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Prior research shows that highly religious consumers are more stable through times of uncertainty, in part due to religious support networks. However, several situations (e.g., pandemics, epidemics, natural disasters, mass shootings) represent unique changes where routine large gatherings are restricted due to uncertainty. In such situations, highly religious consumers may experience the greatest disruption to life, potentially resulting in stability-seeking consumption behaviors. Three studies test and confirm this relationship in the coronavirus pandemic context. Specifically, study 1 shows that priming awareness of restricted in-person religious gatherings increases consumption in comparison to a general religious prime or control condition. Study 2 confirms that consumers with higher (lower) levels of religiosity are the most (least) likely to increase consumption, and that situational concern and stability found through purchasing sequentially mediate this relationship. Study 3 provides practical implications revealing that stability-based messaging reduces consumption in comparison to standard social distancing messaging.

This research proposes and demonstrates that religiosity positively affects consumers’ hope for advertised benefits, leading to greater perceived advertisement credibility and, consequently, a greater likelihood of purchasing the advertised products. A multiple-step mediation analysis revealed that both hope for advertised benefits and perceived ad credibility play pivotal roles in explicating the effect of religiosity, whether measured (study 1) or manipulated (study 2), on purchase intentions of advertised products. The authors also investigated the interactive effect between religiosity and perceived product materialism on the observed effects (study 3). The effect of religiosity on hope for advertised benefits, perceived ad credibility, and purchase intentions was moderated by perceived product materialism, such that the positive effects of religiosity on hope, perceived ad credibility, and purchase intentions were observed only for non-materialistic (vs. materialistic) products. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Many of decisions that people make deal with assessing the probabilities of uncertain events. Because of the prevalence and importance of probability estimation, a large body of research has investigated different factors that can influence probability judgments. The findings show that people have biases in estimating the subjective probabilities of uncertain events. These biases can lead individuals to either overestimate or underestimate the subjective probabilities. Examples of these biases include anchoring, availability, and representativeness. Moreover, it has been shown that illusion of control is a bias that can lead individuals to overestimate the subjective probabilities. For instance, as a result of an illusory sense of control, people make larger bets when they roll the dice themselves, are less likely to trade their lottery ticket when they choose (vs. are given) the ticket numbers, and prefer higher speeds as a driver versus a passenger. Here, Cabano et al investigate whether observing the occurrence of an uncertain event affects probability estimation of that event.

Purpose Prior research has investigated the benefit of companies that engage in cause-related marketing initiatives. However, this prior research has not adequately examined cause-related marketing situations when brands raise awareness for a cause without contribution of tangible resources to the cause (i.e. awareness marketing); thus, the purpose of this paper is to introduce and test awareness marketing as a new type of cause-related marketing. Design/methodology/approach Through four experimental studies with different sample sources, the authors introduce and examine a new type of cause-related marketing (awareness marketing) as well as identify mediating explanatory mechanisms. Findings Awareness marketing produces similarly heightened purchase intentions to other types of cause-related marketing (e.g. financial donation) when compared to situations where cause-related marketing is not used. Awareness marketing can also lead to higher brand authenticity and brand originality perceptions in some situations when compared to cause-related marketing incorporating a financial donation component or when no cause-related marketing is used. Brand perceptions and consumers’ perceived self-brand connection mediate the relationship from cause-related marketing to purchase intentions. Research limitations/implications This research is limited by conducting studies in only experimental conditions and in one culture. Theoretical implications are provided to the literature on brand authenticity and self-brand connection. In doing so, the authors explain why awareness marketing is evaluated differently than other types of cause-related marketing or marketing without any cause reference. Practical implications Marketers would benefit from using awareness marketing (i.e. raising awareness for a cause without direct contribution to the cause) as a lower investment alternative to traditional cause-related marketing efforts. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to introduce awareness marketing as a new type of cause-related marketing and compare it to traditional types of cause-related marketing, thereby providing novel contributions as to how cause-related marketing can effectively increase purchase intentions without making a financial, product or other tangible contribution to a cause.

