In the growing market for sustainable products, not only product attributes but also organization-level perceptions shape how consumers interpret environmental efforts. To capture these evaluations, this study introduces the concept of Green Organization Brand Equity (GOBE), extending brand equity theory to the organizational level. Qualitative and quantitative evidence across multiple studies show that organization type—local manufacturer versus large corporation—fundamentally shapes perceptions of trustworthiness, goodwill, and competence, which in turn influence purchase intentions. Local manufacturers consistently hold an advantage, especially in terms of goodwill, while corporations adopting eco-friendly positioning struggle to translate perceived competence into purchase intentions. Mediation analyses highlight that perceived environmental friendliness, product quality, and willingness to pay a premium are key mechanisms linking organizational credibility to consumer behavior. Additionally, organizational cues operate through distinct forms of skepticism that suppress downstream product evaluations. Overall, this research demonstrates how organizational attributes critically shape consumer responses to eco-friendly products.

Consumers are increasingly interested in sustainable packaging, but it is still unclear which type of packaging they prefer and why. This paper examines the effects of biodegradable, reusable, and recyclable packaging through green brand image on consumers’ purchase intentions, and their willingness to pay. We additionally examine the moderating role of perceived package handling effort. Our online survey among 1150 French, German, and Swiss consumers shows that consumers are more willing to purchase and pay for products with eco-friendly packaging, particularly biodegradable. Green brand image mediates the effect of sustainable packaging on purchase intentions and willingness to pay, and a higher perceived effort of handling sustainable packaging enhances this effect.

The COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized individuals’ health and economic stability, and the associated shocks might have decreased individuals’ trust. In this paper, we study the relationship between subjective perceptions of the pandemic and individuals’ institutional and interpersonal trust (e.g., trust towards the government or health representatives), while considering objective health and economic shocks due to the pandemic as drivers. We collected data across Australia, France, Germany, and South Africa during a later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., from mid-April to early-June 2021) when individuals had time to personally experience the pandemic and its effects. COVID-19 illness perception was associated with lower institutional and interpersonal trust. The health shock of having experienced COVID-19 was associated with higher interpersonal trust, while economic shocks were associated with lower institutional trust when they were due to the pandemic. The results suggest that public policy interventions in a later stage of a pandemic should consider objective economic and health outcomes as well as subjective ones, such as individual's perceptions. Authorities should communicate in a way that helps concerned people understand that they can take control of their health and the possibility of infection, and reassure them that health measures such as vaccination can help prevent the spread of the virus.

Cognitive style (reflective vs. intuitive) as measured with cognitive reflection tests (CRTs) is an important driver of financial decision-making and the rationality of individual behavior. Prior studies explain CRT score differences by gender, stipulating that women are more intuitive and less reflective than men. Recent work, however, raises doubts about such gender differences, suggesting that CRT score differences stem from gender-related role and personality instead. Accordingly, using survey data from 504 Belgian respondents, we examine which of these two individual difference factors better explains CRT scores. The results indicate that, on average, women indeed have a lower reflective cognitive style and a higher intuitive cognitive style. However, this effect is not only explained by gender per se, but also by self-perceived gender role and personality, that is, perceived masculinity. Indeed, perceived masculinity moderates the effect of gender, so that masculine females have higher reflective and lower intuitive CRT scores.

PurposeFinancial services industry is increasingly showing interest in automated financial advisors, or robo-advisors, with the aim of democratizing access to financial advice and stimulating investment behavior among populations that were previously less active and less served. However, the extent to which consumers trust this technology influences the adoption of rob-advisors. The resemblance to a human, or anthropomorphism, can provide a sense of social presence and increase trust.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, we conduct an experiment (N = 223) to test the effect of anthropomorphism (low vs medium vs high) and gender (male vs female) of the robo-advisor on social presence. This perception, in turn, enables consumers to evaluate personality characteristics of the robo-advisor, such as competence, warmth, and persuasiveness, all of which are related to trust in the robo-advisor. We separately conduct an experimental study (N = 206) testing the effect of gender neutrality on consumer responses to robo-advisory anthropomorphism.FindingsOur results show that consumers prefer human-alike robo-advisors over machinelike or humanoid robo-advisors. This preference is only observed for male robo-advisors and is explained by perceived competence and perceived persuasiveness. Furthermore, highlighting gender neutrality undermines the positive effect of robo-advisor anthropomorphism on trust.Originality/valueWe contribute to the body of knowledge on robo-advisor design by showing the effect of robot's anthropomorphism and gender on consumer perceptions and trust. Consequently, we offer insightful recommendations to promote the adoption of robo-advisory services in the financial sector.

