Predicting Consumers’ Intention to Shop Online in an Emerging Market: A COVID-19 Perspective

Md. Afsarul Islam, Nishath Anjum, Md. Imran Ahmed

Abstract:

As an emerging economy, Bangladesh has witnessed a remarkable development in adopting information and communication technologies over the last decade. Hence, the field of e-commerce is expanding rapidly and consumers are now using the internet as an alternative channel for buying. The fundamental purpose of this study is to predict the consumers’ intention to purchase online during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study attempts to explore certain factors (attitude towards online shopping, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control) affecting the consumers’ online buying intention. A structured questionnaire has been used to collect the primary data through the CAWI survey method. A total of 157 respondents have participated in this study from different universities in Sylhet city, Bangladesh. This study employed multiple regression analysis to test the proposed research model. The findings indicate that all the predictors have a significant impact on consumers’ behavioral intention to adopt online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, any developing country like Bangladesh has a genuine need for more research works on the e-commerce field. This study provides some valuable insights into the adoption of the online shopping system in an emerging economy which helps the e-commerce industry to understand the online consumers’ behavior to develop various marketing strategies accordingly. The study also contributes to the body of knowledge both at the academic and practical levels.

The Impact of Advertising Appeals on Purchase Intention for Women’s Fashion Products in Malaysia

Nur Farihah Bt. Isamudin, Muhammad Tahir Jan

Abstract:

This paper is mainly focused on analyzing the impact of four advertising appeals, namely love appeal, humor appeal, happiness appeal and excitement appeal on purchase intention for women fashion products in Malaysia. Primary data were collected from 303 respondents using self-administered online questionnaire that was distributed among social media users in Malaysia. The collected data went through an extensive process of screening and sorting to prepare for the analyses. Several important tests were conducted using analytical tools, namely IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and its added module, AMOS to reach the findings. Among them are a descriptive analysis, reliability tests, an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and hypothesis testing. In addition, two-stage structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test for the fitness of the proposed model. The findings from the study revealed that two out of four advertising appeals, namely excitement appeal and love appeal, had significant positive impacts on consumers’ purchase intention. Meanwhile, humor appeal and happiness appeal were found to have insignificant impacts. This research provides invaluable insights for marketers, especially those in women’s fashion industry in Malaysia, in creating effective advertising campaign to promote their fashion products to consumers in Malaysia. A unique attempt to investigate the individual impact of love appeal, humor appeal, happiness appeal, and excitement appeal on purchase intention is the strength of this research. Further, this study is also invaluable because of its main consideration, which was women’s fashion products.

The Environmentalist Movement in The World and Environmental Studies in the Marketing Literature

Bilge Nur Öztürk

Abstract:

Problems such as environmental pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, melting of glaciers due to global warming, decline in clean resources and the extinction of some species have prompted people to consider the idea of a more sustainable world. In this process, humanity is going through a mental transformation and gaining some awareness. As emphasized in this study, all crises (accidents, fires, outbreaks, etc.) experienced worldwide have been the driving forces for environmental transformations. Environmentalist movements emerging from this orientation have also found their place in the world of science and therefore in marketing literature. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to explain the scientific publications caused by the environmental transformations experienced chronologically and to reveal the part that takes place in the marketing literature. In this study, it has been shown in which kind of intensity environmental studies have been included in the marketing literature. In addition, it was determined which marketing journals were discussed intensely. This study points to potential academic fields of study. Finally, this study emphasizes that while trying to explain green consumer profiles, attention should be paid to macro factors (lifestyle, sociological variables, etc.) in addition to micro factors such as values and norms. National and corporate green policies can be more successful if handled in this context.

Femvertising and Its Perception by Polish Female Consumers

Klaudia Macias

Abstract:

The world is constantly undergoing socio-economic and cultural changes, but the existence of patriarchy and the related gender inequality remain unchanged. In response to this state of affairs, a feminist movement emerged and influenced society. Companies recognize the changes taking place in society and decide to include the feminist movement in their cause-related marketing campaigns. This is how a relatively new form of marketing communication, called femvertising, was born. This paper aims to analyze this form of marketing communication and the effect of both hostile and benevolent sexism on the perception of advertising. The research method employed in this study was a quantitative survey on a sample of 321 Polish women. The results of the survey showed that women rate advertisements portraying females in an unconventional way higher than traditional advertisements. Moreover, the perception of advertisements is influenced by the level of both benevolent and hostile sexism. The higher the level of sexism, the more negative the evaluation of pro-women advertising becomes. This is a suggestion for advertisers that diversifying an advertising message can be an effective marketing strategy.