The Interaction of Facial Expression and Donor-Recipient Eye Contact in Donation Intentions: Based on the Intensity of Emotion.

Both happy and sad facial expressions of recipients are frequently used in charity advertisements. However, the relative effectiveness of these two types of facial expressions has been found paradoxical in the past. In this study, we examine when happy facial expression can more effectively increase donation intentions of consumers and when vice versa. Specially, we propose that eye contact between a donor and a potential recipient may moderate the relative effectiveness of happy and sad facial expressions, and further explain the interaction effect from the perspective of emotional intensity. Results from two experiments suggest that, when donor-recipient eye contact is present, consumers tend to have stronger emotional intensity, and, in turn, show higher donation intentions when the recipient is with a happy rather than sad facial expression. In contrast, when the eye contact is absent, consumers may show stronger emotional intensity and donation intentions toward the charity advertisement with a recipient showing sad rather than happy expression.

Effect of CSR contribution timing during COVID-19 pandemic on consumers' prepayment purchase intentions: Evidence from hospitality industry in China.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions are essential for hospitality companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how CSR contribution timing during the pandemic might affect consumers' prepayment purchase intentions. This paper takes a hospitality company as an example, using two experiments to explore (a) the effect of CSR contribution timing on consumers' prepayment purchase intentions and (b) the potential roles of psychological contracts and distance to the COVID-19 risk center. Study 1 demonstrated that CSR contributions during the COVID-19 outbreak (vs. after its peak) led consumers to have higher prepayment purchase intentions, revealing the impact of CSR contribution timing. This effect was also driven by psychological contracts between consumers and the hospitality company. Study 2 showed that, when participants were in the peripheral area of a COVID-19 outbreak, CSR contributions during the outbreak (vs. after its peak) increased prepayment purchase intentions whereas the opposite effect occurred when consumers were in the risk center.

Dimension, Content, and Role of Platform Psychological Contract: Based on Online Ride-Hailing Users.

Online sharing platforms are a new form of enterprising organizations. Their interaction with users exhibits unique characteristics. Based on the extant literature on psychological contracts and interviews, a survey, and statistical analyses of online ride-hailing users, we explore the dimension, content, and role of platform psychological contracts. The results show that the platform psychological contract includes transactional and relational dimensions. The latter dimension features social responsibility contents, which are distinct from that of a traditional enterprise. Using the scale developed herein, we further examine the effect of psychological contract breach on platform relationship quality. Evidently, both dimensions of psychological contract breach are negatively correlated with platform relationship quality. Besides, the value-added validity of relational psychological contract breach with respect to platform relationship quality is higher, suggesting the importance of the relational psychological contract.

Using Images of Eyes to Enhance Green Brand Purchase Intentions Through Green Brand Anthropomorphism Strategies: The Moderator Role of Facial Expression.

This study uses an experimental comparison to analyze the effects of anthropomorphic strategies that use images with eyes (vs. those without eyes) on consumers' willingness to buy green products, as well as the mechanism of action. The study finds that concerning the anthropomorphic features of a product, anthropomorphic strategies containing images of eyes lead to more positive purchase intention for green products than those without images of eyes. Simultaneously, these green purchase intentions are mediated through the variable of green trust regardless of whether the anthropomorphic strategies feature eyes. Beyond this, the discussed effects are moderated when anthropomorphic strategies featuring different facial expressions are used. The findings of this study provide useful suggestions for green brand marketing strategies and management practices that use anthropomorphism.

Good News or Bad News? How Message Framing Influences Consumers' Willingness to Buy Green Products.

Despite the growing social interest in green products, companies often find it difficult to find effective strategies to induce consumers to purchase green products or engage in other environmentally friendly behaviors. To address this situation, we examined the favorable or unfavorable effects of positive and negative message frames on consumers' willingness to consume green products in different psychological distance contexts. Through two Studies, we found that the positive information framework played a more pronounced role in context when consumers were in closer spatial distances. More importantly, we found that the emotional factors of fear and hope were intrinsic causes of this phenomenon. Correspondingly, the negative information framework played a better facilitating role in context with farther spatial distance, while shame and pride were the emotions responsible for this effect. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our work, as well as its limitations and future research directions.