Purpose: Using the theory of planned behavior as its basis, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among beliefs about electronic service quality (E-S-QUAL); consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU); and beliefs about perceived behavioral control, expectations of important others, and cross-border online purchasing behavioral intention. The effects of E-S-QUAL and CNFU on attitude are examined with data collected from Korean consumers who have cross-border online purchasing experience.Design/methodology/approach: The authors evaluate the research model in this study and test the hypotheses using partial least squares, an OLS regression-based estimation method that focuses on predicting independent variables hypothesized to have a causal relationship that maximizes the explanatory variance of the dependent variable.Findings: Analysis of the data emphasizes that beliefs about E-S-QUAL and CNFU positively affect attitudes toward buying online from international sites, which in turn positively affect purchasing intention. Also, beliefs about self-efficacy and normative structure regarding cross-border online purchasing positively affect behavioral intentions.Originality/value: This paper develops a conceptual model explaining consumers’ intentions to shop online across national borders. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the previous studies have particularly mentioned the associations between beliefs about e-service quality and actual behavioral intentions in the context of cross-border online shopping. Also, the important role of CNFU has been ignored as one of the factors that can affect consumers’ decisions to shop online beyond national borders. In regard to this matter, the authors aim to investigate cross-border online shopping factors that can help international e-commerce gain a better understanding of the needs of their consumers.

This study investigates the moderating effects of consumer personality traits and the mediating effects of social influence susceptibility in consumers on the relationship between individuals’ cultural orientations and intentions toward online group buying (OGB). The Big Five personality dimensions, normative social influence, and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are considered. Because understanding what motivates consumer intentions toward OGB is a major focus of firms and OGB website operators, this study contributes to the topic by identifying consumers’ personality traits and levels of susceptibility to social influences, which impact OGB intentions. Findings in Study 1 reveal that consumer personality traits (e.g., agreeableness) moderate the impact of individual cultural orientations (i.e., collectivism) on intentions toward OGB. Study 2 describes the mediation process of susceptibility to normative social influences on OGB intentions. The findings from this study bridge a literature gap in the context of OGB by demonstrating how OGB site operators can improve marketing strategies, leading to increase sustainable purchase intention. The article concludes with managerial implications by providing insights for online group buying sites and firms, particularly those that target collectivistic cultural markets.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating roles of equality and scarcity on the impact of underdog brand positioning on consumer purchase intentions. Beyond testing the relationship between underdog brand positioning and purchase intentions (Study 1), the study examines how the equality perception affects consumer choices on underdog brands (Study 2) and how the reasons for product scarcity influence purchase intentions of consumers with prosocial orientations (Study 3). Design/methodology/approach: A research model is developed, depicting the impact of underdog brand positioning on purchase intentions via social value orientations and scarcity types. The conceptual model is validated using moderation process modeling and data for which are collected through sets of structured questionnaires analyzed through PROCESS modeling in SPSS. Findings: The findings support that compared with top dog brand positioning, underdog brand positioning has a greater impact on consumers’ purchase intentions, and consumers with prosocial orientations generate greater purchase intentions than consumers with proself orientations. In addition, the demand-caused product scarcity also moderates the relationship between underdog brand biography and purchase intentions. Originality/value: The study contributes to the ongoing research on brand positioning by examining the associations between equality perception and purchase intentions in the context of underdog brand biography. The study also shows the value of demand-caused scarcity as a moderator of the underdog brand–purchase intention linkage.

Independent and small businesses often rely on underdog positioning strategies to gain market share against larger and more established companies. However, the effectiveness of these strategies remains unclear. The current study aims to investigate how different consumer personalities may influence their responses towards underdog positioning strategies. Two experimental studies with U.K. consumers (n = 349) show that the relationship between underdog status and positive attitudes is not as straightforward as previously believed. The research uses the lens of self-efficacy theory and found that underdog status positively correlates with perceived effort, consumer preference, and willingness to commit only among consumers with high trait agreeableness. In other words, although consumers generally acknowledge the efforts exerted by underdog providers, our study found that only agreeable consumers are more likely to reciprocate these efforts with increased positive attitudes. These findings contribute to the growing literature that examines the efficacy of the underdog effect. Subsequently, the findings have strong implications in ensuring the sustainability of small businesses by ensuring that marketing spending is optimized to target only the most effective consumer segments.

Purpose - Small independent brands from local companies often use underdog positioning to compete with established global brands. However, whether the effectiveness of underdog positioning of local businesses in the service sector remains insufficient. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underdog effect on the preference of Korean consumers for individual service providers positioned as underdogs. Design/methodology - The author examines the research question of this study using a one-way ANOVA in three different positioning (underdog vs. top dog vs. control) between-subjects design, with a group of Korean participants. Findings - The experimental study shows that support for independent local (vs. global) service providers positioned as underdogs is straightforward. Using the lens of consumer identification with underdog biographies, this study found that consumers prefer small local service providers with passion and determination regardless of their disadvantages. Originality/value - To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effectiveness of underdog positioning in the context of individual service providers. As it competes with global service companies for domestic consumer preference in Korea, the findings have great implications for ensuring the sustainability of small local service providers.