The literature on lottery gambling shows that players do not select numbers randomly, a phenomenon which is called conscious selection. Mainly, players prefer "small" numbers (less than thirty), either because of the existence of small lucky numbers or because they are victims of the so-called birthday-number effect. Because lotto games are parimutuel, such preferences result in poor ticket choices in terms of achieving below average returns. Using data from Belgium, where approximately 10% of the population plays lotto games every week, this paper extends prior literature by documenting the existence of a gender gap in the birthday-number effect, with women displaying a stronger birthday-number effect than men, as well as the non-persistence of the birthday-number effect (and consecutively of the gender gap) when participants are asked to fill in a second lotto ticket immediately after their first one. The disappearance of the birthday-number effect in sequential choices appears to be driven by response speed, with participants being twice as fast to fill in the second ticket compared to the first one. Moreover, we find that participants who bet on their birthday numbers take significantly more time to complete their ticket. Contrary to prior research, we find that the strength of the birthday-number effect is positively related to deliberative number choices, not intuitive and automatic number choices. Our results are robust to controlling for potential confounding effects including those related to participants' age, education, self-esteem, and superstitious beliefs.

Consumer animosity captures negative attitudes to foreign products and impacts willingness to buy them. Existing constructs nevertheless fail to account for an emerging dimension: pandemic animosity. This article heeds recent calls to develop a pandemic animosity measurement scale. Its purpose is to: (i) extend Klein et al.'s (1998) animosity model by adding the pandemic animosity construct, (ii) provide a measurement scale for pandemic animosity, and (iii) explain how pandemic animosity impacts consumers' willingness to buy. Study 1 analyzes qualitative data from in-depth personal interviews with NVivo to identify themes and codes. An expert panel helped reach consensus of all indicators. Study 2 filters scale items using a pilot sample. Study 3 validates a 12-item scale with a larger representative sample. The results contribute to the consumer animosity literature by confirming the existence of pandemic animosity, providing an actionable measure, and confirming its negative impact on consumers' willingness to buy.

This study explored the relationship between egoistic, altruistic and biospheric values and pro-environmental attitudes, as well as their impact on the pro-environmental behaviours of Indian consumers. India is currently facing the burgeoning challenge of a rapidly increasing urban population, which is leading to waste segregation issues in households and the need for sustainable green products due to rising awareness among consumers. The goal of this research was to understand the effect of Indian consumers' values and pro-environmen-tal attitudes on the following three specific behaviours: waste-sorting intention, green-consumption intention and social-activity intention. The authors found that values were positively related to pro-environmental attitudes, which in turn positively impacted the three pro-environmental behaviours. These findings suggest that, in order to strengthen individuals' perceptions of the individual benefits of a cleaner and better environment, marketers should promote respon-sible consumption in tandem with government policymakers.

We examine determinants of the objective and subjective financial fragility of 2100 individuals across Australia, France, Germany, and South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective financial fragility reflects individuals' (in)ability to deal with unexpected expenses, while subjective financial fragility reflects their emotional response to financial demands. Controlling for an extensive set of socio-demographics, we find that negative personal experiences during the pandemic (i.e., reduced or lost employment; COVID-19 infection) are associated with higher objective and subjective financial fragility. However, individuals' cognitive (i.e., financial literacy) as well as non-cognitive abilities (i.e., internal locus of control; psychological resilience) help to counteract this higher financial fragility. Finally, we examine the role of government financial support (i.e., income support; debt relief) and find that it is negatively related to financial fragility only for the economically weakest households. Our results have implications for public policymakers, providing levers for reducing individuals' objective and subjective financial fragility.

Haptics are innovative sensory-enabling technologies that can be used to improve consumers' online shopping experiences. These technologies can be used in addition to other actual sensory stimulation, such as visual and auditory. However, little is known of how the addition of haptics affects consumers' mobile shopping behavior. Therefore, this article examines the effect of the presence of haptic feedback (i.e., vibrations) when shopping on a retailer mobile app. Drawing on the results of three quantitative studies, the findings show that the presence of haptic feedback influences consumer behavior, but consumers' perceptions modify the outcome, which is also moderated by individual need for touch. Moreover, the findings herein show a sequential mediating effect of psychological and affective variables on purchasing outcomes. These findings therefore stress the importance of considering haptics as a potential economic value for online shopping. Accordingly, we suggest that retailers should be more aware of their online sensory strategies and think about disclaimers and personalizing the consumer interface (e.g., turning off the haptic feedback).

Conscious selection is the mental process by which lottery players select numbers nonrandomly. In this paper, we show that the number 19, which has been heard, read, seen, and googled countless times since March 2020, has become significantly less popular among Belgian lottery players after the World Health Organization named the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 "COVID-19". We argue that the reduced popularity of the number 19 is due to its negative association with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study triangulates evidence from field data from the Belgian National Lottery and survey data from a nationally representative sample of 500 Belgian individuals. The field data indicate that the number 19 has been played significantly less frequently since March 2020. However, a potential limitation of the field data is that an unknown proportion of players selects numbers randomly through the "Quick Pick" computer system. The survey data do not suffer from this limitation and reinforce our previous findings by showing that priming an increase in the salience of COVID-19 prior to the players' selection of lottery numbers reduces their preference for the number 19. The effect of priming is concentrated amongst those with high superstitious beliefs, further supporting our explanation for the reduced popularity of the number 19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Demand for locally produced foods is increasing. Thus, mobile apps that help consumers order local foods are more and more common. Research shows that proximity (access-, identity-, production-, and relationship-related) plays a central role in local food consumption. Questions that arise are whether these apps can create proximity between users and producers and whether such perceived proximity improves users’ attitudes toward the app, and intention to continue using it. To test this, we conducted two studies. We ran an online survey using a fictional local food app as well as a field test with consumers of an actual local food app. In both studies, we used the app’s perceived proximity as independent variables, the technology acceptance model (TAM)’s app evaluation as mediators, and consumer attitude toward the app as dependent variable. We found that perceived proximity has an impact on most TAM dimensions. The impact is further differentiated across consumers.

