the LORSERV scale included seven dimensions (internal sense of happiness, transitiveness, environment, healthy catering, service commitment, green practicability and thoughtfulness), for a total of 33 items. According to the results of the Kano model, the seven service attributes were categorized into the attractive quality. A total of 25 service attributes were categorized into the one-dimensional quality, and one service attribute was categorized into the must-be quality.

The contribution of this study is that the scale could facilitate operators of LOHAS restaurants to effectively understand customer perceptions of service quality and serve as a reference to upgrade and improve service quality. The identification of Kano quality characteristics for each service attribute is conducive for LOHAS restaurants to understand the strategic meanings of each service attribute and can serve as a reference to make distinctive service strategies to reach sustainable operations.

Assessing image quality is a difficult task. Different demands need distinct criteria, so it is not realistic to decide which contrast enhancement method is better only through one criterion. The main purpose is to propose an efficient scheme to effectively evaluate image quality. Furthermore, the idea can be applied in other fields.

To objectively and quantitatively assess image quality, the authors integrate four criteria into one composite criterion and use it to evaluate seven existing contrast enhancement methods. The mechanism of integration is through a newly proposed way of computing a grey relational grade (GRGd), called the consistent grey relational grade (CGRGd).

In this paper, the authors propose the CGRGd, which is more efficient and consistent than other existing GRGds. When applied to image quality evaluation, the proposed CGRGd can effectively choose the best method than others. The results also indicate that the proposed CGRGd combined with appropriate criteria can be widely used in the field of multiple criteria.

The proposed CGRGd is a new approach to the problem of multi-criteria evaluation, and its application to the evaluation of image quality is a novel idea. For readers interested in the field of multi-criteria decision-making, the CGRGd provides an efficient and effective alternative.

This study aims to extract determinants of customers' choice of dining-related services (CDS) to understand their attitudes and habits for dining-related services. Moreover, it classifies restaurant customers into several clusters based on their CDS factors and further analyzes the differences in the preferences and habits for dining-related services among various clusters.

This study extracts the CDS factors using principal component analysis and identifies construct validity of the CDS factors through the results of confirmatory factor analysis. Then, it divides the restaurant customers in Taipei City into different clusters through cluster analysis to explore the habits and preferences for dining-related services in each cluster.

The study results show that the extracted six CDS factors, including service commitment, dietary preferences, design styles, additional value, delicate information collection, and dining environments. Dietary preferences, service commitment and additional value factor are the most important CDS factors for restaurant customers in Taipei City. This study divides 1,029 restaurant customers in Taipei City into three clusters based on the CDS factors through cluster analysis. The differences in the preferences and habits for dining services among three clusters have been discussed in the context in detail. Finally, this study develops eight service strategies and determines the order of execution of the eight service strategies for each cluster of customers.

The findings will help restaurant operators segment the market, target market customers, carry out service positioning and develop marketing strategies to respond to the highly competitive restaurant market and achieve sustainable restaurant operations.

As satisfaction is one of the most important conditions for loyalty, this study aims to investigate the main factors affecting online satisfaction for buying clothes from the internet. In this research, the authors followed two main objectives: (1) to identify factors influencing online satisfaction and (2) to determine the importance of the main determinants that explain online satisfaction in the retailing clothing sector.

The research combines qualitative and quantitative research methods. The authors used the focus group technique and a survey based on a questionnaire. For the first exploratory phase of the research, we conducted four focus groups with 21 women, 18–39 years old, who have at least two years experiences as online buyers and who made at least two acquisitions for clothing products in the past six months, from the same website. The purpose of this qualitative method was to understand the young women's perception about online satisfaction and to collect items to be included in the questionnaire. For the second quantitative phase of this study, the sample consisted of 241 participants. To analyse the data, two different types of inferential analysis were used: factor analysis (for identifying the factors that compose online customer satisfaction) and analysis of regression (to determine the most important factors that determine and predict online buyers' satisfaction).

The main results indicate that the significant factors determining a satisfactory experience in an e-retailing market are: good deal (savings), product expectations, customer service and website reputation.

The study is more relevant in the current pandemic context, when the consumer’s behaviour has changed and online shopping has substantially increased. The research can be used by companies that sell clothing on the internet and are interested in increasing their financial results and also their customers' satisfaction.