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Wang X, Jiang J, Zhang X. So cute, I could wait: the effect of cuteness on consumer patience. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1380505. [PMID: 38803835 PMCID: PMC11129765 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1380505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
While waiting has been a prevalent and mentally taxing experience for consumers in marketing scenarios, little research has explored situational factors that enhance consumer patience. Drawing on the priming theory, attachment theory, and conservation of resources theory, the current research examines how cuteness as a situational factor affects consumer patience. Across five experiments (N = 1030), we demonstrate that exposure to cuteness enhances consumer patience (Study 1). Moreover, we uncover that the effect is driven by perceived social support employing both mediation (Study 2) and moderation approaches (Study 3). Furthermore, we identify time pressure as the moderator, such that the effect of cuteness on consumer patience only exists among individuals under low time pressure and disappears for those under high time pressure (Study 4). Finally, we examine the downstream consequence of consumer patience for word-of-mouth positivity (Study 5). These findings contribute to the literature on cuteness, patience, and perceived social support, while also offering practical implications for companies seeking to enhance consumer patience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoran Wang
- School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Jiang
- School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Xiadan Zhang
- School of Journalism & Communication, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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2
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Schumacher A, Micheli L. Anticipated scarcity and stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of perceived threat, childhood SES and materialism. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0294497. [PMID: 38527018 PMCID: PMC10962804 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous research has shown that perceived existential threat experienced during or shortly after the first wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic, engendered anticipated scarcity and stockpiling behavior. However, the relationship between anticipated scarcity and stockpiling may not hold unambiguously for everyone. Across two studies and one preregistered replication (N = 644), we show that perceived threat of COVID-19 is associated with stockpiling tendencies by increasing the anticipation of product scarcity-a resource threat. The association between anticipated product scarcity and stockpiling depends, however, on childhood socio-economic status (SES) and materialism. For individuals with low childhood SES, the anticipation of product scarcity was only associated with stockpiling among those who valued materialism. Individuals with high childhood SES, by contrast, stockpiled in response to anticipated scarcity regardless of their level of materialism. Our findings qualify previous literature on the association between perceived threat of COVID-19, anticipated scarcity and stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic and help reconcile contradictory predictions about the role of childhood SES in individuals' consumption behavior in response to adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anika Schumacher
- Marketing Department, Grenoble École de Management, Grenoble, France
| | - Leticia Micheli
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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3
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Liu B, Ji S, Zhu Z. Does higher education matter for health in the UK? SSM Popul Health 2024; 25:101642. [PMID: 38440105 PMCID: PMC10909631 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Using six sweeps of data from the 1958 British National Child Development Study (NCDS), we employ a quasi-parametric approach of propensity score matching to estimate the impacts of higher education attainment on a wide range of health-related outcomes for cohorts at ages 33, 42, and 50. The non-pecuniary benefits of higher education on health are substantial. Cohorts with higher levels of education are more likely to report better health, maintain a healthy weight, refrain from smoking, exhibit a lower frequency of alcohol consumption, and are less likely to be obese. The effects on self-reported health, body mass index (BMI), drinking alcohol increase with age, but continuously decrease with smoking frequency. When considering gender heterogeneity, higher education has a more significant effect on BMI and the likelihood of obesity for males, while it has a greater impact on self-reported health, drinking alcohol, and smoking frequencies for females. Furthermore, we find no significant evidence that higher education reduces the likelihood of depression. The results of the Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity analysis suggest that, although our overall results demonstrate robustness, there may still be unobserved hidden bias in the relationship between higher education and self-reported health.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sisi Ji
- Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3EU, UK
| | - Zheyi Zhu
- Cardiff School of Management, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, CF5 2YB, UK
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4
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Liu C, Zhang M, Ma C, Fu M, Guo J, Zhen C, Zhang B. Childhood abuse as a mediator of the relationship between early family socio-economic status and geriatric depression: A population-based study in China. Heliyon 2023; 9:e22021. [PMID: 38034775 PMCID: PMC10682629 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Revised: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is linked to geriatric depressive symptoms in many developed countries. However, the potential pathways of the relationship between childhood SES and geriatric depressive symptoms need to be further explored. This study aimed to assess the mediating effect of being abused during childhood on the association between childhood SES and geriatric depressive symptoms, using evidence from a longitudinal study in China. The study cohort included 8137 individuals. Childhood abuse was defined as experiences related to parental violence, sibling abuse, school violence, community violence, and parental quarrel. Results indicated poor childhood SES was associated significantly with geriatric depressive symptoms. The indirect effect of poor childhood SES to high geriatric depressive risk through community violence, sibling abuse, school violence, and parental quarrel were 0.02, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.01, respectively. Our findings shed new light on the literature regarding the impact of childhood SES on elderly depressive symptoms. Furthermore, childhood SES demonstrated a significant correlation with geriatric depressive symptoms through bullying behaviors. The findings highlight the need to promote both childhood social welfare and psychological well-being within the elderly population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengcheng Liu
- The School of Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, PR China
| | - Mingyu Zhang
- School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, PR China
| | - Chongyue Ma
- School of Accounting, Henan University of Economics and Law, PR China
| | - Mingqi Fu
- School of Public Management, Central South University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Jing Guo
- School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, PR China
- Health Policy and Technology Assessment Center, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, PR China
