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New-energy vehicles (NEV), particularly electric vehicles, are globally popular with political and financial support from governments, which aim at reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution in the transportation sector. This paper designs a matrix model which identifies the factors influencing the decision-making process on purchasing NEVs, and applies the model on a Chinese case to investigate the impact of influencing factors on Chinese consumers' purchase behavior to NEVs. The influencing factors are divided into five groups: economic, political, social, technological and environmental. Through a detailed questionnaire survey of 526 consumers in China, this paper conducts a correlation and difference analysis between these consumers' status and the influencing factors on the purchase decision-making of NEVs through SPSS software. The results indicate that economic, technological and political factors have a strong influence on purchase behavior, while social and environmental factors have a weaker influence. Additional principal component analysis on influencing factors' preference reveals that consumers' preferences have two tendencies: practicability or appearance, with the former is attracting far more attention. Rather than practicability or appearance, consumers care more about economic and political factors. According to these results, this paper suggests several policy implications on enhancing the consumers' willingness to purchase NEVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to unprecedented transformations in consumer behaviour. Less is known about how consumers react to privacy stress while being compelled to continuously purchase online during the pandemic. Therefore, underpinned by the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, this paper aims to examine the impacts of perceived Internet risk, self-efficacy, privacy stress, and trust on consumers' continuous purchasing intention in China. Few studies have examined the mediating roles of privacy stress and brand trust in continuous purchasing intention. This research thus adds value by exploring the underlying mechanisms that explain how these factors affect purchasing intention where consumers have little choice but to make purchase online continuously. It employs a quantitative research design and uses a survey questionnaire to collect data. A total of 535 consumers responded and the data were analysed via PLS-SEM. We found mixed results for the direct and indirect paths. Perceived Internet risk, platform trust, and self-efficacy showed significant impacts on privacy stress and brand trust. While brand trust had a significant impact on continuous online purchase intention, contrary to previous literature, privacy stress did not. Moreover, while brand trust was found to be a significant mediator, privacy stress exerted no mediating effect. The results assist marketing practitioners, organizations, and policymakers in improving consumers' online shopping experience in uncertain times by addressing the issues of trust and privacy. Specifically, we provide the foundation for future policies and strategies that build consumers' trust and secure consumers' privacy, especially in highly uncertain contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study introduces and investigates the concept of consumer pandemic animosity to (1) develop and validate a scale (i.e. CPAS) to measure consumer animosity in the context of a health pandemic; and (2) identify the effects of pandemic animosity on consumer purchase intentions in the field of general consumption and tourism. Design/methodology/approach: The CPAS factor structure was initially tested on a sample of 201 American consumers based on participant interviews and expert evaluations. This exploratory phase identified two factors, namely CPAS emotions and beliefs, which were subsequently supported in the confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement and configural invariance of CPAS and discriminant and nomological validity were confirmed in an independent sample of 303 American consumers. A new sample of 203 Canadian consumers was used to test the external validity of CPAS by controlling for other types of consumer animosity dimensions. Structural equation modelling was used to test the effects of CPAS on consumer purchase intentions in general product consumption and tourism. Findings: This study contributes to expanding on the conceptualization of the consumer animosity construct that has been dealt with in economics, politics, culture and religion but never of a pandemic health crisis to date. Results indicate the psychometric soundness of the CPAS and the multifaceted nature of this construct by clearly identifying two levels of animosity (i.e. beliefs and emotions). Moreover, the structural model shows a significant and unique impact of pandemic animosity on consumer purchase intentions and travel intentions. Originality/value: This is the first empirical study proposing a new scale to measure the consumer disposition of animosity developed due to a pandemic affecting the world. It also offers a new dimension to the typology of animosity proposed by Jung et al. (2002): intentionality (intention-driven vs non-intention-driven). This paper presents a number of propositions that serve to identify testable hypotheses amenable both to validation and usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is undergoing a rapid dietary transition as well as a changing income distribution. In this paper, we examine the impacts of income heterogeneity on the prediction of food consumption using a dataset that covered 22,210 urban households in China's 6 provinces. The two-stage Exact Affine Stone Index Implicit Marshallian Demand System (EASI demand system) model, which deals with the problem of censoring and endogeneity, is applied to estimate demand elasticity across income strata. Additionally, a dynamic simulation method considering income heterogeneity is conducted to predict future food consumption trends. The results reveal that income elasticity follows a decreasing trend with income growth. Furthermore, the results show that the consumption of major food items in the 15th period will increase by 7.9% to 42.0% over the base period. The growth potential of low-income groups is significantly higher than that of middle- and high-income groups. However, the prediction results may be overestimated if the differences in consumer behavior across income groups and the dynamic simulation procedure are not taken into account. Our study indicates that the consumption features of different income groups need to be included in food consumption forecasts. Moreover, the government should formulate food policies for different income groups to promote a sustainable food system transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past two decades, a growing number of Chinese young adults utilize online consumer credit to satisfy their increasing consumption demand. Although it is indeed boosting consumer markets, it has also caused many serious social problems. A number of previous studies discussed the authentication mechanism and legal supervision of online lending from a legal or economic perspective, and a small number of scholars explored factors affecting individuals' online consumer credit from the perspective of behavioral psychology. Based on the Triandis model and existing studies on online lending, this paper constructs a theoretical model for the formation of individuals' online consumer credit. It then adopts SmartPLS 3.00 to analyze the data set that involves 302 respondents in total. This research found that affect, facilitating conditions, perceived consequences and social factors have a significant impact on individuals' online consumer credit. The findings of this study have political and practical implications. First, they can contribute to the rational consumption by China's young generation and promote the sound development of online consumer credit. In the meantime, this study also helps online consumer credit platforms to provide better services and improve public relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 777 consumers before and after the information intervention, this paper explores the effectiveness of information intervention methods that enable consumers to adopt health promotion behavior. Using the intervention methods of real testing-information, general news information, and integrated information, a difference-in-difference method is used to conduct an empirical research on the rice consumption behavior of Chinese residents. It is evident from the analysis that the three information interventions do not change the quantity of rice consumed by Chinese residents, consumers only can reduce risks by avoiding purchasing rice from where cadmium rice incidents have occurred frequently. Results of regression analysis indicate that the effect of the integrated information intervention is more effective. Consumers' responses to information interventions are highly heterogeneous, and the effects of interventions are mainly reflected in consumers with a high degree of risk for eating cadmium rice. The value of this paper is that it not only fills the research gap in the literature on the impact of food testing