Favorable Behavioral Intentions Research Articles

Engaging tourists through destination social responsibility: the moderating role of self-congruence

Purpose Engaging tourists with a destination brand can offer innumerable benefits. Based on stakeholder and social exchange theories, this study aims to comprehend destination social responsibility’s (DSR) role in inducing destination brand engagement (DBE) and favorable behavioral intentions, i.e. destination advocacy and revisit intentions. Further, the study examines self-congruence as a boundary condition to DSR’s impact on DBE. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online survey of individuals in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Findings highlight the importance of stakeholder and social exchange theories for socially responsible destinations by establishing a link between DSR and DBE, which adds to scholarship and holds practical relevance. Results confirm the moderating effects of self-congruence. Research limitations/implications The study did not assume the variation of tourists based on their characteristics and types while examining the moderation effects. Originality/value Research adds value by establishing the importance of DSR in engaging tourists with a destination. Furthermore, the study demonstrates how engaged tourists can showcase favorable responses toward the destination.

Examination of Turkish-made products with the theory of planned behavior: A research on regular migrants in Turkey

This paper investigates the examination of Turkish-made products with the theory of planned behavior. The exploration of regular immigration, encompassing individuals relocating to other countries either temporarily or permanently for various reasons, stands as a prominent subject in current international research. This article examines the attitudes of regular immigrants towards products made in Turkey, employing the theory of planned behavior. In the research, where the quantitative research method was followed, regular immigrants residing in Turkey were selected as the research population. A survey was used as a data collection technique in the research, and the prepared survey form was applied online to regular immigrants currently residing in Turkey, and 444 responses were obtained. The obtained data were analyzed using AMOS and SPSS 26.0 statistical programs, and according to the research questions, correlation and regression analyses were applied. The findings showcase that the attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls of regular immigrants towards Turkish-made products significantly influence their behavioral intentions. Moreover, these intentions have a positive effect on their actual product usage or purchases. Notably, individuals exhibit favorable behavioral intentions towards Turkish products, which has a significant positive effect on their purchasing behavior. Since this study focuses specifically on Turkey, a host to one of the largest immigrant populations globally, and aims to dissect the impact of migrated country products on consumption preferences in multiple ways, it is important.

What determines behavioural intention in health services? A four-stage loyalty model

PurposeThis study aims to deal with the paucity of studies in the stages of the development of loyalty behaviour of customers in the healthcare context by incorporating three crucial service quality dimensions (physical environment, personnel quality and technical quality) and also investigating trust and commitment as mediating factors.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were obtained from 420 respondents admitted to government hospitals in Kerala employing a convenience sampling method. The formulated hypotheses were tested using partial least square structural equation modelling.FindingsResults indicate that patient satisfaction, trust and commitment can create favourable behavioural intentions amongst patients. When patients reveal higher trust, they are more inclined to value healthcare services and willing to commit to a long-term relationship, resulting in increased patient loyalty.Practical implicationsOrganisational efforts should improve trust and commitment and build a good relationship between service providers and patients. Efforts should be taken to raise the standard of technical and personnel aspects, and a focus on physical infrastructure should also be considered to build a favourable behavioural intention to revisit and positive referrals.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study to analyse technical quality, personnel quality and physical environment along with the mediating effect of trust, and commitment in a four-stage loyalty development model in the healthcare context of Kerala, India.

What the Font! The Role of Handwritten Font in Course Interest, Student Inference, and Learning Outcome

ABSTRACT The influence of fonts in marketing education may be underestimated as font usage/selection may benefit both department programs and courses in terms of attracting students and enhancing student learning outcomes. Across four studies, this research examines the effects of handwritten fonts on student inferences from course information. A course description presented in handwritten fonts appears more interesting than information in regular fonts. As a result, students like a course more and show more favorable behavioral intentions when it is described in handwritten fonts. Consistently, handwritten fonts improve recalling performances and student engagement in class activities, further indicating that they attract learners. Implications for understanding the effects in the contexts of student recruitment, course presentation, and pedagogical practice are discussed.