| | - Cheng Zhen
- Center For the History of Medicine, School of Health Humanities, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, PR China
| | - Bo Zhang
- Department of Neurology and ICCTR Biostatistics and Research Design Center, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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5
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Khan U, DePaoli A. Brand loyalty in the face of stockouts. JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE 2023:1-31. [PMID: 37359264 PMCID: PMC10018630 DOI: 10.1007/s11747-023-00924-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
An important managerial challenge is understanding consumers' reactions to stockouts of a desired product-will they stay brand loyal or switch to competing brands? We posit that consumers are more likely to prefer substitutes from the same brand when a stockout is unexpected (vs. expected). This tendency arises as consumers feel greater negative affect upon encountering an unexpected stockout, which leads them to choose alternatives that provide greater affective value to ameliorate their negative feelings. Since the brand is a relatively affect-rich attribute compared to common non-brand attributes (e.g., price and quantity), consumers facing an unexpected stockout are more likely to choose a same-brand substitute. Five studies illustrate the effect and support the process by demonstrating that unexpected stockouts do not result in brand loyalty when non-brand attributes offer greater affective value than the brand. We further show that managers systematically mispredict how consumers' expectations of stockouts relate to brand loyalty. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00924-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uzma Khan
- Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami, 5250 University Dr., Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | - Alexander DePaoli
- D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115 USA
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6
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Hosany ARS, Hamilton RW. Family responses to resource scarcity. JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF MARKETING SCIENCE 2022; 51:1-31. [PMID: 35791312 PMCID: PMC9245874 DOI: 10.1007/s11747-022-00882-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Resource scarcity, manifested through limited time, money or space, is a prevalent aspect of family life. Drawing on depth interviews with 30 families from diverse demographic backgrounds, this study develops a framework to demonstrate how families respond to resource scarcity. Our research examines how multi-dimensional, concurrent and/or consecutive life events, such as job changes, house moves, or childbirth, create a mismatch between available and required resources to trigger situational resource scarcity. We identify different patterns of adjustments in consumption and resource investment over time, based on families' chronic resources and reliance on support networks. Notably, the greater flexibility afforded by multiple family members is constrained by collective goals, domains of control, tensions and negotiations. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-022-00882-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. R. Shaheen Hosany
- School of Business and Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, TW20 0EX Surrey, UK
| | - Rebecca W. Hamilton
- McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, DC 20057 Washington, USA
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7
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Park J, Kim J, Lee DC, Kim SS, Voyer BG, Kim C, Sung B, Gonzalez‐Jimenez H, Fastoso F, Choi YK, Yoon S. The impact of COVID-19 on consumer evaluation of authentic advertising messages. PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING 2022; 39:76-89. [PMID: 34539052 PMCID: PMC8441704 DOI: 10.1002/mar.21574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between the COVID-19 threat and consumer evaluation of a product with authenticity appeals in advertisements. We propose that threatening situations like COVID-19 motivate consumers to lower their uncertainty and increase their preference for products with authentic advertising messages. Because individuals react differently to threatening environments according to their early-life experiences, commonly reflected in childhood socioeconomic status, we examined whether childhood socioeconomic status moderates the relationship between threat and consumer evaluation of authenticity in advertisements. First, secondary data from Google Trends provided empirical support for our predictions. In additional experimental studies, participants evaluated different target products in four studies that either manipulated (Studies 2 and 3) or measured (Studies 4 and 5) COVID-19 threat. Our results provide converging evidence that consumers positively evaluate products with authentic advertising messages under the COVID-19 threat. Consumers' motivation to lower their uncertainty underlies the effect of COVID-19 threat on their evaluation of authentic messages (Study 3). This attempt to reduce uncertainty is more likely to occur for consumers with relatively higher childhood socioeconomic status (Studies 4 and 5). These findings suggest that using authenticity appeals during a pandemic could effectively reduce consumers' perceived uncertainty and generate positive consumer evaluations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jooyoung Park
- Peking University HSBC Business SchoolShenzhenNanshanChina
| | - Jungkeun Kim
- Department of MarketingAuckland University of TechnologyAucklandNew Zealand
| | - Daniel C. Lee
- Department of MarketingAuckland University of TechnologyAucklandNew Zealand
| | - Seongseop S. Kim
- School of Hotel & Tourism ManagementThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityKowloonHong Kong
| | - Benjamin G. Voyer
- Department of EntrepreneurshipESCP Business School—London CampusLondonUK
| | - Changju Kim
- College of Business AdministrationRitsumeikan UniversityIbarakiOsakaJapan
| | - Billy Sung
- School of MarketingCurtin UniversityBentleyWestern AustraliaAustralia
| | | | | | - Yung K. Choi
- Department of Advertising & PRDongguk UniversitySeoulKorea
| | - Sukki Yoon
- College of BusinessBryant UniversitySmithfieldRhode IslandUSA
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Further tests of the scarcity and luxury hypotheses in dispositional greed: Evidence from two large-scale Dutch and American samples. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02467-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
AbstractA recent, large-scale study among Chinese adolescents found that childhood socioeconomic status (CSES) was positively related to dispositional greed (i.e., the “luxury hypothesis”), instead of negatively related (i.e., the “scarcity hypothesis”; Liu et al., 2019c). This relationship was found for only-children, not for children with siblings. The generalizability of these findings may be limited, due to China’s one-child policy and socioeconomic policies which may have led to fewer differences in wealth. We replicated this research in two other cultural contexts that represent markedly different socioeconomic policies in order to test its generalizability: the Netherlands (Study 1, N = 2367, 51.3% female, Mage = 54.06, SD = 17.90), and the USA (Study 2, N = 999, 50.1% female, Mage = 33.44, SD = 12.28). Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to test the association between CSES and greed. We mostly replicated the findings by Liu et al. (2019c): CSES was positively related to greed in both studies (“luxury hypothesis”) and there was a moderating effect of siblings in Study 1, but not in Study 2. Implications for theories on greed as well as future research on the association between CSES and greed are discussed.
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