information on consumer behavior, but also supplements the research on consumer behavior after the food safety crisis related to staple foodstuffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The outbreak of the novel COVID-19 virus has spread throughout the world, causing unprecedented disruption to not only China's agricultural trade but also the world's agricultural trade at large. This paper attempts to provide a preliminary analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on China's agricultural importing and exporting from both short- and long-term perspectives. Design/methodology/approach: This study seeks to analyze how the outbreak of COVID-19 could potentially impact China's agricultural trade. With respect to exports, the authors have pinpointed major disruptive factors arising from the pandemic which have affected China's agricultural exports in both the short and long term; in doing so, we employ scenario analysis which simulates potential long-term effects. With regard to imports, possible impacts of the pandemic regarding the prospects of food availability in the world market are investigated. Using scenario analysis, the authors estimate the potential change in China's food market—especially meat import growth—in light of the implementation of the newly signed Sino-US Economic and Trade Agreement (SUETA). Findings: The results show that China's agricultural exports have been negatively impacted in the short-term, mostly due to the disruption of the supply chain. In the long term, dampened external demand and potential imposition of non-tariff trade barriers (NTBs) will exert more profound and lasting negative effects on China's agricultural export trade. On the other hand, despite panic buying and embargoing policies from some exporting and importing countries, the world food availability and China's food import demand are still optimistic. The simulation results indicate that China's import of pork products, in light of COVID-19 and the implementation of SUETA, would most likely see a sizable climb in quantity, but a lesser climb in terms of value. Originality/value: Agricultural trade in China has been a focal-point of attention in recent years, with new challenges slowing exports and increasing dependence on imports for food security. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic adds significant uncertainty to agricultural trade, giving rise to serious concerns regarding its potential impact. By exploring the impact of the unprecedented pandemic on China's agricultural trade, this study should contribute to a better understanding of the still-evolving pandemic and shed light on pertinent policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines traveler's willingness to use flexible transit services prior to their deployment in Chinese cities. A total of 2,403 samples were collected in Jinan Qilu Software Park (the Park) by a self-reported questionnaire survey, which include three types of questions, namely, questions on demographic information, public transit customer satisfaction, and flexible transit service-related information. Through correlation and spatial analyses of travel characteristics and profiles of potential flexible transit service users, this paper reaches the following research findings: (1) around 60% of the respondents in the Park are willing to use a flexible transit service. Women, enterprise employees, and people with higher education and income levels are more willing to use a flexible transit service; (2) respondents are willing to pay an average fare of 4 Chinese Yuan (0.60 U.S. dollars equivalent) per trip to use a flexible transit service; and (3) respondents express a higher preference (65.5%) for a service that has the fixed-route attribute but with easy-to-access locations for pick-up/drop-off points. In addition, different types of flexible transit services are needed to accommodate specific spatial and temporal travel attributes of users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study undertaken to investigate the effect of Chinese traditional cultural values on the gift-giving behavior of consumers in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and to check the moderating effects of Chinese traditional cultural values on a consumer's purchase intention and self-consistency. Design/methodology/approach -- Using a survey among a large sample of people in four cities, gift-giving behavior, purchase intention and selfconsistency of the consumer in purchasing decisions were measured by the scale. The Chinese traditional cultural values include Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings -- Results indicates that Chinese traditional cultural values have significant moderating effects on gift-buying intention accords with giftgiver's image and purchase intention accords with gift-receiver's image. Consumers with higher value orientation are more careful about consistency between gifts with self-image and receiver's image. Research limitations/implications -- Research results should be interpreted with caution as the study was limited to several major cities in the PRC. Also the questionnaire has neglected some people who did not fully understand the questions. Practical implications -- This study points out those Chinese traditional values that play an important role in gift-buying decisions. Results will provide some professional opinion for some insider engage in gift marketing and add new viewpoints. Originality/value -- The paper develops new scales for measuring constructs such as Chinese traditional cultural values, attitude for gift-giving and gift-buying intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The concept of face has been deeply embedded in Chinese culture. This paper aims to examine the role of face in service failure and recovery encounters, and to explore the factors that influence customer emotions, recovery satisfaction and behavioral intention based on a proposed conceptual model. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper uses a scenario role-play-based experimental design to examine the proposed conceptual model in service failure and recovery encounters. Findings -- The results show that face plays an important role in service failure and recovery encounters. Specifically, it is found that the utilitarian recovery and symbolic recovery customers receive in the service recovery encounter can both influence customer face restoration, which in turn affects customer emotions, and behavioral intention on service recovery. Customer emotions are significantly correlated to customer recovery satisfaction. Practical implications -- The practical implications of this study are mainly two-fold. First, service providers should pay attention to customers' perceptions of face during service encounters. They should also train their employees to treat all customers with utmost sincerity, which will help to enhance the positive emotional experience of customers. Second, the recovery offered by service providers should not be limited to utilitarian recovery. It has to take into account symbolic recovery as well. Originality/value -- This paper investigates the role of face in service recovery encounters and suggests that face significantly influences customer emotions and behavioral intention on service recovery, and customer emotions in turn significantly affect customer recovery satisfaction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- Innovative consumers are an important market segment. This paper seeks to investigate whether consumers' innate innovativeness is associated with their shopping styles. Specifically, it aims to explore the relationship between two types of innovativeness -- sensory and cognitive -- and consumer shopping styles. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper integrates the consumer innovativeness and consumer shopping styles literature. It is built on the premise that if consumer innovativeness is regarded as a general personality trait, then it would also be reflected in consumers' shopping approaches. A structural equation model is used to test the relationship between cognitive and sensory innovativeness and various shopping styles. Findings -- Sensory innovativeness and cognitive innovativeness can lead to different shopping styles. Cognitive innovators are inclined to show shopping styles such as quality consciousness, price consciousness, and confusion by overchoice. On the other hand, sensory innovators are inclined to have shopping styles such as brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, recreational orientation, impulsive shopping, and brand loyalty/habitual shopping. Research limitations/implications -- The research is based on a convenience sample of young consumers in a particular country -- China. Generalizability of the results would depend on future research conducted in other cultures and consumers of other age groups. Practical implications -- The findings of this research help managers to develop a deeper insight into product development and marketing. Product form can be designed to appeal to the two different types of innovative consumers -- cognitive innovators and sensory innovators. Marketing communication and brand management should be based on the shopping styles of these different types of innovative consumers. Furthermore, since the youth