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This research aims to analyze whether the self-regulatory focus, a consumer variable, moderates the impact of incongruity on consumer evaluations. A congruity or typicality arises when a product (e.g. champagne) is consistently consumed in certain occasions or is used in conjunction with other specific products. This typicality may remind people of the product with regard to specific contexts but may limit the product’s overall versatility. In line with the moderate incongruity effect, there may be an opportunity to extend a product usage to situations associated with moderate incongruity or atypicality.

Study 1 is a 2 (self-regulatory focus: promotion/prevention) × 3 (atypicality of product usage context: typical/moderately atypical/highly atypical) between-subject experimental design. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with a sample of different age, three different champagne usage contexts and a manipulation of self-regulatory focus. Study 3 is a 2 (self-regulatory focus: promotion/prevention) × 3 (atypicality of product usage context: typical/moderately atypical/highly atypical) × 2 (product replicates: red wine/pearl jewelry) mixed design with self-regulatory focus and atypicality as between-subjects factors and product replicates as a within-subject variable.

Promotion-focus consumers’ product evaluations for the moderate incongruity or atypicality are higher than those for congruity and extreme incongruity. The relationship takes an inverted-U shape. Prevention-focus consumers’ product evaluations decrease monotonically as congruity decreases. Moreover, compared with prevention-focus individuals, promotion-focus ones evaluate moderate incongruity more favorably.

There are some limitations to this research. First, it only investigates the moderate incongruity effect with regard to product use occasions and complementary products. To increase the external validity of self-regulatory focus as a moderator of incongruity-evaluation relationships, it remains to future research to extend the research setting to products which have been tightly bonded to specific users, locations, seasons or times. Second, although the experimental designs are similar to previous ones, the scenarios are nevertheless imaginary. Therefore, participants’ involvement levels in all manipulated situations, as well as the quality of their answers, remain unknown.

First, brand managers should target only promotion-focus customers to obtain the moderate incongruity effect, but should maintain a consistent marketing strategy for prevention-focus customers. Second, because both promotion- and prevention-focus individuals have unfavorable evaluations of extreme incongruity, drastic changes in marketing strategies should be avoided. Third, people from a Western (Eastern) culture exhibit more promotion (prevention) focus orientation. Therefore, the type of culture can serve as an indicator of regulatory orientation. Fourth, a gain-framed appeal is recommended for realizing the moderate incongruity effect from promotion-focus consumers. Finally, promotion-focus (vs prevention-focus) consumers will welcome a moderately nonalignable than alignable product upgrade.

Most prior research on goal orientation has found that promotion-focus (vs. prevention-focus) individuals are more inclined to adopt new products, but both types of people are unlikely to purchase new products when the associated risks become salient, while the research related to schema incongruity has suggested that the moderate incongruity effect may not exist when consumers perceive high risks. By combining both schema congruity and self-regulatory focus theories, this research provides a more precise picture of how and why a person’s goal orientation influences the relative salience of risks and benefits with an increase in incongruity.

The central question of this paper is, “What determines an entrepreneur's effort on different tasks?” The paper aims to address this question.

Propositions about the impact cognitive processes have on entrepreneurial effort across different tasks are developed. These propositions draw on self‐regulatory theory, in particular our understanding of regulatory focus and self‐efficacy.

It is argued that a promotion orientation motivates effort on explorative tasks, and a prevention orientation motivates effort on exploitative tasks. Further, it is proposed that high self‐efficacy motivates effort on action tasks, but high self‐efficacy reduces effort on judgment tasks.

One implication of these propositions for entrepreneurs is to understand self‐regulatory processes and to consciously decide how much effort to put into different tasks, rather than relying on (hidden) preferences. Another implication is for those involved in selecting and developing entrepreneurs. That implication is that entrepreneurs' self‐regulatory processes can inhibit effective effort. These processes can be managed to increase effectiveness.

By introducing task type into the discussion of self‐regulation and entrepreneurial effort, a more fine‐grained understanding of cognitive processes in actual entrepreneurial activities is developed.

This paper aims to investigate the importance of e‐servicescape in the context of the lodging industry, based on the holistic perspective, by examining ambient, design, and social factors of the virtual environment. Employing the Stimulus‐Organism‐Response (S‐O‐R) model as a theoretical background, this study conceptually proposes a theoretical model, investigating the relationships among e‐servicescape, online consumers' flow experiences, emotion, satisfaction, and their behaviors. In addition, this study extends knowledge of e‐servicescape, incorporating individual differences, online consumers' self‐regulatory focus, in the proposed conceptual model.

