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This study aims to shed new light on the effect of gift packaging shape, specifically the distinction between horizontal and vertical orientations, on the face consciousness of both gift givers and recipients. The underlying mechanism of the main effect is examined, focusing on the perception of social status symbols. In addition, downstream outcome variables were included in the study to explore the effects of gift package shape on willingness to buy (WTB) and word-of-mouth (WOM) in the giver and receiver contexts, respectively. Furthermore, these effects were repeatedly verified in both China and the USA, revealing the significance of cultural differences. The study also investigated the moderating effects of an individual’s power state (low or high power) on the giver’s face consciousness.

Six studies were conducted to address the research objectives. Study 1 compared the gift givers’ face consciousness of a gift when presented with vertical package shapes versus horizontal. Subsequently, Study 2 investigated whether consumers’ perception of social status symbols mediates the effect of gift package shape on gift givers’ face consciousness. Study 3a expanded the conceptual model to include the downstream outcome variable of WTB in the context of gift-giving. Study 3b was validated with American participants, revealing the influence of cultural background differences on face consciousness. Study 4 introduced a gift-receiving context to investigate the chain-mediated effects of gift package shapes on consumer WOM. Lastly, Study 5 critically examined the boundary effect of personal power states on the interaction between the gift givers’ face consciousness and WTB.

The results indicate that gift givers and recipients attribute higher face consciousness to gifts with vertical package shapes compared to horizontal ones. In addition, consumers’ perception of gifts as status symbols was the underlying mechanism driving the impact of gift packaging shape on face consciousness. Furthermore, the face consciousness for gift packages of vertical shape was enhanced when people were in lower-power states as opposed to higher-power states, subsequently leading to an increase in the WTB.

The research is limited to an online virtual brand study; future field studies could be conducted to enhance the authenticity of the participants’ gift-giving experience and the overall external validity of the studies. In addition, gender-based stereotypes and the relationship between the giver and the receiver (transactional or intimate) may also influence the relationship between gift package shapes and face consciousness.

The practical implications of this research focus on three points. First, gift brand managers should strategically employ vertical package shapes to signal high-end attributes and evoke face consciousness among consumers, aligning with the psychology of both givers and recipients. Second, managers must consider consumers’ power states in gift-giving scenarios, tailoring packaging recommendations to the dynamics between givers and recipients to maximize market share. Last, cultural differences in face consciousness, particularly between Asian and Western cultures, necessitate that managers adapt packaging designs to respect and enhance the social status of both givers and recipients in culturally sensitive ways. These findings underscore the importance of understanding and integrating consumer psychology, power dynamics, and cultural nuances into gift packaging strategies to boost market share.

The research contributes to understanding the impact of gift packaging shape on the perception of face consciousness among both gift givers and recipients. It highlights the mediating role of social status symbols and extends its scope by examining downstream effects such as WTB and WOM. It explores individual power states as a moderating factor, revealing how personal dynamics influence perceptions of face-saving consciousness. Also, the cross-cultural validation of these effects in China and the USA underscores the importance of considering cultural differences.

The purpose of this study is to offer a better understanding of contemporary consumer behaviour. This study relates to the complex and value-laden phenomenon of “gift-giving” from the perspective of bicultural consumers. The focus was on the gift-giving practices of Chinese immigrants in Canada within both their current and their past residencies (Canada and China, respectively).

Conceptual guidelines for this study embodied the gift-giving conceptual framework of Sherry (1983) and Chinese cultural values on gift giving (Yau et al., 1999). A qualitative research study was implemented. Specifically, in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant women mainly from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada, offered empirical evidence relating to the gestation stage of gift giving.

The findings indicate the complexity of acculturation in gift-giving practices. In terms of gift-giving occasions, Chinese immigrants in Canada, for the most part, adopted the Canadian gift-giving occasions. However, the important role of ethnicity in decision-making is found through their strong sense of differentiation between Chinese and Canadian gift receivers. The results also indicate some Chinese cultural values such as relationship, reciprocity and group orientation as being still important in shaping gift-giving practices, even after immigration to a new country quite distant from the homeland. One cautionary note is that some cultural values such as relationship can be common to both Chinese and Canadian cultural groups.