market in China represents an enormous opportunity for marketers, the paper provides valuable insights into this key market segment in one of the most important markets in the world. Originality/value -- The paper is the first step in exploring the relationship between consumer innovativeness and consumer shopping styles. It provides new insights into the shopping patterns of consumers who belong to different innovativeness types. In addition, it also makes a new contribution to the shopping styles literature by exploring potential antecedents to the various shopping styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research on self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) has shown evidence of the importance of this behaviour in Western cultures, particularly that of the United States, there is no understanding of self-gift giving in collectivist cultures. Given the self-oriented nature of this behaviour, research is required to address its possible differences in a collectivist society. In this paper, we use personal interviews with consumers to establish the existence of SGCB in China, and further to compare motivations for and the emotions associated with SGCB in positive-related contexts in the UK and mainland China, with a particular focus on the Chinese side. We also address the nature of this behaviour for Chinese participants. Findings indicate that SGCB is less self-oriented for the Chinese than for the British, and suggest that academics should reflect on the meaning of this behaviour in non-Western countries. Implications from these findings for practitioners are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Market mavenism and opinion leadership are two important consumer influential concepts in marketing communication literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore two overarching research questions. First, can we separate market mavenism from opinion leadership in China? The answer to this question would solve an important issue of targeting in marketing communication. Second, if market mavenism is indeed distinctive from opinion leadership, are market mavenism and opinion leadership determined by same or different factors in China? The answer of this question would help determine how to reach each type of consumer influential and add knowledge to market segmentation. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted to test the hypotheses. In total, 316 Chinese respondents completed this survey. Findings – The results were illuminating: market mavenism and opinion leadership were indeed distinctive yet related concepts in China. Monochronicity, altruism, price-value consciousness, and income significantly influenced market mavenism after controlling for all other variables while monochronicity, price-value consciousness, and age significantly predicted opinion leadership after controlling for all other variables. Research limitations/implications – This study provides a richer picture of market mavenism and opinion leadership in the Chinese market. Originality/value – This study helps scholars and professionals efficiently and effectively reach each type of consumer influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Genetically modified (GM) food products have been commercialized and promoted in China. Despite assurances from the China Ministry of Agriculture that certified GM food products are safe to consume, most consumers are reluctant to purchase GM foods. Given the benefits of GM foods, this study investigates Chinese consumers' purchase intentions and purchase behavior toward GM foods and the associated influential factors. The theory of planned behavior with the consumers' demographics and product-related factors supports our study. Data were collected from 477 Chinese consumers across 26 provinces in China. The study uses binary logit regression and ordinal logit regression to estimate the relationship among variables. The results reveal that Chinese consumers' awareness, products' available information, trust in sellers, long product life, GM foods' taste and consumers' experience in buying GM food products are positively related to their willingness to buy GM foods. The number of family members, the habit of checking GM labels and a preference for nutrition value are associated with Chinese consumers' lower intention to buy GM foods. We demonstrate that product variety and trust are two determinants that could change Chinese consumers' attitudes toward buying GM foods. Our study contributes new insights into Chinese consumers' decision to purchase GM foods at the national scale. We consider a wide range of factors not tested in previous studies. Further, the study's findings provide a better understanding of consumers' GM foods purchases and purchasing behavior toward the Chinese government and entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence Chinese consumers' purchase of organic products, with a focus on organic tea. Design/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire was used to survey 202 shoppers in Guangdong Province, China. The data were analyzed using multivariate regression. Findings: The study suggests two significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions: perceiving organic tea as a healthier alternative to non-organic tea; perceiving the purchase of organic tea as a status symbol. Younger respondents and respondents with higher educational attainment reported greater organic tea purchase intentions. Non-significant predictors of organic tea purchase intentions were respondents' knowledge of organic tea through media exposure, their gender and income. Research limitations/implications: The findings help further research on consumer preferences regarding organic foods providing key insights for researchers and marketers as they strive to make informed decisions in the emerging organic food retail environment. Specifically, Chinese consumers perceiving organic tea as a healthy option and as a status symbol are more likely to state organic tea purchase intentions. These results point to the need for extended research on key antecedents of Chinese consumers' purchase intentions of organic products. Originality/value: Little was known about the motivations of Chinese consumers for purchasing organic food products, as the psychological and demographic factors that are associated with organic food purchase behavior in China were not well researched. Specifically, there is still a notable gap in the understanding of how consumers in China make organic tea purchase decisions. With organic foods occupying a progressively larger portion of Chinese diets and budgets, this research fills in some of the knowledge gap by examining how the social norms of status symbols influence Chinese consumers' purchase intentions of organic tea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The dairy incident in 2008 influenced Chinese residents’ attitudes towards domestic and foreign brands in the market. This paper highlights the strong consumer perceptions existing in the Chinese dairy market towards the country of origin of dairy products. Chinese residents generally believe dairy products from foreign countries are superior than those from China. A new theoretical framework is developed to explore the driving factors of country‐of‐effects and its corresponding impacts. Consumers’ image of different countries and national stereotypes, consumer ethnocentrism and animosity, product familiarity and experience, product involvement and some cultural value differences were found to drive country‐of‐origin effects. These effects directly impact on consumer's perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association and loyalty towards the related goods in the market, then influence the brand equity of products from different countries. This study provides a better understanding of country‐of‐origin effects on consumer behaviour, and will help relevant domestic and foreign firms improve their business strategies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a highly competitive market, service quality can be the core competitive advantage for airline’s profitability and sustained development. This paper has investigated the differences in the passengers’ expectations and perceptions of the service quality of China’s four major domestic airlines: Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and Hainan Airlines in China’s domestic market. The results will assist airline management to improve service quality by reducing the difference. Surveys were conducted with domestic passengers at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport in China. The results show that there are significant differences of service quality between passengers’ expectations and perceptions among major Chinese airlines. Passengers consistently rate ‘good safety records’ as the first priority of seven SERVQUAL dimensions, but low price remains the most important factor that passengers consider when choosing a Chinese airline. The conclusions reached in this work suggest that Chinese airlines should consider improving service quality rather than providing cheaper air tickets in order to gain competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: Several studies have shown that superstitious beliefs, such as beliefs in "lucky" product attributes, influence