Investigation of Consumer Attitude Impacting Parameters in Online Shopping

1. Introduction

A global consumption pattern, which is also rapidly expanding in Iran, is the passion for luxury goods, including luxury cosmetics and hygiene products. This is most popular among the younger generation of society [1] . The promotion of global luxury brands in Iran, such as cosmetics from MAC, Clinique, Chanel, Kiehl’s, Lancôme, Dior, Morph, and Toofaced are examples of this phenomenon. In recent years, with the increase in the number of smartphone internet users and virtual networks, including Telegram and Instagram, the attention of many manufacturers and sellers has been drawn to this area as a product supply channel. The beauty and luxury of the products could cause internal motivation and an intention to buy, and this passion is a type of emotion that appears instantly. In addition, considering the young population of Iran, which consists of 45 % of the total population according to statistics of the Iranian Statistics Center, (35.7 million people in the age group of 20 to 44 years) (Iran Statistics Center 2019), this phenomenon becomes more evident. The role of customer emotions is evident in the purchase of luxury goods and emotions have a large role in the formation of consumer experience and influence people’s consumption reactions. Consumption emotions are kind of the emotional reactions experienced before and during the consumption of a product [2]. Today’s consumers establish an emotional relationship with the product and brand and based thereupon, he/she decides to choose and buy [3,4,5]. Therefore, being aware of the role of customer emotions can be very important for product marketing [6] . In addition, identifying all variables that excite customers in a market and which lead to the purchase process is specific to that market, which may be caused by factors such as the variety and options of products, prices, shopping environment, and other factors mentioned previously. Therefore, in each market, these and other factors that have not yet been identified should be investigated based on the environmental, cultural, technological, and other characteristics of that market. As mentioned in foreign studies, the factors affecting the emotions of customers, especially in online shopping, are not comprehensively measured, and most of the research has been conducted in offline stores, for example, [7,8,9]. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the factors affecting emotions in an online environment from the perspective of customers as well as from the perspective of experts by using comprehensive views. In addition, considering that the previous foreign studies were conducted in the western cultural context, their results cannot be generalized to all markets, especially the cosmetics market in Iran. Therefore, more generalizable results can be created by considering cultures different from the western ones. Conducting comprehensive research in the Iranian market, considering the different values of consumers for choosing products, as well as the clear difference between luxury cosmetic brands and those available in Iran, which have been examined in the studies conducted in the dimension of creating excitement and the factors affecting it for customers can fill the existing gaps and the current study also seeks to achieve such goals.

2. Background

2.1. The theoretical background of the study

2.1.1. Customer emotion

Emotion expression is another form of discourse that is universally treated and understood. Emotions must be considered as a distinctive element to enrich the product or service offered [10]. Emotions refer to the evaluation of customer feelings about the experience of a company brand, product, or service [11]. Emotion is an attitude that can stimulate, organize and guide people’s perceptions, thoughts and behaviors. Emotions affect all aspects of consumption from pre-purchase decisions to post-consumption behaviors [10]. Researchers distinguish between general emotions and consumption-specific emotions. Unlike general emotions, consumption-specific emotions especially occur during the use of a product or maybe evoked and be considered as effective responses. Emotions are short and sharp waves of feeling that occur without conscious effort and are usually accompanied by increased activation of the autonomic nervous system, and physiological changes in heart rate and breathing [12]. Many authors admit that there are positive and negative effects in the experience of emotions, all people have either positive or negative emotions. [13] suggested that people’s emotional indicators include 62 emotional states. [14] believes that a person can express his emotions with his facial expressions and may present ten basic emotions including interest, pleasure, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt. [13] identified eight main emotions, including fear, anger, joy, sadness, acceptance, self-disgust, anticipation, and surprise. In his study, [15] considered negative emotions, which included fear, anger, shame, discomfort, and disappointment. [16], considered the dimensions of customer emotions including excitement, enthusiasm, fun, happiness, interest, excitement, and inspiration. [17] showed emotions with the components of anger, comfort, pleasure, fear, happiness, importance, confusion, pride, specialness and distinctiveness, sadness, shame, and complexity. [9] classified emotions into two categories: positive and negative. Positive emotions, in their opinion, included pleasure, excitement, and relaxation and negative emotions included anger, distress, hatred, and fear. [18] divided emotions into two categories of positive emotions (excitement and happiness) and negative emotions (anger, anxiety, and depression). In their study,[19] only considered positive emotions and considered them to include comfort, happiness, satisfaction, and romanticism. [20] also divided the customer’s emotions into two categories positive (joy, pride, fun and entertainment, interest and attachment) and negative (anger, hatred, humiliation, disgust, enmity, and fear). [21], in their model, considered satisfaction, happiness, peace, optimism, pleasure, and excitement as dimensions of positive emotions, and anger, fear, discomfort, and embarrassment as dimensions of negative emotions. [22] took into account positive emotions such as excitement, surprise, peace, and pleasure, and negative emotions such as anger, disgust, and hatred, shame, distress, and despair.

