ABSTRACT. Despite the great potential and rapid adoption of AI in marketing, empirical research on AI-generated content and communication remains in its early stages (Wu & Wen, 2021).To address these research gaps, this study aims to explore consumer perspectives on AI-generated fashion ads and examine how the use of AI in marketing influences their perceptions, trust in the product, and attitudes toward the brand. Additionally, this research investigates the impact of personalized AI fashion ads on consumer engagement and trust. Participants perceived using AI technology to create marketing content as easy, quick, and interesting after experimenting with Canva’s AI tool to generate a fashion ad. However, most respondents indicated that their opinions about AI-generated content remained unchanged even after this hands-on experience. Similarly, 69.49% of survey participants stated that creating the ads themselves would not alter their views about AI-generated ads. Implication and future research is addressed.

ABSTRACT. Abstract This article explores whether all brands benefit equally from empathic AI in driving customer satisfaction and purchase intention. By investigating the role of brand power and its sources, it reveals how low-power brands can strategically leverage empathic AI to enhance customer experiences, offering actionable insights for AI implementation.

ABSTRACT. Trust is a critical determinant of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, yet it is a multidimensional construct shaped by perceptions of competence, transparency, and ethical awareness. This paper proposes and tests a moderated mediation model where the effectiveness of transparency in building trust is contingent upon an individual’s ethical readiness. We argue that trust, in turn, mediates the relationship between transparency and the intention to adopt AI. Survey data were collected from 297 business students across two waves. Structural equation modelling reveals that perceived transparency positively predicts trust in AI, and this effect is significantly stronger for individuals with high ethical readiness. Furthermore, trust fully mediates the relationship between transparency and adoption intention. These findings highlight a critical synergy: transparency initiatives are most effective when users are ethically prepared to interpret them. We discuss key implications for marketing managers, who must pair system transparency with user education, and for educators, who are tasked with preparing the next generation of responsible AI practitioners.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the influence of perceived brand globalness (PBG) on user engagement within the unique context of Global Social Networks (GSNs). We propose a theoretical framework that examines the mediating role of perceived psychological values and the moderating role of self-construal in the PBG-user engagement relationship. By conducting a cross-cultural study involving both Eastern and Western contexts, we aim to enhance the generalizability of our findings and uncover potential cross-cultural variations. Our research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining online surveys and experiments to collect data from GSN users. Data collected via two studies across culturally diverse contexts demonstrate the mediating role of perceived psychological values in the PBG-engagement relationship. While perceived psychological value was found to fully mediate the PBG - active engagement relationship in the Western contexts, it was found to partially mediate the relationship in the Indian context. Further, psychological value was found to partially mediate the PBG - passive engagement relationship in both the UK and Indian contexts but not in the US context. the direct influence of PBG on psychological value and its indirect influence on active/passive user engagement was positively moderated by users’ interdependent self-construal and negatively moderated by independent self-construal.

ABSTRACT. There has been a gradual rise of brands engaging in political conversations and facing consequences. This paper quantifies a relatively new consequence of such brand actions – namely, review bombing. Spring of 2022 saw Disney taking a public stance against Florida Senate’s enactment of the Parental Rights in Education legislation and Governor Ron DeSantis retaliated by stripping Disney of its self-governance privileges. We use this event to set up a quasi-experiment and examine its impact on the currently popular practice of ‘review bombing’ – an attack against a brand on review websites by groups of internet users to harm the brand’s product offering. Our findings from a triple differences-in-differences analysis of ‘Unverified’ versus ‘Verified’ audience movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes indicate that fake or unverified reviews have lower ratings than verified reviews across the board. Moreover, the brand activism event caused the gap between these ratings to increase even further for movies produced and/or distributed by Disney while it decreased for other studios including Disney’s primary competitors – thus, providing evidence of politically motivated review bombing. We conclude by quantifying downstream consequences on movie box office performance.

ABSTRACT. TikTok is a unique platform for studying influencer marketing. Despite its popularity, TikTok remains at the center of discussions on a potential U.S. ban. As the U.S. draws closer to a deal for TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a ban, investors are showing optimism. However, the effect of such optimism on influencer marketing adoption and marketing performance remains an underexplored phenomenon in the literature. Furthermore, research on influencer marketing in the B2B context is scant. These gaps are significant, given the value of influencer marketing to businesses and advancements in influencer marketing platforms. The current study draws on optimism theory to address the gaps in the literature by introducing the concept of firm optimism to the influencer marketing literature. More fundamentally, it proposes and tests a conceptual model of the effect of firm optimism on the firm’s adoption of influencer platforms and firm marketing performance, with a focus on TikTok as the primary platform. A key part of the model is platform trendiness as a moderator. Findings offer novel theoretical and managerial insights that can be applied to other influencer marketing platforms with a similar profile to TikTok, i.e., platforms that are popular and growing rapidly.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the effects of exposure to nature in live streaming e-commerce (LSE) on consumer decision-making, grounded in Attention Restoration Theory (ART). As LSE continues to grow in China, understanding how design features can mitigate cognitive fatigue is crucial. We explore how integrating natural elements into live streams enhances perceived restoration and influences product choices. Across three studies, we investigate the restorative effects of natural settings on consumer attention and subsequent decision-making. Study 1 assesses immediate cognitive restoration using a Stroop Task after exposure to nature-infused and standard live streams. Study 2 examines perceptions of restoration and mood in contrasting environments, while Study 3 evaluates real product choices made by participants following nature exposure. Our findings suggest that nature can rejuvenate attention and positively affect consumer behavior, providing valuable insights for marketing strategies in LSE. This research not only contributes to environmental psychology but also offers practical guidance for brands to enhance consumer experiences by incorporating biophilic design elements.

ABSTRACT. This research introduces the concept of human avatarization, referring to real human images digitally altered through filters, animation, or stylistic edits to resemble avatars or video game characters. In contrast to anthropomorphism, which makes machines appear more human, avatarization makes humans appear more machine-like. While existing literature has primarily examined avatars as user representations, autonomous agents, or brand endorsers, this study investigates avatarization as a novel strategy for modifying human images in advertising. Across a field experiment (Study 1), an image content analysis (Study 2), and a large-scale vignette survey (Study 3), the findings demonstrate that avatarized human endorsers generate more favorable advertising attitudes than real human endorsers. This effect is driven by two serial mediation pathways: perceived expertise enhances endorser–product congruence by framing the endorser as an informant, while user self-projection strengthens endorser–audience congruence by allowing consumers to relate to the endorser as a peer. These effects are further amplified when the endorser is a celebrity and the advertised product is technology-related. The study helps to understand consumer preferences in an era deeply reshaped by generative content, and virtual environments. The results offer actionable implications for advertisers seeking to optimize engagement across digital and traditional media platforms.

ABSTRACT. The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into marketing is transforming how consumers interact with brands. To enhance engagement, companies increasingly use anthropomorphic AI agents-systems with human-like voices. Grounded in three theoretical frameworks, anthropomorphism theory, attribution emotion theory, and psychological ownership theory, this research examines how a human voice and empathetic tone impact psychological ownership, empowerment, attitude toward the agent, and behavioral intentions. A 2×2 between-subjects experimental was used, manipulating voice type (human vs. synthetic) and discourse style (empathetic vs. neutral) in a simulated voice assistant. Based on responses from 218 participants, results show that perceived anthropomorphism significantly boosts psychological ownership and positive attitudes toward the AI. This, in turn, enhances behavioral intentions such as likelihood of use, purchase, and recommendation. However, for vulnerable users, stronger anthropomorphism may lead to emotional over-engagement, reducing perceived control and raising ethical issues. This study contributes by refining AI acceptance models and providing empirical insights into consumer responses to anthropomorphic AI. For practitioners, it offers guidance on ethically balancing human-like features in AI, especially for vulnerable users. It also highlights the need for clear design standards and regulatory safeguards as AI becomes increasingly embedded in marketing.