consumer purchase behaviour. Still, little is known about how social influence, in particular mere social presence, impacts consumer superstition-related purchase decisions. Drawing on impression management theory, this paper aims to investigate the effect of social presence on consumer purchase decisions of products featuring lucky charms including the role of anticipated embarrassment as a mediator of the social presence effect. Design/methodology/approach: In three studies, participants select products that feature or do not feature a lucky charm. They make these selections under varying conditions of social presence, as induced by the shopping setting in the scenario or through the use of confederates or fellow participants observing them make a real product selection. Participants are students from Australia and China. Findings: The studies show that social presence makes consumers less likely to select products that feature a lucky charm. This suppressing effect is mediated by the consumers' anticipated embarrassment. Research limitations/implications: The study investigates the effect of social presence but does not investigate different parameters of social presence such as the number of people present and their familiarity. The study investigates effects for purchase settings but does not include effects of usage and neither does it look into differences across product types or lucky charm types. Practical implications: Marketers should be careful to not make lucky charms too publicly salient. Online settings are more suitable than mortar-and-brick settings for selling products featuring a lucky charm. Originality/value: The present research is the first to investigate consumer purchase behaviour for a product featuring a lucky charm. It is also the first to investigate the impact of social influence on superstition-based decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Previous research is mixed regarding consumer reactions and concerns regarding product brands with foreign-sounding names. This paper aims to study the perception and purchase intent of foreign-name brands in a sample of adult US and Chinese consumers. Design/methodology/approach – US and Chinese consumers completed a 23-item bilingual questionnaire to assess perceptions of foreign names on brand attitude and purchase intent for low-involvement products, using two fictitious soft drink products. Findings – The paper finds that there were no differences between US and Chinese consumers in attitudes towards foreign products or foreign brand names, except in the case of perceived deception. There were differences in perceptions that the product name was not authentic to the country of origin. Differences in purchase intent were driven by product type and price rather than country of origin or brand name. Practical implications – When there is incongruence between product type and perceived country of origin, favorability for the product diminishes. Price, taste and packaging design may be more important in determining purchase intent. Originality/value – While previous research looked at foreign brand names for high-involvement products, this study addresses a low-involvement product with mass-market potential. China's and the USA's role as major consumers for global brands makes this study all the more relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study contends that customers' perceived value can drive medical tourism. To demonstrate this, the purpose of this paper is to propose and test a research model capturing elements of perceived benefits and sacrifice that, by affecting the perceived value of medical tourism products, influence the buying intention of potential customers. Design/methodology/approach – Potential medical tourists from China are tapped due to their cultural similarity to Taiwan, and the absence of a language barrier. Data from 301 usable questionnaires were tested against the research model using the structural equation modeling approach. Findings – The results indicated that perceived value was a key predictor of customer intentions. As for benefits, perceived medical quality, service quality and enjoyment were critical components that significantly influenced the perception of value. Regarding sacrifice, the effects of perceived risk on perceived value were significant. Research limitations/implications – This study targeted potential medical tourists. Therefore, a validation using another large sample gathered elsewhere is required to generalize the findings. Practical implications – The findings can assist governments in developing policies that promote medical destination and provide insights into research on how destination countries can make medical tourism a win/win option for themselves and international patients. Originality/value – The proposed model is original; unlike most prior papers which take a conceptual approach to medical tourism, this study contributes to an understanding of the factors that influence the travel intentions of medical tourists through its empirical investigation, and especially in its targeting of customers' value perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and understand the underlying structure of price perception, to recognize how cultural factors influence price perception, and to develop and empirically test a model of cultural differences and price perception. Design/methodology/approach – This project gathered data from both China and the USA. Using the LISREL 8.52 program, a proposed model was tested and modified in order to obtain a parsimonious underlying structure explaining cultural influences on consumers' price perceptions. Findings – Results of the data analysis show that culture factors do have significant effects on price perception. Internal reference price has a consistent and negative effect on the overall price perception of both goods and services purchase and durable and non-durable goods purchase. However, the significant associations between price perception factors and overall price perception were only found in the services and non-durable goods purchase but not in the durable goods purchase. Practical implications – This study helps international marketers understand the cross-cultural consumer behavioral differences in general and the price perception differences in particular. It also provides a series of guidelines for international pricing strategy and international promotion strategy on an operational level. Originality/value – Theoretically, the paper integrates the solid base of work on domestic pricing from the Lichtenstein et al. study on price perception as well as work on culture from anthropology and sociology, international business, international marketing, and Hofstede's culture theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine consumers' perception of brand functions in an emerging market: China. The study also aims to investigate the impact of brand functions on brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – A two-phase study was conducted. The first phase consisted of 15 personal in-depth interviews while the structured questionnaires were used to collect data in the second stage and a total of 256 consumers participated in this study. Findings – The study finds general support that consumer perceives both utilitarian and expressive functions of the brand. Specifically, the results of the research show that for Chinese consumers, brands accomplish various functions such as "recall of past experiences", "quality sign" and "identify". Moreover, "recall of past experiences" is a unique brand function for Chinese consumers and has a positive impact on brand loyalty. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to shed light on examining consumer perceptions of brand functions in the Chinese market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting consumers' acceptance of mobile marketing in China. Design/methodology/approach -- The authors draw on technology acceptance and uses and gratifications theories to develop a conceptual model of antecedent factors (including risk acceptance related to the mobile platform and personal attachment related to mobile devices) and marketing-related and value-based mobile activity related to the acceptance of mobile marketing practice. The conceptual model is tested using data collected among Chinese youth consumers. Findings -- The results confirm the importance of risk acceptance and personal attachment in influencing mobile marketing acceptance, and support the "priming" effect of regular mobile phone usage on orienting consumers toward accepting mobile marketing initiatives. Research limitations/implications -- The study is limited to a specific sample of youth consumers in China. The findings illustrate the role of antecedent factors -- including personal attachment and risk acceptance -- related to acceptance of mobile marketing in the Chinese market and they emphasize the role of marketing-related and value-based mobile activity in mediating the relationships between antecedent factors and mobile marketing acceptance. Practical implications -- The findings illustrate the importance of recognizing the drivers of, and obstacles to, mobile marketing acceptance. These factors included the likelihood of providing information, likelihood of accessing content, likelihood of sharing