2.1.2. Factors affecting customer emotion in purchasing

Many studies have been conducted on emotional purchasing that try to identify variables that facilitate the emotional purchase. The variables affecting emotional buying can be classified into four groups: individual variables, those related to the product, environmental and situational variables, and variables related to the person which affect the tendency to make emotional purchases. The higher the emotional buying tendency of the consumer, the higher the probability of emotional buying [23]. Product-related variables are relevant to products that are bought emotionally. Emotional buying modes are different based on product and product categories. Variables related to the shopping environment are the store space, special displays, shelf signs, and tempting graphic advertisements or sales promotions. Also, media formats to provide information in the online shopping environment could affect emotional shopping behavior. Situational variables are also related to money and time available for purchase and the availability of credit [24]. Various studies have confirmed the effect of different variables on the emotions of buying different products and services, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the factors which affect emotions and emotional buying of customers. They can be divided into a variables in general categories which are described below.

Individual variables

Demographic information (age, gender, income level, etc.) is used as independent variables. There are different theories about whether the income and age of consumers have significant positive effects on online shopping [25]. Previous studies have shown that in general, young people are more willing for emotional purchases than older people [24]. The difference between men and women also affects decision-making priorities. In some studies, it was found that men shop online more than women do [25]. Income is also highly related to emotional buying behaviors. People with low household incomes mostly use buying lists [24]. Personality traits can be defined as a set of thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, perceptions, activities, and other different characteristics of a person. Personality could be defined as features, appearance, and variables of human beings. Emotional shopping is considered an emotional aspect of personality that enables a person to take quick actions without deep thought or consideration of alternative costs. To understand the role of personality in creating purchase motivation, the five-factor personality model is used, which includes the components of openness, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, which include all the characteristics of human personality [26].

Variety-seeking: Some researchers stated that buyers are looking for varieties and options, which may be the main reason for switching the brand and also their emotional purchases. Also, variety-seeking behaviors are related to emotional buying [27].

Hedonism: The pleasure of shopping means the pleasure that person gains in the buying process [28]. People who enjoy shopping are called recreational buyers, and they spend more time shopping and shopping more often [29].

Situational variables

Available time: Customers who have more time to shop tend to buy more goods than what they have planned for. Therefore, if a customer feels good in a store, he may spend more time there, and as a result, the probability of making unnecessary purchases increases [25]. On the contrary, consumers may change their shopping habits or shop selection when they lack time. But customers who have enough time to shop have less pressure in choosing products and, therefore, pay more visual attention to the store environment, which can create more calm and positive emotions during shopping [29].

Available money: It refers to the amount of money or extra funds that people have or spend in a day. In addition, available money is an important factor in stimulating people’s purchasing decisions. Available money is a source of purchasing power. If the customer has more money, s/he can change his planned purchase pattern and this increases his/her purchasing power [25].

Economic well-being: It refers to the economic health of the person. This concept is different from the variable of “money available” in the bank account. When measuring this variable, a person’s overall financial situation is considered as a long-term perspective. It is thought that those who score high on the scale of economic well-being are more likely to make emotional purchases [25].

Experience: The experience of using a website or social media is known to be one of the important factors in e-commerce. The online shopping experience, which is commonly used as a situational factor variable construct, is related to the user-friendliness and enjoyment of online shopping [30].

Product and environmental variables

Presence of friends and peers in the environment: Based on the assumption that friends and relatives may strengthen the buyer’s purchase decision and as a result, more purchases occur, stores that attract couples, friends, or groups are usually better off in terms of performance. The presence of peers increases the desire to buy and the presence of family members reduces it [25] The atmosphere of the shop: The atmosphere of the shop includes the arrangement of goods, lighting, and the use of colors. It can significantly affect the emotions and buying behavior of consumers and may lead to emotional shopping and the intensification of emotional shopping behavior [25]

Luxury and up-to-dateness of products: The purchase of special emotional products is the result of the engagement with the product and the buyer’s desire for emotional buying. Emotional purchase based upon the current fashion is stimulated by new fashion styles and brands that lead consumers to emotional purchases [29]

Advertising activities and marketing stimuli: Sales promotion is carried out to stimulate customer demands and encourage consumers to make an emotional purchase of a particular brand. An effective and planned advertisement can also stimulate the intention of consumers to buy when products are offered at a discount. Consumers are more inclined to make emotional purchases [25].