Apparel behavioural intentions of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers: exploring the role of store atmospherics

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of store atmospherics on urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions to purchase apparel in an emerging African market context. This study also considers purchase antecedents to attitude, perceived behavioural control and social norms as determinants of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ apparel behavioural intentions. Design/methodology/approach Using non-probability sampling, specifically purposive and interlocking sampling, data collection was secured from 881 economically active Namibian urban bottom-of-the-pyramid respondents through interviewer-administered questionnaires. Covariance-based structural equation modelling assessed the significant relationships among all constructs in the conceptual model. Findings This study found that for favourable apparel behavioural intentions of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers to occur, apparel retailers should emphasise trust, perceived awareness and self-identity through apparel assortment and groupings, easy-to-read visible signage, together with competent, friendly and respectful sales personnel in their store atmospherics. Practical implications The findings of this study may guide apparel retailers in other emerging African markets to develop regional integration, market-based solutions and inclusive economic growth focusing on “non-essential” products, such as apparel, among urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers. Originality/value This study expands the intellectual boundaries of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions towards “non-essential” products. The theoretical framework supports the integration of both the stimulus-organism-response model and the theory of planned behaviour into one single model for empirical investigation. Additionally, adopting a novel theoretical framework helped identify the impact of store atmospherics from a bottom-of-the-pyramid perspective in an emerging African market context, such as Namibia.

Never Trust Anything That Can Think for Itself, if You Can’t Control Its Privacy Settings: The Influence of a Robot’s Privacy Settings on Users’ Attitudes and Willingness to Self-disclose

AbstractWhen encountering social robots, potential users are often facing a dilemma between privacy and utility. That is, high utility often comes at the cost of lenient privacy settings, allowing the robot to store personal data and to connect to the internet permanently, which brings in associated data security risks. However, to date, it still remains unclear how this dilemma affects attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the respective robot. To shed light on the influence of a social robot’s privacy settings on robot-related attitudes and behavioral intentions, we conducted two online experiments with a total sample of N = 320 German university students. We hypothesized that strict privacy settings compared to lenient privacy settings of a social robot would result in more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the robot in Experiment 1. For Experiment 2, we expected more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions for choosing independently the robot’s privacy settings in comparison to evaluating preset privacy settings. However, those two manipulations seemed to influence attitudes towards the robot in diverging domains: While strict privacy settings increased trust, decreased subjective ambivalence and increased the willingness to self-disclose compared to lenient privacy settings, the choice of privacy settings seemed to primarily impact robot likeability, contact intentions and the depth of potential self-disclosure. Strict compared to lenient privacy settings might reduce the risk associated with robot contact and thereby also reduce risk-related attitudes and increase trust-dependent behavioral intentions. However, if allowed to choose, people make the robot ‘their own’, through making a privacy-utility tradeoff. This tradeoff is likely a compromise between full privacy and full utility and thus does not reduce risks of robot-contact as much as strict privacy settings do. Future experiments should replicate these results using real-life human robot interaction and different scenarios to further investigate the psychological mechanisms causing such divergences.

Influence of Disability-Inclusive Advertising on Behavioral Intention - An Intergenerational Analysis

In recent years, although inclusive advertising has emerged as a vital focus for global brands, the representation of individuals with disabilities has predominantly been viewed through an ableist lens. The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of disability-inclusive advertising on the behavioural intentions of Generations X and Z in relation to social inclusion. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we investigated intergenerational attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, self-schemas, anticipated regret felt (moderators), and behavioral intention towards a disability-inclusive advertisement as the stimulus using a sample of 270 respondents recruited using stratified convenience sampling. While the study revealed impartiality of attitudes and subjective norms regarding disability inclusion, perceived behavioral control was affirmative and notably more robust in Generation X as compared to Generation Z. The analysis reveals positive behavioural intentions to promote social inclusion for individuals with disabilities. This study provides important contributions to marketing and sociology by highlighting the crucial role of inclusive advertising in fostering favorable behavioral intentions among targeted audiences. This unique study, represents initial investigation into inclusive advertising within the Indian context, with a specific emphasis on its capacity to foster a favourable socio-psychological change within two prominent societal groups.

