How Positive and Negative Emotions Promote Ritualistic Consumption Through Different Mechanisms.

Ritualistic consumption refers to integrating ritual elements into the process of product design and usage. By conducting three studies, we find that ritualistic consumption can offer new and interesting experiences and help consumers gain a sense of control. Both positive and negative emotions can promote ritualistic consumption tendencies. However, their underlying psychological mechanisms are different. Specifically, positive emotion can arouse consumers' desire for interesting experience and thus promotes their preference for ritualistic consumption, while negative emotion can arouse consumers' need for control and thus promote their preference for ritualistic consumption. Our research results offer a theoretical contribution and practical inspiration for emotional marketing.

How Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect People's Willingness to Pay for Health in the Short and Long Term? A Longitudinal Study during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a substantial threat to people's lives and aroused health concerns. This study aims at exploring the following questions. First, how does the COVID-19 pandemic affect people's willingness to pay for health (WPH) in the short and long term? Second, what is the psychological mechanism underlying such an effect? Finally, what are the boundary conditions for this effect? To answer these questions, we conducted three longitudinal surveys. The first survey was launched in February 2020-the time of the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in China. Data were obtained from 1548 participants through questionnaires on an online survey platform. The sample covered 297 prefecture-level cities in 31 provincial administrative regions. Subsequently, we conducted two follow-up surveys in August 2020 and July 2021. The samples of these surveys were randomly selected from the sample of the first survey. The findings showed that the pandemic promoted people's WPH in the outbreak period. The fear of death and self-esteem mediated and moderated this effect, respectively. Moreover, the effect persisted for six months after the COVID-19 pandemic had been brought under control (August 2020). However, the effect disappeared after a year and a half (July 2021). These results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic promoted people's WPH and that this effect was sustained in the short term after the pandemic had been brought under control but not in the long term.

How Does a Public Health Emergency Motivate People's Impulsive Consumption? An Empirical Study during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China.

Impulsive consumption is a typical behavior that people often present during public health emergencies, which usually leads to negative outcomes. This study investigates how public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, affect people's impulsive consumption behavior. Data from 1548 individuals in China during the COVID-19 outbreak was collected. The sample covered 297 prefecture-level cities in 31 provincial administrative regions. The research method included the use of a structural equation model to test multiple research hypotheses. The study finds that the severity of a pandemic positively affects people's impulsive consumption. Specifically, the more severe the pandemic, the more likely people are to make impulsive consumption choices. The results indicate that both perceived control and materialism play mediating roles between the severity of a pandemic and impulsive consumption. As conclusions, people's impulsive consumption during public health emergencies can be weakened either by enhancing their perceived control or by reducing their materialistic tendency. These conclusions are valuable and useful for a government's crisis response and disaster risk management.