COVID-19 has a substantial and unexpected impact on individuals' daily life around the world. Unprecedented public health restrictions such as lockdowns have the potential to affect multiple dimensions of individuals' well-being, while the severity of such restrictions varies across countries. However, a holistic perspective comparing differences in and drivers of the different dimensions of well-being across countries differentially affected by COVID-19 is missing to date. We address this gap in the literature by examining the mental, social, functional, and financial well-being of 2,100 individuals across Australia, France, Germany, and South Africa by means of a survey administered during May of 2021. Supporting our holistic approach, we find that the different dimensions of well-being are correlated, with survey respondents from France reporting the lowest and those from Australia reporting the highest overall level of well-being. Respondents' subjective and objective evaluations of their living conditions during lockdowns as well as positive health and financial behaviors are positively associated with their well-being during the pandemic.

Branded apps are gaining momentum in branding strategies, as they allow proximity to the customers and a great opportunity to engage and retain them. This paper aims to fill in the existing literature gap and investigate the role of transactionality in the effect of branded app experience on brand loyalty. A lab experiment compares fully transactional (i.e., commercial), semi-transactional (i.e., freemium), and non-transactional (free service-oriented) branded apps, while a field study focuses on the impact of a non-transactional branded app. The effect of branded app experience is explained via identification with the brand, satisfaction with the brand, and perceived brand personality. Results show that perceived and actual physical brand experience both improve brand satisfaction, perceived personality, and identification with the brand. Furthermore, the research highlights the importance of identification with the brand to explain the effects of brand experience on brand loyalty. The findings suggest that brand managers should seriously consider creating non-transactional (i.e., non-commercial) branded apps, because they encourage the creation of a stronger identification with the brand, satisfy customers, and increase customer loyalty toward the brand.

Purpose Augmented reality (AR) apps offer a great opportunity for brands to provide better service to customers by creating augmented customer service. However, not every AR app is equally effective in improving customer experience. Investigation of underlying processes and brand-related outcomes of AR marketing remains scarce and it is unclear how different types of AR apps influence brand perceptions, such as brand personality. This paper aims to fill in this knowledge gap and provide practical insights on how different AR apps can improve service brand personality. Design/methodology/approach Using an experimental plan, the authors investigate how attitudes towards AR apps contribute to customer perceptions of brand personality (i.e. excitement, sincerity, competence and sophistication) according to two different variables, namely, the location of the AR app (location-specific vs non-location-specific) and its orientation (augmenting the product, brand or store experience). The authors also examine the effect of expected customer experience with the AR app (i.e. playfulness and pleasure) and customer technological innovativeness and shopping orientation as predictors of attitudes towards the AR app. Findings The findings show that non-location-specific and product-oriented AR apps (i.e. virtual try-on apps) receive more positive evaluations and lead consumers to perceive the brand as more exciting, sincere, competent and sophisticated. Moreover, the playfulness and pleasure experienced with the AR app determine consumers’ attitudes towards the app. Additionally, AR apps improve brand personality perceptions amongst more innovative and adventure-focussed shoppers. Originality/value The authors show that brand announcements on high-technology, customer-oriented service offerings are an effective branding tool. Thus, AR apps perceived as pleasant and playful can signal and improve brand personality.

Unprecedented uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated anxiety among individuals, while the associated health restrictions contributed to a feeling of loss of control. Prior research suggests that, in times of crisis, some individuals rely on superstitious beliefs as a coping mechanism, but it remains unclear whether superstition is positively or negatively associated with fear of Covid-19 during the pandemic, and the role that individuals' locus of control plays in this regard. In two studies conducted among individuals in Belgium and the U.S., we therefore examined the relationship between superstitious beliefs, locus of control, and feeling at risk of Covid-19. Across both countries, we found that superstition is positively, and internal locus of control negatively, related with feeling at risk of Covid-19. Moreover, in Belgium, the effect of superstition was less pronounced for individuals with a higher level of internal locus of control. The absence of an interaction effect between superstition and locus of control in the U.S. could be explained by this country's higher level of superstitious beliefs and lower level of internal locus of control combined with a stronger feeling of being at risk of Covid-19 or cultural differences such as Belgium's higher uncertainty avoidance compared to the U.S.