Purpose Most business-related studies on ethics focus on consumers in developed western economies but ignore developing economies. Therefore, to fill this void in the literature and address the concerns of prior studies, the purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical perceptions of Chinese consumers as an example of effective and efficient management of company/brand strategies in an economy experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth. Design/methodology/approach This study examines 328 Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions based on their ethical perceptions toward Apple and P&G through mediating (i.e. consumer–corporate identification (CCI) and brand trust) and moderating (i.e. consumer gender, age, education and residence) effects. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the constructs and overall model. Findings The ethical perceptions of consumers translate into purchase intentions, both at the corporate and product brand levels. Similarly, a significant direct relationship between CCI and brand trust reveals that corporate-level ethical identification is a trivial matter to customers, although these perceptions do apply to product brands under a corporate umbrella. Furthermore, to identify target groups of Chinese consumers who are receptive to ethical appeals, moderating variables were found to be useful. Originality/value The results confirm that the mediating role of CCI is more influential in the context of Chinese consumers’ ethical perceptions, followed by brand trust. In relation to demographics, ethical perceptions affect CCI and brand trust more positively in females and highly educated consumers in China. Similarly, the relationship between consumers’ ethical perception and their trust in brand is revealed more influential in urban residents than they do in rural. This broadens the applications and contexts of this research model. The results provide managerial guidance on enhancing potential ethical perceptions.

Customers are skeptical about shopping online because e-commerce environments are typically considered impersonal. To assure product quality and to enhance customer proclivity in such environments, post-sale services (i.e., product returns, exchange, and maintenance) may be considered to alleviate customers’ skepticism. Therefore, this study’s objective is to investigate the role of an online retailer’s post-sale services (i.e., product return, exchange, and maintenance) on customers’ attitudinal (building relationships) and behavioral aspects (developing customers’ repurchase intentions). Structural equation modeling is applied to data collected through an online survey answered by 409 online customers of jd.com (after missing data were removed). Research findings show that product return, exchange, and maintenance services are strongly predictive of online customer satisfaction, and satisfaction significantly impacts customer trust. Both customer satisfaction and trust, as indicators of relationship quality, further mediate the links between product return, exchange, and maintenance services and online customer repurchase intention. In addition, differences between male and female customers were found in various aspects of online retailers’ product return, exchange, and maintenance services. This is the first empirical study that not only examines the influence of all three dimensions of online retailers’ post-sale services on customers’ online shopping perceptions and decisions, but also considers differences between male and female customers. Finally, this research provides theoretical and managerial implications based on conceptual and empirical evidence.

Prior studies on the experiences of international students in China have mostly focused on their academic, sociocultural, and accommodation experiences. Hence, student health and safety, discrimination, and the services by the International Student Office (ISO) have remained unexplored. Moreover, due to the motivational differences between the students from developing and developed regions, a study that samples students from both regions may depict an exact picture of the experience of international students. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the influence of the dimensions (including those dimensions that have been ignored) of the experience of international students on their satisfaction. In addition, we make recommendations regarding Chinese institutes for future students based on a comparison between the students from developing and developed regions. Using hierarchical regression analysis, this study reveals that educational and non-educational experiences vary among students from different regions. Therefore, based on developing (e.g., Asia and Africa) and developed (e.g., America, Europe, and Australia) regions, important recommendations are discussed regarding how educational institutions and the Chinese government could best allocate resources and introduce policies to improve the experience of international students.

Consumer trust plays an important role in any type of business deal specifically in an online setting. Though, there are hypothetical reasons to assume that the perceived risk acts as a fence to consumer trust. Likewise, existing literature suggest that consumers trust is a significant predictor of purchase intention. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the role of consumer trust in an online setting in the relationships among components of perceived risk (such as performance risk, online payment, and delivery risk) and purchase intention. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypothetical relationship in this context. While probing the total effect, the findings shown that performance, online payment, and delivery risks have a significant negative effect on purchase intention. This research also accomplishes that efforts, made by an online store, to diminish certain types of risk will first increase consumer trust, and then finally, increases consumers intention to purchase online. The managerial implications of the outcomes are also discussed.

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