No abstract

Brands often use scarcity appeals to promote sales. However, there is limited research investigating how consumers react when they are unable to obtain items that are advertised using scarcity appeals in terms of limited quantity. In two studies, experimental and correlational, we show that consumers who do not get the product associated to scarcity appeals (vs. not) have higher intentions to switch to competitor brands. This effect is mediated by consumer anger. We present theoretical contributions in research on scarcity appeals and consumer emotions (i.e., anger) and we discuss managerial implications of how scarcity appeals can sometimes backfire and lead to consumers switching to other competitor brands when they fail to obtain the product advertised as limited in quantity.

Despite frequent reports that they favor products with environmental benefits, consumers often purchase conventional alternatives. One reason for this is the performance liability associated with green products, in which consumers perceive them as being less effective. This research examines the concept of "green understatement" (i.e., communication of implicit green signals) compared with "green emphasis" (i.e., communication of explicit green signals) in green product advertising as a strategy to enhance performance evaluations.We test whether, why, and when an implicit (vs. explicit) advertising strategy leads to higher performance evaluation for green products. We suggest and show that implicit green signals are more effective in conditions under which consumers have more concerns about the product's performance or have lower expectations about its greenness. More specifically, the results of two experimental studies show that implicit (vs. explicit) communication about greenness leads to higher performance evaluations for products that are less commonly green (Study 1) and for products that have an optional green mode (Study 2). The findings aid in the understanding of how a green product advertising strategy may influence performance evaluations and provide managerial implications for green product promotion.

Despite growing corporate commitments to being customer-centric, many customers perceive firms as self-driven and caring only about their own business interests. This sentiment is projected in consumer cynicism, or negative consumer attitudes based on the disbelief in the sincerity of firms' motives and actions. We argue that consumer cynicism emerges in response to negative marketplace situations, such as service and product failures. Across four scenario-based experiments and one video-based experiment, our research examines cynicism as a key mediator, transmitting the effect of double deviation (i.e., a failure in delivery and in subsequent recovery) on negative electronic word-ofmouth and repurchase intention. We further demonstrate that consumer cynicism can be minimized when the provider uses cocreated recovery (i.e., engages consumers in recovery) even if the recovery fails and when the provider offers a strong empathetic apology (either before or after recovery failure). Our research contributes to consumer and service recovery research by highlighting an important but overlooked role of consumer cynicism in the context of double deviation. We also offer managerial insights into cocreation and empathetic apologies as cost-effective recovery strategies to minimize cynicism.

As public funding for the restoration of tourist attractions decreases, assistance is often sought from the private sector in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, research has yet to understand how such CSR activities impact the beneficiary, namely tourist attractions. Thus, extending past CSR literature, we explore whether differing company CSR motivations can influence a tourists' visiting intentions. The results of two experimental