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A brand series employs various letters which make such variations in brand names relatively comparable. However, scant attention has been paid to the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking). This research aims to investigate the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking) based on space-time congruity theory. With 4 experiments, this paper examines how the alphabetic order in a brand series influences consumers' preferences(liking) and uncovers the underlying psychological mechanism that connects alphabetic order in a brand series and consumers' preferences(liking). The findings indicate that a brand series employing a late letter receives more favors than a comparatively early letter. Newness perception mediates the effect of alphabetic order in brands on consumers' preferences(liking). For the products which accord with 'new means advantages' (the time value for these products is 'new means more advantages and better performances than old'), a brand series employing a late letter receives more favors than a comparatively early letter. However, for the products which accord with 'old means advantages' (the time value for these products is 'old means more advantages and better performances than new'), this effect is the opposite. The effect of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences(liking) is only significant when consumers are in high involvement condition. The paper provides new insight into the influence of alphabetic order in a brand series on consumers' preferences., Author(s): Wenting Feng [sup.1] , LiJia Wang [sup.2] , Tao Wang [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.503241.1, 0000 0004 1760 9015, Gemmological Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), , Wuhan, China [...]

Since the rapid development of network technology, the rise of live-streaming shopping platforms has followed. Some streamers influence consumers’ preferences for products through their gender role attributes, thus generating great commercial value. Based on attachment theory and using an experimental approach, this study explored the impact of streamers’ gender roles (single gender/androgyny) on consumers’ preferences through 2 studies. Study 1 shows the androgynous streamer elicits a higher product preference than the single-gender (masculine and feminine) streamer. Study 2 demonstrates the moderating effect of gender stereotypes through 2 experiments to construct clear boundary conditions for the main effect and the results show that regardless of whether the streamer is male or female when individuals have a high gender stereotype, the single-gender streamer leads to a higher product preference than the androgynous streamer. When individuals have a low gender stereotype, the androgynous streamer promotes a higher product preference than the single-gender streamer.

Rechargeable sodium-chlorine (Na-Cl2) batteries show high theoretical specific energy density and excellent adaptability for extreme environmental applications. However, the reported cycle life is mostly less than 500 cycles, and the understanding of battery failure mechanisms is quite limited. In this work, we demonstrate that the substantially increased voltage polarization plays a critical role in the battery failure. Typically, the passivation on the porous cathode caused by the deposition of insulated sodium chloride (NaCl) is a crucial factor, significantly influencing the three-phase chlorine (NaCl/Na+, Cl-/Cl2) conversion kinetics. Here, a self-depassivation strategy enabled by iodine anion (I-)-tuned NaCl deposition was implemented to enhance the chlorine reversibility. The nucleation and growth of NaCl crystals are well balanced through strong coordination of the NaI deposition-dissolution process, achieving depassivation on the cathode and improving the reoxidation efficiency of solid NaCl. Consequently, the resultant Na-Cl2 battery delivers a super-long cycle life up to 2000 cycles. An iodine-induced self-depassivation strategy extends Na-Cl2 battery life to 2000 cycles by forming high-reactivity NaCl and lowering the chlorine conversion polarization, which successfully solves a key failure mechanism for superior reversibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental challenge in soil macroecology is to understand how microbial community structure shapes ecosystem function along environmental gradients of the land surface at broad spatial scales (i.e. the horizontal dimension). However, little is known about microbial community structure–function relationships in extreme environments along environmental gradients of soil depth at finer spatial scales (i.e. the vertical dimension). Here, we propose a general spatial dimension partitioning approach for assessing the patterns and drivers of soil microbial community structure–function relationships across horizontal and vertical spatial gradients simultaneously. We leveraged a 200‐km desert soil salinity gradient created by a 12‐year saline‐water irrigation in the Tarim basin of Taklamakan Desert. Specifically, using a general linear model, hierarchical variance partitioning, and a path model, we assessed the patterns and key ecological processes controlling spatial turnover in microbial community structure (i.e. β‐diversity) and enzymatic activity relevant to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling along soil salinity gradients across study sites (horizontal dimension) and soil depths (vertical dimension). We found a decoupled relationship between soil microbial β‐diversity and enzymatic activity. Differences in soil depth (on the scale of meters) were as important as geographic distance (on the scale of kilometers) in shaping bacterial and fungal β‐diversity. However, the vertical and horizontal turnover in enzymatic activity was largely attributed to an increase in the heterogeneity of soil properties, such as soil texture, water content, and pH. Our findings suggest that dispersal limitation controls microbial community β‐diversity and that environmental heterogeneity, rather than soil salinization, controls enzymatic activity. Taken together, this work highlights that in the face of ongoing environmental alterations, soil depth is an under‐explored spatial dimension that must be considered in soil conservation efforts as a critical factor in determining microbial community structure and function in extreme environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The color of green product advertisements is an important factor affecting consumers’ preferences. Based on the theory of the self-control system, this paper explores the influence mechanism and boundary conditions of green product ad color on consumers’ preferences through three experiments. Experiment 1 tested the effect of advertisement color type (green/color) on consumers’ preferences for green products. The results show that color ad can promote consumers’ preferences for green products compared with green ad. Experiment 1 also analyzed the mediating role of the self-control system between advertisement color type (green/color) and consumers’ preferences. Experiment 2 further clarified the boundary of the main effect. The effect of ad color (green/color) on consumers’ preferences was only effective in the context of green products. Experiment 3 explored the moderating effect of green product type (egoistic/altruistic) on the main effect. The results show that only when the green product type is altruistic, the ad color type (green/color) can significantly affect consumers’ preferences. This study is the first to link the ad color of green products with consumers’ preferences. The findings confirm that the use of color ad for green products can elicit higher consumers’ preferences than pure green ad, which enriches the research on the color of green product advertisements.