The Effect of Ambient Conditions and Space/Function on Favorable Behavioral Intentions of Philippine Airlines Passengers

The Effect of Ambient Conditions and Space/Function on Favorable Behavioral Intentions of Philippine Airlines Passengers

Inspired to mask up: The effect of uplifting media messages on attitudes about wearing face masks among Democrats and Republicans.

Although mask-wearing can curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and protect others, the attitudes and behaviors regarding wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic appear to differ between partisan groups. This study aimed to investigate whether wearing a mask in public can be elicited by uplifting media messages through increasing universal orientation and prosocial motivation. In addition, we tested whether uplifting videos focusing on patriotic American values (e.g., the flag, military) moderated partisan differences related to both feelings of inspiration and an individual's attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding mask-wearing. Participants (N = 446) were exposed to an uplifting video devoid of patriotic messages, an uplifting video featuring patriotic messages, or a control video. Results showed that both Democrats and Republicans found both uplifting videos inspiring, leading to greater universal orientations and prosocial motivations. Universal orientations were associated with more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding mask use among Republicans, and prosocial motivations lead to more favorable attitudes among members of both parties. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement An online experiment examined if uplifting videos that did or did not feature patriotic themes would lead to more favorable attitudes about wearing masks to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among Democrats and Republicans. The results showed that both types of uplifting videos led to heightened feelings of connectedness with others and with prosocial motivations. These responses, in turn, were associated with more favorable attitudes about wearing masks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Understanding East Asian consumers’ responses to inclusive beauty products in advertising

Increasing global demand for inclusivity has resulted in a critical need to understand how consumers respond to inclusive marketing. Centering on skin color, which is an interminable inclusivity issue, this research examines how consumers in East Asian markets (e.g., China and South Korea) evaluate and respond to inclusive (vs. non-inclusive) beauty products in advertisements across three empirical studies. The different ethnic environments of consumers in Studies 1 A and 1B and consumers’ individual differences in other-group orientation in Study 2 moderate the way inclusive products are evaluated and responded to. Additionally, a serial mediation analysis reveals that the inclusivity of products increases perceptions of brand inclusiveness and altruistic motives, thereby contributing to favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions. This research sheds light on the nuanced process of how consumers evaluate and respond to inclusive beauty products in advertisements based on individual and environmental differences.

Are consumers more attracted to restaurants featuring humanoid or non-humanoid service robots?

The restaurant industry has witnessed a dramatic rise of service robots. Previous research suggests that humanoid service robots are perceived as social entities and thus might lead to more favorable consumer responses than non-humanoid service robots. However, not all consumers prefer the presence of social entities when eating out. The current research reveals that consumers’ reactions to restaurants featuring humanoid versus non-humanoid service robots depend on whether they will dine out alone (i.e., solo diners) or with others (i.e., group diners). Specifically, the findings suggest that group diners exhibit more favorable attitudes and behavioral intentions toward restaurants featuring humanoid (vs. non-humanoid) service robots, whereas solo diners respond more favorably toward restaurants featuring non-humanoid (vs. humanoid) service robots. Furthermore, anticipated psychological comfort is revealed as the underlying mechanism explaining these effects.