Purpose This paper aims to examine how and why consumers respond to chief executive officer (CEO) activism on social media. The authors developed a conceptual model that proposes impression management as a mechanism for consumer response to CEO activism. Design/methodology/approach In Study 1a, the authors examined 83,259 tweets from 90 CEOs and compared consumer responses between controversial and noncontroversial tweets. In Study 1b, the authors replicated the analysis, using a machine-learning topic modeling approach. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors used experimental designs to test the theoretical mechanism. Findings On average, consumers tend to respond more to CEO posts dealing with noncontroversial issues. Consumers’ relative reluctance to like and share controversial posts is motivated by fear of rejection. However, CEO fame reverses this effect. Consumers are more likely to engage in controversial activist threads by popular CEOs. This effect holds for consumers high (vs low) in public self-consciousness. CEO fame serves as a “shield” behind which consumers protect their online image. Research limitations/implications The study focused on Twitter (aka “X”) in the USA. Future research may replicate the study in other social media platforms and countries. The authors introduce “shielding” – liking and sharing content authored by a recognizable source – as a tactic for impression management on social media. Practical implications Famous CEOs should speak up about controversial issues on social media because their voice helps consumers engage more in such conversations. Originality/value This paper offers a theoretical framework to understand consumer reactions to CEO activism.

Purpose This research aims to examine how religiosity influences consumers’ responses to rational versus emotional ad appeals. Design/methodology/approach Four experiments were conducted that examined how religiosity affected consumers’ responses (attitude toward the product, purchase intentions and brand trust) to rational versus emotional ad appeals, and how perceived fit between the ad appeal type and consumers’ information processing style mediated the effects. Findings The results show that consumers low in religiosity respond more favorably to rational (vs emotional) appeals because of these types of appeals being more congruent with their rational information processing style. In addition, there is no difference in consumer responses toward rational and emotional appeals for individuals high in religiosity. Research limitations/implications In this research, the authors only used surveys and measured behavioral intentions rather than actual behaviors. Thus, future research should measure actual behaviors in the field to enhance the external validity of the observed effects. In addition, this research samples one primary culture that is more representative of Judeo-Christian religious beliefs. Therefore, future research should sample from other cultures and religious groups. Practical implications The results suggest that marketers should use rational rather than emotional appeals in their marketing communications to low religiosity consumers (identifiable through such means as demographic data for geographic regions or self-identified classifications on social media). Marketers can also prime low religiosity in their messages (e.g. using words such as “evolution”) and, when doing so, should couple that prime with a rational (vs emotional) appeal. Originality/value This research is novel in that it is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to examine how religiosity influences consumers’ responses to rational versus emotional ad appeals.

Purpose Given the growing prevalence of gun control policies in service settings, this study aims to investigate how the adoption of a gun control policy by a service business influences consumers’ evaluations of the service business. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments were conducted to examine how the adoption of a gun control policy by a service business influences consumers’ brand favorability of that service business and how value congruence (i.e. the alignment between a consumer’s own personal values and perceptions of the brand’s values) is the underlying mechanism. Findings This study documents several major findings. First, the authors find that the adoption of a gun control policy by a service business increases consumers’ brand favorability. Second, the authors highlight a boundary condition to this effect, such that a gun control policy actually decreases consumers’ brand favorability for people high (vs low) in support for gun rights. Third, the authors show that value congruence is the psychological process underlying these effects. Fourth, the authors generalize the focal effects to a real-world brand and demonstrate that the adoption of a gun control policy increases brand favorability for consumers low (vs high) in patronage behavior of the brand. Finally, the authors find that a pioneer brand strategy in the adoption of a gun control policy significantly increases brand favorability, whereas a follower brand strategy in the adoption of such a policy is less effective. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to provide critical insight to service businesses as to how their position regarding guns influences consumers’ evaluations of the service business.

