This study investigates the mechanisms underpinning customer-brand engagement (CBE) by examining the dynamic interplay among value congruity (VC), customer experience (CX), and customer-brand identity (CBI). Drawing on relational perspectives of identity and value alignment as well as experiential perspectives from service-dominant logic, the research develops and empirically validates a unified structural model of engagement. Data were collected through a two-stage survey of a nationally representative Japanese household panel, ensuring broad coverage across diverse product categories. The findings reveal a robust framework in which CX, VC, and CBI reinforce one another to enhance engagement, which in turn fosters brand loyalty. CBI emerges as the strongest direct antecedent of CBE, while both VC and CX significantly shape CBI and engagement outcomes. Importantly, CX not only directly drives engagement but also enhances VC, highlighting an underexplored but theoretically consequential relationship that strengthens the explanatory power of engagement research. This study makes a significant theoretical contribution by bridging previously fragmented relational and experiential streams into a holistic and empirically validated model. Managerially, the results underscore the importance of designing experiences that reflect consumer values and reinforce identity, thereby cultivating enduring engagement and loyalty in both traditional and digitally augmented product markets.
Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) has increased the importance of pre-purchase information search, especially for Generation Z consumers navigating cross-border uncertainty in digital environments. This study examines how search-related cognitions are translated into search motivation, search behavior, and purchase intention, and positions consumer search as the immediate pre-purchase mechanism through which uncertainty is managed before purchase intention forms. Drawing on external information search theory and cognitive-motivational reasoning, the study distinguishes between action-enabling cognition and evaluation-based cognition in a staged framework. Survey data from 699 Generation Z consumers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta were analyzed using consistent partial least squares structural equation modeling (cPLS/PLSc) with consistent bootstrapping. The results show that perceived search ability positively influences search behavior, perceived search benefits positively influence search motivation, search motivation positively influences search behavior, and search behavior positively influences purchase intention. Contrary to the hypothesized negative direction, perceived search costs positively influence search motivation. The findings clarify how different search-related cognitions shape behavioral engagement in CBEC and extend international consumer research to an underexamined emerging-market context.
This study validates and refines the Artificial Intelligence Device Use Acceptance (AIDUA) model within the South African hospitality sector. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, we analyzed survey data from 301 respondents with structural equation modeling and integrated qualitative insights from two focus groups and two follow-up interviews . Results confirm key AIDUA pathways and reveal culturally embedded dynamics shaping consumer acceptance of Artificial Intelligence Service Robots (AISRs). Trust is the strongest predictor of behavioral intention; yet reflects a context-specific trust paradox shaped by collectivist values. Effort expectancy is reconceptualized into time-based and intellectual dimensions, both shaped by infrastructural constraints. Anthropomorphism enhances acceptance when culturally aligned. Qualitative findings highlight employment concerns, privacy tensions, and Ubuntu-informed collective reasoning adoption decisions. The study refines AIDUA by demonstrating that AISR acceptance in emerging markets is socially, culturally, and infrastructurally embedded, offering implications for deployment strategies and future longitudinal validation. Practical guidance for managers and policymakers are provided.
This study examines how Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) shapes Purchase Intention for Domestic Products (PIDP) in India through the lens of Social Identity Theory (SIT). Using PLS-SEM analysis on data from consumers, the findings reveal that CE exerts a strong positive influence on PIDP, with Anticipated Pride (AP) and patriotism functioning as critical mediators. Moreover, nationalistic initiatives such as "Vocal for Local" significantly moderate the CE-AP relationship (though in a dampening direction), shaping consumers' emotional identification with domestic brands. For global marketers and multinational firms, the findings highlight that competing solely on functional value is no longer sufficient; success requires embedding local cultural narratives, recalibrating communication strategies to evoke identity-driven pride, and maintaining a nuanced balance between global brand appeal and localized authenticity. Understanding how ethnocentrism and anticipated emotions influence consumer behavior enables multinational entrants to design culturally adaptive strategies that foster acceptance and affinity for foreign brands in ethnocentric markets.