Emerging trends in wellness tourism: a scoping review

PurposeWellness tourism is complex due to the varied expectations and perceptions of tourists. This study attempts to explore components that shape tourist expectations of health treatments and tourist attractions, which have not been deeply explored in the extant literature.Design/methodology/approachA scoping review of the literature published between 2000 and 2021 was conducted to reach the conclusions of this study. Out of 303 literature sources, a total of 105 literature sources were retained for the final analysis.FindingsFindings show that tourists expect a mix of health treatments, such as conventional medical treatments and alternative health treatments and tourist attractions, as part of wellness tourism to improve their health and well-being (HWB). A favorable trade-off between tourist expectations and their perception of wellness tourism impacts tourist HWB and behavioral intention.Practical implicationsThe proposed wellness tourism conceptual model and wellness tourism matrix may help wellness tourism service providers to understand tourist expectations for health treatments and tourist attractions in a recent context. Wellness tourism service providers may follow the guidelines outlined in this study to offer health treatments and tourist attractions according to tourist expectations, which may result in the favorable behavioral intentions of wellness tourists.Originality/valueThis study unravels the previously under-explored role of conventional medical treatments, which arguably fall under the category of allopathic medical treatment, in wellness tourism. Destination marketing organizations may focus on the wellness philosophies of health treatments and tourist attractions to meet the growing expectations of wellness tourists for HWB, as outlined in the literature review. This study provides insights into the different components of contemporary wellness tourism those impact wellness tourists' cognitive responses, HWB and behavioral intention.

Attitudes and preferences of traditional farmers toward reproductive biotechnology application for improved indigenous pig production in Zambia.

Background and Aim:Pig production remains crucial to the livelihood of farmers in Zambia. However, low production continues to undermine efforts to reduce animal protein deficit; hence, the need emerges to improve production through biotechnology. To contribute to the prediction of their acceptance, this study assessed the attitudes and preferences of traditional farmers toward reproductive biotechnologies by exploring the socio-demographic characteristics of farmers.Materials and Methods:The study conducted a cross-sectional descriptive survey that employed a mixed-methods design with a qualitative-quantitative methodological triangulation. Quantitative data were obtained from 622 respondents using a questionnaire, whereas seven focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to obtain qualitative data. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.Results:The majority (65.1%) of the respondents were low-income earners who mainly (64.8%) attained primary education. In addition, pig farming was dominated by middle-aged (43.7%) and elderly (40.7%) individuals. Moreover, most of the respondents owned (51.3% and 78.0%) more than 2 acres and six pigs, respectively. Furthermore, the respondents expressed a positive attitude (3.84±0.42) toward reproductive biotechnology application. However, despite supportive opinions (4.17±0.54) and favorable behavioral intentions (4.09±0.51), their feelings were generally neutral (3.10±0.89). In addition, the study observed various contrasting attitudes across socio-demographic factors. The respondents mainly preferred artificial insemination (AI; 66.2%). The results of the FGDs supported the survey findings. Nevertheless, the lack of information, knowledge and practical exposure, absence of peer influence, perceived beliefs and risks, poverty situations, and gender issues were pinpointed as the identified barriers to the biotechnology acceptance of the participants.Conclusion:The respondents generally supported reproductive biotechnology application and its contribution to improved production. However, further promotion of the favorable attitudes of the farmers will be required. In this case, interventions sensitive to their socio-demographic characteristics, perceived barriers, and identified contributing factors to favorable attitudes will be crucial. In addition, despite the overwhelming preference for AI, efforts to promote AI-supporting reproductive technologies are required because they contribute to AI success rate.

On the relationships between digital brand evidence, relationship quality and behavioural intentions among online tourism agencies’ customers

This paper aims to propose and empirically validate a measure of brand evidence of Online Travel Agencies (OTA), representing all relevant brand associations that customers are doing when evaluating an online brand, and then investigate its effect in building strong consumer-brand relationships and creating favourable consumer behavioural intentions. To check the validity of the proposed model, a survey of 971 users of OTA platforms in Greece was conducted and data was analysed with PLS. Results fully support the validity of the proposed brand evidence index, as several OTA’s brand related associations that a customer develops, before and during service encounters, shape the index expressing brand evidence. Furthermore, the findings confirmed the significant effects of brand evidence on both brand relationships quality and consumer behavioural intentions towards the brand. The current research effort significantly contributes to the field of digital booking services, as it appears to be the first to measure digital brand evidence and investigate their role to strengthen consumer-brand relationships.

