Increase Consumer Trust Research Articles

Who should adopt blockchain? The interplay between blockchain adoption and online channel under competition

With the frequent occurrence of product quality and product safety problems, traditional supply chain traceability systems have become increasingly untrustworthy to consumers due to their centralization, opacity, and vulnerable to tampering. Blockchain technology, as an emerging information technology, can help to increase consumer trust and resolve these issues. This paper investigates a competitive market with two rival supply chains that manufacture and sell two substitutable products. We establish a game model to analyze the equilibrium strategy in the implementation of blockchain technology and online channel, under the scenarios of blockchain adoption by the manufacturer and the retailer, and further explore the effects of blockchain technology on supply chain efficiency and consumer surplus. Additionally, we compare various blockchain technology adoption scenarios and determine the optimal candidate for blockchain adoption. The following results are shown. First, the equilibrium strategies for applying blockchain technology and online channel depend on the entry cost, the net surplus of substitute product, and the deployment cost of blockchain technology. Second, blockchain technology can only influence online channel decisions when the entry cost is moderate, and may encourage (discourage) the manufacturer to establish an online channel when it is utilized by the manufacturer (retailer). Thirdly, blockchain technology is certain to expand the market share of the product but is likely to detriment the retailer and the consumers when the manufacturer utilizes it. If blockchain technology is adopted by the retailer, the market share and consumer surplus may decrease, but the manufacturer will be unharmed. Lastly, the manufacturer has greater flexibility in adoption decisions when blockchain technology can be implemented by both the manufacturer and the retailer.

The influence of greenwashing on sustainable behaviour: The mediators of green perceived risk and green scepticism

Aim: To evaluate how greenwashing can affect sustainable behaviour. This study also explores the role of green perceived risk and green scepticism as mediators and how these mediators affect each other sequentially in the relationship between greenwashing and sustainable behaviour. Methodology: As people are now completely dependent on gadgets in their daily lives, therefore, the researcher solicited consumers who had purchased eco-friendly gadgets from shopping malls and other electronic stores 450 subjects were selected using "purposive sampling". Indian consumers in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pondicherry are the subjects of the study. Responses were obtained through the use of a questionnaire. To test the research hypotheses, the study used SPSS 25 and AMOS 21. Results: The results indicate that the negative correlation between green washing and sustainable behaviour was mediated by green perceived risk and green scepticism, and these mediators serially affected green washing and sustainable behaviour. Interpretation: This study suggests that firms should integrate transparency into green products without employing greenwash, which would increase consumer trust in green products and reduce green perceived risk and green scepticism among them. Consumers today are aware of greenwashing and have started to investigate it. This research is crucial to protect both the environment and mankind. Key words: Green perceived risk, Green scepticism, Greenwash, Sustainable buying behaviour, Transparency

Green Marketing of Aqua Mineral Water: How Does Trust Mediate Among Generation Z?

Indonesia is the second-largest country globally that produces a very high amount of plastic waste, reaching 68 million tons. Meanwhile, plastic materials are difficult to decompose and take hundreds of years to disappear completely. This led to the increasing awareness of consumers around the world to decrease the use of plastic by choosing sustainable products. The purpose of this study is to analyze green marketing of the Aqua product and its impact among Generation Z. The variables of this research such as green product, green branding, and green advertising are independent variables, purchase decision is a dependent variable, and consumer trust is an intervening variable. This research is quantitative research using non-probability sampling with purposive sampling to spread the questionnaires with 30 questions and processed with SmartPLS 3.3.5 (Partial Least Square- Structural Equation Model). The total respondents of this research are 299 respondents with aged around 17-25 years old (generation Z) in Indonesia. The result shows that 7 hypotheses are accepted. Hence, this study explains that the green product, green branding, and green advertising will increase consumer trust and ultimately increase customer purchase decision of Aqua green products.

Brand Image Antecedents to Enhance Consumer Trust

Research aims are to identify, analyze, and conclude the effect of price perception and product quality on brand image and consumer trust. The analytical technique applies a structural equation model lisrel software supported. The study results, namely the price perception and product quality partially have a positive effect on brand image. Price perception, product quality, and brand image have a partially positive effect on consumer trust. Brand image partially mediates the effect of perceived price and product quality on consumer trust. To enhance brand image, especially for emotional satisfaction, more specifically for the self-expression value, namely by increasing the price perception which is dominant among other exogenous variables. The price discount reflects price perception. This dimension is reflected dominantly by the rare discount. Retailers in Medan need to pay more attention to price discounts that are rare for users to enhance brand image. Increasing consumer trust, especially the retailer ability, more specifically institutional recognitions, namely by the dominant brand image among exogenous constructs. Retailers in Medan need to pay more attention to emotional satisfaction, especially the user self-expression value to enhance consumer trust.