content, level of risk acceptance, and level of personal attachment to one's mobile phone. Originality/value -- The paper adds to the growing literature on Chinese youth consumers by examining their acceptance of mobile marketing. The study reveals several implications for theory and practice relating to the antecedents of mobile marketing acceptance among the youth consumer segment within China, a large and emerging market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- There is intense competition and increasing globalisation in financial markets. Bank management must develop customer-oriented strategies in order to compete successfully in the competitive retail banking environment. The longer a bank can retain a customer, the greater revenue and cost savings from that customer. China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has resulted in the liberalisation and deregulation of China's financial services market. Chinese customers now have greater choices between domestic and foreign banks. This study aims to identify and analyse the factors that influence bank customers' switching behaviour in the Chinese retail banking industry. Design/methodology/approach -- The data for this analysis was obtained using a convenience sample of 421 bank customers in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, China. The decision to switch banks is hypothesised to be a function of price, reputation, service quality, effective advertising competition, involuntary switching, distance, switching costs, distance, and demographic characteristics. Factor analysis and logistic regression are used to analyse the data and identify and rank the factors that impact on the bank switching behaviour of customers. Findings -- The research findings reveal that price, reputation, service quality, effective advertising, involuntary switching, distance, and switching costs impact on customers' bank switching behaviour. The findings also reveal that the young and high-income groups are more likely to switch banks. Practical implications -- The results of this research allow service marketers and practitioners to develop and implement service marketing strategies to decrease customer defection rates, and in turn, increase bank profits. Furthermore, this research provides useful information for future researchers investigating customer switching behaviour in the retail banking industry. Originality/value -- This paper provides an empirical analysis of Chinese bank switching behaviour and provides a framework for future studies on the behaviour of bank customers. Paper type Research paper [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to test the cross-national application of an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) in online shopping across the USA and China. Specifically, the proposed model is tested for invariance, and used to investigate the effect of the TAM constructs on online purchase intentions and interrelationships among the constructs across the two samples. Design/methodology/approach -- A total of 513 usable questionnaires were collected in the USA and China. Measurement and structural invariance of the proposed TAM model were assessed using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Findings -- The paper revealed that both perceived usefulness and perceived risk of online shopping have an invariant effect on consumers' online purchase intentions, while prior online shopping experience does not have an invariant effect. Perceived ease of use shows an equivalent, positive effect on perceived usefulness; prior online shopping experience has an equivalent, positive effect on perceived ease of use and an equivalent, negative effect on perceived risks. But prior online shopping experience has a quite different effect on perceived usefulness across the two countries. Originality/value -- The paper not only tests the cross-national application of the extended TAM, but also extends the TAM's use to examine key factors that influence online shoppers' purchase decision in the retail apparel sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss inconsistent and often contradictory consumer values and consumption behaviours in contemporary China. The seemingly paradox is explained by the dual structure theory of consumer value system. Design/methodology/approach – This study provides a comprehensive overview and an in-depth analysis of Chinese cultural values from a theoretical perspective. Findings – Although the Chinese value system may appear coherent relative to those of other societies, it contains inconsistent elements that are the seeds of conflict, confusion, and change. Those contradictory values have coexisted and interacted with each other from a historical perspective. Research limitations/implications – Although the argument raised in this paper has support from prior literature and anecdotal observations, it should undergo further empirical validation. Practical implications – Given that consumption values vary across different consumer segments, different strategies should be developed for each segment. Those Western businesses who capitalize on these inherent contradictory, heterogeneous value elements will have the advantage over those who do not. Originality/value – This work challenges the conventional view that the Chinese have preserved homogeneous values, and provides a case in which there is a danger in using the nation-state as a surrogate for culture and as a unit of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how the pressures of being a Little Emperor in a rapidly changing society are reflected in consumer experiences, particularly in the meanings attached to products and brands. The paper aims to focus on young adults in urban China, specifically young professional women. Design/methodology/approach - The subject was shadowed at work for two weeks during the Spring of 2007 and for an additional two weeks during the Spring of 2008. Social interactions and purchasing behavior were carefully observed, as well as conducting a series of informal interviews. During the Summer of 2008, a formal, in-depth interview was conducted with an informant in the USA. Findings - The unique pressures of growing up as a Little Emperor in a changing society are widely reflected in product usage and are ways in which to ease the tension and anxiety associated with the pressure of maintaining expectations from friends, family and society Research limitations/implications - The study focused on a single informant who, while on the surface appearing to represent adult Little Emperors, may in fact have different attitudes from her contemporaries. It would be interesting to investigate the degree to which parallel themes occur in the male market, namely what categories young urban professional men who were raised as Little Emperors use to express themselves. Practical implications - The research provides insights into some of the conflicting expectations derived directly from the experience of growing up as a Little Emperor It translates these insights into practical recommendations for various aspects of marketing and advertising cosmetic products in China, thus allowing multinationals to build successful marketing campaigns that appeal to managing these conflicting expectations. Originality/value - The paper is the first work on the consumer experiences of urban young adult Little Emperors, specifically young professional women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to identify the factors affecting the redemption of reward points, a form of customer loyalty program used by many Chinese credit card issuers. In addition it also assesses Chinese credit card users' level of awareness about the reward-point programs. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 401 telephone surveys were conducted in five major cities in China in 2007. Regression analysis was also conducted in the exploratory study. Findings - Results show both low customer awareness about point-based reward programs and, not surprisingly, low redemption rates. More specifically, lack of awareness about the reward points programs and the redemption procedure was shown. The important conditions positively affecting redemption of reward points were found to include awareness of the reward point program, a positive attitude about the incentives, and average frequency of credit card usage. Also, redemption rates were higher for cards that had been issued more recently. Practical implications - The paper suggests that credit card marketers could communicate with their customers more effectively in order to spread and reinforce awareness about point-based reward programs and encourage them to experience their benefits. Originality/value - The study provides an original insight into an important element of consumer behavior with credit card reward programs in the banking industry serving a lower-middle-income segment in a developing region such as China. Guidance is also offered for marketing managers responsible for promoting credit card usage and reward programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - There is a growing interest in brand formation and brand valuation among global firms today, but global marketers typically ignore one of the key factors of brand building - corporation ability association (CAA). This paper aims to explore