Do masks matter? Consumer perceptions of social media influencers who wear face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rapid spread of COVID‐19 brought about an increased use of face masks among the general public. Focusing on disposable surgical masks in particular, this article examines consumer perceptions of and intentions toward social media influencers who wear such masks amid the pandemic. Drawing on the theory of product symbolism, this research experimentally demonstrates that masked (vs. unmasked) influencers remind consumers of highly competent healthcare professionals, leading in turn to greater competence inferences about and more favorable behavioral intentions toward these influencers. Additional analysis demonstrates that this effect might not hold for other groups of professionals who are considered relatively competent at the outset and/or whose profession is less reliant on external cues. Overall, this research suggests that apart from curtailing the spread of the pandemic, mask wearing might prove beneficial to certain groups of professionals, such as social media influencers, who have traditionally struggled to establish credibility. In a broader context, this research establishes mask wearing as a new form of nonverbal communication that warrants further examination.

The rise of the grocerant: Patrons’ in-store dining experiences and consumption behaviors at grocery retail stores

Grocerants (grocery retail store + restaurant) represent a rising retail sector in the foodservice industry. The grocerant business model transforms a space of everyday mundanity (grocery retail shopping) into one of experiential value, offering consumers a social space to linger, dine, and seek nourishment all within the same commercial premise. To this end, grocerants represent an experientially driven consumption segment, a fertile context worthy of exploration yet understudied. Informed theoretically by the brand experience model, this study explored the role of grocerant patrons’ product experiences, in conjunction with the variables of need for uniqueness, product satisfaction, product involvement, price-quality schema, and behavioral intentions. A quantitative approach and a field survey method were employed, and analyses confirmed the effectiveness of the higher-order structure of product experiences (sensory, affective, behavioral, intellectual, and escapism). In addition, satisfaction, involvement, and need for uniqueness were confirmed as contributors to building favorable behavioral intentions. The link between involvement and intention was also influenced significantly by price-quality schema, and satisfaction and involvement were accounted as critical mediators. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

The Effect of Brand Credibility, Brand Image and Customer Satisfaction on Behavioural Intentions in Traditional Medicine Market

Brands with stronger image, credibility, and greater customer satisfaction engender favourable behavioural intentions, which serves as an essential competitive weapon in a market. The impact of brand image, credibility, and satisfaction on behavioural intentions are well-documented in the literature. There is, however, little or no research on the influence of credibility and image on behavioural intentions through the intervening role of satisfaction in the traditional medicine market. As a result, the research aimed to assess the intervening role of customer satisfaction in the effect of brand image and credibility on behavioural intentions in the traditional medicine market. Data were distributed to a sample of 265 customers via a systematic sampling strategy. The hypotheses formulated were tested by using covariance-based structural equation modelling. The research confirmed that satisfaction perfectly mediated the effect of credibility on customers’ behavioural intentions in the traditional medicine market. However, no mediational relationship between the brand image and behavioural intentions was established. Consequently, this study contributes to the brand theory by displaying the mediated role of customer satisfaction in the impact of brand credibility on the customers’ behavioural intentions, particularly in the traditional medicine market. As an emerging industry, this paper also advances the practitioners’ knowledge about how to build and manage credibility, satisfaction, and image to strengthen the customers’ behavioural intentions in the traditional medicine market.

