IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v79y2024ics0969698924001358.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Polluted cognition: The effect of air pollution on online purchasing behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Chenxi
  • Xia, Xinyue
  • Lin, Yixun
  • Wen, Hanlin

Abstract

As a meteorological factor, air pollution has emerged as a significant marketing strategy and has garnered extensive attention from the academic community. Contrary to the prevailing lay theory, which posits an increase in online purchases due to air pollution, this study illustrates a counterintuitive result that air pollution can serve as a negative marketing cue affecting consumers’ online purchasing behaviors. Grounded in cognitive load theory, we conducted secondary data analysis and three experimental studies to scrutinize the association between air pollution and online purchases of products unrelated to air pollution. Our findings establish that air pollution can adversely influence online purchasing behavior through the sequential mediation of cognitive state and emotion. Furthermore, this adverse effect can be mitigated with products with a colorful (vs. black-and-white) scheme or associated with a foreign (vs. domestic) brand. Our research not only addresses air pollution as a negative marketing cue in the context of purchasing air pollution-unrelated products online but also clarifies these counterintuitive findings through a serial psychological process. Moreover, this research expands our understanding of the magic effect of specific intrinsic (i.e., product color) and extrinsic (i.e., country-of-origin) product attributes. Accordingly, this research offers insights into marketing strategies that encompass a broader spectrum of products (i.e., air pollution-unrelated products) during periods of air pollution, thereby contributing to online retailing performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Chenxi & Xia, Xinyue & Lin, Yixun & Wen, Hanlin, 2024. "Polluted cognition: The effect of air pollution on online purchasing behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:79:y:2024:i:c:s0969698924001358
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103839
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698924001358
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103839?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2020. "The effects of fuel standards on air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Avraham Ebenstein & Victor Lavy & Sefi Roth, 2016. "The Long-Run Economic Consequences of High-Stakes Examinations: Evidence from Transitory Variation in Pollution," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 36-65, October.
    3. Xue, Zhebin & Li, Qing & Zhao, Jian & Zeng, Xianyi, 2024. "An investigation into the relationship between clothing colors and gender stereotyping in children," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Ching-Hsiang Wu & Po-Chuen Hsieh & Frank Pan, 2017. "How Perceived Threats of Air Pollution Affect the Resident’s Purchasing Behavior of Functional Foods," Journal of Asian Business Strategy, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(1), pages 34-38.
    5. Jianhua Xu & Cheryl S.F. Chi & Kejun Zhu, 2017. "Concern or apathy: the attitude of the public toward urban air pollution," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 482-498, April.
    6. Barbera, Michael & Northey, Gavin & Septianto, Felix & Spanjaard, Daniela, 2018. "Those prices are HOT! How temperature-related visual cues anchor expectations of price and value," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 178-181.
    7. Hong, Sung-Tai & Wyer, Robert S, Jr, 1989. "Effects of Country-of-Origin and Product-Attribute Information on Product Evaluation: An Information Processing Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 175-187, September.
    8. Gilboa, Shaked & Mitchell, Vince, 2020. "The role of culture and purchasing power parity in shaping mall-shoppers’ profiles," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Chenxi Li & Xueming Luo & Cheng Zhang, 2017. "Sunny, Rainy, and Cloudy with a Chance of Mobile Promotion Effectiveness," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(5), pages 762-779, September.
    10. Tian, Xin & Cao, Shasha & Song, Yan, 2021. "The impact of weather on consumer behavior and retail performance: Evidence from a convenience store chain in China," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Pantoja, Felipe & Borges, Adilson, 2021. "Background music tempo effects on food evaluations and purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Helmefalk, Miralem & Hultén, Bertil, 2017. "Multi-sensory congruent cues in designing retail store atmosphere: Effects on shoppers’ emotions and purchase behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-11.
    13. Huang, Yingying & Gursoy, Dogan, 2024. "How does AI technology integration affect employees’ proactive service behaviors? A transactional theory of stress perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Å tulec, Ivana & Petljak, Kristina & Naletina, Dora, 2019. "Weather impact on retail sales: How can weather derivatives help with adverse weather deviations?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-10.
    15. Q. Li & C.H. Peng, 2016. "The stock market effect of air pollution: evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(36), pages 3442-3461, August.
    16. Guan, Dongxiao & Lei, Yunfei & Liu, Yu & Ma, Qinhai, 2024. "The effect of matching promotion type with purchase type on green consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Kim, Jungkeun & Spence, Mark T. & Marshall, Roger, 2018. "The Color of Choice: The Influence of Presenting Product Information in Color on the Compromise Effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 167-185.
