ABSTRACT This study investigates whether generative AI educational content, specifically ChatGPT‐generated financial education materials, can enhance self‐reported financial knowledge and well‐being in the domains of budgeting, debt management, and investing. Using an experimental design, we find that AI‐generated financial educational content increases self‐reported knowledge, but the benefits are unevenly distributed: individuals with higher baseline financial literacy gain more than those with limited prior knowledge. Mediation analyses further show that these perceptual gains do not consistently translate into improvements in financial well‐being, particularly, in the context of debt stress, where worry continues to exert a strong negative influence. Together, the findings underscore both the promise and the limitations of generative AI in financial education, highlighting the need for more inclusive, adaptive, and emotionally supportive interventions.
ABSTRACT The gender gap in financial literacy favoring men is a well‐documented phenomenon. Research reveals that women more frequently opt for the “do not know” (DK) response option than men. As the gender gap in financial literacy is evident at a young age and should be counteracted early, we focus on a sample of German adolescents ( N = 1958) and investigate which factors are relevant for the decision to select the DK option. Applying regression and decomposition analyses, our study results confirm a substantial gender gap both in financial literacy scores and in the tendency to choose DK. If respondents are not offered a DK option, the gender gap significantly decreases. The decision to select DK can be partly explained by girls' lower math scores and less interest in economics. Our results contribute to the literature by examining factors associated with picking DK in a young sample, offering policy implications regarding targeted programs.
As generative artificial intelligence becomes prominent in digital therapy, understanding how consumers evaluate human, AI, and hybrid therapists is increasingly important. Drawing on insights from signaling, construal level, stimulus-organism-response, and perceived risk research, this paper examines how therapy delivery mode shapes expected service satisfaction through capabilities-based, relational-based, and risk-based pathways. Across two experiments, consumers reported higher expected service satisfaction for human therapists than for AI or hybrid (AI/human) therapists. In Study 1 (N = 200), this effect was partially mediated by perceived therapist competence, perceived therapist expertise, and psychological closeness. In Study 2 (N = 195), the preference for human over hybrid therapists was fully mediated by skepticism of the therapist, while privacy concerns and psychological closeness were not significant mediators. These findings contribute to theory on technology-mediated service evaluation by showing that consumer responses depend on inferred capability, relational connection, and skepticism, with implications for consumer protection, transparency, and responsible digital therapy design.
ABSTRACT According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost $12.8 billion to fraud in 2024, with actual losses estimated to be as high as $196 billion. Research on financial fraud knowledge is scant, limiting development of effective protection tools. Using RAND's American Life Panel, 1,509 respondents (ages 21–90) listed up to five fraud schemes and tactics. We explore respondents' conceptualizations of fraud types through the freelisting technique and categorize the answers into five groups: threat‐, opportunity‐, consumer‐, imposter‐, and ID‐based frauds. We find that women mention more imposter‐based and fewer ID‐based scams than men, while older adults mention more consumer‐based scams than their younger counterparts. Higher financial literacy is associated with a greater likelihood of mentioning threat‐, ID‐, and imposter‐based fraud. Mentioning ID‐ or consumer‐based scams is tied to a greater likelihood of being targeted by a fraudster, whereas mentioning threat‐based scams is tied to a smaller likelihood of losing money.
ABSTRACT This article offers a commentary on the role of AI‐driven systems in emotional labor and its implications for consumers' well‐being. The central insight is that AI systems can alleviate service providers' emotional burden while providing consistent support, which challenges the notion that only humans can deliver authentic emotional support. However, this poses ethical concerns, such as the absence of true human emotion or the potential to manipulate vulnerable users. This work highlights the theoretical backgrounds of AI in emotional labor and discusses policy and practical implications for consumer welfare, including data privacy, potential impacts on the labor force, and applications in caring services for elderly consumers.
