The study investigated how the perception of in‐shop COVID‐19 contraction influences emotions in decision‐making and how they further effect actions undertaken by consumers to control the situation within a store. Structural equation modeling was used to study the relationship between the risk of in‐store infection, emotions and in‐shop behavior, based on data retrieved from 914 questionnaires. Results showed, that the perceived risk of becoming infected in a store causes an increase in arousal and, at the same time, a decrease in perceived pleasure during shopping. The rise in arousal led to an increase in consumers taking actions to decrease their risk of contagion, while an increase in noticeable pleasure lowered interest of following recommendations for pandemic behavior. The findings imply that through changes regarding in‐store atmosphere, stationary shops can provide consumers with a sense of urgency and awareness of infection risk so that they may do their shopping more efficiently.

Until now, neuromarketing studies have usually been aimed at assessing the predictive value of psychophysiological measures gathered while watching a marketing message related to a particular product. This study is the first attempt to verify the possibility of predicting familiar and unfamiliar brand purchases based on psychophysiological reactions to a retailer television advertisement measured by EEG, EDA and eye-tracking. The number of private label products chosen later served to assess the binary dependent variable. A logistic regression model (with a prediction rate of 61.2%) was applied to determine which psychophysiological variables explained the largest part of the variance of a final purchase decision. The results show that among various measures, only the electrodermal peaks per second were significant in predicting further purchase decisions. The decision to buy was also influenced by brand familiarity. The article concludes that EDA is an unobtrusive measure of emotion-related anticipation of significant outcomes, particularly for dynamic stimuli, as related to decision-making.

In previous research, the significance of Social Media Influencers (SMIs) on the entire tourism industry has been indicated. In this article, it is explored how arousal and thematic compatibility in the presentation of a hotel facility’s offer by a SMI determines purchase intention and the urge to buy impulsively. To carry out this objective, a laboratory experiment was conducted with graphic stimuli and controlling arousal using neurophysiological data. The obtained results are relevant within the context of promotion methods in social media, maximising the effect of cooperation with SMIs. Managerial and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine offers a unique opportunity to improve the global health system. However, consumers remain skeptical about AI's ability to accurately assess their medical condition. The five studies here provide insights into consumers’ reluctance to use AI-produced health care recommendations. Consumers are less willing to follow a medical recommendation from AI (vs. from a human) when the medical diagnosis provides health results that are good (i.e., symptoms do not require medical care) versus bad (i.e., symptoms are worrisome and may require urgent care) (Study 1a). The effect is mediated by consumers’ perception of diagnosis trustworthiness (Study 1b) and enhanced by consumers’ health anxiety score (Study 2). Providing social proof (e.g., number of satisfied customers recommending the service) reduces the negative effect of health anxiety on consumers’ trust in the medical diagnosis and increases their willingness to follow the AI's recommendations (Study 3a). The findings provide insights into the psychological drivers of acceptance of automated health care and suggest possible actions to overcome consumers’ reluctance to follow AI medical recommendations.

PurposeThe recent advancements in smartphone technology and social media platforms have increased the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) color cosmetics. Meanwhile, China is a lucrative market for various foreign beauty products and technological innovations. This research aims to investigate the adoption of AI color cosmetics applications and their electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) intention among Chinese social media influencers. Several key concepts have been proposed in this research, namely body esteem, price sensitivity, social media addiction and actual purchase.Design/methodology/approachAn online questionnaire design was used in this research. A combination of purposive sampling and snowball sampling of AI color cosmetics users who are also social media influencers in China yields 221 respondents. To analyze the data, this research employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method via SPSS and AMOS software. A 2-step approach, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), is implemented to prove the hypotheses and generate the results.Findings1) Social media addiction is a positive predictor of AI color cosmetics usage, (2) AI color cosmetics usage is a positive predictor of actual purchase, (3) actual purchase is a positive predictor of e-WOM intention and lastly, (4) there is a full mediation effect of actual purchase.Originality/valueThis research draws on the uses and gratification (U&G) theory to investigate how specific user characteristics affect Chinese social media influencers' adoption of AI color cosmetics, as well as how this may affect their decision to purchase branded color cosmetics and their e-WOM.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the interplay between the characteristics of trustee and trustor in trust formation at the initial stage of a relationship in the B2B context. Design/methodology/approach The study was experimental. A situation was simulated in which sales managers choose prospective customers on whom his or her company should concentrate after entering the new market. A total of 108 managers participated in the study. Findings The results indicate that during the pre-relationship stage salespeople declared trust toward a prospective customer despite having no previous interactions with the other party. Salespeople start the trust-development process by gathering clues about the trustworthiness of the potential partner organization. The cognitive information provided to salespeople impacts interpersonal trust to a greater extent than effective communication. This influence is moderated by trustor trust propensity. There is no difference in the type of information about a trustor when it comes to organizational reliance. Originality/value This paper provides a new insight into research on trust in interorganizational relationships as the authors adopted the perspective of the supplier who is most frequently perceived as a trustee, rather than a trustor. It directs attention to the pre-relationship stage, which precedes the interaction that may lead to a relationship developing but also links the object of trust (trustee) with the subject of trust (trustor) and integrates two separate approaches to the ascendance of trust with its multi-dimensional and multi-level nature. Moreover, an experimental design that is rare in research on business relationships was implemented.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of product-related description abstractness/concreteness on perceived trustworthiness and the role of consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset in the persuasiveness of abstract vs concrete product descriptions. Design/methodology/approach Two online experiments were conducted: Study 1 (description abstractness – manipulated between-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, purchase intent – measured), Study 2 (consumer shopping-stage mindset – manipulated between-subject; description abstractness – manipulated within-subject; consumer product expertise, perceived trustworthiness, abstract/concrete description preference – measured). Findings The negative effect of the abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with relevant product details) on description trustworthiness was evidenced in Study 1. Trustworthiness was positively related to purchase intent, especially for high product expertise. Study 2 replicated the effect of product description abstractness on its trustworthiness in terms of two other forms of abstractness (abstract descriptions vs the ones supplemented with irrelevant product details and product benefits vs attributes). The goal-oriented (vs comparative) mindset had a positive effect on the benefit (vs attribute) description preference, especially for high product expertise. Practical implications For marketers, the results suggest the positive consequences of presenting concrete information on product attributes and the conditions enhancing the effectiveness of presenting product benefits. Originality/value The paper integrates the existing views on consumer response to abstract vs concrete information (lexical abstractness/concreteness, means-end chain theory) and links them to consumer product expertise and shopping-stage mindset.

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