    18. Warren J Bilkey & Erik Nes, 1982. "Country-of-Origin Effects on Product Evaluations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 13(1), pages 89-100, March.
    19. Tom Y Chang & Wei Huang & Yongxiang Wang, 2018. "Something in the Air: Pollution and the Demand for Health Insurance," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(3), pages 1609-1634.
    20. Graff Zivin, Joshua & Neidell, Matthew, 2009. "Days of haze: Environmental information disclosure and intertemporal avoidance behavior," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 119-128, September.
    21. Hyojin Lee & Xiaoyan Deng & H. Rao Unnava & Kentaro Fujita, 2014. "Monochrome Forests and Colorful Trees: The Effect of Black-and-White versus Color Imagery on Construal Level," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(4), pages 1015-1032.
    22. Sreen, Naman & Purbey, Shankar & Sadarangani, Pradip, 2018. "Impact of culture, behavior and gender on green purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 177-189.
    23. Tong Liu & Guojun He & Alexis Lau, 2018. "Avoidance behavior against air pollution: evidence from online search indices for anti-PM2.5 masks and air filters in Chinese cities," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(2), pages 325-363, April.
    24. Richins, Marsha L, 1997. "Measuring Emotions in the Consumption Experience," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 127-146, September.
    25. Muthaffar, Aisha & Vilches-Montero, Sonia, 2023. "Empowering retailers: A bounded rationality perspective to enhancing omnichannel journey satisfaction," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    26. Shi, Kunbo & Shao, Rui & De Vos, Jonas & Cheng, Long & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Is e-shopping likely to reduce shopping trips for car owners? A propensity score matching analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    27. Hoang, Hung Trong & Bich Ho, Khanh Ngoc & Tran, Trang P. & Le, Truc Quang, 2022. "The extension of animosity model of foreign product purchase: Does country of origin matter?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    28. Ching-Hsiang Wu & Po-Chuen Hsieh & Frank Pan, 2017. "How perceived threats of air pollution affect the residents purchasing behavior of functional foods," Journal of Asian Business Strategy, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(1), pages 34-38, January.
    29. Ying Ding & Yanping Tu & Jingchuan Pu & Liangfei Qiu, 2021. "Environmental Factors in Operations Management: The Impact of Air Quality on Product Demand," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(9), pages 2910-2924, September.
    30. Yaxin Ming & Chenxi Li & Jing (Elaine) Chen, 2021. "Acquisition mode and credit card overspending behavior: An empirical analysis of the credit card industry," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 232-253, March.
    31. Songpol Kulviwat & Yong Zhang & Jinyan Fan & Lu Zheng, 2016. "Understanding consumer shopping behaviour: a comparison of three theories of emotions in predicting online flow," International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 3-21.
    32. Keller, Kevin Lane, 2003. "Brand Synthesis: The Multidimensionality of Brand Knowledge," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(4), pages 595-600, March.
    33. Junhong Chu & Haoming Liu & Alberto Salvo, 2021. "Air pollution as a determinant of food delivery and related plastic waste," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(2), pages 212-220, February.
    34. Hyunju Kang & Hyunduk Suh & Jongmin Yu, 2019. "Does Air Pollution Affect Consumption Behavior? Evidence from Korean Retail Sales," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 235-251, September.
    35. Jingwen Liu & Peng Zou & Yu Ma, 2022. "The Effect of Air Pollution on Food Preferences," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 410-423, March.
    36. Li, Chenxi & Chen, Jing (Elaine) & Peng, Siyu & Huang, Jinsong & Sha, Xiqing, 2024. "Examining the effects of weather on online shopping cart abandonment: Evidence from an online retailing platform," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    37. Meyers-Levy, Joan & Peracchio, Laura A, 1995. "Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 121-138, September.
    38. Michael Conlin & Ted O'Donoghue & Timothy J. Vogelsang, 2007. "Projection Bias in Catalog Orders," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1217-1249, September.
    39. Isabel Riquelme & Sergio Román, 2014. "The Influence of Consumers’ Cognitive and Psychographic Traits on Perceived Deception: A Comparison Between Online and Offline Retailing Contexts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 405-422, February.
    40. Hsiang, Solomon M & Burke, Marshall & Miguel, Edward, 2013. "Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt28c3c631, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    41. Hyojin Lee & Xiaoyan Deng & H. Rao Unnava & Kentaro Fujita, 2014. "Monochrome Forests and Colorful Trees: The Effect of Black-and-White versus Color Imagery on Construal Level," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(4), pages 1015-1032.