Consumer stress induced by online luxury market has become a threat to consumer well-being. This research identifies key stress dimensions on online new and second-hand luxury platforms by applying natural language processing (NLP) to consumer-generated texts (Study 1). Although blockchain-based Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are becoming more widely used, it is unclear whether DPPs will mitigate stress or inadvertently exacerbate it through technological complexity. Framing DPPs as a positive technology, this research examines how DPPs could mitigate the qualitatively identified stress dimensions. The research investigates the different impact of DPPs benefits between new and second-hand platforms via a scenario-based experiment (Study 2). Immutability reduces stress only on second-hand platforms. Traceability has universal effects across both types. DPP benefits reduce hesitation and anticipated regret indirectly through stress reduction with platform-specific patterns. Findings help managers and policymakers identify the specific types of stress and develop targeted DPPs strategies based on platform type.
ABSTRACT Runtime permission prompts are intended to enable informed privacy choices, yet they interrupt consumers mid‐task and may undermine meaningful consent. We examine this issue among Chinese Android users in a mixed‐methods study. Study 1 ( N = 525) combined a survey with a custom app that tracked whether 15 mainstream apps requested key runtime permission types (e.g., location, camera, microphone) over 2 weeks and whether consumers granted or denied those requests. Privacy concerns did not predict the permission grant rate, while digital literacy was positively associated with granting more permissions. Study 2 (18 interviews) explains these patterns: hot‐state interruptions create cognitive overload and functional pressure, leading to coping heuristics (e.g., vendor/government trust) and contextual resignation. Digitally literate “power users” grant more permissions due to feature dependence and perceived controllability (e.g., revoking later). Findings suggest consumer education alone is insufficient; designs and policy should reduce cognitive burden and constrain coerced consent.
ABSTRACT This study examines how perceived gift value (PGV) is associated with subjective well‐being (SWB) among Chinese older adults during traditional festivals, drawing on Zhongyong thinking as a culturally grounded interpretive framework. Using a mixed‐method design, the findings reveal a dual‐pathway process in which PGV is linked to both independent and interdependent self‐concepts, which are in turn related to higher levels of SWB. Although both pathways contribute meaningfully, Zhongyong thinking asymmetrically shifts their relative psychological weight: it strengthens the relational, interdependent route while tempering the well‐being associated with independent self‐views. These results highlight that gift exchanges operate not merely as material transfers but as psychologically significant interactions associated with dignity, belonging, and emotional balance in later life. The study advances understanding of self‐concept processes in later‐life consumption and offers practical implications for promoting the well‐being of older adults in culturally embedded social contexts.
ABSTRACT While the experiential learning approach effectively improves financial literacy in developed countries, its applicability in developing countries faces resource constraints. However, expanding banking access in developing countries may enhance traditional financial education programs by enabling the practical application of learned financial concepts. Using a quasi‐experimental design, we examine this hypothesis by evaluating the impact of Pakistan's flagship financial education program on the financial knowledge of primary school students and demonstrate that the program significantly improves students' financial knowledge. Crucially, prior banking experience is statistically significant, implying that students having banking access are more receptive to financial literacy programs. From a policy point of view, this indicates that providing bank account access to students, alongside financial education, enhances the effectiveness of financial literacy programs in developing countries like Pakistan. It also advocates that financial literacy initiatives achieve better value for money when targeting population segments with existing financial service access.
ABSTRACT This study applied the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory to investigate how customer characteristics and IT availability affect consumers' purchase intentions, and investigated the effects of consumer factors (loneliness, real‐life avoidance, empathy, and interactivity) and technological factors (visual, meta‐acoustic, and guided) on social presence. Data from a survey of 465 Chinese live e‐commerce viewers were analyzed using partial least squares SEM modeling (PLS‐SEM) and analysis (fsQCA). The study's findings demonstrated that consumers with real‐life avoidance, empathic ability, and interactivity traits experience social presence, and that guided purchasing in the presence of IT availability facilitates social presence. Additionally, social presence mediates these three types of consumers and guides purchase intentions. We provide 12 setups that result in high purchase intention based on these findings. As a result, our research makes a significant addition to the understanding and use of live e‐commerce in online buying.