Managerial responses to online communication: The role of mimicry in affecting third-party observers’ purchase intentions

In interpersonal communication, humans tend to mimic one another verbally and non-verbally, producing beneficial outcomes for the mimicker. The growth in online communication has moved many manager-customer interactions from in-person to a virtual environment visible to others. Thus, we investigate whether and how managers’ conscious mimicking of wording from consumers’ online reviews affects the purchase intentions of third-party readers of the exchange. We propose that mimicking is a signal of the firm’s attentiveness that increases trust, resulting in increased purchase intentions. A series of experimental studies support this hypothesis under varying conditions, such as whether the valence of the customer’s communication is positive or negative, or the frequency of the use of mimicry varies. An examination of field data finds that the use of mimicry increases the ratings of subsequent reviews. Thus, we provide managers with a straightforward tool that can increase consumer trust, purchase intentions, and subsequent review ratings.

Assessing Factors Influencing Online Shopping Adoption Among Indonesian Consumers: A Quantitative Study

The adoption of online shopping has significantly increased in recent years, particularly in developing countries such as Indonesia. This study aims to assess the factors influencing the adoption of online shopping among Indonesian consumers. A quantitative research approach was used, and data were collected from 350 Indonesian consumers through a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, website design quality, trust in online shopping, online shopping experience, and website security are significant factors influencing online shopping adoption among Indonesian consumers. These findings suggest that online retailers and marketers should focus on enhancing the user-friendliness and safety of their online shopping platforms to increase consumer trust and adoption. Additionally, policymakers should consider further investing in improving e-commerce infrastructure and growing awareness about the benefits of online shopping to promote the adoption of online shopping among Indonesian consumers.

Effect of CSR activities on customers’ purchase intention: The mediating role of trust

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the belief that businesses must consider ethical, social, and environmental issues when making decisions. Several studies have found that CSR improves corporate performance. Moreover, CSR is thought to increase consumer trust and purchase intention. This study investigates the effect of CSR activities on customers’ purchase intentions and the mediating role of trust. It draws linkages and establishes that businesses can improve their bottom lines while positively affecting society by acting responsibly.The present study selected two independent variables (ethical corporate social responsibility and legal corporate social responsibility) alongside one dependent variable (purchase intention) and one intervening variable (trust). The sample comprises two hundred and thirty respondents from India’s National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi, and nearby regions. The data were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that CSR activities significantly positively affected customers’ purchase intention. Furthermore, trust mediated the linkages between CSR activities and customers’ purchase intention. The findings suggest that CSR activities can increase customers’ purchase intention by fostering trust. In other words, when customers trust a firm, they are more likely to intend to purchase its products or services. CSR managers should therefore focus on creating and maintaining trust with their customers. In addition, findings suggest that firms should be conscious of their social image. This study offers significant insights because they show that any business can be successful and socially responsible. Acknowledgment This study is supported via funding from Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444).

The Financial Statement Analysis of Johnson and Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a group of companies that manufactures healthcare products, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, and has a 100-year history of being a leader in the pharmaceutical industry. Johnson & Johnson has always had a good reputation, but the previous year Johnson & Johnson suffered a large amount of product recalls. The original company's products did not meet the quality requirements and the hygiene conditions of the manufacturing process were not up to scratch. As a result, Johnson & Johnson's reputation has suffered greatly and the company's overall earnings have been affected, in recent years, a global pandemic of Covid-19 has led to the announcement of another halt to Johnson & Johnson's vaccine production. This essay will therefore examine whether these turmoils that have hit Johnson & Johnson have had a negative impact on Johnson & Johnson's financial situation over the last five years by calculating and analyzing the company's financial ratio. Through the analysis of the data and financial ratios obtained, Johnson & Johnson's overall profits have been on the rise in recent years due to its excellent marketing and management strategies. It is a worthwhile company for investors to invest in. However, in the long run, if Johnson & Johnson does not find a way to address the damage to its reputation and improve the quality of its products to increase consumer trust in the brand, then the value of Johnson & Johnson will still be on a downward slope.