This research was conducted mainly in the GTA in Ontario, Canada. Future studies could address other large Canadian cities with significant bicultural Chinese populations such as Vancouver in British Columbia and Motreal in Quebec.

This research extends the knowledge of bicultural consumers by examining the evolving gift-giving practices of Chinese immigrants living in Canada. A good understanding of the cultural values important to bicultural consumers will help marketers to efficiently and effectively allocate their marketing resources in attracting these niche consumers.

This study has contributed to the broader field of marketing research. Specifically, the current study offers the importance of understanding values transference of bicultural consumers and their behaviours in integrating into the mainstream gift-giving cultural context.

This study has contributed by offering evidence of how a minority consumer group formed complex acculturation realities within a gift-giving consumption context. This contribution can be counted as a step towards theoretical advancement in the field of acculturation and of understanding bicultural consumers.

The purpose of this research is to show how the dual mediation model has been used to explain consumer responses toward an ad and a brand. This study attempts to incorporate ad affect and competition into the framework and examine the effects of advertising on consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions in multiple‐ad and multiple‐brand environments.

A total of 165 usable data (54 percent female, mean age=36.2) were collected from an experiment conducted in North America.

The findings revealed that the higher level of affective responses to a focal ad significantly leads to a higher evaluation of that ad. Our findings also indicated that information about a competing ad and brand is processed comparatively and that evaluations of the competing ad and brand negatively influence evaluations of a focal ad and brand.

Important theoretical contributions of this study are that ad affect is an important determinant in the formation of ad attitude and it can be incorporated into the dual mediation model to explain the effects of advertising on consumer behavior. Our research also challenges the dual mediation model by incorporating competition into the model. Managerial implications of these results were discussed.

Traditionally, researchers in environmental psychology have developed the classic C (cognition)‐ E (emotion)‐ B (behavior) paradigm. However, some researchers have failed to replicate this classic paradigm and suggested that cognition is an antecedent to emotions. The main goals of this research are to extend the C‐E‐B paradigm by incorporating consumers' perceptions of service quality and to determine whether the extended model of consumer shopping mall decision process is invariant across English and French Canadian consumers.

By conducting a three‐step analysis, six hypotheses are empirically examined through a survey of 266 “real” English and French Canadian consumers in a shopping mall.

Findings indicate that consumers' evaluations of service quality in a shopping environment mediate their pleasure and purchase intention. Consumer mall shopping decision‐making process is invariant across English and French Canadian consumers.

For researchers who are interested in understanding consumer mall shopping behavior cross‐culturally, this research provides a model that can be tested in cross‐cultural contexts. For mall operators and store managers attempting to improve the mall environment, product quality, and offer better service, the study provides interesting solutions.

By incorporating service quality into consumer mall shopping decision making, this research has demonstrated that consumers' moods evoked by their perceptions of shopping mall environment and of product quality influence their purchase intentions through their perceptions of service quality. The mall shopping decision‐making process of English and French Canadian consumers is universal, regardless of their cultural orientations.

The thesis of this paper is that patient emotions have not been sufficiently integrated into patient-centeredness, a well-established organizing principle of health care management. We first review the scientific knowledge on emotions that is of relevance to support their being a core component of patient-centeredness. We then report a field study designed to investigate the mechanisms by which emotions influence care outcomes (specifically, patient satisfaction). Structural analyses performed on self-reports by 283 minor care patients in an Emergency Department revealed that both positive and negative emotions influence satisfaction indirectly by biasing patient perceptions of quality of care in a valence-congruent direction.Negative emotions have an additional direct effect on satisfaction. Patients who were made to wait longer to see the physician not only manifested a progressive deterioration of their emotional states (i.e. decrease in positive affects and increase in negative affects) but their satisfaction judgments became more importantly formed on the basis of emotions. Implications of the research for healthcare management are discussed.