the structural relationship between CAA and consumer-based brand equity variables and its product-market outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - Utilizing Aaker and Keller's theoretical framework of brand equity, this paper develops a brand equity model combining customer-based brand equity with product-market outcome approaches. A set of scales are developed and tested on a national sample of Chinese consumers. Findings - The data provide support for ten of the 12 hypotheses. The results indicate that CAA is an important factor in building and preserving brand equity. CAA and brand awareness have impact on quality perception, which has positive impact on brand resonance, brand extensibility, and price flexibility. Brand resonance has positive influence on brand extensibility and the intention to repurchase. Practical implications - For global marketers operating in China, brand equity is a cultural market-based asset and global companies must focus on building corporation ability association in China in order to enjoy the substantial competitive and economic advantages provided by brand equity. Theoretically, the proposed brand equity model is an extension of the model proposed by Keller. Originality/value - For the first time, CAA is integrated into fhe brand equity model. This may provide a theoretical base for further research in the endorsement role of company ability in brand equity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to outline China's pharmaceutical market with a focus on the changing health consumer. Currently, the Chinese population numbers 1.3 billion and estimates suggest 25 per cent of the population will be aged over 60 by 2050. Moreover, trends toward higher living standards and urbanisation are increasing and there is a growing movement toward lifestyle medication, self-medication, buying drugs online and ‘modern’ medicine — the use of traditional Chinese medicine is decreasing gradually. Keeping close track of these trends will provide the best opportunity of investing effectively in China.Journal of Medical Marketing (2007) 7, 295–300. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jmm.5050099 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present exploratory research into the holding and usage of credit cards by a distinct segment of the Chinese population, who are ‘early adopters’ of this product. Design/methodology/approach - Primary data collection using survey methodology. A sample of the urban-affluent population in China was utilized to gauge preferences and attitudes towards the use of credit cards. Findings - The respondents were comfortable with the holding and use of credit cards and particularly recognised their value for spending on travel and entertainment. The research also identified purchase trigger points, which indicated that the use of credit cards for purchases above certain value was already prevalent with this sample of urban-affluent Chinese consumers. Research limitations/implications - The sample was drawn from a narrower base than the actual target population of urban-affluent market, but an available and valid respondent set, which offers insights into the ‘early-adopters’ of the credit card product in China. Practical implications - Hitherto there has been a very limited amount of research into payment cards in China and yet with the market for financial services opening up in China from 2007, this research is timely both for domestic Chinese banks wishing to issue credit cards and for foreign entrants, seeking to enter the Chinese market via their expertise in credit cards. Originality/value - The paper presents focused research on the attitudes towards credit cards, with the urban-affluent consumers, who are the most likely early-adopters of this product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The paper seeks to identify the sources of confusion in the Chinese personal computer market and the confusion reduction strategies used. Design/methodology/approach — A self-completion questionnaire with a sample of 140 respondents was used. Findings — Technological complexity is the major source of confusion. Word of mouth is the most common source of information used to reduce confusion due to its credibility and reliability. Practical implications — Technical confusion leads to similarity confusion and overchoice confusion. Manufacturers and retailers need to address technical confusion to reduce the overall level of confusion in the PC market. Originality/value — The paper examines confusion in an Eastern culture, whereas previously it has been predominantly investigated in Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that several of these factors have on a consumer’s decision to hold a credit card, as well as those involved in determining the level of credit card limit.Design/methodology/approach Potential explanatory variables were identified in the literature, then used to build a binary logit model to test the impact of the card and consumer characteristics on credit card ownership. Data were collected via a structured interview of 409 consumers living in Hebei Province, China.Findings The results indicate that convenience in use, level of credit card interest rates, the application process, number of people in the household, a rewards programme, marital status, credit limit and age influence the likelihood of the respondent holding a credit card. Further, an anaylsis shows that the number of credit cards held, duration of holding a credit card, monthly credit card purchasing volume and having a degree at the tertiary level, are significantly and positively related to different levels of credit limit.Originality/value In summary, in order to attract more consumers to credit card use, the banks and credit card companies should consider making it more convenient for consumers to use their credit cards. Moreover, banks can increase their networking and degree of cooperation with merchants to increase the acceptance of payment by credit card. The most heavily used businesses such as supermarkets and smaller retailers, where consumers purchase goods frequently, would be good targets for banks’ attention. In addition, banks might also improve credit card reward programmes to make these more efficient and perhaps increase the size of the rewards customers can earn through card use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are consumers aiming to get when they buy fresh meat? Is it the emotional pleasure, the nutritional quality and functionality, or the status that goes with it? We examine this question for Chinese consumers buying fresh pork. In order to understand the driving forces for pork purchases, we use the concept of perceived value of a product, and distinguish emotional value, quality/performance and social value, together with price/value for money. We look at how perceived value of pork products in China is related to consumers’ attitude to these products and to their repeated purchase of these products. In addition, we look at how value perception and its role in determining attitude and purchase behavior differ between different consumer segments, distinguished based on their shopping behavior. An online survey was carried out in 5 Chinese 1st and 2nd tier cities. Respondents were segmented based on their usage of different ways of shopping for pork using latent class cluster analysis. Relationships between constructs were estimated using PLS. Quality/functional value was the strongest determinant of attitude, but emotional value was both the strongest direct determinant of purchase behavioral and the strongest determinant overall when taking effects mediated by attitude into account. Customer journey segments differed in their pattern of determinants of attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. We conclude that buying fresh meat is, for Chinese consumers, mostly driven by the expected pleasure and to a lesser degree by quality and functional properties like safety and healthiness. The latter do have an impact on consumers’ attitude to the product, but less so on their buying behavior, suggesting that attitude and purchase are driven by different mental processes. We discuss implications for future demand for fresh pork in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of brand equity on Chinese consumers’ affective attitudes toward luxury brands and their behavioral intentions by applying the cognitive-affective model. The interaction effect between face saving and consumer’s affective attitude on luxury consumption is also examined.Design/methodology/approach A field survey was conducted using a sample of 248 luxury consumers in three Chinese cities.Findings Brand equity was found positively to predict Chinese consumers’ affective attitudes and their willingness to pay a premium price for a luxury brand. Moreover, consumers who highly value face saving were found to be more willing to pay a premium price, even though they hold a less positive attitude toward the brand.Research limitations/implications The use of cross-sectional survey data with young Chinese consumers in first-tier cities may limit the generalizability of the findings as well as precluding the making of causal inferences.Practical implications Global luxury marketers who plan to enter the China market can utilize marketing strategies to create