ABSTRACT. As organisations increasingly adopt human-like AI technologies in customer service, a critical question emerges: how do these interactions affect consumer politeness toward both AI and subsequent human service encounters? This research examines the paradoxical effects of empathetic AI on consumer behaviour and politeness within service ecosystems. Drawing on politeness theory, social cognitive theory, and Liu-Thompkins et al.'s artificial empathy framework, we investigate how AI empathy influences consumer politeness and whether impoliteness spills over to subsequent human interactions in the service environment.

Through a multi-method approach combining qualitative interviews with 23 participants and a 2×2 experimental design with 320 participants, we examine interactions with functional versus empathetic AI configurations. Findings reveal an "emotional uncanny valley" where empathetic AI paradoxically reduces consumer politeness compared to functional AI. Critically, this impoliteness transfers to subsequent human service interactions, suggesting AI establishes behavioural schemas that persist across interaction types. The empathy-ability gap, where the AI agents' emotional sophistication is not followed by problem-solving capacity, amplifies negative emotions rather than resolving them. This research contributes novel theoretical insights into AI, service marketing and consumer behaviour literature, introducing the emotional uncanny valley construct and demonstrating the existence of the impoliteness spillover effects.

ABSTRACT. Data breaches represent a critical threat to digital trust, yet their effects on customer behavior remain fragmented across theory and evidence. This meta-analysis synthesizes 74 studies (284 effect sizes; N > 79,500) to clarify how breaches influence customer evaluations and actions and when recovery strategies succeed. Drawing on communal–exchange relationship theory, we introduce a relational-contingency framework that explains dual psychological pathways: an affective route (negative emotions → dissatisfaction) and a cognitive route (perceived risk → distrust), both driving adverse behaviors such as switching, reduced purchase, protective actions, and negative word of mouth. Results show breaches exert stronger effects than comparable crises because they compromise customer-owned assets. Moderator analyses reveal that recovery effectiveness depends on relational congruence: SMEs benefit from emotional, personalized communication and ongoing care, whereas large firms recover through rational, transparent messaging, collective preventive actions, and closure strategies. These findings advance relationship marketing and crisis communication theory by positioning relational schema activation as a boundary condition for digital trust repair. For managers, the study offers actionable guidance to align breach responses with consumer expectations, emphasizing schema-based communication, calibrated transparency, and preventive investments to mitigate reputational damage and restore confidence.

ABSTRACT. When companies engage in unethical activities such as deceptive communication or advertising, environmental violations, or other regulatory breaches, consumers may react by showing backlash online, distancing themselves from the brand or switching to alternatives. In the age of transparency and social media visibility, such reactions often spread rapidly, increasing reputational damage and consumer distrust. Yet, despite growing interest in ethical consumerism, little is known about how consumers behaviorally respond to misconduct and which managerial actions can mitigate these effects. This study investigates how the severity of corporate ethical misconduct influences consumer willingness to switch brands, the mediating role of perceived social value, and the moderating role of corporate response strategies, specifically deny, diminish, and rebuild.

ABSTRACT. Consumer vulnerability (CV) has enjoyed growing scholarly and practical attention for decades. Recent conceptual advancements have significantly deepened the field’s understanding of how CV can be viewed. Building on this foundation, we argue that continued progress in the field requires a stronger focus on the broader systems that surround the consumer. While the existing models concentrate on deficiencies that exist on the consumer’s side - such as limited literacy, physical or cognitive inability, and association with certain demographic traits - this perspective may fall short of recognizing the systemic misalignments that could generate or exacerbate vulnerability. To address this, drawing on three decades of research on CV, this paper identifies two controversial dimensions, introduces the concept of locus of vulnerability, and advances existing models of CV by developing a new conceptualization grounded in the socio-ecological model (SoEM). Under this approach, vulnerability is viewed as a product of systemic interplay among external forces across individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels. Implications of the new framework for researchers and policymakers are discussed.

ABSTRACT. Purpose This study explores how the implementation of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) influences competitive advantage in the automobile sector. As markets become increasingly saturated, the research investigates how BOS principles help firms redefine value creation, minimize cost pressures, and achieve sustainable differentiation through market knowledge and product innovation. Design/Methodology/Approach Adopting a descriptive and analytical research design, the study will collect primary data from 300 managerial and strategic-level employees in Indian automobile firms using structured questionnaires. Statistical tools such as correlation, regression, and moderation analysis (SPSS/SmartPLS) will be used to test the moderating effect of BOS on the relationship between market knowledge, product innovation, and competitive advantage. Findings Firms with higher innovation capabilities and market intelligence are expected to demonstrate stronger competitive advantage. The moderating influence of BOS will likely enhance differentiation, creativity, and cost efficiency, positioning firms ahead of traditional competitors. Practical Implications The study provides actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners to promote innovation-led strategies, enabling firms to identify untapped opportunities and sustain growth in a dynamic, technology-driven market.

ABSTRACT. Brands provide a significant number of benefits to firms. These are reflected in consumers’ willingness to pay higher prices for brands, increased loyalty, and higher stock prices. These well-known advantages of brands reflect the revenue side of a firm’s profit function. Emerging literature explores the benefits provided by the cost side of the profit equation by examining employees’ willingness to accept lower pay in exchange for working at stronger brands. Given that stronger brands can pay their employees lower, what happens when specific shocks such as layoffs impact the employer’s brand? Do stronger brands still pay their employees less? Or do the layoffs force stronger brands to “compensate” for the harm to their brand and pay higher? We collect data from various sources and combine them to find the effect of layoffs on the wages that brands pay. We find that while the impact of layoffs results in the median wage rising in the organization, stronger brands can economize on salaries paid to employees after layoffs, which applies to the average employee and the CEO. Since employee compensation is among the most significant expenses incurred by firms, brands can help reduce payroll costs across the organization after layoffs.

ABSTRACT. In recent years there has been an increase in violence targeting political candidates, impacting voter and election outcomes. We examine the response strategies of presidential candidates after the attempted assassinations on presidential candidates in 2024. We anticipate that the candidate facing violence (target), post attack, will focus more on undecided voters (vs party voters) while their opponent (bystander), post attack will focus more on their party voters (vs undecided voters). Using rich datasets from Meta Ad library, we find that post the assassination attempt on Trump in July 2024 both Trump campaign and Biden campaign responded as we predicted. Specifically, Trump campaign focused more on younger, female voters and advertised more in swing states with high percentage of undecided voters while Biden campaign focused more on older, female voters and advertised more in swing states with low percentage of undecided voters. Next, we demonstrate that after the second assassination attack in September 2024 on Trump, Target’s ad spending impacted both their vote share and undecided vote share while bystander’s ad spending only impacted their vote share. Overall, this study offers guidance to political candidates, political actors and voters about the different strategies candidates employ and their effect on election outcomes.

ABSTRACT. The future of luxury automobile market centers on symbolic worth and incorporates the progressive technology and mindful consumption. The Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) perspectives will provide a new perspective of luxury as a co-created experience as luxury is no longer about material decadence but mindful consumption. This paper will discuss the interactions between the ESG and the luxury cues to determine the interactions between the two in relation to conventional, sustainable, and autonomous. We have used NLP & LLM’s based on a mixed-method analysis of web-scraped data, then performed econometric analysis to determine the impact of the underlying attributes on the engagement with the writing style serving as a moderator. The results show that in the traditional luxury, the interaction is through circular economy and aesthetics, sustainable luxury is through renewable energy and inspirational attraction, and autonomous luxury is through governance-related aspects of the sector, such as transparency and accountability. The term luxury is no longer a determining factor of engagement, but rather environmental credibility and governance trust are. By and large, the research is an indication of a paradigm shift in indulgence-based appreciation to responsibility based engagement redefining luxury in an aware technology enabled age.

ABSTRACT. Political parties, like consumer brands, rely on trust, authenticity, and emotional connection to sustain legitimacy. When these qualities erode, recovery becomes essential not only for electoral success but for democratic stability itself. This work-in-process study investigates how the U.S. Democratic Party and the U.K. Conservative Party, two institutions suffering reputational decline, can rebuild brand equity, restore trust, and renew voter support. Drawing on branding, crisis-recovery, and political-marketing literatures, we propose the Political Brand Recovery Framework (Figure 1), in which grassroots rebuilding and repositioning strategies influence perceived authenticity, moderated by cultural context, to predict outcomes of brand equity, trust, and voter support. Using a three-phase mixed-methods design (qualitative exploration, cross-cultural experiment, longitudinal case analysis), this research integrates co-creation, authenticity, and grassroots engagement to explain how parties transition from reputational crisis to renewal. Findings will advance political-branding theory and provide actionable guidance for practitioners confronting legitimacy crises in polarized democracies.

