Mobile shopping is increasing in prevalence and has become a necessary part of many people’s daily lives. However, one main channel for mobile shopping, mobile shopping applications (apps), has not been thoroughly investigated. This study focused on mobile text advertising delivered from mobile shopping apps using the intention to purchase as the dependent variable for testing its marketing effect. In the context of a promotion focus vs. a prevention focus, we used Higgins’ regulatory focus theory combined with Ajzen's TPB and Herzog’s U&G to analyze the mechanism by which consumers formulate an intention to purchase in a mobile advertising context. This empirical study surveyed 320 consumers who had made a purchase using a mobile shopping app in the previous month. The results showed that infotainment, irritation, and subjective norms were significantly associated with attitudes; in turn, attitudes mediated the impact of these three factors on the intention to purchase. Moreover, a high promotion focus not only strengthened the positive effect of infotainment on attitudes but also intensified the mediation effect of attitudes between infotainment and the intention to purchase. A high prevention focus also consolidated the negative effect of irritation on attitudes as well as reinforced the mediation effect of attitudes between irritation and the intention to purchase. Furthermore, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control collectively impacted the intention to purchase. These findings shed light on ways to customize goods information in mobile advertising and have strong theoretical and practical implications.

We examined the influence of the overall content characteristic of short message service (SMS) advertising on consumer attitudes toward advertising on mobile devices. Attitudes of 246 Chinese (145 women, 101 men) toward permission-based SMS advertising received on electronic products were measured using structural equation modeling. Results showed that of the 4 dimensions of the overall content characteristic, entertainment, informativeness, and credibility positively and significantly influenced the attitude of consumers, whereas irritation had a negative effect. In addition, the overall content characteristic significantly impacted on consumer attitudes, with advertising value playing a mediating role. Finally, the influencing path coefficients revealed a significant difference according to gender. The credibility dimension had a greater impact on attitude toward the overall content characteristic for women than for men. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Mobile marketing has become an effective medium for advertisers. Effective mobile advertising could greatly improve customers purchase intention in this context. This study focuses on the prevailing form of mobile advertising, i.e., SMS advertising. Based on the theory of planned behavior, the authors explore the influence of SMS advertising on the consumer behavior in China. Participants are Chinese students and office workers. The results indicate that (a) the perceived infotainment and credibility have a positive significant effect on consumer attitudes, whereas irritation has a negative significant effect on consumer attitudes; (b) attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control have significant effects on the intention to use; (c) attitudes also mediate the relationship between subjective norms and intention to use; and (d) men and women pursue different paths to influence the intention to use. Based on the above results, theoretical and practical implications are also discussed in this study.

Perceived value is a key factor shaping consumer purchase decisions. In the field of functional snack consumption, generational differences in value perception dimensions significantly influence decision-making processes, creating both challenges and opportunities for targeted marketing. Drawing on perceived value theory, this study develops a model examining the impact of perceived value on consumption intention for functional snacks. A questionnaire survey was conducted among Chinese Generation Y and Generation Z consumers, and the data were analyzed using PLS-SEM and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results indicate that self-oriented values (functional and hedonic) exert a significant positive effect on other-oriented values (symbolic and social), and both categories of values positively affect consumption intention. Regarding generational moderation, the effects of functional and hedonic values on purchase intention do not differ significantly across generations; however, symbolic value has a stronger influence on Generation Z, while social value plays a more prominent role for Generation Y. Importance–Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) results further reveal differences in the relative importance and performance of value perception between the two groups. Configuration analysis shows that compared with Generation Y, Generation Z exhibits a higher threshold for strong consumption intention, a lower threshold for weak consumption intention, and greater sensitivity to value deficiency. These findings provide practical insights for functional snack companies to address generational differences and optimize marketing strategies.

With the popularity of the Internet and the vigorous development of Chinese automobile market, the potential of Chinese network used car market is gradually emerging. But at present, the transaction volume of online used cars in China is far lower than that of offline transactions. This paper aims to explore the impact of specific variables on the transaction intention of online used car users. By collecting questionnaires and analyzing the data through SPSS, this paper intends to establish a model. It found that six independent variables have a significant effect on the purchase intention, and the perceived value partial mediated the impacts of perceived risk, perceived benefit and perceived cost on the purchase intention. The results can provide optimization ideas for the design of online used car platform.

Promoting sustainable consumption requires communication strategies that make environmental benefits persuasive while recognizing consumers’ private economic motives. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response framework, this study compares environmental versus economic advertising appeals for the same household product and tests whether consumer–nature empathy mediates their effect on purchase intention and whether environmental involvement conditions appeal effectiveness. A pretest (N = 60) validated two matched laundry-detergent advertisements. The main between-subjects experiment included 300 participants, with 150 assigned to each condition. Environmental appeals generated higher purchase intention than economic appeals (M = 4.33 vs. 3.35, d = 0.91). Consumer–nature empathy partially mediated this effect (indirect effect = 0.251, 95% bootstrap CI [0.139, 0.379]). Treating environmental involvement as a continuous variable revealed a significant appeal × involvement interaction (B = 0.524, 95% CI [0.371, 0.678]). Environmental involvement positively predicted purchase intention under environmental appeals but negatively predicted it under economic appeals. The findings show that sustainable advertising effectiveness depends on both affective resonance with nature and alignment between message framing and audience involvement. The study contributes to sustainable-consumption research by integrating message design, nature-focused empathy, and audience segmentation within a controlled experimental framework.