Visually impaired individuals represent a sizable segment of the global population but remain underrepresented in consumer research. Existing literature mainly frames visually impaired consumers (VICs) through a vulnerability lens, focusing on shopping barriers and assistive remedies. While valuable insights into retail accessibility and inclusion have emerged, little attention has been given to the product development stage, psychological processes, or retail strategies regarding choice. Across three controlled experiments, we examined how limited access to visual information affects product evaluation. Study 1 used a choice-based conjoint method for attribute evaluation; Study 2 tested psychological boundary conditions for variations in control and trust; and Study 3 established causal effects for utilitarian product and promotion type choices, showing that VICs prefer informative promotional appeals. Findings indicate that VICs rely on a narrower set of aesthetic signals and prioritize utilitarian attributes and information that reduce ambiguity. Conversely, sighted consumers respond more to hedonic features.
ABSTRACT Climate mitigation policies increasingly extend beyond production and energy systems to encompass everyday consumption practices, including food consumption and waste management. This study examines income‐ and household‐type differences in food‐related carbon emissions behaviors among South Korean households, focusing on beef and grain consumption and food waste generation. Using nationally representative household survey data, we analyze how emissions‐related behaviors vary across income groups and household structures at both the consumption and disposal stages. Results show clear heterogeneity: higher‐income households exhibit greater consumption of carbon‐intensive foods, particularly beef, and higher overall food‐related carbon emissions, whereas lower‐income households display comparatively lower emissions. Differences across household structures further indicate variation in food waste generation and per‐capita emissions. These patterns are consistent with existing evidence on consumption‐based carbon inequality and reflect differences in affordability, household composition, and constrained choice. The findings document systematic variation in consumption and waste patterns across income groups and household structures.
ABSTRACT Almost one‐fifth of Americans are victims of mass marketing scams each year, including scams perpetrated through the mail. Interventions to prevent revictimization could alleviate costs to vulnerable groups, but evidence of the efficacy of specific intervention approaches is lacking. This study involved partnering with the United States Postal Inspection Service to conduct a randomized controlled trial experiment of a mailed counter‐marketing (CM) campaign designed to prevent repeat mail fraud victimization ( N = 2253). CM messages were tailored to address vulnerabilities that drive victims to respond to scams and empower them to resist and report mail fraud. Effectiveness was determined by observing whether victims responded to subsequent mail scams over 4 months. Compared to no intervention, a CM intervention reduced revictimization rates by five percentage points (p = 0.029). Findings can be used by mail service organizations to launch larger scale CM campaigns to reduce losses from mail scams.
ABSTRACT Young adults need to adopt responsible financial behaviors in order to protect themselves as consumers. While much about the factors that influence financial behavior is known from cross‐sectional and panel studies of mixed samples of younger and older individuals, relatively few studies have focused on young adults and even fewer have applied a longitudinal design. The present study analyzed 862 people 16–28 years old in Croatia at two time points at least 12 months apart using a multilevel, mixed‐effects model based on the new theoretical framework of financial capability. Changes were analyzed in the participants' consideration of future consequences (CFC) and in numerous variables related to responsible financial behavior. Changes in CFC over time showed significant associations with changes in responsible consumer behavior, financial planning, impulsive consumption, and investing engagement, but not with digital banking use or saving experience. These results associate changes in rational thinking disposition, here measured as CFC, with changes in financial behaviors among young adults. These findings may guide future research to clarify the drivers of financial behavior as well as design effective educational interventions.
ABSTRACT Persuasion‐oriented communication for green products often provokes skepticism about corporate motives, undermining consumers' emotional satisfaction. This study proposes that negative motivational inference triggered by eco‐friendly messages can lead to unfavorable attitudes, reducing emotional well‐being. To address this, the study examines how message sidedness and appeal type shape emotional well‐being. Moreover, by integrating the Persuasion Knowledge Model and Attribution Theory, we propose a sequential psychological pathway in which inferences about corporate motives lead to the formation of attitudes and emotional well‐being. The results show that when only environmental benefits are emphasized, two‐sided messages elicit more favorable attitudes, whereas one‐sided messages are more effective when environmental and functional appeals are combined. These effects, stronger under high involvement, are mediated by reduced self‐serving motive inference, enhancing emotional well‐being. This study clarifies how green message strategies shape consumer welfare and offers a balanced communication approach that promotes both consumer well‐being and corporate goals.