prestigious value and appeal to consumers who seek for social approval and status.Originality/value Previous published studies of brand equity and luxury consumption have primarily emphasized Western markets. These findings advance our understanding of luxury purchase intention among young Chinese consumers, for whom the need for social acceptance acts as a crucial motivator in luxury consumption. The results contribute to amplifying the brand equity concept by taking cultural context into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Most studies on consumers and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have focused on Western contexts. Consequently, good insight is lacking into non-Western markets where consumers may respond differently. China is a case in point, despite the popularity of the CSR concept and high societal expectations of firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese consumers perceive the underlying components of CSR found in Western countries; whether their CSR expectations differ for local Chinese compared to foreign firms; and whether results differ across regions within China. Design/methodology/approach – A country-wide study was done using a questionnaire to collect data in seven distinctive regional markets across China. Findings – Findings show that the originally Western CSR construct seems generalizable to China, but consumers across all regions perceive two rather than four components: one combining economic and legal responsibilities (labelled “required CSR”) and another combining ethical and philanthropic responsibilities (“expected CSR”). Consumers expect local Chinese firms to take more responsibility than foreign firms, particularly for required CSR. Research limitations/implications – This study focused on consumer perceptions, not on actual buying behaviour, which is a potential area for further research. Follow-up investigation to see whether the findings regarding the CSR concept also hold in other emerging and developing countries would be worthwhile. This also applies to an extension of the different expectations vis-à-vis foreign and local firms. Practical implications – The study gives more insight into notions of standardization and adaptation with regard to CSR, considering China compared to other countries and China’s different internal markets. This is relevant for international marketers confronted with (potential) investments and activities in China, inbound or outbound, or in need of a comparative global perspective. Social implications – While the findings show some context-specificity for CSR in and across China, they also confirm the relevance of the originally Western CSR components to an emerging-market setting. These insights may be helpful for those interested in furthering CSR across countries, and locally as well as globally. Originality/value – This study responds to calls for an improved understanding of the context-specificity of the originally Western CSR construct and of the extent to which it may be generalizable to non-Western settings such as China. The authors used a sample covering all regions of China and discovered two important dimensions. The results may be helpful to guide the debate on the plethora of CSR conceptualizations into a more focused direction, with clear relevance for the marketing field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained an increasing attention all over the world, but studies are mainly about developed countries. Developing countries have promoted CSR but concepts and approaches can be different from those in developed countries due to geographic, political, and economic contexts. In a unique developing country of China, the government has initially encouraged state-owned companies (SOCs) to implement CSR practices. However, no clear and commonly accepted CSR definition or concept exists. This paper develops items on CSR practices mainly based on the internationally accepted ISO26000 framework while integrating characteristics of Chinese SOCs. Statistical results of 146 usable questionnaires show that Chinese SOCs implement four types of CSR practices under the ISO26000 framework, they are those related to employee rights, consumer issues, fair operation and labor practices. Charity is a specific CSR dimension in China, but it is only implemented at the low level. Chinese SOCs have the high internal CSR values which promote most CSRs except those related to charity and employee rights. External institutional drivers for CSR practices are relatively low. Normative drivers motivate most CSR practices while competitive drivers only motivate consumer issues-related CSR practices. This paper contributes to extend previous studies mainly for developed countries to develop a CSR concept for Chinese SOCs by using both the international ISO26000 framework and considering the specific context. Statistic results identify how to motivate CSR practices among Chinese SOCs effectively, which can provide implications for not only the Chinese government, but also multi-national companies that do or plan to do business in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this research is to analyze brand competition in China using the Duplication of Purchase (DoP) law, with important implications for understanding Chinese buyer behavior in comparison with Western buyers. Discovered in the Western markets, the DoP law holds across a variety of product categories. Design/methodology/approach -- Multiple sets of new data are examined to extend past research in the application of the DoP law in Chinese buying behavior. This study draws on panel data and self-reported data, utilizing bootstrapping to identify partitions where excess sharing occurs. Findings -- This paper finds the DoP law holds across six categories (two personal care, two impulse categories and two durables), as well as over multiple years. Brands in China share customers with other brands in line with the market share of the competitor brand. There were few partitions where brands shared significantly more customers than expected. Partitions occur due to the same umbrella brand or ownership, and geographic location. Research limitations/implications -- Areas for further research include extended replication in other categories, investigating partitions and whether a different consumer path to purchase occurs in China. Practical implications -- DoP can be applied across a wide range of categories in China to understand market structure. New entrants to China can use this approach to understand a category from a consumer behavior perceptive. DoP provides guidelines for marketers to identify competition and allocate resources appropriately. Originality/value -- This research provides a comprehensive, unparalleled examination across six very different categories of brand competition in China. This gives confidence in the robustness and generalizability of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese food market is very large and represents a significant opportunity for overseas companies. If this opportunity is to be exploited, however, there is still a need to understand the Chinese consumer’s response to production by different countries of origin. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide insight into the country of origin effect on the purchase of food products in China. The paper reports the findings of an empirical study conducted in Beijing that was based on a large-scale street survey of consumers. Despite limitations related to representativeness and self-reporting, the study generated a number of useful insights. Specifically, the findings suggest that food originating from overseas is perceived to be of higher quality than food originating from China and that Chinese consumers do not see food originating overseas as all the same but relate quality to the country from which it originates. Food originating from overseas had a perceived advantage in the minds of Chinese consumers, although there is still an inclination to buy Chinese food which may serve as a barrier to entry in this market for overseas companies who do not produce in China itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key concern about counterfeits and weak intellectual property protection is that they may hamper innovation by displacing legitimate sales. This paper combines a natural policy experiment with randomized lab experiments to estimate the heterogeneous impacts of counterfeiting on the sales and consumer purchase intent related to branded products of various quality levels. I collect new product-line-level panel data (1993–2004) on Chinese shoe companies. I identify heterogeneous effects of counterfeit entry on sales of authentic products of three quality tiers, finding that counterfeits have both advertising effects for a brand and substitution effects for authentic products, additionally the effects linger for some years. The advertising effect dominates the substitution effect for high-end authentic product sales, and the substitution effect outweighs the advertising effect for low-end product sales. The positive effect of counterfeits is most pronounced for high-fashion products (such as women’s high-leg boots and dress shoes), shoes tailored to young customers, and high-end products of brands not yet well-known at the time of counterfeiter entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate Chinese customers and their buying behavior. Since China is undergoing a drastic change from state-controlled society into a more free market economy, the consumption power of its inhabitants is rising as well. This trend has attracted many local and foreign companies to further invest in China and to capitalize on opportunities the growing market is providing. The paper provides a perspective on how the Chinese customers' attitude towards brands has changed, what types of needs are prevailing, which sources of information are perceived as the most trustworthy by Chinese, why do they like to shop abroad, how powerful are children in decision-making, how face consumption affects their choices, and what is their after-purchasing attitude. The structure of the paper is in the form of six steps of customer decision making process, starting with "Problem recognition", and ending with "Postconsumption evaluation". