The purpose of this study is to understand fashion consumers’ channel switching to online stores during the COVID-19. We proposed an extended theory of planned behavior by incorporating protection motivation theory. The results showed that consumer assessments of perceived severity and altruistic fear of COVID-19 and response efficacy and self-efficacy of channel switching increased their beliefs (i.e., attitude, perceived behavior control, subjective norm) and intentions to switch shopping channels to online. We also found that the age (young vs. old) moderated the effects of response efficacy and self-efficacy on perceived behavior control, perceived severity on subjective norm, perceived behavior control on channel switching intentions, and channel switching intention on actual switching behavior. The findings provide fashion retailers and the society with a better understanding about fashion consumers’ shopping channel switching under the pandemic.

Mobile digital business continues to expand, becoming one of the biggest industries in the world. Billions of smartphone holders use mobile apps daily (Dogtiev 2018). Mobile applications are expected to generate almost 190 billion dollars in revenues via online applications stores by 2020 (Statista 2018). Examples include Apple App Stores and Google Play Store. According to Flurry analytics (Khalaf 2016), U.S. mobile media consumers spend over 1 h a day on mobile media services. Activities include listening to music and watching video contents, such as TV shows and movies. A recent report indicated that global financial spending on video media services exceeded $300 billion in 2017 (Forni and Van der Meulen 2017).

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of craftsmanship content and social distance embedded in the craftsmanship content on luxury brand experiences, perceived luxury and brand purchase intentions using a social media video.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a single factor (close social distance vs great social distance vs control group) using a between-subjects experimental design. The social distance was manipulated by the presence (i.e. a close social distance) or absence (i.e. a great social distance) of a consumer scene in a craftsmanship video shown on social media. The control group watched a video with non-craftsmanship content. Then, brand experience, perceived luxury and purchase intentions were measured.FindingsThe results showed that the control group perceived less luxury and had lower brand experiences and purchase intentions than the group that watched the video without a consumer scene. In addition, participants who watched the craftsmanship video that included a consumer scene (i.e. a close social distance) had stronger brand experiences than those who watched the video without the scene (i.e. a great social distance). The brand experience increased perceived luxury and purchase intentions.Originality/valueBy manipulating social distance and providing better brand experiences in social media, experiential marketing allows luxury brands to reconcile two apparently incompatible goals: maintaining an exclusive image while increasing purchase intentions.

Smartphones provide various services not only for social purposes but also for personal desires. This study aims to understand the multi-dimensional motivations of smartphone users. An extended motivational framework was developed using perceived benefits (i.e., expected benefits) and social influence (i.e., social identity achieved from mobile social media) from a social cognitive perspective, which was then expanded to incorporate the second-order construct of emotional attachment (i.e., emotional desires). This study examines the effects of motivations on value perceptions, which consequently explains current smartphone use. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used, and data collected from 738 current smartphone users were analyzed. Regarding the results, expected benefits (i.e., information seeking, entertained activity, self-reactiveness, and immediate access), social influence (i.e., social identity achieved from mobile social media), and emotional desires (i.e., emotional attachment) explained value perceptions (i.e., social, hedonic, and utilitarian values) which positively influence the recent use of smartphones.

Drawing from the theories of protection motivation (PMT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study aims to understand the role of psychological distress (i.e., feeling disconnected) in retail consumer's attitude and behavior toward online shopping during COVID‐19 pandemic. An analysis of the data set collected from an online survey (n = 839) shows that the experience of online shopping at big‐box retailers during a pandemic provides not only a novel experience for consumers (i.e., the TAM perspective) but also a coping mechanism to mitigate the risk of infection (i.e., the PMT perspective). The result indicates that the experience (i.e., utility and enjoyment) of online shopping positively influenced consumer attitudes toward it while protection motivation (i.e., severity, self and response efficacy) also has positive effects on the attitude. Furthermore, feeling disconnected (i.e., less connected/more connected/no difference) moderated the effects on consumers’ attitudes to the online service. The study finds that the experience of online shopping at big‐box retailers during a pandemic provides an implication that consumers’ hedonic and utilitarian values and their protection motivations cater to the social and psychological condition within the extended theoretical framework.