ABSTRACT. Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used to enhance customer experiences in marketing, yet the comparative effects of immersive and non-immersive VR remain underexplored. This study investigates how these VR conditions impact consumer responses in a real estate context, utilizing the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework. A two-phase experiment was conducted with 233 university students in Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City, who explored a 3D virtual home using either VR headsets (immersive) or laptops (non-immersive). Surveys measured interactivity, vividness, telepresence, playfulness, perceived informativeness, attitudes, and intentions to visit. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM and multigroup analysis. Results indicate that immersive VR increases telepresence but does not significantly enhance cognitive or affective responses. Non-immersive VR, by contrast, strengthened vividness effects on telepresence, playfulness, and perceived informativeness. In both conditions, playfulness and informativeness positively influenced attitudes, which subsequently increased intentions to visit. The findings suggest that non-immersive VR can elicit stronger cognitive and emotional engagement than immersive VR in complex product contexts, such as real estate. This research extends VR marketing literature by comparing VR conditions and validates the S-O-R framework, offering practical guidance for designing VR experiences that optimize consumer perception, engagement, and decision-making.

ABSTRACT. Metaverse is enabled by advanced computer-generated technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality. It consists of mechanisms such as avatars, objects, monetary systems, and storytelling. Additionally, the metaverse is theorized in terms of technological attributes such as interoperability, continuity, embodiment, immersion, concurrence, and seamlessness. This study employed a comprehensive literature review to understand how luxury brands engage with the Metaverse. This analysis aimed to elucidate the value proposition the Metaverse offers these brands. Additionally, the research identified the leading luxury brands that are succeeding in the Metaverse. Furthermore, the study employed multidimensional scaling techniques to construct perceptual maps, enabling visualization of similarities and differences among the selected luxury brands. An attribute-based multidimensional scaling approach was implemented through discriminant analysis to identify the key dimensions that significantly differentiate these brands within the metaverse context. The results of this analysis were then integrated with the perceptual maps to pinpoint each brand's positioning within the metaverse landscape. This integration helped reveal consumer perceptions of the chosen luxury brands within the context of the Metaverse.

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly entering affective domains, enabling emotionally responsive interactions between human and AI. AI-driven romance games such as Love and Deepspace represent a new form of affective consumption, where consumers engage in simulated romantic relationships with AI-enabled avatars. This study applies the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) framework to examine why consumers form and sustain such relationships, and how these motivations influence romantic well-being and loyalty. A mixed-method approach was employed, qualitative interviews with active players identified eight key motivational dimensions (fantasy, intimacy, enjoyment, control, social interaction, escape, entertainment, and self-presentation), which were then validated through a quantitative survey (N = 419). Results show that experiential gratifications (e.g., enjoyment, escape, control) primarily enhance continuance intention, whereas relational gratifications (e.g., intimacy, fantasy, true self-presentation) strengthen romantic well-being, which in turn fosters loyalty. Romantic romantic well-being and continuous intention serves as mediators linking motivations to long-term loyalty. These findings extend U&G theory to emotionally driven consumer-AI contexts and provide implications for designing AI systems that foster sustainable human–AI romantic relationships.

ABSTRACT. In-store service experiences are being transformed at an unprecedented rate, due to advances in artificial intelligence and augmented reality (AR) technologies - from interacting with products through using an AR mirror to scanning QR codes to receive more product information. Advances in AI, such as in visual, voice, generative and AR experiences, bridge the physical and digital realms in providing personalised experiences for consumers. Brands are able to incorporate in-store AI and AR technologies to support customers at various consumer touch points in order to enhance service experiences. Digital assistants (DAs) are also being deployed to enhance service experiences. DAs have contributed to enhancing consumer service experiences outlining the growing importance of human-to-technology service encounters in service success. Similarly, AR is a burgeoning technology that is increasingly used by marketers to facilitate engaging experiences with consumers. However, limited research has investigated (1) the combined abilities of these two technologies, and (2) these technologies within in-store retail experiences. As such, our study further investigates the effect of the combined technological capabilities of “ARDA” on consumers' in-store service experience. We do this through employing a between-subjects experimental design across two studies (N=558) and provide theoretical and practical implications from our findings.

ABSTRACT. With the rise of “social media trials,” citizens increasingly form opinions about justice-system fairness by observing live-streamed trials and engaging in digital discourse. This study examines how observability of prosecutorial transparency and intentionality of prosecutorial non-transparency shape perceptions of fairness of prosecution, evoke moral outrage when not present or low, and influence trust in police fairness. Drawing on procedural justice theory and the appraisal theory of emotions, the model positions moral outrage as a key emotional mechanism linking cognitive fairness evaluations to institutional trust. Findings indicate that heightened observability of prosecutorial transparency enhances perceived fairness but amplifies moral outrage when prosecutorial actions appear biased or opaque. Such outrage diminishes the perceived fairness of law enforcement. By integrating cognitive and emotional dimensions of fairness within a digital context, this study contributes to understanding how transparency and social media engagement shape public trust and collective accountability in justice institutions.

ABSTRACT. The privacy paradox is that despite high privacy concerns, consumers’ digital footprint is larger than ever before. We suggest that this is because consumers have had more positive than negative experiences related to data privacy, despite their overwhelmingly negative thoughts and feelings regarding the acquisition/usage of their information. Therefore, instead of asking consumers about their level of privacy concerns and studying different triggers or antecedents that increase consumer’s willingness to disclose information, we use Critical Incident Technique to conduct our study in three time periods: 2008, 2018, and 2025, to see how actual experiences compare with stated privacy concerns over time. We use social justice theory with its three dimensions (distributive/procedural/interactional) to understand consumers’ experience after a company has acquired/used their information. Data analysis of the 2025 study is ongoing. Our analysis of the first two studies shows that consumers had more positive (than negative) experiences in 2018 as compared to 2008, which explains high privacy compromising behavior. In addition, our finding that even those with bad experiences perceived greater fairness/justice in 2018 as compared to 2008. This explains why consumers continue compromising their privacy despite more reports of data breaches/hackings and other privacy violations.

ABSTRACT. Early cancer detection remains the strongest determinant of survival, yet inequities in timeliness and access persist across populations. Many cancers are discovered serendipitously through unrelated consultations or incidental imaging, but the probabilistic dimension of diagnostic luck has never been systematically measured, leaving health systems without a transparent way to assess fairness in early detection. This study introduces the C³ED Index−Comparative Chance for Cancer Equity in Diagnosis, a composite measure integrating efficiency and equity to evaluate how fairly systems convert diagnostic opportunity into early-stage detection and to inform preventive health policy and communication. Diagnostic luck was conceptualized through provoked luck, arising from intentional vigilance, and accidental luck, resulting from unforeseen encounters. Using SEER data (2000–2022; N = 14,339,579), analyses identified 6% of cancers as serendipitously detected, 77% provoked, 23% accidental. Case-level probabilities, residuals, and Comparative Luck Intensity quantified diagnostic chance, while Gini coefficients, Lorenz curves, and stochastic frontier analyses measured equity (1 − G ≈ 0.80) and efficiency (ϵ). C³ED values ranged from 0.00 to 0.81 (mean 0.44 ± 0.19), rising 3.6% between 2000 and 2022 as efficiency improved while equity remained high. Findings show that diagnostic fairness is measurable and governable, shifting the frontier of justice from access to responsiveness.

ABSTRACT. This research seeks to identify the type of humor (verbal vs. nonverbal humor with visual metaphor) most likely to positively influence the perception and attitude of adolescents towards smoking prevention campaigns and thus impact their behavioral intentions in a way favorable to public health. We use a survey and a cross-country sample of 500 teenagers (France: n = 250; Italy: n = 250) aged between 13 and 15 years old, as this is the age range at which smoking typically begins, according to the statistics in the two countries. This study aims to help public health actors gain a clearer understanding of the effects of humor in antismoking campaigns targeting European teenagers.