Previous boycott models inadequately explore why reboycott occurs. Our study fills this research gap by examining the negative psychological responses of consumers that influence their reboycott decisions by focusing on corporate brand betrayal and consumer animosity toward (global) fashion companies. Additionally, we explore the moderating roles of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and consumer cosmopolitanism to gain a deeper understanding of the consumers' reboycott mechanisms. We utilize a hierarchical linear regression model and PROCESS macro (Model 4) with data from 603 Chinese consumers to test our hypotheses. We find that consumer animosity toward fashion companies positively mediates the relationship between corporate brand betrayal and reboycott intention. Furthermore, we present a novel implication that consumer cosmopolitanism diminishes the positive interaction effect between corporate brand betrayal and perceived severity of CSI on consumer animosity toward fashion companies, aiding practitioners in developing effective strategies to address challenges in global market.
This study examines how consumption values and cultural orientation jointly shape consumer adoption of plant-based meat (PBM), an increasingly significant category in global sustainable food markets. Drawing on the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV), we investigate how functional, emotional, social, conditional, and epistemic values influence purchase intention and subsequent purchase behavior, and whether these effects differ by cultural orientation (individualism-collectivism). A quantitative survey of 446 consumers in Canada-a multicultural setting-was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results support that all five consumption values significantly predict purchase intention (p < 0.05), with emotional and functional values exerting the strongest effects. Purchase intention in turn strongly predicts actual purchase behavior. Moderation tests reveal that cultural orientation conditions several of these effects: functional, emotional, and social value influences vary significantly across individualist vs. collectivist consumers, whereas epistemic and conditional value effects remain more invariant. A multi-group analysis confirms these distinctions, suggesting that some value drivers are culture-bound, whereas others are more universal. The results add to international consumer research by combining value-based and cultural points of view in the context of sustainable food innovation. From a managerial perspective, the results provide guidance for market entry strategies. Firms should emphasize sensory quality and personal benefits in individualistic markets, versus collective well-being and social approval in collectivist contexts, to enhance PBM adoption. These insights inform culturally attuned positioning and communication strategies for the growing global plant-based foods sector.
This study investigates how international fans engage with professional football clubs, focusing on team identification, loyalty, and online brand engagement. Addressing a gap in the literature, it shifts attention from local to global fan behavior. Using Structural Equation Modeling, data from 301 Russian fans of English Premier League clubs were analyzed. The model included measures of team identification, attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, and online brand engagement as a mediator. Cognitive-affective and personal evaluative dimensions positively predicted team identification, which significantly influenced both engagement and loyalty. Online brand engagement partially mediated the identification-loyalty relationship, highlighting its role in fostering fan commitment. Findings guide sports marketers in developing culturally relevant digital strategies to engage international fans and strengthen brand loyalty. Focusing on Russian EPL fans, the paper offers novel insights into satellite fandom, clarifying how online engagement and identification shape loyalty across cultural contexts.
The place of culture in e-commerce markets is an area of considerable research interest and debate. This qualitative study, conducted by semi-structured interviews with e-commerce users in France, Czechia, and Ukraine, aims to uncover how consumer practices within e-commerce vary cross-culturally. Findings suggest that cultural differences in consumer practices are produced by the specific national e-commerce setting rather than being expressed within it. Specifically, local complementors, such as payment and delivery systems, shape consumer agency and expectations in online transactions through a mechanism described as market agencing in preceding literature, which subsequently results in distinct national consumer norms. The description of the unique characteristics of the French, Czech, and Ukrainian national e-commerce markets resulting from the distinct usage of local complements is provided based on the empirical findings. The findings of this research challenge the classical cultural studies approach, which locates the origin of cultural specifics outside the market. The study also proposes testable hypotheses for further cross-cultural research of online consumption.