Purpose The USA is witnessing a conflict between LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) consumers/supporters and Christian fundamentalist service providers/opponents regarding whether service can be denied based on religious values. The purpose of this paper is to make a timely investigation into this conflict between marketplace inclusion (for LGBTQ consumers) and freedom of religion (for religious service providers). Design/methodology/approach The intersection of marketplace inclusion for LGBTQ consumers and religious freedom for service providers is examined by identifying appropriate strategies that address this conflict and reviewing how differing religious perspectives influence perceptions of LGBTQ consumer rights, all building off the social identity threat literature. Findings LGBTQ and religious identities often conflict to influence consumer behavior and service provider interactions. Such conflict is heightened when there is a lack of substitutes (i.e. only one service provider in an area for a specific service). Common LGBTQ consumer responses include changing service providers, providing justification for the provision of services and pursing legal recourse. Suggested strategies to address this conflict include highlighting common social identities and using two-sided messages for service providers, using in-group interventions for social groups and using government interventions for public policy. Originality/value Research has yet to examine the conflict between marketplace inclusion and religious freedom, particularly for the inclusion of LGBTQ consumers. Thus, this paper provides a novel conceptual model detailing these relationships to stimulate discussion among consumers, service providers, social groups and public policy in addition to serving as a foundation for future research.