ABSTRACT We investigate how content‐centric regulation obligates pharmaceutical companies to provide material information that includes balanced information about a drug's benefits and risks to consumers. Paradoxically, this regulatory compliant information results in information so complex it leaves a vacuum of easy‐to‐digest and useful consumer information. This research compares company‐provided information regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (patient package inserts) with consumer‐to‐consumer provided information, user‐generated content in the form of prescription drug reviews (UGC), coded for risk and benefit and calculating readability and linguistic metrics. We apply a consumer‐centric information complexity framework which identifies the disconnect between pharmaceutical company practices (as regulated) and UGC (relatively unregulated). Analyses show that UGC drug reviews present risks and benefits in a more balanced manner than manufacturer‐created patient labels. Findings identify regulatory complexity as a driver of information inadequacy that may push consumers to UGC, indicating a need for information co‐production between consumers, producers and regulators.
ABSTRACT As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in complex consumer‐facing services, traditional adoption models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) are increasingly insufficient for capturing the recursive, sociotechnical, emotional, and ethical dynamics of AI–consumer interactions by overlooking a recursive relationship between user and system. These models treat trust as a static antecedent to adoption and overlook the co‐constitutive relationship between users and intelligent systems. This conceptual paper advances consumer affairs by introducing the Socio‐Technical Adoption and Participation Framework (STAPF), integrating insights from Science and Technology Studies with consumer‐based theories. This framework is theoretically novel, specifying (1) trust as a multidimensional construct, competence, ethical, and relational, and (2) feedback‐driven co‐production as the central mechanism linking user participation and evolving trust outcomes. The model extends beyond technology adoption to address consumer well‐being, marketplace fairness, and regulatory governance in AI‐mediated environments.
Precarious immigrant workers in the United States face persistent barriers to financial capability, including unstable employment, low wages, limited access to financial services, and language barriers. Existing research often emphasizes individual-level deficits, overlooking institutional influences. This study examines how institutional support from worker cooperatives (co-ops) and their networks, including co-op associations, unions, credit unions, and local NGOs, shapes precarious immigrant workers' financial capability. Using grounded theory analysis of 25 interviews with Hispanic immigrant women in New York City-based domestic worker co-ops, findings show that institutional support expands access to banking, credit-building, and financial education while enabling collective financial structures such as group savings and emergency loan programs. These serve as worker-led safety nets for financial stability. Based on these findings, the study proposes an expanded financial capability model that incorporates collective culture, institutionalized financial structures, and collective financial strategies, demonstrating how institutional support strengthens the financial capability of precarious immigrant workers beyond the individual level.
Wearable health technologies (WHTs) increasingly enable continuous, consumer-driven health monitoring, yet healthcare systems remain organized around episodic, reactive care. This research examines how this misalignment shapes consumer well-being by integrating consumer and physician perspectives on wearable-generated data. Study 1 draws on interviews with wearable users and Study 2 involves practicing physicians. Across the two studies, the authors identify four consumer tensions and four parallel physician tensions that emerge in response to continuous health data within episodic care systems. Together, these findings reveal a guidance infrastructure gap, a term coined to describe the absence of interpretive, relational, and system-level support needed to make continuous data meaningful. The findings show that WHTs influence consumer well-being not through data access alone, but through the presence or absence of guidance infrastructure that shapes how consumers and providers interpret, navigate, and act on continuous health data.
The link between social media use and financial outcomes is still emerging. This study examines the association between communication through social media, financial outcomes, and the potential mediating role of fear of missing out. Using data from a national survey on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 4178), linear regression results show that greater social media use is positively associated with difficulty in making ends meet and lacking emergency savings. Furthermore, fear of missing out mediates the relationship between social media use and both adverse financial outcome measures. It appears that social media use and a higher propensity to experience fear of missing out can be negatively related to a person's financial situation. The results of this study have implications for consumer financial behaviors related to social media communication.