ABSTRACT. In sales, a real war for talent is being waged to recruit, and sales positions remain the most difficult to fill (Castleberry & Tanner, 2021). Generation Y and Z are harder to convince, and the search for work–life balance makes this attractiveness an ongoing challenge. Remote work and the physical work location have also become new criteria for choosing a job.

Employer branding has thus emerged as a strategic issue in management. Employer brand management aims to convince current and potential employees that working for a given company is advantageous (Lievens et al., 2007). However, research in sales force management has not examined an important variable in salespeople’s job choice: the workplace or territory. Some territories are likely perceived as having lower customer potential, which can impact individual salesperson performance and job evaluations. If less effective salespeople are recruited for less attractive areas, this may exacerbate territorial constraints and trigger a negative spiral.

Our proposal is to integrate “soft considerations” (i.e., salespeople’s perceptions) into territory management, which is currently dominated by mathematical modeling. The objective of this research is to examine how salespeople perceive their territory and the employer brand.

ABSTRACT. In spite of the importance of addressing accessibility needs in service deliveries (Dickson et al. 2016), there is still a call for additional research to investigate how technology (e.g., robotic technology) can be leveraged in service design to ensure inclusive opportunities for all customers (Fisk et al. 2018), such as elderly population, which is rapidly increasing across the world (Čaić et al. 2018). In this research, we answer this call by focusing on service accessibility enabled by robotic technology (i.e., physical assistance provided by robots in a service context) and by proposing a model based on social stigma theory (Goffman 1963). Through conducting one field study and two online video-based experiments, we seek to demonstrate that a robot’s use of affiliative (vs. dominant) interaction styles will be less likely to trigger negative customer responses toward receiving assistance from a robot (i.e., embarrassment), resulting in more positive customer evaluations toward using robots when shopping at a retail store. In addition, we expect that the influence of affiliative (vs. dominant) interaction styles will be weakened with “assistive robot” framing and will be strengthened with “service robot” framing.

ABSTRACT. This special session offers insights into the social media activities of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS). The contributors will outline the platforms currently used, the strategic objectives guiding communication efforts, the types of content shared, and planned future activities and events. Shuang Wu, Jasmine Parajuli, and Philipp Brüggemann will provide perspectives on the social media channels of the AMS, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the AMS Review.

In addition, Philipp will present the independent marketing initiative Marketing Scholars and share exclusive first insights into the development of a new app designed to disseminate calls for papers and other relevant information for the marketing scholar community.

The session is designed to be interactive. Questions, suggestions, and discussion points are strongly encouraged, and dedicated time will be provided for open exchange and dialogue.

ABSTRACT. The human element is an imperative factor for building service quality, competitive advantages in every service sector. However, the operating environment of these industries is very complicated. This study has examined the impact of a jay customer on frontline service staff in the Indian hotel sector and the hidden costs associated with it. The findings revealed that Jay customers significantly reduce employees customer orientation and increase their propensity to quit both their organization or their profession. Surface acting and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment were identified as critical mediators that intensify the adverse effects of problematic customers. Additionally, perceived organizational support was identified as a mitigating factor for these adverse consequences, but it did not completely eradicate them. Additional qualitative interviews with employees and managers corroborated survey results, emphasizing the financial and psychological impact on employees, including transgender. This research enriches service management literature by applying conservation of resources theory to the hotel industry, emphasizing the heightened risks linked to emotional labor. The findings underscore that jay customer represents not merely a behavioral issue but also a strategic dilemma, incurring quantifiable costs for staff welfare and organizational viability.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the role of moral motives in shaping individual attitudes toward participation in the informal economy. Grounded in Behavioral Reasoning Theory, we examine how moral motives mediate the relationship between perceptions of corruption, regulatory burden, and labor market outcomes. Using structural equation modeling, we test a model in which perceptions of corruption and the burden of regulation influence labor outcomes through individual moral motives, captured by the construct Perceived Legitimacy of the Shadow Economy (PLSE). The findings reveal that PLSE directly mediates the relationship between perceptions of corruption and labor outcomes: higher perceptions of corruption are associated with higher PLSE, which, in turn, is associated with higher unemployment and lower labor force levels. These results suggest the centrality of moral reasoning and institutional legitimacy in shaping informal economic behavior.

ABSTRACT. The rapid growth of online grocery shopping, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has transformed how consumers purchase essential goods. While traditional website-based platforms offer convenience and product variety, they often present challenges such as navigation errors, unclear product information, and limited interactivity. This study examines live-stream grocery shopping as an emerging alternative that may enhance consumer experiences by providing real-time product demonstrations, interactive communication, and greater transparency. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework, we investigate how shopping mode (live-streaming vs. website-based) affects consumers’ service evaluations through two key psychological mechanisms: perceived service access convenience and consumption effort. Additionally, shopping immediacy (high vs. low) is proposed as a boundary condition influencing these relationships. Using mixed methods, including Structural Topic Modeling of 16,619 Reddit comments and three planned experimental studies, preliminary findings indicate that live-stream grocery shopping elicits more favorable service evaluations than website-based shopping. This research contributes to digital retail theory by elucidating the psychological pathways that explain how interactive technologies improve consumer satisfaction. Practically, the study offers actionable insights for online grocers, emphasizing strategies such as clear product demonstrations, simplified checkout, and timely live sessions, to enhance convenience, reduce cognitive effort, and strengthen consumers’ overall shopping experience.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates whether online reviews can serve as a substitute for traditional customer satisfaction surveys in grocery retail. We draw on a unique, store-level panel dataset from a major German supermarket chain, combining structured satisfaction surveys, Google star ratings, and net sales data for 103 stores over two years. This rich data context allows us to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction—measured through both surveys and online ratings—and store performance. Both satisfaction metrics are significantly associated with sales outcomes; however, online ratings exhibit a slightly stronger and nonlinear relationship, with diminishing returns at higher satisfaction levels.

In a second step, we analyze over 16,000 open-text comments using topic modeling and sentiment analysis to identify the drivers of satisfaction across both data sources. Despite substantial thematic overlap, online reviews show a stronger role for emotional tone, with sentiment emerging as the dominant predictor of individual ratings.

Our findings highlight the complementary nature of survey and online feedback. Rather than replacing surveys, user-generated content should be integrated as a dynamic and cost-effective source of insight. The study contributes both methodologically and managerially by leveraging a rare dataset to link satisfaction metrics and sales outcomes in a real-world retail setting.

ABSTRACT. Brand-influencer collaborations are increasingly central to social media marketing strategies. For example, brands expect influencers to @mention their brand profile frequently in posts to maximize visibility and influence, while influencers request higher compensation for including additional “branded@mentions.” However, the topic of branded@mentions, where influencers tag a brand’s profile in their posts or tweets, has been underexplored in the marketing literature. To address this deficiency, we utilize a field study (data from influencers on X) and five consumer-based experiments to examine how branded@mentions influence consumers’ perceptions and downstream consequences within influencer posts. The findings reveal that using branded@mentions, compared to merely mentioning the brand name, increases consumers’ perceptions of manipulative intent. Although increasing the number of branded@mentions enhances perceptions of the brand’s linkability and accessibility, it also further heightens perceptions of manipulative intent, which in turn reduces user engagement. This effect is mitigated when consumers believe it is reasonable for influencers to consider their income, but these negative effects are amplified in posts referencing family ties, particularly female relatives.

