Franklin Velasco Vizcaíno

Purpose: Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks a consensus on the effectiveness of ecolabels in persuading consumers to choose green products. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by first evaluating the net persuasion effect of using ecolabels and second by investigating the role of cultural orientations, operationalized at the country level, in this effect.Design/methodology/approach: This cross-cultural meta-analysis analyzed data from 26,116 consumers across 18 countries, encompassing 75 papers published between 1995 and 2023. Univariate and meta-regression analyses were utilized.Findings: The results demonstrate that the presence (vs absence) of ecolabels has a medium positive persuasion effect. Findings show cultural orientations moderate the persuasion effect of ecolabels in that the effect is stronger in countries with high power distance, individualism, masculinity (motivation towards achievement and success) and uncertainty avoidance orientation, which create contingent conditions to ecolabels’ persuasion. In addition, results show other methodological factors that affect ecolabel persuasion. Contributions and implications of the findings are discussed.Originality/value: This meta-analysis is distinctive for its global scope, including diverse countries and cultures. It addresses a crucial gap in ecolabel persuasion research, providing insights that reconcile discrepancies in existing studies. It offers practical implications for businesses and policymakers while laying the groundwork for future cross-cultural research in this field.

This research uses a multi‐method approach to validate the prominence of soft‐sell themes to advertise e‐cigarettes and to test how this advertising theme influences consumers' attitudes and behaviors. First, the study presents a content analysis identifying the prevalence of soft‐sell themes used as marketing stimuli to advertise e‐cigarettes. Second, a quasi‐experiment tests the effects of a soft‐sell theme ad on consumers' attitudes toward vaping, their intention to try e‐cigarettes, their attitude toward smoking, and maladaptive intentions. This latter effect is relevant to e‐cigarette marketing literature, as it suggests how consumers lose temporal distance of the harmful effects of vaping. Theoretical and practical contributions of these findings are discussed.

Smart signage moves beyond traditional signage as it combines digital displays with Artificial Intelligence processes, Machine Learning attributes, and the use of Internet of Things consumer data. This chapter develops a conceptual model that illustrates both the dynamic nature of smart signs in retail contexts and the factors that coexist when consumers interact with this novel marketing communication tool. A set of new concepts and relationships are included in the model to reflect how smart signs two-way communication interface, technological characteristics, effects of psychological mechanism and privacy concerns, and formation of consumer-product relationships, all of which are useful in understanding smart signage persuasion effects. We foresee a fruitful avenue for research in the domain of smart signage and we discuss several implications for retail marketing, consumer wellbeing, and shopping experiences.

The objective of this research is to help reconcile the mixed findings on the effect of vape advertising campaigns on consumers’ vaping tendency. In a meta-analysis of 43 papers (140 studies, with 77,452 observations; 33% women, 67% men; M _age = 30.5 years), this research shows that in situations where perceived risk is less salient (e.g., social media vs. traditional advertising, ads using picture-dominant vs. text-dominant cues, adolescents vs. adults, nonsmokers vs. smokers), the positive effect of vape advertising campaigns on consumers’ vaping tendency is stronger. In addition, this research provides evidence that vape advertising campaigns reduce, rather than increase, smokers’ tendency to quit smoking, which is contradictory to the claims made by vaping product manufacturers. The authors discuss the theoretical contributions of those findings and provide specific tools that policy makers can use to combat the influence of vape advertising campaigns. Potential limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

The aim of the article is to explain attitudes towards the sponsors of a sporting event from brand management, especially considering the perceptions of congruence with the sponsor, quality, value, and two less common variables of innovation and popularity. The analysis has been carried out using two methodological approaches: a Partial Least Squares (PLS) model and a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). PLS results indicate that congruence, innovation and popularity significantly predict attitudes towards the sponsor, explaining up to 61% of it. On the other hand, QCA analysis shows nine interactions capable of producing the expected result, where congruence, quality innovation and popularity have shown a relevant role. This study has implications at a theoretical and practical level, contributing to understanding consumer behaviour in the context of sporting events and providing marketing managers with valuable information to help improve the performance of their sponsorships.

RESUMEN En este artículo, reportamos una investigación de la asociación entre densidad/hacinamiento en el hogar y estado de ánimo durante el confinamiento ocacionado por el COVID-19. Para tal efecto, usamos una muestra del Ecuador (n = 2489) que fue recolectada durante las medidas extremas del confinamiento decretadas por el gobernó ecuatoriano. Nuestros resultados indican que existe una relación negativa entre densidad en el hogar y el estado de ánimo de los residentes. Este resultado sugiere que vivir en un hogar con mayor número de personas por habitación resulta en peores estados de ánimo auto-reportados, hallazgo que está en línea con típicos sentimientos negativos de ansiedad y frustración derivados de restricciones sobre el comportamiento. Así mismo, un análisis post-hoc de nuestros resultados revela importantes perspectivas para cada grupo de edad. Este análisis muestra una diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre generaciones. Específicamente, la relación negativa entre densidad y el estado de ánimo auto-reportado durante la cuarentena es estadísticamente significativo para aquellos nacidos en 1969-1980 y 1994-2010, las así llamadas generaciones X y Z, respectivamente. Sin embargo, la relación no es estadísticamente significativa para aquellos nacidos entre 1949-1968 y 1981-1993, grupos conocidos como baby boomers y generación Y, respectivamente.

Background: This study tests a framework that examines the role of several mental health factors (mood, wellbeing, health consciousness, and hoarding) on individuals' overconsumption behavior under the novel coronavirus context. This examination is relevant to public health literature because it increases our knowledge on how the context of COVID-19 pandemic affects people's mental health and provides answers to why individuals engage in overconsumption behavior. Additionally, this research also follows a cross-cultural perspective aiming to understand how individuals from different cultural orientations cope with the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that compares samples from two countries: Ecuador (n = 334) and USA (n = 321). Data was collected via an online survey. The timing of data collection was set during the mandatory lockdowns and social distance measures taken by both countries to fight against the COVID-19 virus breakout. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the theorized framework. Multi-group analysis was used to explore cultural orientation differences among the relationships included in the model.Results: The results indicate that individuals' mood state has a positive relationship with health consciousness, as people try to regulate their health concerns by maintaining positive perceptions of their subjective wellbeing. Further, the increased concern individuals express in their health is responsible for them to engage in overconsumption behavior. Cultural orientation (individualism vs. collectivism) moderates the relationship between mood and health consciousness. No moderation effect was found for the relationship between health consciousness and overconsumption.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated negative effects in individuals' mental health. Findings from this study suggest that maintaining a positive mood is important for individuals at the time of mandatory lockdowns, and this effort is related to a greater concern and awareness of their health. Further, health consciousness is responsible to stimulate overconsumption behavior. This chain of effects can be explained by individuals' interest in their wellbeing. Culture plays a role in these effects. People from individualistic countries (USA) compared to people from collectivistic countries (Ecuador) demonstrate greater motivation in maintaining their positive mood by showing greater health consciousness.