Factors Affecting Repurchase Intention on Netflix Video on Demand Subscribers

This study aims to analyze the factors that influence repurchase intention in Netflix video-on-demand subscribers. The data used in this study is primary data taken from the results of filling out questionnaires of research respondents distributed by researchers online through online survey media platforms. The research sample was selected using the purposive sampling method so that a sample of 270 respondents was obtained. The data processing technique used in this study is using SEM which is assisted by using lisrel as software from the structural equation model. The results showed that eWOM affects the brand image, brand trust, and brand engagement. Furthermore, the results of this study also show that brand image, brand trust, and brand engagement can affect repurchase intention. This research is expected to be an input in increasing a good brand for video-on-demand users. In addition, it is also expected to continue to provide what consumers need so that what consumers expect can be fulfilled which in turn can increase consumer trust in Netflix. Video on demand managers are also expected to continue to engage through various ways, including through online media owned by the company so that this will also cause good eWOM for consumers so that new and old consumers will submit good comments on Netflix. This study has several limitations so it is expected that future researchers will conduct research on other video-on-demand users so that they have a larger number of respondents and are more accurate in their research results. In addition, further research is expected to examine other variables that can affect repurchase intention in video on demand users.

How message appeals and prior product use influence information processing, risk perceptions, trust, attitudes, and genetic test purchase intentions.

Within the direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test industry, attracting customers can be difficult especially due to the highly sensitive nature of these products. How these tests are communicated to consumers may be one avenue in which companies can impact customer purchase intentions. A 2 (message sidedness: one-way vs. two-way refutational) x 2 (hedging: present vs. absent) between-subjects experiment was conducted to understand how message features and prior product use influence information processing, risk and trust perceptions, and attitude toward the genetic test, which in turn, may influence direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test purchase intentions. Results demonstrated that having used a genetic test in the past predicted participants' trust in the company, information processing, and risk judgments; however, among those who used a genetic test, viewing a message that included hedging tended to increase their trust in the message. Trust in the message and company, information processing, and risk judgments significantly predicted participants' attitudes toward genetic testing, which in turn predicted their purchase intentions. The results suggest that in the context of DTC genetic test messaging, practitioners should strive to increase consumer trust in the message and the company and facilitate information processing, and they should work to diminish perceived risk. These results suggest opportunities for identifying other message features that may influence message and company trust, information processing, risk judgments, and attitudes related to DTC genetic testing.

The Influence of Brand Trust and Satisfaction towards Consumer Loyalty of a Local Cosmetic Products Brand X among Generation Z

The increasing demand for cosmetic products during the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged companies to increase consumer trust and satisfaction so that consumers remain loyal to one brand, including a well-known local cosmetic product brand. This study aims to analyze the influence of brand trust and satisfaction towards consumer loyalty of a local cosmetic products brand X among generation Z. This study used a cross-sectional study design. Three hundred and eighteen respondents were collected by voluntary sampling. Data were collected through Google Forms online questionnaire and processed Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that gender, age, education, and monthly income were positively and significantly related to brand trust. Age, monthly income, frequency of purchasing local cosmetic brand X, types of local cosmetic brand X products purchased, and duration of use of local cosmetic brand X products have a positive and significant relationship with consumer loyalty. The results of the SEM show that brand trust positively and significantly influences consumer satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, consumer satisfaction positively and significantly influences consumer loyalty. The lack of consumer confidence in the materials used by brand X in production indicates that consumer literacy regarding products still needs to improve.

Role of Social Commerce in Consumer Trust and Loyalty: A Quantitative Investigation

The integration of social media and e-commerce to create a seamless shopping experience for consumers is referred to as social commerce. As more consumers use social media to discover and interact with brands, social commerce has emerged as an important tool for increasing consumer trust and loyalty. One of the primary advantages of social commerce is that it enables brands to provide their customers with more personalized and engaging shopping experiences. Brands can tailor their marketing efforts to each individual consumer by leveraging social data and user-generated content, which can lead to higher levels of engagement and trust. The ability to facilitate social proof is another important aspect of social commerce. When consumers see their friends and peers engaging with a specific brand or product, they are more likely to trust and be loyal to that brand. Overall, social commerce is critical for increasing consumer trust and loyalty. Brands can create more personalized and engaging shopping experiences for their customers by leveraging social media and e-commerce, which can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business. As social commerce evolves and matures, it is likely to become an even more important part of the consumer purchasing journey.

