What drives versus what is required: Sufficient and necessary conditions for consumer intention in an unfamiliar wellness service
Abstract
Despite the growing importance of wellness and health tourism, little is known about how individuals who have never experienced thermal spa treatments form intentions toward such services. This study addresses this gap by mobilizing an extended Theory of Planned Behavior framework enriched with subjective knowledge and expected health benefits. Based on a large-scale survey of French non-users, we combine Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling and Necessary Condition Analysis to examine both enabling and constraining mechanisms of intention formation. The results show that all predictors contribute positively to intention, with subjective norm emerging as the most influential factor. However, the necessity analysis reveals a markedly different causal structure: only subjective norm, expected health benefits, and perceived behavioral control establish threshold conditions that must be satisfied for higher levels of intention to occur. In contrast, subjective knowledge and attitude, although significant, do not operate as indispensable conditions. These findings reveal an asymmetry between the factors that raise intention and those that set the threshold for it. They suggest that, in this context, intention depends on socially mediated validation, not on individual evaluation alone. For managers, the priority is the conditions that must be met for intention to form - social legitimacy, credible health benefits, and feasibility - rather than interventions, such as information or persuasion, that intensify intention only once those conditions are in place.
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BibTeX
@article{lebrument2026what,
title = {{What drives versus what is required: Sufficient and necessary conditions for consumer intention in an unfamiliar wellness service}},
author = {Norbert Lebrument and Cédrine Zumbo-Lebrument and Corinne Rochette},
journal = {Journal of retailing and consumer services},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.105112},
url = {https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05752564v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - What drives versus what is required: Sufficient and necessary conditions for consumer intention in an unfamiliar wellness service
AU - Norbert Lebrument
AU - Cédrine Zumbo-Lebrument
AU - Corinne Rochette
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
JO - Journal of retailing and consumer services
DO - 10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.105112
UR - https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05752564v1
AB - Despite the growing importance of wellness and health tourism, little is known about how individuals who have never experienced thermal spa treatments form intentions toward such services. This study addresses this gap by mobilizing an extended Theory of Planned Behavior framework enriched with subjective knowledge and expected health benefits. Based on a large-scale survey of French non-users, we combine Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling and Necessary Condition Analysis to examine both enabling and constraining mechanisms of intention formation. The results show that all predictors contribute positively to intention, with subjective norm emerging as the most influential factor. However, the necessity analysis reveals a markedly different causal structure: only subjective norm, expected health benefits, and perceived behavioral control establish threshold conditions that must be satisfied for higher levels of intention to occur. In contrast, subjective knowledge and attitude, although significant, do not operate as indispensable conditions. These findings reveal an asymmetry between the factors that raise intention and those that set the threshold for it. They suggest that, in this context, intention depends on socially mediated validation, not on individual evaluation alone. For managers, the priority is the conditions that must be met for intention to form - social legitimacy, credible health benefits, and feasibility - rather than interventions, such as information or persuasion, that intensify intention only once those conditions are in place.
SN - 0969-6989
SN - 1873-1384
ER -