The threat of climate change is a major social problem that requires immediate action across the world (Brown 1996). As such, it is crucial for consumer research to identify factors that promote and inhibit climate action, not just among environmentalists, but also among those who may seek to avoid such a social identity. In this research, building on a growing body of research on environmentalist social identity (ESI; i.e., the extent to which one identifies with the environmentalist social category; e.g., Fielding and Hornsey 2016), we investigate whether ESI moderates the effect of the social observability of an environmental behavior on willingness to engage in that behavior. We propose that social observability reduces the pro-environmental intentions of consumers with low ESI (Hl), as they are likely to be concerned with being associated with unwanted or incongruent social identities that are often associated with such behaviors (e.g., environmentalists for non-environmentalists, liberals for conservatives). That is, if they perform such behaviors, there is potential for others to misclassify them in undesirable social identities. Thus, we expect that categorization threat concerns will mediate our effects (H2). In addition, we predict that consumers with low ESI will be less likely to engage in future pro-environmental behaviors (i.e., negative spillover) as well when the initial environmental behavior is socially observable (vs. private) (H3). That is because associating one environmental behavior with unwanted social identities leads to associating other environmental behaviors with the same negative identities. We conducted four studies to test our hypotheses. The first study tested Hl and H3. Ninety-one undergraduates first responded to a three-item ESI measure (e.g., \"I identify with environmentalists). Then, they were told about a green purchasing program on campus where students who purchase green products in on-campus stores would be able receive rewards. In the socially observable (private) condition, the sweatshirt and mug rewards were green and read \"Eco (name of university mascot)\" (grey and only included the typical university logo and mascot). Next, participants responded to a 3-item measure of their willingness to participate in the green campus program (e.g., \"How likely is it that you will participate in the Eco (university mascot) program?\"). Finally, participants responded to a 20-item measure of future pro-environmental willingness (e.g., \"I am willing to stop purchasing products from manufacturers or retailers that have poor environmental records\"). The results revealed a significant simple effect of social observability among those low in ESI, such that they showed less pro-environmental willingness when the reward was socially observable (vs. private) (p = .04). However, the effect was not significant for those high in ESI. Next, a moderated mediation analysis showed that the pathway from social observability to future environmental willingness through initial environmental willingness was significantly negative for low ESI individuals (95% CI: -.38 to -.02), showing evidence of negative spillover. As expected, the effect was not significant for those high in ESI. Study 2 again tested H1 and H3, this time controlling for political orientation and including a control condition. Two-hundred and forty MTurkers first responded to the same 3-item ESI measure as in the previous study. Then they were told about a volunteering opportunity with an environmental nonprofit organization, the Rainforest Alliance, where they would send emails to potential donors. In the socially observable (private) condition, the organization would post their name and headshot on its website (would keep their participation anonymous). The control condition did not mention the social observability of their participation. Four items measured volunteering intentions (e.g., \"How likely would you be to help the Rainforest Alliance?\"). Subsequently, participants responded to the same 20 items from Study 1 and indicated their political orientation. The results revealed that low ESI individuals showed less volunteering intentions in the socially observable (vs. control) condition (p = .04). Notably, there was no difference in volunteering intentions between the control and private conditions. In addition, there were no significant effects of social observability for those high in ESI. Finally, moderated mediation analyses provided more support for H3. Study 3 sought to gain mediational support for categorization threat concerns (H2). One-hundred and forty-two undergraduates first responded to a three-item ESI measure (e.g., \"I am similar to other environmentalists and have things in common with them\"). Then they were told that they could donate money to help Greenpeace, an environmental nonprofit organization. Participants in the socially observable (private) condition were told that if they donated money, the organization would post their name, picture, and bio on its Facebook page (would keep their participation anonymous). Next, they indicated the amount of money that they would be willing to donate from$0 to $ 100. Finally, they responded to a 2-item measure of categorization threat concerns (e.g., \"Donating to Greenpeace would be incongruent with my social image\"). As expected, categorization threat concerns emerged as a marginally significant mediator in the relationship between social observability x ESI and donation amount (90% CI: -3.19 to -.02). Study 4 was conducted to establish causality for the reported effects. One-hundred and ninety-one participants were randomly assigned to one condition of a 2 (socially observable vs. private) x 2 (high ESI vs. low ESI) between-subjects design. Participants in the high (low) ESI condition read the following prompt: \"Please write about how being American is different from being Chinese (Swedish) in regards to concern for and care for the natural environment. For instance, are American or people in China (Sweden) generally more environmentally-friendly...\" Note that Americans score much higher (lower) in environmentalism compared to Chinese (Swedish) people (Environmental Performance Index 2018). Next, participants in the socially observable (private) condition were instructed to imagine that they were out shopping at a store (online at home). Then, they indicated their WTP from $0-50 for an environmental activist shirt. Participants then responded to the same 3-item dispositional ESI measure as in the previous study. An ANCOVA, controlling for dispositional ESI, showed that WTP was lower in the socially observable (vs. private) condition for those primed with a low ESI (p = .05). Similar to the previous studies, there was no difference in WTP for participants in the high ESI condition. This work contributes to social identity research that shows consumers' behavioral intentions are often driven by the desire to avoid being associated with unwanted social identities (e.g., Berger and Rand 2008; White and Dahl 2007). We also contribute to research on ESI as we are the first to manipulate, rather than simply measure, this construct. Finally, our research suggests that marketing practitioners should present pro-environmental behaviors in private or neutral (vs. socially observable) contexts in their messages to low ESI consumers.

Although social observability (the potential for others to view one’s behaviors) generally promotes socially desirable behaviors, this dissertation proposes that social identity-based barriers to pro-environmental consumption may be heightened by social observability. In six studies, through both correlational and experimental designs, this research demonstrates that social observability negatively impacts pro-environmental willingness for consumers low in environmentalist social identity (those who do not identify with the environmentalist social category) due to the categorization threat concerns of potentially being misclassified in undesirable social identities to the self. This work finds that social observability also produces deleterious downstream consequences, such that individuals low in environmentalist social identity are less likely to engage in future sustainable behaviors as well. In contrast, the environmental willingness of consumers high in environmentalist social identity is not dependent on the social observability of the behavior. Thus, these findings highlight social-identity based barriers that further deter consumers who do not identify as environmentalists from behaving in environmentally-friendly ways in the public sphere.