The first commercial transaction with the first cryptocurrency in 2010 marked the start of a revolution in transactions. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies will dramatically transform how we do transactions, just as the Internet revolutionized how we communicate. Currently, more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies are quoted on the market, and many more are being launched in initial coin offerings for use as an exchange method in a specific business ecosystem or as rights to assets or liabilities. As an emerging fintech, cryptocurrencies open up many opportunities, but they also pose significant challenges and limitations. This paper analyzes the key factors for the successful development of a cryptocurrency from a consumer-behavior perspective. Using a technology acceptance theoretical framework, we test a model able to explain almost 85% of the intention to use cryptocurrencies. Surprisingly, risk was not a significant factor. This could be because most of the respondents considered operating with cryptocurrencies to be risky; the lack of variability in their responses to the questions about perceived risk would explain this lack of explanatory power. However, willingness to manage cryptocurrency risk could be a precondition for adoption. The performance expectancy for a given cryptocurrency was the most important factor for its success. The research was conducted in Spain with college-educated adults with basic knowledge of the Internet.

The emergence of Covid-19 has affected all aspects of human life across the globe. Lockdowns everywhere are having dramatic social and economic consequences. No therapy has yet been approved, and vaccines are a priority potential tool to control the pandemic and its impacts. Multiple vaccines are in the last stage of the development process, but part of the population is not willing to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Several studies have examined the percentage of the population willing to get vaccinated, but few have analyzed the reasons for their decision. In this context, researching the factors influencing individuals’ intention to use a potential Covid-19 vaccine will be important to public health strategies. This paper analyzes these factors with an adapted Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) model. Perceived vaccine efficacy is used as a cognitive variable, fear of the vaccine and fear of Covid-19 are used as affective variables, and social influence is used as the normative variable. The proposed model strongly explains the intention to use the Covid-19 vaccine (R2 = 0.81). The results show that vaccine efficacy will be the most important determinant of Covid-19 vaccine acceptance, followed by social influence. The findings can be very helpful for public health policies aimed at achieving widespread vaccination, a must for vaccine success.

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge on how the Smart Tourism Destination (STD) might enhance the Tourist Shopping Journey (TSJ) through offering information sources that meet visitors' needs and preferences. The CAN (Cognitive-Affective-Normative) model was employed to explore the antecedents of using information sources for purchases made in destinations. The importance of the cognitive variables performance and effort expectancy in the purchasing process are highlighted: tourists are pragmatic when consulting information sources in destinations. This study contributes to the knowledge of the role of information sources in TSJ behaviour, and can help managers in the development of STD strategies and services. It also opens new research lines by considering the TSJ as a hitherto unexamined holistic process.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand consumers’ behaviour in fast-food restaurants in Spain. To this end, the authors conducted a survey that combined a classification of food values, as proposed in the relevant literature, with a related model that links personal values to behaviour. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 400 consumers was gathered from two different, leading fast-food chains operating in Spain. With these data, respondents were grouped through hierarchical cluster analysis and K-measures, and in accordance with Lusk and Briggeman’s (2009) food values and the food-related lifestyle model. The authors validated these clusters by means of ANOVA and discriminant analysis, which led to useful observations about inter-group differences in consumers’ habits, as well as their satisfaction, trust and loyalty. Findings The results indicate that consumers can be clustered into three groups based their food values assessments: the “mainly utilitarian” group, the “mainly hedonic” group and the “ethical values” group. These groups not only demonstrate diverse habits, but also differ on key variables such as satisfaction, trust and loyalty. Practical implications The authors offer several managerial recommendations for designing and developing segmentation strategies in the fast-food industry. Any such strategies should acknowledge that all consumer groups appear to value restaurants’ efforts to provide them with both hedonic and utilitarian benefits, although the extent varies across groups. Originality/value Among the relevant literature, this research is the only one that examines the existence of distinct consumer groups based on their food values assessments. In addition, this paper analyses inter-group differences in terms of both diverse consumptions habits (frequency of visits, expenditure, etc.) and key marketing variables (satisfaction, trust and loyalty).

