Tim Eberhardt, Marco Hubert, Helena Maria Lischka, Mirja Hubert and Zhibin Lin
The purpose of this study is to examine how subjective knowledge about fair trade products and the perceived trustworthiness of information about fair trade goods influence…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how subjective knowledge about fair trade products and the perceived trustworthiness of information about fair trade goods influence purchase intention and reported purchase behaviour across two product categories, namely, fashion and food.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from an online survey with a sample of 1,616 consumers in four European countries, namely, Germany, Italy, Austria and the UK.
Findings
The results show that subjective knowledge moderates the positive relationship between intentions to purchase and reported purchase behaviour of fair trade products, however, the moderating role of perceived information trustworthiness was not significant. Furthermore, both the intention to purchase and reported purchase behaviour are significantly lower for fair trade fashion products than for fair trade food products.
Practical implications
This paper shows how fair trade consumption behaviour is mainly influenced by subjective knowledge about fair trade products. It reveals existing differences in both the buying intentions and reported purchase behaviour in different European markets.
Originality/value
This research broadens the understanding of consumers’ fair trade consumption behaviour across two different product categories and four different countries, with a focus on the interaction effect of consumers’ subjective knowledge and information trustworthiness.
Details
Keywords
Marco Hubert, Mirja Hubert, Marc Linzmajer, René Riedl and Peter Kenning
The purpose of this study is to examine how consumer personality trait impulsiveness influences trustworthiness evaluations of online-offers with different trust-assuring and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how consumer personality trait impulsiveness influences trustworthiness evaluations of online-offers with different trust-assuring and trust-reducing elements by measuring the brain activity of consumers. Shoppers with high degrees of impulsiveness are referred to as hedonic shoppers, and those with low degrees are referred to as prudent consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
To investigate the differences between neural processes in the brains of hedonic and prudent shoppers during the trustworthiness evaluation of online-offers, the present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and region-of-interest analysis to correlate neural activity patterns with behavioral measures of the study participants.
Findings
Drawing upon literature reviews on the neural correlates of both trust in online settings and consumer impulsiveness and using an experimental design that links behavioral and fMRI data, the study shows that consumer impulsiveness can exert a significant influence on the evaluation of online-offers. With regard to brain activation, both groups (hedonic and prudent shoppers) exhibit similar neural activation tendencies, but differences exist in the magnitude of activation patterns in brain regions that are closely related to trust and impulsiveness such as the dorsal striatum, anterior cingulate, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the insula cortex.
Research limitations/implications
The data provide evidence that consumers within the hedonic group evaluate online-offers differently with regard to their trustworthiness compared to the prudent group, and that these differences in evaluation are rooted in neural activation differences in the shoppers’ brains.
Practical implications
Marketers need to be made aware of the fact that neurological insights can be used for market segmentation, because consumers’ decision-making processes help explain behavioral outcomes (here, trustworthiness evaluations of online-offers). In addition, consumers can learn from an advanced understanding of their brain functions during decision-making and their relation to personal traits such as impulsiveness.
Originality/value
Considering the importance of trust in online shopping, as well as the fact that personality traits such as impulsiveness influence the purchase process to a high degree, this study is the first to systematically investigate the interplay of online trustworthiness perceptions and differences in consumer impulsiveness with neuroscientific methods.
Details
Keywords
Nils Grimmelsmann, Mirja Kreuziger, Michael Korger, Hubert Meissner and Andrea Ehrmann
Composites combining two or more different materials with different physical and chemical properties allow for tailoring mechanical and other characteristics of the resulting…
Abstract
Purpose
Composites combining two or more different materials with different physical and chemical properties allow for tailoring mechanical and other characteristics of the resulting multi-material system. In relation to fiber-reinforced plastic composites, combinations of textile materials with 3D printed polymers result in different mechanical properties. While the tensile strength of the multi-material system is increased compared to the pure 3D printed material, the elasticity of the polymer layer can be retained to a certain degree, as the textile material is not completely immersed in the polymer. Instead, an interface layer is built in which both materials interpenetrate to a certain degree. The purpose of this study is to investigate the adhesion between both materials at this interface.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper gives an overview of the parameters affecting the interface layer. It shows that both the printing material and the textile substrate influence the adhesion between both materials due to viscosity during printing, thickness and pore sizes, respectively. While some material combinations build strong form-locking connections, others can easily be delaminated.
Findings
Depending on both materials, significantly different adhesion values can be found in such 3D printed composites.
Practical implications
This makes some combinations very well suitable for building composites with novel mechanical properties, while other suffer of insufficient connections.
Originality/value
For the first time, the dependence of the polymer-textile adhesion force was evaluated according to the distance between both compound partners. It was shown that this value is of crucial interest and must thus be taken into account when producing printed polymer-textile composites.
Details
Keywords
J. Lukas Thürmer, Maik Bieleke, Frank Wieber and Peter M. Gollwitzer
This study aims to take a dual-process perspective and argues that peer influence on increasing impulse buying may also operate automatically. If-then plans, which can automate…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to take a dual-process perspective and argues that peer influence on increasing impulse buying may also operate automatically. If-then plans, which can automate action control, may, thus, help regulate peer influence. This research extends existing literature explicating the deliberate influence of social norms.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 (N = 120) obtained causal evidence that forming an implementation intention (i.e. an if-then plan designed to automate action control) reduces peer impact on impulse buying in a laboratory experiment with young adults (students) selecting food items. Study 2 (N = 686) obtained correlational evidence for the role of norms, automaticity and implementation intentions in impulse buying using a large sample of high-school adolescents working on a vignette about clothes-shopping.
Findings
If-then plans reduced impulse purchases in the laboratory (Study 1). Both reported deliberation on peer norms and the reported automaticity of shopping with peers predicted impulse buying but an implementation intention to be thriftily reduced these links (Study 2).
Research limitations/implications
This research highlights the role of automatic social processes in problematic consumer behaviour. Promising field studies and neuropsychological experiments are discussed.
Practical implications
Young consumers can gain control over automatic peer influence by using if-then plans, thereby reducing impulse buying.
Originality/value
This research helps understand new precursors of impulse buying in understudied European samples of young consumers.