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine fashion clothing consumption in relation to status consumption and perceptions of fashion clothing brand status (BS) in transition economies. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was designed and administered in China to a sample of 460 young adults aged between 18 and 24. Findings – The results indicate that individuals’ status consciousness (SC) has an impact on fashion clothing brand preference (BP) and perceptions of the brand's status. Also, individuals’ BP and perceived BS were found to mediate the relationship between individuals’ SC and their willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for a specific brand of fashion clothing. Originality/value – The originality of this study rests on a detailed examination of SC and status perceptions in the context of branded fashion clothing (western vs Asian brands) in China, where individuals’ wealth, status-consciousness and brand-consciousness are growing. Equally, it provides knowledge for academics about the development of status consumption in an emerging economy. Importantly, from a theory perspective this study is the first to examine the intervening roles of perceived BS and BP in the relationship between SC and WTP a price premium for fashion clothing brands. Further, studying this evolving market provides insights for practitioners into the design of marketing strategies for their brands. The findings may assist practitioners to address drivers of perception of their brands, especially for Asian brands competing against western brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between consumer purchasing behaviour of counterfeit luxury products and the approaches used by retailers to protect themselves from counterfeits. Most of the previous literature explored counterfeiting in the context of a single country with some taking the consumer's perspective (e.g. Nia and Zaichowsky, 2000) whilst others have focused on the retailer's perspective (e.g. Hasselmann, 2004). It has been suggested that anti-counterfeiting efforts would not be effective without a clear identification of consumer purchase intentions (Marcketti and Shelley, 2009). Otherwise, no evidence has been found of prior research focusing on the interrelationship between consumer attitudes towards counterfeit products and the brand protection strategies adopted in different markets even though counterfeit phenomena may develop differently in various countries and market environments. To begin to fill the perceived gap in the literature, this study provides estimates of the scope and magnitude of counterfeit activity together with both the outcomes of surveys of consumer purchasing behaviour and discussion, informed by interviews with retail managers focused on the effectiveness of anti-counterfeiting strategies in locations in two countries, namely the UK and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the differential effects of green appeals for low involvement and high involvement products. Through a controlled experiment conducted in China, our study demonstrates that for low involvement products, an ad with a green appeal, compared to a similar one without a green appeal, elicits a more favorable consumer attitude toward the ad and the brand. This is true regardless of the level of consumer environmental concern. This study also shows that for high involvement products, there is no interaction effect between green appeals and product involvement. In addition, for consumers with high levels of environmental concern, an ad with a green appeal yields greater purchase intention than a similar one without a green appeal for low involving products. Such an effect is absent for consumers with low levels of environmental concern. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the moderating role of the China's one-child policy on the relationship between susceptibility to social influence from parents and peers and the levels of materialism of consumers. By comparing Chinese consumers who were born after the implementation of the one-child policy with their Indian and Thai counterparts, our study finds that the previously documented positive relationship between peer influence and materialism as well as the negative relationship between parental influence and materialism are greater for consumers from China than those from India and Thailand. We theorize that these differences are due to the ability and motivation of only-children to internalize the materialistic values from their parents and peers. Further, we demonstrate that these differences in social influence are restricted to in-group influences (i.e., parents and peers) and do not manifest in the case of out-group influences (e.g., salespeople). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify underlying personal values that determine the mall shopping behaviour of Chinese consumers and to propose shopping intention as an additional mediator that enhances the value-behaviour link. Design/methodology/approach – A self-administered web-based survey with convenience sampling was used to collect the data. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test the proposed model. Findings – Chinese mall shoppers' behaviours were found to be explained by value orientations which were both similar and different from their counterparts in the West. While Western mall shoppers are more likely to be directed by social affiliation and self-actualising values in previous studies, Chinese mall shoppers are more likely to be influenced by self-transcendence and self-enhancement (similar to self-actualising) values in the present study. Additionally, shopping intention was found to improve the predictive power of consumers' attitude toward mall attributes in terms of shopping frequency and money spent in the mall. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this study is related to measurement error, derived from using simplified instruments to measure personal values. In addition, both personal values and attitudes are abstract constructs, which are difficult to measure; therefore this may also contribute to a larger error variance. Practical implications – The results of this study are especially beneficial for mall developers and retailers for crafting effective positioning strategies and guiding their communication strategies in the China market. Originality/value – The proposed model makes a theoretical contribution by testing a Western theory in a non-Western context. In addition, the proposed model helps researchers better understand the value-behaviour relationship in a more comprehensive framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how variables related to lifestyle and ethnocentrism influence Chinese consumers' attitudes and intentions towards the purchase of domestic and imported fresh fruit. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was developed using established scales and focus groups. Data were collected in the city of Wuhan through structured intercept interviews with consumers at major supermarkets and fruit stores. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Findings – Chinese consumers' purchase intention of imported fresh fruit is influenced by lifestyle groups, namely risk takers and traditionalists. Also consumers' ethnocentrism tendencies play an important role in shaping their purchase attitudes towards domestic fresh fruit. Research limitations/implications – Although the research investigated both the sensory and non-sensory purchase attributes of fruits, it failed to shed light on the intended use of imported fruits, e.g. for gifts, self consumption, children, aged parents and ill patients. Additionally, future research should be conducted that is more product and country specific. Practical implications – Marketers should ensure that both sensory and non-sensory purchase attributes of fresh fruit are given due importance, as this will snowball into positive purchase intentions, customer satisfaction and overall profitability for firms. Originality/value – Despite its potential importance, relatively little is known about consumers' buying behaviour of fresh produce in China. Findings of this study would thus be beneficial to practitioners and policy makers to formulate effective strategies designed to market fresh produce in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]