Fostering A Culture of Business Ethics: A Case Study of Nestlé

Nestlé is one of the largest food companies in the world, with a presence in 191 countries and solid loyal customers. Nevertheless, a big organization like this cannot escape adverse ethical behavior in their company. Business ethics is the study of an organization’s corporate governance and initiatives related to corporate social responsibility. Businesses are morally obligated to give the public, stakeholders, customers, and the government the real worth of their money. Every firm engages in unethical practices for personal gain. This study aims to determine whether Nestlé will be able to survive in the long run if it is involved in unethical practices. Furthermore, this study intends to determine whether their involvement affects the customer’s purchase intention to buy their product. An online survey has been conducted to gather more information and provide evidence to support the conclusions. One hundred respondents from Malaysia, Indonesia, and India participated in this study. The analysis demonstrated that brand awareness, business ethics, and business ethics impact the intention of customers to buy Nestlé products. This study offers insightful information about how consumers view Nestlé, which could help them increase consumer trust in their brand.

Educational Debriefing Related to Digital Marketing and Halal Certification to Juragan Dimsum’s MSMEs

One of the pillars that has an important role in the Indonesian economy is Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Juragan Dimsum is one of the MSMEs engaged in the culinary field and is located in Medan Tuntungan. Juragan Dimsum has been doing marketing through Instagram social media which is managed directly by the owner. However, the application of digital marketing is still not good enough. In addition, this business has not had halal certification for almost 5 years. As an effort to overcome these problems, community service is carried out by holding digital marketing training, product photo training, and providing education related to halal certification. Educational training and provision can help MSMEs of Juragan Dimsum to be different from other similar competitor businesses, and increase consumer trust and interest in business products. Educational training and debriefing carried out using lecture, demonstration, practice methods, as well as direct discussion and question and answer. The results of the implementation of community service show that the target audience can take part in the entire series of activities with a positive attitude, and have better stock in managing business, especially in social media.

Halal Certification In A Food Product As An Effort To Protect Law Against Muslim Consumers In Indonesia

Halal certification in a food product is very important when viewed from the point of view of technological and scientific advances, this aims to protect Muslim consumers from non-halal food products circulating in Indonesia. The problem that occurs is the management of food products using raw materials in a product, it is possible that there may be a mixture of halal and non-halal compositions, whether intentional or unintentional, because this may occur in every community's daily life. The purpose of this research is to see how the form of legal protection for Muslim consumers in Indonesia. The research method used in this legal research is to use a normative approach using secondary data, namely data obtained from library research. The results of the study show that halal certification is a product in law to form consumer protection, especially for Muslim consumers, with the discovery of a halal certificate, the positive benefits and impacts obtained by consumers can ultimately provide security and comfort. Muslim consumers are very concerned about and consider the inclusion of halal certification in a food product before buying a food product in Indonesia so that the food is guaranteed to be halal. In addition, consumers must obtain legal protection, while for producers with halal certification for their products will greatly increase consumer trust and satisfaction with traded products so that the company's image and competitiveness will increase.

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN THE DIGITAL MARKETING SECTOR

Similar to the internet, blockchain technology could be the next digital revolution. Blockchains offer tremendous potential, which is why numerous businesses have begun implementing this technology. With the internet enabling the transmission of information, blockchain enables the communication of value. Blockchain is not only associated with cryptocurrencies; thanks to this technology, businesses may increase brand value. As blockchain is a developing technology, there are still numerous possible applications. This has prompted us to investigate the viability of implementing blockchain in the marketing industry. This study examines the application of blockchain technology in the digital marketing industry. This study employs a qualitative approach and descriptive methodologies. The survey results indicate that blockchain is very effective in digital marketing since it may increase consumer trust. This is because blockchain technology guarantees the honesty and integrity of data. In addition, blockchain technology eliminates intermediaries, making the marketing process more straightforward, cheaper, faster, and more accessible.