Friendly relations of the employees: The presence of a well-behaved salesperson in the store can be a special service for customers. Praising customer while shopping by the salesperson may increase the chances of an emotional purchase, and professional employees can also reduce consumers’ regret of purchase by supporting them during the buying process [25].

Product specifications: Some goods are bought more emotionally than others, which depends on their category, price, and the symbolic meaning of the goods. Also, emotional purchase is more likely to occur for products with lower prices or a shorter production cycle [31]

Customer engagement with the productCustomer engagement with the product and brand is a motivational state of interest that is triggered by a specific stimulus or situation. In general, engagement is conceptualized as an interaction between a person (consumer) and an object (product). Product engagement may be different between emotional shopping and regular, planned shopping [29]

2.2. Experimental background of the study

In this section, some domestic and foreign studies related to research variables are reviewed. [32] carried out a study entitled “Investigating the effect of online store features on impulse buying behavior resulting from customer emotions”. The findings of the study indicated that the environmental characteristics of virtual stores (store content, store design, and store navigation) have a positive and significant effect on online impulse buying behavior. Also, the mediating role of customer emotions on the relationship between the environmental characteristics of the virtual store and impulse buying behavior was confirmed. [33] performed a study entitled “Investigation of factors influencing the intention to buy online in Iran: a study of the fashion and clothing markets”. His results indicated that innovativeness, perceived security, quality of information, and trust in the fashion industry has a positive and significant effect on the intention to buy online. Also, cost-effectiveness and timeliness have a positive and significant effect on the perceived value of online fashion shopping. In addition, perceived value has a positive and significant effect on online shopping intention. [34] performed another study entitled "identification of the building blocks (value offered to the customer) and their effects on customer satisfaction using sentiment analysis based on text mining”. The results showed that the analysis of customer opinions and the content generated by users to examine customers’ attitudes about the product is a practical method and an effective tool for businesses to present a successful product with features approved by the consumers. [35] conducted a study entitled "Investigation of the effect of emotion on the customer’s purchase intention with the mediating role of customer engagement." The study aimed at investigating the effect of emotion on customer purchase intention with the mediating role of customer engagement and brand image. The results of the data analysis showed that emotion has an effect on customer involvement, emotion has an effect on brand image, involvement (engagement) has an effect on brand image, and brand image has an effect on purchase intention. [36] conducted a study entitled “Investigating factors affecting online shopping and sales promotions on the emotional buying behavior of customers”. Data analysis showed that online shopping and sales promotion tools have an effect on customer behavior and gender has a significant relationship with emotional shopping. [7] conducted research entitled “Individual and in-store factors influencing emotional buying behavior among consumers in small cities”. The results showed that individual (personal) factors, including available time and family influence, had a positive and interesting effect on emotional purchase behavior. In-store factors also had an interesting impact on impulse buying behavior. But the effect of available money on impulse buying behavior was not confirmed. [21] conducted a study entitled “The effects of positive and negative emotions in online shopping on consumer satisfaction, repurchase intention, and recommendation intention”. The results showed that positive emotions have stronger effects compared to negative ones. [26] conducted a study entitled "The influence of personality on emotional shopping behavior in developed countries”. The results showed openness, extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism have intensive effects and pleasantness has little effect on emotional buying behavior. [8] conducted a study entitled "Investigation of the influencing factors on emotional buying behavior". The results of the study showed that available money has a direct effect on emotional buying behavior. Also, the effect of available money became significant indirectly through the mediating variable of the purchase idea. [16] conducted a study entitled "The Moderating Role of Situational Factors (Available Money and Time) on Emotional Behavior”. This study showed the direct effects of the characteristics of the environment on the positive emotional responses of the customers and the direct effects of the positive emotional responses of the consumers to the retail environment on emotional buying behavior.