Mudik Myth in The Baudrillard’s Simulacra Perspective

The research aims to review literatures and discuss regarding the myths and simulacra of homecoming. The research conducted is normative research or study literature, using a variety of literature (a semiotic approach) that discusses regarding myths, simulacras and simulations. This semiotic approach is used with based on the idea that the notion of myth in this study using the understanding of myth according to Barthes's view of the myth as semiological system of the second order (simulacra) of Baudrillard. Homecoming can be understood as a need for social existence and human legitimacy. Re-growth of existence in a society carrying out homecoming can be done by understanding the characteristics of the homecoming perceived by society. This respect or social legitimacy is usually explained because of positive word of mouth for being an urbanity. By understanding the homecoming’s character perceived by society, the need for existence through “mudik” can put into other activities so that people carry out to a more rational homecoming regularly. Because the research is in the from of literature and qualitative study, it is necessary to carry out further research on public perceptions regarding homecoming by considering cultural or ethnic factors, and also favorable behavioral intentions consisting of positive word of mouth.

The effects of service quality and perceived price on revisit intention of patients: the Malaysian context

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of service quality and perceived price (monetary and behavioural price) on the revisit intention of patients to hospitals, as well as the mediating role of perceived price on the relationship between service quality and revisit intention. Design/methodology/approach This paper distributes questionnaires to outpatients in three major cities in Malaysia, namely, Penang, Melaka and Johor. Patients who were in the foyer, dispensary area and waiting area were intercepted where their responses were sought. The responses obtained from 400 patients were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. Besides analysing the path coefficients, this study has examined the common method variance, bias and indirect effects of the relationships. Findings The results suggest that patients pay more attention to certain values in their search for the best health-care service and subsequently move on to new values. Pricing is an effective strategy to promote favourable behavioural intentions amongst patients. Better service quality is reflected in the reasonableness of monetary costs incurred by patients in acquiring health-care services. Patients who received poor services will be more likely to compare such services to the medical costs incurred to ascertain the worthiness of the amount paid. In addition, service quality also influences how patients perceive spending their time and efforts (waiting for nurses and physicians, as well as queueing in hospitals) as worthy and vice-versa. Their revisit intention will also be affected by the extent of which they invest their time, energy and efforts to search for relevant information. Practical implications The hospitals which desire to charge additional fees should enhance their service quality to reflect price equity. This is imperative in view of the pricing structure which can be relatively complex in subsequent follow-up treatments that may affect the decision of patients on the sources of health-care services. Originality/value Given the inevitable increase in medical fees, the perceived price can be a key determinant to the overall judgement patients had in terms of the health-care services received and the time and efforts sacrificed. However, the importance of monetary price and the behavioural price is still relatively unstudied, particularly their influence on revisit intention in the health-care setting.

Examining the role of social media-based destination brand community in evoking tourists’ emotions and intention to co-create and visit

PurposeUsing the stimulus-organism-response model as the theoretical basis, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a social media-based destination brand community (SMDBC) on tourists’ emotions, and the subsequent effect on the intention to co-create value and visit.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework was tested using survey data from 551 Chinese social media users who were followers of Japanese social media pages. Partial least squares–structural equation modelling was adopted to perform the latent variable analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that SMDBC plays a considerable role in shaping tourists’ emotions, including joy, love and positive surprise, which, in turn, have a significant impact on consumers’ intention to co-create value and visit. Contrary to previous studies, the effect of joy on tourists’ intention to co-create and visit is found to be insignificant.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study elucidates the importance and relevance of SMDBC in evoking tourists’ positive emotions, and subsequently their intention to co-create value and visit. Future research is recommended to compare and contrast SMDBC with other marketing and branding activities to provide greater insights into the phenomenon in a dynamic environment.Practical implicationsThis study enables academics and business practitioners to better comprehend the effectiveness of SMDBC in driving tourists’ favourable assessment and behavioural intentions to improve resource allocation. In particular, destination marketers are recommended to optimise SMDBC and encourage discussion on SMDBC among users.Originality/valueAs literature in relation to the importance of SMDBC in evoking tourists’ emotions incorporating its link with tourists’ intention to co-create value and visit is relatively scarce, this study contributes to the branding and destination tourism research by empirically articulating the relevance of SMDBC in stimulating tourists’ emotions and subsequently value co-creation and visit intention.