Today, technological implants are being developed to increase innate human capacities, such as memory or calculation speed, and to endow us with new ones, such as the remote control of machines. This study's aim was two-fold: first, to introduce a Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) model of technology acceptance to explain the intention to use this technology in the field of consumer behavior; and second, to analyze the differences in the intention to use it based on whether the intended implant recipient is oneself or one's child (i.e., the moderating effect of the end user). A multi-group analysis was performed to compare the results between the two groups: implant “for me” (Group 1) and implant “for my child” (Group 2). The model largely explains the intention to use the insideable technology for the specified groups [variance explained (R2) of over 0.70 in both cases]. The most important variables were found to be “positive emotions” and (positive) “subjective norm.” This underscores the need to broaden the range of factors considered to be decisive in technology acceptance to include variables related to consumers' emotions. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found between the “for me” and “for my child” models for “perceived ease of use (PEU)” and “subjective norm.” These findings confirm the moderating effect of the end user on new insideable technology acceptance.

Wine is a traditional beverage with a saturated market, in which consumers are open to innovation. In this context, an innovative experience was launched to create a new natural sparkling red wine with a view to diversifying production and studying its acceptance. This paper uses an original acceptance model for new foods called the Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) model. The model was tested on a sample of 500 Spanish consumers in a real-world test context and explains 64.1% of the intention to consume the new wine. The results showed the importance of the cognitive factor in consumer intention. In particular, sensory and price benefits were found to be the key criteria explaining the intention to consume (41.34%). The results also confirmed the usefulness of expanding the factors that determine new food acceptance to include the emotional and normative dimensions of consumer behaviour. The social norm (18.54%) and affective factors (4.2%) contributed to the explanation of the underlying reasons influencing consumers' assessments of the product. It is proposed that efforts focus on new visual, olfactory and taste-related sensations with a view to producing an appetising product that offers good value for money. Research and development institutes should innovate towards products that highlight these sensations. Therefore, attention should be drawn to the importance of acting on potential consumers' reference groups and membership groups, with a view to involving them in recommending the product. Managers should focus on measuring and influencing social opinion, working on marketing communication to achieve acceptance.Additional key words: consumer acceptance; new foods; wine; performance expectancy; social norm; emotions.Correspondence should be addressed to Eva Reinares: eva.reinares@urjc.es Authors' contributions:The three co-authors participated in all stages of the work, including the conception and design of the research, the revision of the intellectual content and the drafting of the paper. Competing interests:The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The in-store use of smartphones is revolutionizing the customer journey and has the potential to become an important driver in the omnichannel context. This paper aims at identifying the key factors that influence customers' intentions to use smartphones instore and their actual behavior and to test the moderating effect of age, differentiating between millennials and nonmillennials, as millennials are considered digital natives and early adopters of new technologies. We applied the UTAUT2 model to a sample of 1043 Spanish customers, tested it using structural equations, and performed a multigroup analysis to compare the results between the two groups. The results show that the model explains both the behavioral intention to use a smartphone in a brickand-mortar store and use behavior. The UTAUT2 predictors found to be most important were habit, performance expectancy, and hedonic motivation. However, the study shows that the only difference between millennials and nonmillennials with regard to the use of smartphones in-store is the effects of behavioral intention and habit on use behavior. The study adds to the existing knowledge by providing evidence in support of the validity of UTAUT2 as an appropriate theoretical basis to explain effectively behavioral intention, specifically the in-store use of smartphones.

Price, service-quality expectations and emotions have all been found to play a key role in customers’ assessments of offers, but little attention has been given to how these variables interrelate. This article presents an original model to study these interrelations. The model was tested on a sample of 841 hotel customers using structural equation modelling. The results show that the stronger the customers’ emotions, the more likely they were to perceive the product as cheap and the higher their predictive expectations of service quality. Additionally, although the observed price level influenced customers’ predictive expectations, the perception of a product as expensive or cheap did not. These findings have important business implications.