AI-generated review summaries are increasingly used by electronic commerce platforms to simplify access to consumer feedback. However, consumers’ responses relative to human-generated reviews and the role of information detail remain unclear. Using the Heuristic–Systematic Model (HSM) as an interpretive lens, this study examines trust, perceived diagnosticity, information overload, decision confidence, and booking intention. A 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment with 400 European consumers combined review presentation (human-generated reviews versus an AI-generated review summary) and information detail (low versus high). The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. Relative to human-generated reviews, AI-generated review summaries were associated with lower trust and perceived diagnosticity and higher information overload, while their conditional direct effect on booking intention was nonsignificant. Trust and perceived diagnosticity were positively associated with decision confidence, whereas information overload was negatively associated with it. Decision confidence was positively associated with booking intention, with significant indirect pathways from these evaluations through confidence. The AI-generated review summary condition retained a positive conditional direct pathway to decision confidence after controlling for these evaluations. Group differences were concentrated primarily in overload-related pathways under high-detail conditions. The findings highlight opposing pathways within a combined source-format comparison.
Point-of-sale (POS) technology is central to the digital transformation of small retail businesses, yet little is known about the beliefs that keep current users committed to these systems. This study extends the Technology Acceptance Model with perceived system value and user empowerment as antecedents of POS continuance intention, with trust and satisfaction as mediators. Survey data from 196 Thai small retail entrepreneurs with at least six months of POS use were analyzed with covariance-based structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. User empowerment was the strongest correlate of trust and continuance intention, and its association with continuance intention was almost entirely direct. Perceived system value was consistently associated with satisfaction, but its association with usefulness was not robust across estimators. The associations of usefulness with trust and of satisfaction with continuance intention were not significant, although power to detect them was limited. Both configurations sufficient for high continuance intention combined usefulness, empowerment, and trust, yielding a core that was sensitive to some calibration and threshold choices. Because the sample comprised current users, the design was cross-sectional, and common method variance could not be ruled out, the findings describe associations rather than causes of sustained use. POS providers may benefit from supporting users’ competence and sense of control alongside usefulness and value communication.
The study looks at the way electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) contributes to customer loyalty (CL) in the informal street food industry, with a focus on the mediating function of perceived authenticity (PA) and the moderating role of management response strategy (MRS). Drawing on an integrated theoretical framework that combines the elaboration likelihood model, signaling theory, the stimulus-organism-response framework, and the information adoption model, the research examines survey data collected from 437 street food consumers in Cairo and Giza using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results show that eWOM has significant positive effects on both PA and CL, alongside PA acting as an important partial mediator. MRS has a significant moderating effect on both the eWOM authenticity and the authenticity-loyalty relationships, since the influence of digital word of mouth is increased when sellers respond promptly, in a personal way, and in a manner that resonates with cultural values. The findings highlight that for informal food businesses, sustainability is not just an economic necessity but also a culturally rooted process, in which strategic digital engagement and the preservation of culinary heritage together strengthen long-term customer relationships. The study offers practical advice for decision makers, suppliers, and platform developers who wish to encourage the development of sustainable business models in the rapidly digitising informal economies of emerging markets.
Organizations are increasingly using Instagram as a marketing mechanism to increase brand exposure, increase sales, identify leads, and monitor audience engagement among young consumers. Therefore, this study aims to determine the impact of advertising on Instagram on the purchase intention of Millennials via the advertising value and technology acceptance models in an African emerging economy. The research made use of descriptive and quantitative research methods via an online questionnaire to collect data from 521 South African Millennial respondents in 2024 through convenience and snowball sampling. AMOS software (v23) and structural equation modeling were utilized to evaluate the hypotheses. The findings yielded positive associations between informativeness, credibility, irritation, and perceived usefulness and between entertainment, informativeness, credibility, and perceived ease of use; however, the association between irritation and perceived ease of use was negative. The variables also showed positive associations with purchase intention, with the exception of irritation, which demonstrated a negative relationship among South African Millennials due to advertising on Instagram. This study offers an understanding of the effect of advertising on Instagram among Millennial consumers in an emerging economy. The research also makes a unique contribution to digital advertising and Instagram commerce via the advertising value and technology acceptance models among younger generational cohorts.
This study examined the associations between TikTok beauty advertising characteristics and purchase intention, including the mediating role of source credibility, among female consumers in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey dataset comprising 471 records and 26 indicators was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The model included four content characteristics and three parallel mediators: attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness. The findings indicate positive direct associations for personalization, entertainment, and informativeness, whereas irritation showed a negative association. Informativeness had the largest positive direct coefficient among the content characteristics (β = 0.218). The results further suggest partial statistical mediation: significant indirect associations involving personalization, entertainment, and informativeness coexisted with positive direct associations with purchase intention. This pattern highlights the relevance of message characteristics beyond consumers’ evaluations of the influencer. For beauty brands targeting female consumers in Saudi Arabia, the practical implication is to assess influencer credibility alongside whether sponsored messages provide useful product information, engage their audience, and reflect consumers’ interests. Such an approach may help identify specific priorities for content development and influencer selection, linking the value of the message with the credibility of the person delivering it.
