Young Consumers

Congratulations to the winners.

Nominating an outstanding paper (2024) has been challenging but the paper by Schuster et al. is a standout.

While we appreciate all editorial review members, these members are nominated based on their constructive comments and consistent delivery in review in 2024.

To learn more about the journal, please visit https://www.emerald.com/yc

Emerald East and Southeast Asia

Many might not realise that the full journal title for Young Consumers is "Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for Responsible Marketers". In addition to advancing theory and knowledge pertaining to young consumer behaviour, the journal also focuses on practical implications and real impact. To learn more about the journal, please visit https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Webinar on Publication today.
If you wish to join the webinar at 9 PM (GMT+8), just click https://rb.gy/mkl9gx

Great talking to Prof Rita Kottasz, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing (previously known as International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing) for joining YC as a board member and more potential collaborations. Welcome aboard Rita.

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "EWOM firestorm: young consumers and online community"

Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of homophily in an online community and the effect of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) consensus on young consumers’ attitudes.

Findings: The results indicate that a high consensus of negative eWOM among online community members leads to significant changes in attitude, while a low consensus of negative eWOM does not produce such an effect. Negative eWOM from either high or low homophilous sources produces significant changes in attitude. There are significant attitude changes when a strong consensus of
negative eWOM is received from a source with a high level of homophily.

Implication: Service failures in offline service settings lead to the dissemination of negative eWOM on social media. To handle and prevent social media crises, researchers should understand online crises antecedents relating to information characteristics i.e. eWOM consensus and characteristics of online community members to evaluate the crises impact. Brands should monitor tone and dialogue of online community member on social media to remedy and diminish any damage done to their brand image from negative eWOM.

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "COVID vaccine and generation Z – a study of factors influencing adoption"

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that affect Generation Z behavior in the adoption of the COVID-19 Vaccine.

Findings: The results reveal that the key variables that expedite the adoption process among Generation Z is Observability, Country of Origin, Brand and Word of mouth. Observability is the most influential variable, followed by word of mouth in the adoption of the vaccine. This study holds much importance to the marketers, to come up with carefully orchestrated campaigns to demonstrate the
success of the vaccine, which could influence a faster rate of adoption.

Implication: –The research is limited to University students who belong to Generation Z, the studies on other demographic groups could reveal other interesting insights. A quantitative study examining the relationship of the adoption and other variables will conform to the results of the study.

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting

Young Consumers Special Issue: Last Call in November 2022

Infodemics, Young Consumers and Responsible Stakeholdership

The following topics are welcome:

1. The impact of infodemics on the behaviour, physical, and psychological well-being of young consumers as well as the implications of internal and/or external factors.

2. The manner by which social marketing interventions help young consumers overcome anxiety, fear, and extreme behaviour when they are exposed to infodemics.

3. The impact of infodemics on familial, organizational, and societal well-being and the needed actions in response.

4. The (potential) threat of misinformation, disinformation, and rumours spread by young consumers through social media to public health and the ways to overcome.

5. The effect of the intentional, unintentional or deliberate spread of infodemics on (dis)trust and various behavioural responses towards health institutions, organisations, and governments.

6. Strategies or measures organisations and regulators use to design interventions that can detect, monitor, and prevent the spreading of misleading information.

7. Responsible consumerism among young consumers in the face of infodemics, such as verification process and sharing behaviours, during the pandemic crisis and the economic recovery.

8. The responsibility of stakeholders (e.g., who they are and what they should do) in the development and implementation of effective management of infodemics with regard to young consumers during and after the pandemic.

9. The roles and relevance of social marketing plans and techniques in enabling young consumers to comply with health directives in the face of infodemics.

10. The challenges and prospects of information processing, sharing and verification system on the digital platforms in improving young consumers’ decision-making, health and well-being in the long run through the lens of Sustainable Development Goals.

Submission Procedure:
Submissions to this journal are through the ScholarOne submission system here:
https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/yc

Please visit the author guidelines for the journal at:
https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "How over-the-top (OTT) platforms engage young consumers over traditional pay television service? An analysis of changing consumer preferences and gamification"

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse how the top over-the-top (OTT) platform is becoming a preferred source of entertainment amongst young consumers over traditional Pay TV service (Cable TV/DTH) in India and what factors play a vital role in such preferences along with gamification of content. The study follows the theoretical framework of use and gratifications theory and Niche analysis.

Findings: Empirical results and discussion insinuated the five factors which affect consumers’ choices concerning entertainment i.e. content and viewing behaviour, expenses incurred on services, shifts influenced by offerings/incentives, convenience and telecom. Logistic regression validated the strength of these factors which made content and viewing behaviour, expenses incurred on services and convenience the three most important factors

Implication: This study analyses the driving factors that are revolutionising the entertainment industry and can be applied in designing a comfortable and engaging experience for a consumer in the future.

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "The moderating role of age on social media marketing activities and customer brand engagement on Instagram social network"

Purpose: In the context of fashion brands on Instagram platform, this study aims to investigate the impact of age on the relationships between informative, interactive and trendy social media marketing (SMM) activities, customer brand engagement (CBE) and brand loyalty.

Findings: The results of this study demonstrate that informativeness of SMM activities relates positively and significantly to CBE in all age groups. However, the strength and the significance of interactive and trendy social media activities differ between age groups.

Implication: This study used only two age groups of college students to answer the research questions. Despite that tech-savvy millennials and generation Z are highly engaged in social media environment, the results may not be representative of the entire population and the findings may be cautiously generalized to other platform types or product categories.

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "Are business students more financially literate? Evidence of differences in financial literacy amongst Portuguese college students"

Purpose: Considering the importance of financial literacy (FL) in people’s lives the goal of this study aims to assess the level of FL of young Portuguese students, addressing the impact of the level of education on the FL of college students.

Findings: The findings show that the level of the degree (bachelor’s or master’s degree) and the academic background of the individual’s parents have a positive impact on FL. Moreover, among individuals with a high level of FL, gender and professional situation are additional predictors. Furthermore, the authors observed that the level of FL of Portuguese students attending higher education is overall low, especially in terms of their knowledge of the main financial concepts, which may call for public policies to be implemented so that to reduce this vulnerability.

Implication: Among limitations is the limited sample collected, restricted to a particular target, Portuguese students attending business-related courses such as Economics, Management and Marketing, either studying for a master’s or bachelor’s degree. This issue restricts the generalization of the overall findings to other students studying different fields. Future studies can collect a random and representative sample.

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting

Found out another interesting article in Young Consumers, "Influence of cartoon characters on generation alpha in purchase decisions"

Purpose: This study aims to understand the influence of cartoon characters on the generation alpha (GA) in purchase decision-making, supported by the theory of planned behaviour

Findings: The study shows the favourable impact of cartoon characters to influence the behaviour of
GA while making the final purchase decision. The likability was found to be significantly related to the recall, willingness to try/buy. The recall was significantly related to willingness to try/buy and purchase intention. Willingness to try/but was significantly related to purchase intention, but it has no significant relation with the final purchase decision, whereas purchase intention had significant relation with the final purchase decision.

Implication: The study indicates that generating likability for cartoon characters among GA is important. Managers should recognize that although parents make the final purchase decision,
however, children play an influential role. Advertisers should plan their communication accordingly. An emotional connection with cartoons can influence GA, which further impacts recall, willingness to try/buy, purchase intention and decision

Link to the emerald page: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/yc

Editor-in-Chief: Hiram Ting