    42. Luechinger, Simon, 2014. "Air pollution and infant mortality: A natural experiment from power plant desulfurization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 219-231.
    43. Xia, Fan & Xing, Jianwei & Xu, Jintao & Pan, Xiaochuan, 2022. "The short-term impact of air pollution on medical expenditures: Evidence from Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    44. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    45. Laroche, Michel & Li, Rong & Richard, Marie-Odile & Zhou, Mi, 2022. "An investigation into online atmospherics: The effect of animated images on emotions, cognition, and purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    46. Qu, Yi & Khan, Jashim & Su, Yuyang & Tong, Jiao & Zhao, Shuo, 2023. "Impulse buying tendency in live-stream commerce: The role of viewing frequency and anticipated emotions influencing scarcity-induced purchase decision," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ming, Yaxin & Deng, Huixin & Wu, Xiaoyue, 2022. "The negative effect of air pollution on people's pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 72-87.
    2. Hu, Jianhao & Zhang, Xuan & Chen, Hanyu(Yuki) & Li, Wanyue, 2024. "When it rains, it pours? The impact of weather on customer returns in the brick-and-mortar retail store," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Tian, Xin & Cao, Shasha & Song, Yan, 2021. "The impact of weather on consumer behavior and retail performance: Evidence from a convenience store chain in China," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Chen, Shuai & Oliva, Paulina & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The effect of air pollution on migration: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    5. Sinha, Rajesh Kumar, 2021. "Subscription and casual customers’ differential sensitivity to meteorological characteristics," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    6. Wes Austin & Stefano Carattini & John Gomez Mahecha & Michael Pesko, 2020. "Covid-19 Mortality and Contemporaneous Air Pollution," CESifo Working Paper Series 8609, CESifo.
    7. Tiansheng Xia & Xiujuan Fan & Jingwei Zhang & Tingting Liu, 2023. "Influence of Complexity in Low-Fat Food Packaging on Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    8. Choi, Jungsil & Li, Yexin Jessica & Rangan, Priyamvadha & Yin, Bingqing & Singh, Surendra N., 2020. "Opposites attract: Impact of background color on effectiveness of emotional charity appeals," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 644-660.
    9. Batkeyev, Birzhan & DeRemer, David R., 2023. "Mountains of evidence: The effects of abnormal air pollution on crime," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 288-319.
    10. Kim, Jungkeun & Spence, Mark T. & Marshall, Roger, 2018. "The Color of Choice: The Influence of Presenting Product Information in Color on the Compromise Effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 167-185.
    11. Austin, Wes & Carattini, Stefano & Gomez-Mahecha, John & Pesko, Michael F., 2023. "The effects of contemporaneous air pollution on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Stanko Dimitrov & Régis Y. Chenavaz & Octavio Escobar, 2023. "Accounting for Climate When Determining the Impact of Weather on Retail Sales," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-18, September.
    13. Tac, Nurullah & Aglargoz, Ozan, 2007. "Turquality: an innovative unique model for making global brands out of Turkish products," SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 10(1), pages 127-137.
    14. Yu, Julie H. & Albaum, Gerald, 2002. "Sovereignty change influences on consumer ethnocentrism and product preferences: Hong Kong revisited one year later," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(11), pages 891-899, November.
    15. Wang, Qian & Wang, Jun & Gao, Feng, 2021. "Who is more important, parents or children? Economic and environmental factors and health insurance purchase," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    16. Colmer, Jonathan & Lin, Dajun & Liu, Siying & Shimshack, Jay, 2021. "Why are pollution damages lower in developed countries? Insights from high-Income, high-particulate matter Hong Kong," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Arik Levinson, 2020. "Happiness and air pollution," Chapters, in: David Maddison & Katrin Rehdanz & Heinz Welsch (ed.), Handbook on Wellbeing, Happiness and the Environment, chapter 9, pages 164-182, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Oswald, Andrew J., 2020. "Is there a link between air pollution and impaired memory? Evidence on 34,000 english citizens," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    19. Yuanqiong He & Junfang Zhang & Yuanyuan Zhou & Zhilin Yang, 2019. "“Monkey See, Monkey Do?”: The Effect of Construal Level on Consumers’ Reactions to Others’ Unethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 455-472, May.
    20. Cuffaro, Nadia & Di Giacinto, Marina, 2015. "Credence goods, consumers’ trust in regulation and high quality exports," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 4(2), pages 1-19, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:79:y:2024:i:c:s0969698924001358. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.