This study employs morality preference theory to explore how acknowledgment type (self- vs. other-focused) influences donors' subsequent donation desires. The current research consists of 3 studies. Study 1 finds that an other-focused acknowledgment letter elicits higher subsequent donation desires than a self-focused letter. Study 2 testifies to the mediating role of morality preference between the relationship of acknowledgment type and subsequent donation desires. Study 3 manipulates the moral value on “what is the morally right thing of donation” and developed a new scale to measure morality preference. Study 4 excludes the influence of language structure and tests the main effect in a real donation behavior context.

As the pace of modern life accelerates, social exclusion occurs more and more frequently in interpersonal interactions. The type of social exclusion can lead to different psychological needs of individuals, and, thus, affects the tendency of word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendation. There are three experiments in this research. Experiment 1 explores the influence of social exclusion types on the willingness of WOM recommendation. The result shows that being rejected increases individuals' willingness to WOM recommendations while being ignored decreases individuals' willingness. Experiment 2 explores the internal psychological mechanism of the influence of social exclusion types on WOM recommendation behavior and proves the mediating role of psychological needs (affiliative-focused needs; power/provocation need). In experiment 3, the moderating effect of product attributes (scarcity/popularity) on the main effect is analyzed. This research is the first to explore the influence of social exclusion types on individuals' willingness to WOM recommendations, which enriches the research on social exclusion in the field of WOM recommendations.

With the increasingly crowded shopping environment, social crowding has become an important factor that affects consumers’ psychology and behavior. However, the impact of social crowding on consumers’ preference for green products hasn’t been focused on. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the influence of social crowding on consumers’ preference for green products. With four studies, the present research examines how social crowding influences consumers’ preferences and uncovers the underlying psychological mechanism. The research shows that consumers prefer green products more under the condition of high social crowding than low, and safety needs mediate the impact of social crowding on green products preference. However, the impact of social crowding on the preference for products is only significant in green products. It also demonstrates the moderating effect of introversion-extraversion personality traits between social crowding and green products preference. For extraverted consumers, social crowding won’t affect their preference for green products, while for introverted consumers, social crowding is more likely to increase their preference for green products. This study contributes to marketing research by proposing and testing a new mechanism that underlies social crowding.

Consumers usually endorse tourism products differently when sharing positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). This research examines the relative persuasiveness of two endorsement styles, that is, explicit endorsement (e.g., "I recommend it") and implicit endorsement (e.g., "I love it"). Drawing on the persuasion knowledge model, we propose that explicit endorsements are less persuasive than implicit endorsements because the former trigger stronger persuasion knowledge. We further argue that source trustworthiness mitigates the persuasion effect difference between the two endorsement styles. This article assesses these hypotheses across different sources (anonymous reviewers, friends, influencers), channels (online community, social commerce platform, social networking app), and products (hotels, restaurants) using secondary data analysis and two experiments. Three studies provide support for our hypotheses. By revealing the relationship between endorsement styles and eWOM persuasiveness, this article provides important implications for implementing effective product endorsement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs entitativity theory to explore how acknowledgment letters from various thankers (e.g., a group of beneficiaries, a charity) influence donors’ subsequent donation desires. This empirical research consists of three experiments. Study 1 reveals that an acknowledgment letter from a group of beneficiaries elicits more favorable subsequent donation desires than an acknowledgment letter from a charity. To shed light on the psychological mechanism underlying this effect, Study 2 shows that a categorical appellation can enhance the effects of an acknowledgment letter sent by a charity. Study 3 reveals that the influence of the thanker is stronger under no external pressure conditions (than under external pressure). The current study offers insightful suggestions for the management and administration of charities.