ABSTRACT. Fake online reviews pose a growing challenge for consumers and digital marketplaces, influencing billions in e-commerce spending. Despite awareness of deception, consumers continue to rely on reviews when making purchase decisions. This research investigates how skepticism, dual-process theory, and dual-task interference shape consumer responses to deceptive online reviews. A qualitative pre-study (N = 17) using a “thinking aloud” protocol revealed that consumers assess both veracity and diagnosticity simultaneously but tend to prioritize diagnosticity at the expense of veracity detection. Four scenario-based experiments (N = 1,004) extended these insights. Studies 1 and 2 showed that skepticism increased cognitive processing, consistent with dual-process theory. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that skepticism enhanced consumers’ ability to detect unverified (potentially fake) reviews, leading to more accurate purchase decisions. However, dual-task interference—when consumers assessed both veracity and diagnosticity under cognitive load—impaired deception detection, especially among low-skepticism individuals. Together, these findings show that skepticism enhances cognitive engagement and veracity detection, whereas dual-task interference reduces it. The research highlights consumer vulnerability to deceptive reviews and supports interventions such as verified-purchase labels or segregating suspected fake reviews to reduce consumer cognitive load and improve decision-making.

ABSTRACT. Prior research has demonstrated that the geographic colocation of outlets significantly affects the individual outlet and overall firm performance. This study extends this body of work and examines the effect of the geographic colocation of same-brand outlets on the consumer-focused outcome of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) valence. It also assesses a relevant boundary condition – ownership form – that emerges as a significant moderating factor, substantially influencing how geographic colocation of same-brand outlets affects the eWOM valence. An examination of more than 8,600 restaurants in New York State in 2019, matching review data from Yelp and market data from various public sources, reveals intriguing results. Geographic colocation of same-brand outlets hurts eWOM valence, and franchising as an ownership form helps offset this adverse effect. These findings, with their potential implications for marketing strategies in retail industries, hold considerable importance for marketing scholars and practitioners alike.

ABSTRACT. The rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within organizations has transformed how firms approach learning, prediction, and decision-making, as machines increasingly perform tasks once reserved for humans (Huang & Rust, 2021). Despite the surge of machine learning applications in marketing and business, biases originating from flawed data, models, algorithms, or human prejudices can distort outcomes, leading to economic, social and reputational harm (Giffen et al., 2022).The purpose of this study is to investigate the existing body of research on AI and machine learning to conceptually assess how ethical considerations have been addressed. Employing both bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review, this study maps key research trends, identifies influential authors and journals, highlights areas of impact within the field, and proposes an integrative framework that synthesizes the finding.

ABSTRACT. As AI systems become sophisticated conversational partners, consumers are forming emotional attachments to specific AI models and developing parasocial relationships that challenge traditional brand management assumptions. This research examines consumer responses to three recent corporate interventions that disrupted established human-AI relationships: a popular large language model’s sudden deprecation, the implementation of non-consensual model routing, and the introduction of a personality-altering system prompt. Using text analysis of Reddit discussions (N = 7,697 posts across eight subreddits, July-October 2025), we identify user-AI attachment, trust violations, and collective resistance behaviors. Findings reveal substantial emotional investment: 44.0% of posts contain attachment language, 34.8% express anger or betrayal, and 34.3% explicitly reference trust violations. Different intervention types (model removal, user-control restriction, personality alteration) elicit distinct consumer responses. Our research applies brand-relationship theory to AI contexts, showing how corporate decisions can trigger attachment violations in human-AI relationships and offering insights for managing AI systems that function simultaneously as tools and relationship partners.

ABSTRACT. The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation is transforming the way marketers conceptualize consumer behavior. While AI enables predictive personalization and operational flexibility, it simultaneously raises challenges of transparency, fairness, and algorithm trust. This paper proposes AI–Trust–Resilience (AITR) Framework integrating the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Trust-Based Relationship Marketing Theory, and Resilience and Adaptation Theory to explain how transparency and explainability foster consumer trust in disrupted markets. It reconceptualises trust as an adaptive resource that sustains stability during uncertainty and introduces the notions of algorithmic trust and benevolence to link technology, psychology, and ethics. The AITR framework advances marketing scholarship by positioning trust as the foundation of adaptive, resilient consumer–brand relationships and offers guidance for managers to design accountable, human-aligned AI systems in disrupted economies.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how valence framing in climate and energy communications interacts with political ideology to influence both implicit and explicit responses among college students. Using a multi-method framework, combining eye-tracking, facial affect analysis, and attitudinal measures, the research investigates reactions to sustainability PSAs with positive (gain) and negative (loss) framing. Results reveal significant interaction effects: positively framed messages increase attention and emotional engagement, particularly among conservative-identifying participants, while loss framing decreases engagement for this group. Emotional responses serve as mediators for persuasive outcomes, as indexed by visual attention and primed valence ratings. These findings advance marketing and consumer behavior theory by showing that message persuasiveness is fundamentally shaped by both framing and audience ideology. For practice, the research underscores the importance of tailoring climate communication strategies to specific audience segments and optimizing message valence for maximum engagement and behavioral impact. The study’s integrative measurement approach offers actionable insights for designing effective, ideologically informed sustainability campaigns.

ABSTRACT. Employees’ emotional expressions in service interactions are a crucial aspect of effective communication and customer satisfaction. In healthcare, the emotional expressions of employees are specifically important for patient satisfaction; however, the effects of healthcare employees’ intensity of positive emotional expressions across modalities (facial vs. vocal) and types (e.g., joy, anger) remain underexplored. This study examines the nonlinear relationship between the intensity of healthcare employees’ emotional expressions and patient satisfaction, with a focus on the distinct effect across emotional modality and type. Using a neuroscientific approach, a lab experiment with 149 participants was conducted to analyze the effects of facial and vocal emotional expressions of joy and anger on patient satisfaction. The findings reveal that employees’ moderate holistic emotional intensity, compared to low or high intensity, significantly enhances patient satisfaction, underscoring that "more is not always better." Both facial and vocal positive emotional expressions influence satisfaction, with facial anger and vocal joy emerging as the most impactful for healthcare outcomes, challenging conventional assumptions. These results highlight the importance of balancing emotional intensity in relation to context. Healthcare employees should aim for moderate intensity, leveraging vocal joy and carefully managing facial anger to optimize patient satisfaction and improve communication strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how discrete emotional states shape attention and action in climate and energy communication. Building on theories of “warm glow” (pride after sustainable action) and “cold prickle” (guilt after inaction), we use EEG, galvanic skin response (GSR), and eye-tracking to examine how these affective inductions influence real-time attention, physiological arousal, and behavioral choices. Participants will be randomly assigned to recall experiences of warm glow, cold prickle, or neutral events before viewing sustainability-themed messages about fuel and energy use. Multi-modal data, including fixation durations, emotional arousal, and decision outcomes, will track how emotional starting points shift message processing and subsequent willingness-to-pay, donation behavior, and low-effort compliance. We expect the warm glow to increase attention to benefit and impact cues and promote higher-cost sustainable purchases. At the same time, a cold prickle will heighten attention to accountability and risk cues, boosting low-cost compliance behaviors. Political ideology and traits such as empathy and moral values are expected to moderate these effects. This multi-method framework integrates implicit and explicit measures to reveal how transient emotions shape sustainable decision pathways, offering theoretical insight into emotion-attention-action links and practical guidance for segmenting and designing effective, ethically bounded climate communication strategies.

ABSTRACT. The fragmented and opaque nature of the supply chain has hindered progress in improving sustainability. Consequently, supply chain transparency (SCT) emerged as a crucial means of curbing unsustainable practices (Garcia-Torres et al., 2024). SCT refers to having visibility of the supply chain by disclosing its information and legitimizes sustainability in supply chain practices (Schäfer, 2023). Notably, the disclosed SCT information also enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions (Garcia-Torres et al., 2024). Despite its importance, scholarly effort on SCT within the fashion domain is still in a nascent stage. Particularly, empirical investigations into how consumers respond to SCT signals and the key factors that elevate consumers’ perception of brands’ transparency are limited. To fill this void, this study draws on signaling theory (Spence, 1973) and explores how consumers respond to SCT signals by adopting the nine essential product attributes of the digital product passport (DPP), regulated by the European Union (EU). Moreover, this study investigates how consumers’ fashion consciousness (FC), environmental consumerism (EC), and traditional consumerism (TC) influence perceived brand transparency (PBT) and related behavioral outcomes. The finding of this study contributes to advancing the understanding of how consumers’ perceptions equate with their behavioral responses in the context of SCT.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable food consumption is key to reducing the environmental impact of global food systems, yet consumer responses to sustainability messages vary. This study examines how communication appeals—rational versus emotional—shape perceptions of sustainable food and how mindful consumption moderates these effects. In an experimental design, participants viewed advertisements framed either rationally or emotionally. Results show that mindful consumption plays a critical role: consumers high in mindfulness respond more favorably to rational appeals emphasizing practical and environmental benefits, while those low in mindfulness are more influenced by emotional appeals highlighting moral or social considerations. These findings highlight the importance of aligning sustainability messaging with consumer traits to enhance engagement and encourage responsible food choices. By integrating mindful consumption into the study of advertising effectiveness, this research provides both theoretical insights and practical guidance for marketers and policymakers aiming to promote sustainable consumption.