Explainable AI in Scene Understanding for Autonomous Vehicles in Unstructured Traffic Environments on Indian Roads Using the Inception U-Net Model with Grad-CAM Visualization

The intelligent transportation system, especially autonomous vehicles, has seen a lot of interest among researchers owing to the tremendous work in modern artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, especially deep neural learning. As a result of increased road accidents over the last few decades, significant industries are moving to design and develop autonomous vehicles. Understanding the surrounding environment is essential for understanding the behavior of nearby vehicles to enable the safe navigation of autonomous vehicles in crowded traffic environments. Several datasets are available for autonomous vehicles focusing only on structured driving environments. To develop an intelligent vehicle that drives in real-world traffic environments, which are unstructured by nature, there should be an availability of a dataset for an autonomous vehicle that focuses on unstructured traffic environments. Indian Driving Lite dataset (IDD-Lite), focused on an unstructured driving environment, was released as an online competition in NCPPRIPG 2019. This study proposed an explainable inception-based U-Net model with Grad-CAM visualization for semantic segmentation that combines an inception-based module as an encoder for automatic extraction of features and passes to a decoder for the reconstruction of the segmentation feature map. The black-box nature of deep neural networks failed to build trust within consumers. Grad-CAM is used to interpret the deep-learning-based inception U-Net model to increase consumer trust. The proposed inception U-net with Grad-CAM model achieves 0.622 intersection over union (IoU) on the Indian Driving Dataset (IDD-Lite), outperforming the state-of-the-art (SOTA) deep neural-network-based segmentation models.

Investigating the Effect of Nudges on Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Genetically Modified Corn Oil

Shifting from conventional methods of food production to genetic modification methods benefits sustainable agri-food production and environmental preservation. However, one of the main problems genetically modified food manufacturers have ever had to deal with is the public acceptability of GM foods. This study has two major objectives. First, it intends to apply principles from behavioral economics to investigate how consumers’ willingness to pay for GM corn oil can be affected. For this purpose, two different nudges are tested by providing consumers with positive information regarding GMO and changing the wording of the GMO label. Then, a comparison between the effectiveness of each of them is provided. Second, it investigates the impact of trust in GM food institutions, GMO information, and perceived GMO risk on both WTP for GM edible oil and the effectiveness of each nudge. A between-subjects choice experiment with a sample size of 550 Iranian corn oil consumers was conducted in Mashhad from March to April 2021. The results of mixed logit models indicate that both nudges affected consumer valuation of GM corn oil significantly, while their effectiveness differed according to the consumer level of trust in the GM food institutions and the perceived risk of GMO. Increasing consumer trust and information raises the WTP for GM corn oil; however, perceived risk has no effect. This study introduces effortless tools that GM food manufacturers can consider in their marketing strategies to affect consumers in the desired way.

Personal Branding Strategy with the Johari Window Model for MSMEs in Indonesia to Increase Consumer Trust

This study aims to show the importance of personal branding for MSME businessmen. This study background is the increasing interest in doing business among the Indonesian people as well as the increasing digitalization of business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Personal branding that can be done by MSMEs includes brand creation activities as the main identity of a business, managing social media as a platform to promote the products or services offered, to managing e-commerce pages as a center for buying and selling transactions. When detailed, there are work steps that can be optimized so that a positive image can be formed. One way that can be done to analyze and detail the steps in building personal branding for SMEs is to understand the Johari Window Model which consists of open areas, blind spots, hidden areas, and unknowns. That way, MSME businessmen can understand deeply about the business that is run in the eyes of the business people themselves and in the eyes of consumers. If a positive personal branding has been formed, it is highly likely that consumer trust will be built which will also have an effect on increasing sales.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Usage Intention of Electronic Wallets in the Philippines

Digital wallets have revolutionized consumers’ shopping experience by giving another convenient money transfer option. The adoption of electronic wallets (e-wallets) is significantly and positively affected by customer perception of electronic payment transactions. This paper attempts to study and examine the consumers' perception of using e-wallets in the National Capital Region during the peak of COVID-19 using the technology acceptance model (TAM) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The present study examines consumers’ level of trust, security, ease of use, and usefulness and then investigates the relationship to consumers’ perception of e-wallets usage. The study employed a quantitative design using a descriptive-correlational research approach to assess the relationship between variables. The purposive sampling method was used to select the 201 respondents. The results revealed that consumers who perceived online trust, security, ease of use, and usefulness are more likely to use e-wallets during the pandemic. Practical managerial implications are addressed for enhancing digital transactions to increase consumer trust and security in online commerce.