Based on an extensive literature review, this study proposes a conceptual framework and eight propositions to investigate the dimensions of e‐servicescape (i.e., design, ambient, and social factors) and its consequences towards online consumers.

Based on the S‐O‐R and Regulatory Focus Theory as theoretical backgrounds, this study proposes eight propositions, positing the relationships between e‐servicescape and its consequences (flow experiences, emotion, satisfaction, and approach/avoidance behaviors), which will be moderated by each individual's self‐regulatory focus, either prevention‐focused or promotion‐focused strategy.

Fulfilling an identified need to further develop the virtual environment in the lodging industry, this study proposes a conceptual model of e‐servicescape to investigate its effects on online consumers' emotions, cognitions, and behaviors as well as an individual's self‐regulatory focus as a moderator.

Based on the cognitive perspective of self-regulation theory and role balance theory, this study examines the moderating effects of self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion on the indirect path between impaired work–life balance and job performance through psychological depletion.

This conceptualized model was tested through a four-wave dyad data obtained from the employees and their supervisors of services sector organizations selected through stratified random sampling.

The results specify that psychological depletion partially mediates between impaired work–life balance and job performance. Further, self-efficacy acts as a buffering function to reduce the harmful effects of adverse impaired work–life balance on psychological depletion and emotional exhaustion provokes the injurious effects of psychological depletion on job performance.

This research provides important theoretical implications for work–life balance and psychological domains with boundary-spanning roles of self-regulatory measures.

This research is a unique attempt to link the self-regulatory perspective with role balance theory to understand and buffer the issues of impaired work–life balance.

Reflecting on the importance of negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) executed by internal audience of brand management, this study aims to explore the mechanism of employees’ NWOM in the emotional exhaustion context.

Focusing on employees’ active brand-oriented deviances, this study used a surveyed data set (n = 150) collected from negatively aroused employees experiencing a negative event within their organization. Structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypotheses.

The current study revealed that employees’ NWOM is associated with emotional exhaustion. Also, it discovered that emotional exhaustion is more strongly associated with employees’ NWOM than turnover intention.

Relying on self-regulation theory, the current study identified emotional exhaustion as a critical antecedent of employees’ NWOM. Future researchers can use the longitudinal research design or temporal separation as an effort to prevent common method variance.

Internal audiences engage in negative brand-oriented performance by spreading NWOM. Further, the advance in social media may instigate NWOM spread by internal audiences to external audiences.

This paper tests the explanatory power of conservation of resources theory and self-regulatory theory in terms of the impact of employees’ emotional exhaustion on NWOM and turnover intention.

We propose that off-the-job embeddedness (OTJE) be reconceptualized as a separate and distinct, albeit related, construct from job embeddedness. We conceptualize OTJE as the totality of outside-work forces which keep an individual bound to his/her current geographical area and argue that this construct includes important factors which do not fall under the umbrella of “community embeddedness.” Moreover, we propose that these outside-work forces may embed individuals in their jobs either directly or indirectly (through the perceived or expressed preferences of spouses, children, and extended family). This paper identifies the key components of OJTE, addresses the measurement of OTJE, explains the relationships between job embeddedness and OTJE (and their respective components), highlights how OTJE can either amplify or counteract the effects of job embeddedness, and illustrates the direct and indirect effects of OTJE on both work-related and personal outcomes.

The topic of impulsive buying has been studied by researchers for nearly 70 years and made a large number of valuable discoveries. However, most of the existing research studies focused on the impulse buying behavior in the context of single person shopping from the perspective of individuals and lack of research on impulse buying behavior in the context of shopping with others from the perspective of communities. Given that consumers' decision-making in the presence of others is significantly different from that when they are alone, it is necessary to probe into the internal mechanism of impulse purchase behavior in the context of shopping with others.

In total three experiments were used to test the hypothesis. Study 1 examines the differences in the motivation of impulsive desire among consumers with different impulsive traits. A total of 240 undergraduates were recruited to participate in the study. The purpose of study 2 is to examine the effect of external attribution on consumer guilt, which leads to the failure of self-control. A total of 256 undergraduate students participated in the study 2. The purpose of study 3 was to test the moderating effect of the intensity of ties on the impact of goal on impulse purchase intention. A total of 240 subjects participated in study 3.

When shopping with companions, consumers with different impulse traits have different initial impulses in the face of temptation, but they may have a similar higher willingness to buy on impulse. There are two reasons: on the one hand, consumers with high-impulsive traits produce a higher desire to buy on impulse driven by hedonistic motivation. In contrast, consumers with low-impulse traits will also have a higher impulse purchase desire driven by prosocial motivation. On the other hand, external attribution can lead to the failure of self-control and impulse purchase behavior. However, the above effects only occur when there is a strong connection between consumers.