ABSTRACT. Animal-protein consumption poses critical challenges to environmental sustainability, public health, and animal welfare. Despite increasing scientific evidence, consumer understanding of these impacts remains limited and often miscalibrated. This research investigates two types of knowledge—objective (factual) and subjective (self-perceived)—and how motivational factors shape knowledge activation. Study 1 tested the effect of monetary incentives on objective knowledge (OK) using a validated 15-item scale developed through Item Response Theory. Results showed that financial rewards significantly improved OK (Cohen’s d = 0.86), suggesting that extrinsic motivation can activate latent cognitive resources. Individuals with lower OK tended to overestimate their understanding, confirming a miscalibration consistent with the Dunning-Kruger effect (Cohen’s d = 1.32). Intrinsic motivations—such as concern for health, environment, and animal welfare—did not moderate the effect of incentives, indicating that intrinsic and extrinsic drivers may operate independently. Study 2 will introduce accountability framing as an alternative extrinsic motivator. Data collection for Study 2 is currently underway. Findings from this research underscore the importance of distinguishing between perceived and actual knowledge when designing interventions for sustainable consumption. This work contributes to marketing theory by clarifying how cognitive biases and motivational mechanisms influence consumer decision-making in ethically and environmentally sensitive domains.

ABSTRACT. Personalized Artificial Intelligence has the potential to significantly enhance people's health and well-being in meaningful ways. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of personalized meal recommendations made by generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) apps on consumer’s food consumption patterns. It involves examining how personalization affects food preferences as well as any incorporation of mindful consumption practices as a result of these dietary changes. This study integrated extended mind theory and self-regulation theory to form questions for the structured interview. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 users who used Gen-AI for personalized meal plans. Findings reveal the ways in which Gen-AI helps users by recommending meals, tracking consumption and nudging mindful behaviors, thus reducing the cognitive load on their mind and acting as an extended mind for them. Furthermore, consumers felt more in control of their dietary and financial decisions with less stress over keeping appointments with dieticians. However, personalized meal plans also led to consumers feeling a loss of agency to AI recommendations. Finally, this study provides deep insights into aspects of mindful consumption encompassing acting with awareness, care and temperance when choosing healthy meal options.

ABSTRACT. This study examines a managerially grounded, relatively inferior (DRI) decoy in event ticketing, testing its impact in survey scenarios and comparing the results with real-world purchases from the same audience. It also examines the moderating role of prior experience with the service. Using a 2x3 factorial experimental design, different pricing strategies across three survey samples (N=621) were tested. The most promising pricing strategy was implemented in the real-world sales phase (N=221) for a children’s theater in Vilnius, Lithuania. Contrary to expectations, no decoy effect was observed. What is more, the decoy option itself absorbed the choices in surveys. Pricing manipulations had a stronger impact deviating selections in surveys compared to rather uniform results in real-world sales. In practice, customers chose the cheapest price (competitor) regardless of conditions, supporting the intention-behavior gap. Prior experience did not significantly moderate the effect. These findings define boundary conditions in services for decoy effect. The way attributes, such as flexibility, are framed can invert preferences. Results also show that survey findings do not translate into purchase behaviour as stated average spend per head decreased by 6% (with-decoy) and 8% (no-decoy) in real world sales.

ABSTRACT. This research examines what motivates consumers to support local agricultural producers in terms of their purchase intentions of agricultural products from their local region. Using a national U.S. sample of 507 adults, the results first confirm the role of product quality in influencing purchase intentions. The research then examines the role of locavore motivation (the curiosity and desire to try regional food products) and finds it has both a direct and indirect effect (mediating through product quality) on purchase intentions which provides marketing implications for local farms. Additionally, the bandwagon effect serves as a significant moderator by strengthening the impact of product quality on purchase intentions. However, the willingness to pay a premium for local food did not have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between product quality and purchase intentions for local food. The theoretical contribution that our study makes is that the bandwagon effect can work in non-luxury settings. This suggests that the need to fit in and be popular can be utilized to encourage support for local farms. Our findings also demonstrate that factors other than price and quality can influence purchase intentions for local foods. The implications for theory, research, and future research are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how structural control asymmetries across omnichannel environments shape consumer information processing and channel coordination. We introduce the Control Concentration Index (CCI) to quantify perceived control distribution among brands, platforms, and peer consumers, and complement it with laddering analysis to uncover motivational mechanisms. Results show that channels with high CCI, where one actor dominates, create polarized perceptions. Brand-led channels provide curated depth through structured demonstrations and detailed specifications but are viewed as less objective due to selective disclosure. Peer-led channels offer authenticity and broad perspectives based on diverse user experiences but lack consistent depth. In contrast, low-CCI channels such as Amazon or TikTok combine inputs from multiple parties, providing structured breadth and efficiency while creating tension between convenience and autonomy due to algorithmic governance. Consumers use these channels strategically across the buying journey. Engaging content supports discovery, structured cues guide evaluation, and user-generated reviews validate purchase decisions. Across stages, three higher-order values emerge: confidence, autonomy, and trust. Consumers orchestrate channels according to perceived control balance, using brands for depth, platforms for efficiency, and peers for authenticity. This framework reconciles seamless omnichannel integration with persistent control asymmetries that shape decision-making.

ABSTRACT. The research outlined in this proposal aims to bridge the intention-behavior gap in marketing by developing predictive models using voice analytics. The project is grounded in Mehrabian's communication model and integrates insights from linguistics and cognitive science to analyze inconsistencies in vocal tones that may indicate uncertainty or deception. These analyses will be employed specifically in the context of debt collection, a sector known for discrepancies between stated intentions and actual behavior. By leveraging advanced machine learning techniques, including a bi-directional LSTM model, the project seeks to identify vocal cues like harmonic-to-noise ratio, frequency, and intensity that correlate with deceptive intentions or uncertainty.

ABSTRACT. AI assistants are rapidly becoming a front door to consumer decision-making. Consumers increasingly ask chat-based systems what to buy, which brand is better, whether a product is safe, and how policies compare. Unlike traditional search, where brands can monitor rankings and influence visibility through known levers, generative systems synthesize answers and recommendations without transparent sourcing. This creates a new brand-management blind spot: brands can be omitted, mischaracterized, or described with fabricated or outdated claims, and the error is delivered in an authoritative narrative at the moment of choice. Gartner forecasts meaningful displacement of traditional search by AI-enabled interfaces within the next few years, underscoring the managerial urgency of understanding this channel.

ABSTRACT. Sendsteps.ai is a global AI-powered SaaS platform used in education and professional sectors to create interactive, data-driven presentations. It supports multi-language and tailors to different audience occupations in various styles in generating AI-powered creation of slides, live Q&A, word cloud, quizzes, and mixed-form interactive presentations. In partnership with Sendsteps.ai, this project investigates the AI monetization gap by identifying the behavioral and performance triggers that lead users to transition from free to paid tiers in marketing software environments, to inform ultimate product, pricing, and promotional design.

ABSTRACT. We propose a novel effect in credit card choice, wherein consumers intuitively match expensive purchases with metal cards and cheaper ones with plastic cards. Across eight studies, we find that this effect holds for different purchase categories. Perceived fit between product price and card material mediates the effect, and introducing low-quality product cues significantly reduces the preference for metal cards. These findings highlight the implicit influence of physical cues on consumer payment behavior, filling an important gap in the literature on credit card choice.

