This study shows the role of consumers' prior brand loyalty and environmental concern in their responses to third-party green-brown ratings of a brand. The online quasi-experiment with a national sample of U.S. consumers revealed that the validity of third-party green-brown ratings is believed equally between consumers with high and low environmental concern, but the impact of the ratings on brand greenness perception was greater among consumers with high (vs. low) environmental concern. This study also shows that consumers who are loyal to a brand are more likely to accept the validity of the brand's green rating than that of its brown rating. Further, loyal consumers deny the relevance of the brown rating to the brand's greenness. These findings suggest biased assimilation of third-party green-brown rating information as a function of the consumer's prior brand loyalty and environmental concern. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.

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While human crowding has been considered a driver of negative emotions, leading to unpleasant shopping experiences, other studies have found that it does not necessarily result in negative emotions but creates excitement in certain shopping contexts. To fill the research gap, this study investigates whether perceived competition mediates the relationships among human crowding, emotions, and hedonic shopping value. The authors tested the model with actual shoppers from fast fashion retailers in the United States. Results showed that when perceived human crowding is mediated through perceived shopping competition, it creates positive emotions and induces hedonic shopping value.

The COVID-19 pandemic and rising demand for transparency has heightened the importance of sustainability communications on social media to generate deeper stakeholder engagement. Although B Corporations (B Corps), businesses committed to the triple bottom line (TBL), could serve as a catalyst for sustainable development, little is known about how they communicate on social media during a crisis. Therefore, we examined social media communications of B Corps to (1) identify salient topics and themes, (2) analyze how these themes align with the TBL, and (3) evaluate social media performance against industry benchmarks. We focused on the apparel, footwear, and accessories (AFA) sectors in the U.S. and chose Twitter, a platform known for crisis communication. Using a qualitative method, we found four topics and 21 underlying themes. Topics related to social/environmental issues and COVID-19 were most dominant, followed by product/brand promotions. Further classification of specific themes and cases from a TBL perspective demonstrated that, overall, B Corps in the AFA sectors leveraged various approaches to promote balance between each TBL dimension. Lastly, although collectively B Corps exceeded some of the Twitter industry benchmarks, at an individual level, most brands had room for improvement to build a stronger community and promote synergy among the three pillars of the TBL.

Purpose This study aims to examine gender differences in the impact of imagining product use on purchase decisions. The authors argue that while imagination can enhance purchase intention for female consumers, it can be detrimental to male consumers. This study explores the conditions under which imagination can be turned into a positive device for male consumers. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted. The first two studies illustrate the differential effects of imagination on males vs females. Given the negative effect found among males, the third study focused exclusively on male consumers to identify conditions under which the negative impact of imagination on these consumers can be alleviated. Findings Studies 1 and 2 show that while an imagination tactic has positive or no effect on female consumers, a generic imagination request lowers male consumers’ purchase intention. Focusing on potential ways of alleviating this negative effect, Study 3 shows that for males without prior brand ownership experience, imagining product use in a less-typical context can increase purchase intention. Research limitations/implications The results provide evidence that gender impacts the effectiveness of imagination in improving product evaluation. Furthermore, the context of imagination and previous brand experience can be used together to determine how male consumers respond to imagination. Practical implications The study’s findings warn against the blind use of imagination tactics. Instead, retailers need to customize imagination tactics based on gender, previous brand experience and product usage context. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers to examine the impact of gender on the influence of imagination on product evaluation.