First, this paper simulates the phenomenon of impulse purchase in the relational situation through experimental methods; if the research based on the real consumption scenario can be carried out, the research results will be more convincing. Second, whether there are other intermediary mechanisms, such as whether external attribution can affect consumers' self-control through perceived social support, need to be further tested. Finally, it is also necessary to examine the role of other regulatory variables, such as consumers' sense of power, the type of self-construct, etc., and these research clues will further enrich the research on impulsive buying in the context of relationship.

First, businesses can launch more accurate marketing strategies for consumers who are shopping together, find ways to reduce consumers' attention to their own responsibility or fault and guide them to conduct external attribution to their impulsive consumption behavior. The findings also have implications for consumers to control their own impulse purchase behavior. In addition, the results of this study can provide new insights into the government to prevent social crisis and carry out consumer education.

The key contribution of the current research is that, unlike existing studies that focus on the exploration of impulsive buying in the context of single person shopping, this study explores the internal mechanism and causal process on how consumers' impulsive buying behavior occurs when shopping with others. The authors further make a contribution to a self-control theory by demonstrating that external attribution has a negative effect on self-control in relational situations. Finally, this study also finds that the intensity of ties can moderate the impacts of focus goals on impulsive buying behavior.

This paper aims to examine characteristics that contribute to leaders' emergence and development as social advocates in their organizations and communities.

Building on theories of social problems, influence, and impression management, this paper examines how advocacy is affected by needs and situational conditions. Advocacy is the act of supporting an idea, need, person, or group. Advocates use cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies to influence attitudes, behaviors, and/or decisions for the benefit of individuals or to promote organizational change and/or social welfare. Social advocacy occurs within organizations in the form of corporate social responsibility, and it occurs within communities in the form of social entrepreneurship.

This theoretical paper argues that motivation of leaders of social ventures is a function of their conviction, self‐confidence, and extroversion. Advocates' beliefs about people are likely to shape their advocacy strategies, in particular, their beliefs about whether people are likely to change their attitudes and behavior, are sensitive to possible losses and gain, and respond to information about the probabilities and outcomes of actions and events. Advocate's resilience and transformational abilities (communications and political skills, knowledge of change management, and learning orientation) are predicted to influence their success.

The paper discusses directions for management development research and practice to promote involvement in social ventures.

This research examines the underlying psychological process of customers' impulsive buying on social media through the lens of customer inspiration. Drawing on the customer inspiration theory, it identifies the factors influencing customer inspiration on social media from three perspectives: source characteristics, platform characteristics and personal characteristics, which subsequently lead to impulsive buying. Since the conceptualization of source credibility includes three mostly reported components: attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness, it further contrasts the effects of three dimensions of source credibility on customer inspiration.

A structural equation model of customers' impulsive buying on social media was developed through the lens of customer inspiration. An online survey with 625 participants was conducted to test the hypotheses, and the partial least squares (PLS3) method was used.

This research found that source credibility, social presence and customer innovativeness are antecedents of customer inspiration on social media, which positively influence the inspired-by state of the customers, which impacts the inspired-to state and further leads to impulsive buying. By comparing the three dimensions of source credibility, the authors found that attractiveness and expertise positively affect the inspired-by state, while trustworthiness has no significant effect.

This research establishes the link between impulsive buying and customer inspiration, which provides a new psychological perspective to understand impulsive buying. In addition, it investigates the source characteristics of customer inspiration by comparing the effect of three dimensions of source credibility on customer inspiration, which provides the first evidence for connecting customer inspiration and source credibility.

Organizations have widely adopted enterprise social media (ESM) to realize workplace communication visibility linked to employee knowledge management and in-role job performance. Managers still face challenges in understanding whether communication visibility in the workplace stimulates employee extra-role voice behavior. In this study, self-regulation theory is applied to explore the mediating role of feedback-seeking on the association between communication visibility and employee voice.

A questionnaire survey was carried out on 219 working professionals in China who use ESM in their respective organizations.

Results show that employee feedback inquiry considerably mediates the relationship between communication visibility and voice. However, employee feedback monitoring shows no mediating role.

Practitioners and managers must pay greater attention to the effects of communication visibility on employee extra-role voice behavior. In addition, when adopting ESM, employee self-regulation strategies can be implemented to gain the value of communication visibility.

This study presents the relationships among communication visibility, feedback-seeking and employee voice. Knowledge of communication visibility is extended by exploring its effects on employee voice. The current study also reveals the mediating mechanism underlying the associations between communication visibility and employee voice based on self-regulation theory.