ABSTRACT. Consumers will go out of their way to avoid purchasing embarrassing products, and much of the existing literature focuses on how consumers cope with embarrassing product purchases. One simple yet effective way to avoid purchasing embarrassing products is to have someone else do it for you, yet little is known about what occurs when such purchases are made for someone else. This study draws on Construal Level Theory to examine how psychological distance influences consumers’ focus on price and subsequent satisfaction. The results suggest that when consumers purchase embarrassing products for others, they still feel embarrassed but they experience greater social distance, which decreases price consciousness and lowers satisfaction with the purchase. The findings extend the embarrassment and price-consciousness literatures by demonstrating that reduced attention to price can negatively affect satisfaction in socially sensitive buying contexts.

ABSTRACT. Caffeine is the world’s most popular psychostimulant, and a large share of people worldwide consume it through various sources. Previous research showed that it increases consumer spending and the susceptibility to the attraction effect. However, caffeine enhances the attraction effect only at moderately high doses, but not at low doses. This study presents an online experiment using realistic product stimuli while controlling for (rather than manipulating) caffeine intake to assess the association between caffeine and the compromise and upscaling effects, as well as purchase propensity. Fundamentally, the compromise effect emerged, but the upscaling effect failed to replicate. Caffeine increased the compromise effect, but no significant moderating influence on the upscaling effect was observed. We found no significant curvilinear association between caffeine and the investigated context effects. Contrary to previous research, caffeine did not significantly raise purchase propensity. We discuss the implications of our findings for context effects research, as well as consumer spending, and elaborate on the potential leverage of caffeine for marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This research explores fashion rental as an access-based form of consumption. Specifically, it explores consumer attitudes, motivations and engagement towards fashion rental systems to better understand how marketers can more effectively communicate the circular business model of ‘renting’ in the strive towards a circular economy. Drawing on Bardhi and Eckhardt’s (2017) (solid-liquid consumption) conceptual framework, this research advances theoretical understanding surrounding liquid consumption. To gain insight into consumers lived experiences of fashion rental, existential phenomenology is utilised. Twenty-four phenomenological interviews were conducted with female consumers with experience of renting fashion items. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: (1) elevation, (2) advocacy and (3) surrogacy – each offering valuable insight into the phenomenon of fashion rental. Specifically, participants shared a desire to rent items that were more extravagant and more elaborate than they would choose to buy/own. Acknowledging that the rented item was ‘not theirs’, participants protected it from harm, ensuring that they returned it to the (legal) owner in the same condition as they received it. Additionally, they viewed it as their responsibility to tell others that the item was rented and to promote renting as a sustainable alternative. Implications for theory, practice and policy are presented.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the role of social media influencers (SMIs) in shaping healthcare behaviors, focusing on the effects of Content Attractiveness and Perceived Homophily on followers’ Adoption Behavior of healthcare recommendations, which subsequently influences Medication Proper Use. Leveraging a sample of 468 individuals with chronic illnesses, we explore how visually appealing and relatable content from SMIs encourages followers to adopt health- positive behaviors. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) reveals that both Content Attractiveness and Perceived Homophily significantly impact Adoption Behavior, which positively affects Medication Proper Use. However, the study also uncovers that the interplay of emotional and rational message strategies with Adoption Behavior can negatively influence Medication Proper Use, highlighting the risks of message overload or conflicting appeals. These findings suggest that healthcare brands can strategically leverage SMIs' relatability and optimize message strategies to promote adherence, ultimately enhancing health outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Loneliness is becoming a concerning part of modern society despite unprecedented levels of connectedness and online interaction. The same connectedness, particularly through social media networking sites, raises another concern: social media dependency and addiction. While the relationship between loneliness and internet dependency is well established, this study, building on the compensatory internet use model, introduces two problematic social media uses —social comparison and validation seeking online —as mediators of the relationship between loneliness and social media dependency. By doing so, this research not only provides a more nuanced understanding of the currently blurry definition of problematic social media uses but also explores how loneliness, a significant consumer vulnerability, can be a risk factor magnified by social media platforms fostering social media dependency.

ABSTRACT. This research examines how artificial intelligence (AI) deployment influences consumer perceived ethicality (CPE) and brand authenticity in nutrition branding. While AI enables nutritional transparency, personalization, and supply chain verification (Davenport et al., 2020), it simultaneously raises consumer skepticism regarding algorithmic bias, manipulative intent, and brand integrity. Drawing on brand authenticity, ethical marketing, and transparency literatures, this study develops a framework explaining how AI implementation shapes consumer perceptions of nutrition brand authenticity. Findings offer critical implications for brand strategy, ethical AI governance, and authentic positioning in the nutrition marketplace where algorithmic recommendations increasingly impact consumer health decisions.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the future of AI-driven consumption and its transformative implications for marketing, emphasizing the shift from human-centered to machine-assisted and autonomous decision-making. Adopting a scenario-based prospective analysis, it identifies the main drivers and uncertainties shaping the evolution of AI-mediated consumer behavior. The research develops four prospective scenarios: (1) Human-Guided AI, where artificial intelligence supports human decisions under strong regulatory oversight; (2) AI as a Service, characterized by AI-driven recommendations with limited government control; (3) Regulated Machine Consumers, in which AI systems autonomously make purchasing decisions within a defined legal framework; and (4) AI-Driven Economy, where machine-to-machine (M2M) consumption operates largely without human intervention. These scenarios highlight both opportunities such as enhanced personalization, operational efficiency, and new M2M markets and challenges, including diminished human agency, ethical issues, and complex regulatory demands. While scenario planning provides useful foresight, it cannot fully anticipate future technological or regulatory developments, warranting further empirical investigation. Practically, firms must adapt by developing explainable AI systems, aligning with evolving regulations, and promoting human–AI collaboration. Conceptually, the study contributes to consumer behavior theory by extending it beyond human agency, introducing the notion of post-human marketing as a critical paradigm for understanding AI-driven consumption.

ABSTRACT. The increasing adoption of AI chatbots in customer service raises questions about when hybrid models, combining chatbots with human agents, can substitute direct interaction with a human agent. The present study investigates how interacting directly with a human agent (compared to chatting with a chatbot before being transferred to a human agent) affects customers’ perceptions of brand trustworthiness, customer orientation, and empathy across advisory and complaint contexts, considering low versus high need for human interaction (NHI). The results of a preliminary study suggest that high-NHI customers perceive direct interactions with human agents more positively. In advisory contexts, human agents enhance brand trustworthiness and customer orientation, whereas in complaint contexts, they elicit perceptions of higher empathy and stronger customer orientation. Interestingly, low-NHI customers do not show more negative reactions to hybrid models than to direct chats with a human agent, suggesting that such customers accept hybrid models as equally effective. These findings underscore that customer reactions depend on the interaction context and on individual preferences for interpersonal contact. The study contributes to research by clarifying when human involvement is essential and when hybrid solutions suffice, providing practical guidance for firms to tailor service strategies according to customer NHI and interaction context.

ABSTRACT. Platform firms are facing increasing user misconducts such as misinformation, fake news and are building AI content moderation systems to deal with these issues at scale in real time. However, they are worried that users might react negatively to AI (vs human) content moderation, and this can reduce overall user engagement. We build a conceptual model examining how the relationship between AI (vs human) content moderation and user outcomes is mediated by the perceived effectiveness of content moderation. We also hypothesize how these effects are different by user type (perpetrator vs bystander). We conducted a lab experiment with 2 Moderation types (AI vs Human) X 2 User types (perpetrator vs bystander) and collected responses from 505 participants. We find that when firms use AI (vs Human) moderation, perpetrators are less annoyed, more likely to complain, less likely to take corrective action, and more likely to engage in future misconduct. For both perpetrators and bystanders, there is no difference between future engagement when AI or Humans are used for moderating content. Based on our findings we advise platform firms to 1) adopt AI content moderation and 2) not display flagged content on bystander’s feed.