3. Research method

To achieve the objective of the study, that is, to identify the dimensions of the customers’ emotions and to investigate, prioritize and categorize the antecedents affecting the emotions of customers when buying luxury cosmetic products, a two-stage method (qualitative-quantitative) was used, which included thematic analysis and the fuzzy Delphi method. The purpose of the thematic analysis was to identify the dimensions of customer emotions through the real experiences of customers who had a history of attending and buying a lot of luxury cosmetics in online shopping groups. On the other hand, the fuzzy Delphi method was used with the consensus of experts to investigate the potential antecedents affecting customers’ emotions. Then, the identified antecedents were prioritized and categorized based on their significance.

3.1. Thematic analysis

In the first step, an in-depth semi-structured interview was used to collect the required primary qualitative data. For this purpose, several active and experienced customers who have made a lot of purchases from online cosmetics-selling Telegram groups were selected (based on the repetition of their IDs in the group lists). Considering the qualitative nature of the study, sampling was performed by a judgmental or purposive method, and the sample size was determined based on theoretical saturation. Accordingly, in the end, the first sample included 23 subjects, which reached saturation with this number of interviews. The interview forms included two main parts. In the first part, the respondents were asked about their demographic characteristics and required information about their use of virtual networks (in terms of hours per day) and the time they spent in online groups buying cosmetics. The second part was designed to obtain the dimensions of the respondents’ emotions as well as the factors affecting them during the stages of being in the group and the buying process. They were asked to explain their emotions such as anger, worry, happiness and fear when they enter a telegram group for selling cosmetics online and see the products, read the comments, discuss with members and compare the prices. They answered by describing their mental state. The responses were fully recorded by an audio recorder to ensure that no important points were missed. Then, to analyze the data obtained from the interview, the data-based inductive theme analysis was used to identify, analyze and report patterns or themes in qualitative data. In this method, the researcher can report the obvious meanings of the data as well as the hidden meanings and assumptions, and ideas of words, phrases, and sentences [37]. Next, the guidelines of three professors and experts in the field of marketing and theoretical validity were used in the study of existing theoretical foundations for the interpretation of themes and the output of data analysis. To measure the reliability of the data in the interview stage, the ICR method and the "Holsti method" were used. In the present study, coding was performed first by the researcher and then by an expert, and then its reliability was calculated. The obtained reliability for the dimensions of customer emotions was equal to 87 %, which indicates the appropriate reliability of the research data.

3.2. Fuzzy Delphi method

According to the purpose of the study, i.e. to identify the factors affecting the emotions of customers in purchasing, a group decision-making approach [38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45] was used, which aims to provide predictions by reaching a group consensus by a group of qualified experts [46]. This method is very important, especially in qualitative studies [47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54]. Panel members in the Delphi technique were selected by researchers based on defined standards. In this technique, the main emphasis is on the selection of panel members rather than their numbers. They should be knowledgeable and have expertise and experience [55]. In this study, a panel consisting of 15 experts in psychological marketing of luxury cosmetics-importing companies active in virtual networks and active managers of Telegram groups related to luxury cosmetic products were used.

4. Results

4.1. Results of the content analysis

As mentioned in Sections 1-3, the first step was to interview real customers to identify their perspectives. The interviews provided three main categories of information: (1) Demographic information, duration of use of virtual networks in terms of hours per day, and the time they spent buying cosmetics and hygiene products in online groups; (2) dimensions of customers’ emotions and (3) possible antecedents of customers’ emotions. For content analysis, the contents of all the interviews were transcribed and the resulting content was read several times to determine the general pattern in the text of the interviews. Then, based on the patterns observed in the general framework of the interviews, a list of primary codes was created. In this step, a total of 454 codes were first identified. In the next step, these codes are categorized into groups with similar and coherent concepts in the form of 33 codes. Table 1 shows the findings of the first step, which includes the concepts which are most relevant to the purpose of the study and the number of times that each concept was repeated in the interviews. The output of this step includes 11 secondary themes that led to 2 organizing themes of "positive emotion and negative emotion" based on the overarching theme of customer emotions.

In the next step, based on the output of the previous step, the theme diagram of customer emotion dimensions is drawn. The theme diagram is drawn as a website network, showing the theme levels along with the relationships between them. Figure 1 shows the theme diagram of the study.

4.2. Fuzzy Delphi method

First step: As mentioned earlier, interviews with active customers led to the identification of effective factors as antecedents of emotions of online shopping from the customers’ point of view. These factors, along with those in previous studies on emotions, formed the primary basis for the implementation of the Delphi method. Table 2 shows the effective factors of customer emotions.

