Linguistic racism is faced by non-native customers due to their different language style when they go through the service exchange process. Despite its prevalence and importance, there is a dearth of research about linguistic racism in the marketing literature, especially from consumers' perspectives. This dissertation thus aims to address this gap by focusing on consumers' cognitive and affective responses as a result to their linguistic racism experiences when they interact with service employees (native speakers) from the host country. Toward this goal, first (Essay 1), a qualitative study is performed to anchor the dissertation in the customers' real-life experiences and to help identify key associated themes which are further empirically examined (Essay 2 & 3) in this three-essay format dissertation. Essay 2 empirically investigates if the identity assignment through ones' language style makes customers feel stigmatized and influence their psychological well-being. In addition, how these experiences subsequently influence their inclination to use technology-mediated interfaces. Similarly, the main objective of Essay 3 was to employ a sociological perspective to examine the impact of language-based chronic social exclusion on non-native customers' psychological and behavioral responses in the marketplace. Moreover, their intention to pay higher tip as a refocusing strategy when these customers …

Ambient lighting has emerged as a key atmospheric factor influencing how consumers process environmental cues and their behaviors. However, surprisingly little research has examined how people think and feel in the dark (lower than 15 lux). This is particularly relevant given that consumers routinely work, pay bills, relax, consume and make purchases in settings with little or no light. My dissertation addresses this gap by examining how consumers regulate their goals and process information when the light is off, and how that impacts their decision making in three substantive domains: risk-taking behavior, decision quality, and persuasion. In Essay 1, I propose darkness enables risk-taking behavior, and this effect happens through the calmness and relaxation induced in the dark. One caveat is that the decisions have to be made in a familiar setting. The effect was reflected in participants' decisions to invest in riskier yet lucrative stocks, to gamble with the riskier choice, to eat at a foreign restaurant, and to choose a supplement that has potential side effects in a field experiment and three lab experiments (pre-registered). In Essay 2, I propose that when the light is off, consumers are indeed induced to adopt an effortful processing mode. Across four …

Contract selection is at the forefront of risk management and mitigation, yet it is an underrepresented area of research in supply chain management field as well as the influences of individual-level risk propensity and risk perception on supply chain decision-making processes. This dissertation explores effects of managerial risk propensity and risk perception on contract selection through the theoretical lens of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), using a vignette-based experimental research design. This body of work introduces both a first-ever systemmigram of TCE in relation to contract selection, and a novel measurement scale for TCE contract typology. Furthermore, this dissertation tests the TCE predictions towards contract selection and explores the moderating role of financial risk propensity and risk perception (cost vs. supplier performance) on contract selection. The main theoretical contribution of this research is the opening of an old debate on the risk neutrality assumption of TCE, by providing empirical evidence that individual-level risk propensity and perception effect contract selection. The practical implications are significant and points out to the need for a better fit between individual-level and firm-level risk propensity.