The counterfeit luxury products (CLPs) market is rapidly growing, particularly in emerging and developing countries. This study aims to examine the impact of materialism, value consciousness, and collectivism (personality/individual and social factors) on three motivational factors (perceived authenticity, perceived luxuriousness, and perceived fair price) and, in turn, on purchase intention through consumer attitudes toward CLPs in emerging and developing countries (China and Pakistan). The data employed in the current work were collected from 645 consumers using a structured questionnaire (NChina = 359; NPakistan = 286) and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results revealed that materialism and collectivism significantly influence perceived authenticity, perceived luxuriousness, and perceived fair price in both samples (except for the influence of collectivism on perceived fair price in the Pakistan sample). The results further showed that perceived authenticity and perceived fair price are the key predictors of consumer attitudes, leading to higher purchase intentions in both China and Pakistan. The current study contributes to our understanding by proposing a mechanism in which individual/personality (materialism and value consciousness) and social (collectivism) factors drive perceived motivational factors, which, in turn, shape consumer attitudes toward CLPs and, ultimately, purchase intention.
Cross-linguistic digital communication represents a critical frontier for international consumer marketing, yet existing Communication Privacy Management theory cannot explain how consumers coordinate privacy boundaries across languages with fundamentally different cultural constructs. This limitation becomes acute when consumers encounter cultural hotwords-terms like NFT, chill, or FWB-that carry divergent marketing meanings across linguistic contexts. Drawing on translation studies, cultural semiotics, and boundary work theory, we develop Digital Boundary Translation Theory (DBTT), which explains cross-linguistic boundary coordination as active cultural transformation processes affecting consumer-brand relationships, trust formation, and purchase intentions in global digital markets. Through qualitative analysis of 39 multilingual consumers across six countries, complemented by Google Trends data (2019-2024), we identify four translation mechanisms and validate four hypotheses about cross-linguistic boundary management. Our findings reveal that consumers actively transform boundary meanings through sophisticated translation work that creates hybrid cultural identities, with significant implications for international marketing strategy, global brand communication, and digital platform design.
Cultural elements such as customs, language, and art of a specific region enrich brands with a wide range of nuanced dimensions, which facilitate their development in new markets. Accordingly, countries with rich cultural contexts can leverage brand cultural involvement as a strategic tool for penetrating international markets. Considering that Iran, as a culturally rich nation, is at the early stage of global branding, this study aims to develop an Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) of brand cultural involvement using a mixed methods approach. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 marketing experts, through which the components of the brand cultural involvement model were extracted. Findings of ISM steps reveal that identifying commonalities, gaining international credibility, product strategy, and enhancing competitiveness with both local and global brands constitute fundamental drivers in creating brand cultural involvement. The proposed model provides a brand cultural involvement framework that can assist marketers in designing cultural brand elements to attract consumers in international markets.
This study aims to develop a theory-informed framework explaining how scope (integration intensity) and scale (implementation breadth) shape phygital consumer experience among Gen Z consumers in South Korea and the United States. Applying a comparative case design (Nike, Musinsa, Melon, Spotify, Urban Outfitters), the study illustrates typology-driven theorizing for emerging phenomena by interpreting platform touchpoints, brand narratives, interfaces, and user artifacts to inductively derive a scope-scale typology. The typology delineates four strategic configurations-Integrated & Scaled, Immersive & Experimental, Tactical & Event-Driven, and Symbolic & Scalable-and advances propositions linking scope-scale alignment to identity formation, cultural resonance, scalable symbolism, and ecosystem coherence. Findings indicate that 1) high-scope ecosystems intensify symbolic interaction and identity play; 2) localized, high-scope designs amplify affective engagement by aligning with cultural schemas; 3) low-scope, high-scale formats can rival immersive systems by ritualizing shareable, algorithmically personalized episodes; and 4) globally scaled, high-scope ecosystems yield sustained experiential value through cross-touchpoint coherence. Moreover, cross-cultural contrasts suggest that Korean Gen Z consumers favor place-situated, communal rituals, while American Gen Z consumers tend toward episodic, self-curated expression. This scope-scale framework contributes by bridging phygital ecosystem design with cultural logic and symbolic meaning, providing a typological lens for juxtaposing hybrid marketing strategies and guiding practitioners on when to privilege immersion vs. symbolism and local adaptation vs. global reach.