Second step: First, a semi-structured interview, consisting of 3 parts, was conducted: A. Items related to the demographic characteristics of the experts to obtain a comprehensive view of the panel; B. 36 items to obtain experts’ assessment of the potential impact of each factor on the subject under study according to Table 2 (factors obtained from library studies and qualitative interviews based on a five-point Likert scale from "very much" to “very little”; C. Finally, they were asked a general question: "In addition to the above, mention any other factors you know that influence the emotions of customers in the process of buying cosmetics and health products and specify the effect of that factor". Then, through e-mail or face-to-face meeting, this semi-structured questionnaire was sent to the 15 members of the selected panel in the field of psychological marketing, active managers of luxury cosmetics telegram groups and luxury cosmetics-importing companies in Bandar Abbas which are active in online selling as well as active managers of Telegram groups of luxury cosmetic products.

Third step: Data analysis a. The third step was to analyze the answers of the panel members and the fuzzy Delphi method was used to obtain the consensus of the experts’ opinions. Accordingly, to convert the qualitative analysis into fuzzy numbers, the definition of trapezoidal numbers was used as a corresponding conversion scale.

Table 3. Trapezoidal fuzzy numbers corresponding to the qualitative values

Table 3. Trapezoidal fuzzy numbers corresponding to the qualitative values

b. After converting the qualitative values provided by the panel members into trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, the fuzzy geometric mean of each component was calculated using Eqs. 1 and 2 [46].

$A_j$ represents the $i^{th}$ expert’s opinion about the $j^{th}$ factor.

Where, $A_{jave}$ represents the mean opinion of experts about the jth component.

c. Then, the difference between the opinions of experts from the mean opinions for each component was calculated using Eq. (3) and was provided to the panel in the form of the next questionnaire. In this way, by taking feedback [56,57,58,59,60,61,62] from all members and the difference between the opinions of each expert with the group’s opinions, they were asked to adjust and correct their opinions if they wish to reach a group consensus.

Since the last part of the questionnaire asked the subjects to state other factors that could affect the emotions of customers from their own point of view, the new proposed factors were added to the existing factors (Table 4) and were returned to the experts along with the results of Eq. (3).

d. As mentioned, the secondary questionnaire was prepared based on the results of the first one. It was provided to the experts so that they can modify their opinions if they wish to learn about the results of other panel members’ opinions. Also, in this questionnaire, the factors that were raised by the panel members were also provided to be reviewed and weighted by other members. The weight of each factor was converted into trapezoidal numbers through linguistic variables [63] according to Table 3.

Where $B_j^i$ represents the $i^{th}$ expert’s opinion about the $j^{th}$ component. The geometric mean values [64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71] of the opinions and the differences between each member’s opinion from the mean were calculated based on Eqs. (2) and (3) as in the first step. The third and fourth phases of fuzzy Delphi are repeated until the mean values in consecutive rounds approach logically, that is until an acceptable consensus is obtained [46]. The relevant distance to reach a consensus is 0.2 [72]. Also, at this stage, the distance between the mean opinions of the first round and the mean opinions of the second round was calculated using Eq. 5 [72].

Where, $A_{jave}$ is the mean of the first round of opinions, and $B_{jave}$ is the mean of the second round of opinions? The results are provided in Table 5. As shown in this table, the geometric mean difference between the values of the first and second rounds for 8 variables is more significant than the acceptable threshold (0.2). Also, because factors 37 to 48 were proposed in the first round by experts and there was no evaluation in the first round, the mean difference for these factors cannot be calculated. These two reasons indicate the need for repetition of the process in the third round. d. The third round questionnaire was prepared to provide feedback for the previous round and apply the corrective opinions of the experts in order to reach a consensus. The steps taken were similar to the second round. The results of this round can also be seen in Table 5.

Where $C_j^i$ represents $i^{th}$ expert opinion about the $j^{th}$ component. The results of the third round, as shown in Table 5, show that the distance between the mean opinions of the second and third rounds is in the acceptable range for all criteria, that is, a group consensus has been reached about the factors affecting the emotions of customers. e. In order to identify the factors affecting the subject under study, the last step was to analyze the defuzzified mean values of each factor. Based on the standards defined by the researchers, criteria with a value of $5\le A_{jave}$ were considered as potential factors for the study [73]. The defuzzified mean values of experts’ opinions for each factor were calculated based on E. 7 [46].