The rapid growth of mobile usage has positioned mobile advertising as a dominant channel for engaging consumers worldwide. This study examines the critical factors shaping mobile advertising effectiveness-focusing on privacy concerns and incentives-through a cross-cultural comparison of consumers in South Korea and the United States. Results demonstrate that privacy concerns consistently reduce favorable attitudes toward mobile advertising in both contexts, whereas incentives exert a stronger positive influence in South Korea. Moreover, perceived social usefulness significantly enhances attitudes among South Korean consumers but shows no such effect in the U.S., underscoring cultural variations in how users evaluate mobile ads. These findings extend established models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), while advancing debates on the "privacy paradox" in digital advertising. Practically, the study offers actionable insights for marketers aiming to design culturally responsive mobile advertising strategies that balance trust, relevance, and motivational incentives across global markets.
This study investigates the moderating impact of consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and perceived value on purchase intention from foreign websites. The research employed a quantitative method conducted in two phases: preliminary quantitative research with data collected from 70 Vietnamese customers aged 18 to 35 to examine the reliability of the measurement scale; and formal quantitative research conducted with data collected from 315 Vietnamese customers aged 18 to 35 to test the research model and hypotheses. The research findings indicate that consumer ethnocentrism does not have moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention from foreign websites. However, it does moderate the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and the intention to buy from these online platforms. Consequently, the influence of perceived trustworthiness on the intention to purchase will differ between groups of consumers with high and low ethnocentrism. Based on these results, the authors propose several recommendations to promote the intention to shop on foreign websites.
This study draws on the Functional Theory of Attitudes to examine how consumer cosmopolitanism (CCOS) and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) influence purchase intentions toward environmentally friendly products (EFPs), both directly and indirectly through the social functions of attitudes (self-expression and self-presentation). Analyses of data collected from 252 U.S. participants show that CCOS has a direct positive effect on EFP purchase intention and an additional indirect effect through self-expression. CET, on the other hand, has a negative direct effect, which is partially offset by a positive indirect effect through self-presentation. Implications for researchers, practitioners, and directions for future research are discussed.
This study examines how sound symbolism, when integrated with traditional brand naming strategies, shapes consumer perceptions across two closely related yet phonetically distinct cultures-T & uuml;rkiye and Azerbaijan. By combining insights from branding literature and linguistic theory, we address a critical gap in understanding how phonetic features interact with semantic naming strategies to enhance brand effectiveness. Three pretests identified suitable product categories and name types, revealing that suggestive names were most appropriate for convenience products, while descriptive names aligned with shopping products. Building on these insights, a 3 x 2 factorial design with 446 participants tested how brand naming strategies interact with sound symbolism. MANOVA results demonstrated that voiceless consonants (e.g., "f") conveyed softness more effectively than voiced consonants (e.g., "z"), while combining sound symbolism with suggesting naming amplified effectiveness for convenience products. Turkish participants showed greater sensitivity to sound symbolism compared to Azerbaijanis, underscoring the role of cultural and linguistic contexts. This study contributes to branding literature by extending sound symbolism theory to a cross-cultural setting, offering both theoretical insights into the interplay between phonetics and naming strategies, and practical implications for managers seeking to develop resonant global brand names.
With the rapid growth of globalization and digital platforms, cross-border e-commerce has become a key driver for brands to expand internationally. Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly personalized recommendations and immersive mechanisms, is reshaping consumer interactions. This study uses annual panel data from 2012 to 2022 covering Amazon, eBay, Tmall, JD, TikTok, and 11 countries. A panel fixed-effects model examine how click-through rate (CTR) in four product types (Clothes, Electrical Items, Service, and Home Appliance) affect sales volume and average order value. Results show CTR has a significant positive impact on both outcomes, remaining robust after log transformation and winsorization. Heterogeneity analysis reveals varying effects across platforms and product types, including stronger clothing conversion on Amazon and higher home appliance conversion on eBay. The study shows AI boosts search interest and drives purchases, enriching understanding of cross-border consumer behavior and offering guidance for optimizing AI strategies.