According to Table 5, the defuzzified mean values of some factors are less than the acceptable level (5) and should be removed from the list of factors affecting customer emotions. These factors include internet usage, level of education, family influence, number of group members, culture and cultural factors, religion, and religious beliefs, the halo effect of believing in the tremendous effect of luxury products", "marital status, "showing off and attracting attention” and “visual appeal”. Other factors were identified as variables affecting the emotions of customers in buying luxury cosmetic products.

The Delphi analysis aims to identify the variables affecting the emotions of customers through group consensus. Finally, 36 factors were identified as effective, which were prioritized based on the importance of each one and can be seen in Table 6. Then, based on the basics and common features, according to Table 7, they were grouped into three categories of personal, situational, product, and group variables.

5. Discussion

According to previous studies about customer emotions, this study expanded this concept for Iranian customers by examining the luxury cosmetics industry, considering the specific situation of Iran and the Iranian sanctions. Also, this study tried to expand the knowledge about factors affecting customers’ emotions and theoretical and empirical evidence of consumer behavior marketing basics. For this purpose, a two-stage research method was used to identify the antecedents affecting customers’ emotions in purchasing luxury cosmetic products. The first stage included a qualitative study through interviews with the customers of such products and led to the thematic diagram of emotions, customers, dimensions, and effective factors. The results of interviews with customers and real buyers of luxury cosmetic products from Telegram groups who experience different emotions during the presence and purchase process, along with a review of available resources, form the basis of semi-structured questionnaires. Data analysis was performed in this stage using the thematic analysis method. As the results of the thematic analysis showed, the emotions of customers in Telegram groups include a range of positive and negative emotions, which are consistent with the findings of [9,17,18,20,21]. Most cases mentioned in the interview with the members of Telegram groups selling luxury cosmetic products were related to happiness and pleasure. After happiness and pleasure, "Enthusiasm and excitement", "positive surprise", "relaxation and confidence”, and “love and being emotional”, are, respectively, the sources of positive emotions for the interviewees. These cases have been conceptualized by creating purchase incentives and stimulating buyers’ emotions toward luxury cosmetics and health products during decision-making, in the form of a more general theme of positive customer emotions. Another part of customers’ emotions influencing their buying behavior is negative emotions that consumers tend to minimize in making decisions [74,75,76,77]. These cases include sadness, fear, regret and feeling of inferiority, anger, jealousy, and despair; the most important of which is fear. These components were conceptualized by arousing the emotions of buyers of luxury cosmetic products in the overall concept of negative emotions. In the second stage, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the factors affecting the emotions and emotional purchase, after reviewing various studies, the fuzzy Delphi method was used to obtain group consensus, and identify and prioritize the factors that might be effective in customer emotions. After three rounds of evaluation and comparison of opinions by the panel members, 36 factors were identified as potentially effective ones that can affect the emotions of customers when they try to choose and buy cosmetic products. Based on their importance in terms of the impact they could have, these factors were classified according to the studied concept. According to the final results, the factor of “more economic price than physical stores and online shops” was ranked first, and the two factors of “credibility and quality of the group”, as well as “Iranian sanctions and the non-import of luxury brands”, were ranked second, which were not mentioned in previous studies. The advertising activities of the group and marketing drivers and income level were ranked second as other influential factors, which is consistent with [25] and Ciunova Shuleska [24]. This shows that the emotions of Iranian customers are mostly influenced by product group factors and, thereafter, situational factors. Although personal factors are potentially influential, they are more influenced by other factors. These findings are consistent with the markets of luxury products through online networks, including Telegram, which is a relatively new and attractive market for Iranian society and provides valuable insight into Iranian customer behavior.

6. Limitations of the study

• (1) This study considers the topic of customer emotions only for a specific sector, i.e. luxury cosmetic products, and its results face limitations when generalizing to other areas, products, and industries. Despite that, due to the importance of customer emotions, the need arises to study this phenomenon in different contexts as well as for other products.
• (2) The statistical population studied here includes members of telegram groups selling luxury cosmetic products, which are dominated by women. Therefore, it is expected to limit the generalizability of the results to other consumer communities. Accordingly, the generalization of these results to the larger community should take place with enough consideration.

7. Future studies

• (1) Based on the first limitation of the study, due to the importance of customer emotions, researchers are recommended study the wide dimensions of this phenomenon in the field of online shopping in different virtual sales platforms and with different products in order to help improve the relevant knowledge in the country.
• (2) Researchers can obtain valuable results and findings in this field by studying diverse statistical communities, for example, one that includes both female and male buyers, or if possible, by studying the statistical population of consumers across the country.