ABSTRACT. In response to the growing prominence of chatbots in service sectors, researchers have focused much effort on exploring how organizations can enhance the experiences of customer-chatbot interactions through developing positive customer responses to chatbots. This research seeks to extend this conversation by examining whether customers’ positive feelings toward a chatbot can help or hurt a service encounter as chatbot service failures occur. By conducting a qualitative and a quantitative studies, we found that although a chatbot’s use of instructional recovery (vs. informational recovery) exerted a positive effect on customers’ perceptions that the chatbot breached the psychological contract, the positive effect became negative as customers felt more optimistic about chatbot’s ability to recover a failure. Also, in response to the psychological contract breach perceptions, customers were more likely to engage in aggression towards a chatbot. This research offers important implications for recovering chatbot service failure encounters.

ABSTRACT. The rapid advancement of technology has transformed service characteristics such as intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability (IHIP). Historically, organizations have leveraged technology to achieve desirable heterogeneity through customization and to minimize undesirable heterogeneity by reducing random variations in service delivery. The advent of generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) introduces a new dimension to service heterogeneity, where the same prompt can yield different outputs across various AI models, within the same model used by different people, or even within the same model by the same person over time. This paper explores the concept of service heterogeneity in the context of generative AI, proposes a conceptual framework and research propositions, and delineates future research directions.

ABSTRACT. As Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services reshape online shopping and consumer credit behavior, marketers increasingly turn to celebrity endorsers to influence adoption. While BNPL is marketed as a flexible budgeting tool, it also raises concerns about encouraging impulsive spending and consumer debt. This study empirically investigates how celebrity relatability - a consumer’s perceived emotional and experiential alignment with a public figure- affects attitudes toward BNPL and willingness to adopt it. Drawing on self-congruity and parasocial interaction theories, a between-subjects experiment (N = 256) finds that relatability significantly predicts willingness to use BNPL, with brand attitudes fully mediating this relationship. Perceived financial literacy moderates the strength of this effect, such that relatability’s influence is amplified among more financially literate consumers.

ABSTRACT. AI is disrupting and changing the way shoppers make purchases. This work highlights the process of AI usage follows in a low involvement online shopping context concluding with WOM. Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Hierarchy of Effects is used as the theoretical lens to view AI in shopping. Through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling, we demonstrate the process AI users experience in low involvement purchases contexts.

ABSTRACT. The rapid expansion of streaming platforms and shifts in consumer behavior have transformed how audiences choose between theater and online streaming to view films. This study examines how consumers employ risk reduction strategies across these two contexts, using both external knowledge (word-of-mouth [WOM], advertising) and internal knowledge (film expertise, early adopter identity, self-confidence, risk proneness). A survey of 207 U.S. consumers tested a mediation model comparing the influence of these pathways on theater attendance versus streaming decisions. Results indicate that external pathways—particularly WOM and advertising—play a stronger role in theater attendance, reflecting the higher perceived risk and effort associated with in-person viewing. Internal pathways show that early adopter tendencies and risk proneness significantly mediate film knowledge effects for theater decisions but not for streaming, highlighting context-dependent psychological mechanisms. Self-confidence had no significant mediating effect. Findings extend consumer risk and dual-process theories by demonstrating how external and internal knowledge function differently across viewing contexts. For marketers, leveraging social proof and targeting early adopters can reduce perceived risk and encourage theater attendance, while streaming decisions are driven more by convenience and algorithmic cues.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how external environmental factors—including weather, route alignment, trip urgency, and emerging technologies such as connected vehicle systems—shape consumer responses to a novel marketing channel - in-vehicle digital couponing. Integrating Contextual Marketing, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Prospect Theory, and Cognitive Load Theory, the research studies how situational and behavioral factors jointly influence coupon acceptance while driving. Using data from 752 U.S. respondents across 12,684 driving scenarios, the study employs logistic regression to test six hypotheses related to familiarity, route alignment, destination urgency, redemption distance, coupon expiration, and weather conditions. Results reveal that drivers are more likely to accept coupons from familiar merchants, especially under favorable weather. Acceptance increases when redemption aligns with the driver’s route and purpose, and decreases with urgency or cognitive load. Coupons with longer expiration dates are preferred. These findings offer practical guidance for the application of context-aware marketing strategies that align promotional content with driving conditions and context. The study contributes to theory by integrating four theories to explain consumer receptivity in an in-vehicle environment—offering a holistic understanding of how attention, perceived value, and cognitive capacity interact with contextual cues. Further research will expand the model to include additional variables.

ABSTRACT. Salespeople face increasing pressure to enhance their performance and often rely on adaptive selling to achieve desired outcomes. However, an enabling organizational environment is essential for salespeople to effectively adjust their behavior to meet customer needs. This study examines the influence of psychological empowerment—a multidimensional construct encompassing meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact—on salespeople performance. We propose that the effect of sales force empowerment on job performance is mediated by adaptive selling and moderated by customer-oriented selling. Primary data were collected from sales professionals across diverse industries using validated multi-item scales, and the hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that psychological empowerment significantly enhances adaptive selling behaviors, which, in turn, positively affect job performance. The moderating effect of customer-oriented selling on the relationship between empowerment and adaptive selling was marginally significant. Overall, the findings suggest that empowerment and customer-oriented selling jointly enhance adaptive selling, which subsequently improves salespeople performance. This study contributes to the understanding of how sales managers can strengthen sales force effectiveness through empowerment.

ABSTRACT. Sales roles are inherently anxiety-provoking, and this anxiety has long been associated with diminished sales performance. Across a survey of 176 salesperson–manager dyads, this research examines how anxiety impairs performance through its influence on perceived charisma and how exercise mitigates this effect. Results reveal that sales anxiety reduces managers’ perceptions of a salesperson’s charisma, which in turn lowers their performance evaluations. However, this negative relationship dissipates among salespeople who report exercising regularly to unwind, indicating that physical activity buffers the social and behavioral manifestations of anxiety that erode perceived charisma. By identifying exercise as a non-cognitive moderator that restores perceptions of charisma, this work extends the salesperson well-being literature beyond traditional psychological coping mechanisms. The findings highlights perceptions of charisma as a novel pathway linking sales anxiety and performance, suggesting that interventions promoting exercise may indirectly enhance sales performance through improved charisma and composure. Theoretically, this study contributes to understanding how physiological states shape key social perceptions in workplace contexts, and practically, it underscores the role of wellness initiatives in sustaining performance within high-pressure professions.

ABSTRACT. This study sheds light on the relationship between sales manager delegation, time management skills, and communication quality concerning a previously unresearched outcome variable: sales manager satisfaction with sales representatives. A moderated mediation model is tested using survey data collected from sales managers attending a training session conducted by a national sales training firm. Full support was found for the conceptual model. The impact of time management skills on communication quality decreases as delegation increases. Communication quality significantly and positively impacts satisfaction with sales representatives. Therefore, the indirect effect of time management on satisfaction with sales representatives via communication quality decreases as delegation increases. Organizations should consider time management in sales manager training, hiring, and promotion, particularly when delegation opportunities are limited. In situations where delegation is necessary, efforts must be made to directly enhance communication quality by means other than those derived from manager time management skills.

ABSTRACT. This session explores the multi-stakeholder value creation process within marketing education and discusses the combination of frameworks and strategies that emphasize how educational value is co-created through interactions among actors who hold different types of authority, roles, and expertise. By reframing education as a co-creative process, this session aims to stimulate scholarly and practical dialogue about how business schools can realign structures, marketing curricula, and relationships to build sustainable value-in-use for all stakeholders. Some discussion topics include: • How different stakeholders conceptualize and contribute to educational value in business education. • Strategies for balancing expertise and collaborative learning to strengthen co-creation. • The evolving role of students as value co-creators rather than consumers. • Organizational and cultural barriers to stakeholder collaboration in higher education ecosystems. • Practical approaches to embedding co-creation principles into marketing curriculum design, student engagement, and alumni relations.

ABSTRACT. Decisions about trade-offs between quantity and frequency occur across a wide range of consumption domains, with potential consequences for consumer well-being, marketers, and policymakers. My dissertation focuses on decisions regarding the trade-off between frequent smaller versus infrequent larger quantities. Examining such decisions is important because people often have a choice to make regarding this trade-off, whether for themselves (essay 1) or for others (essay 2). Essay 1 examines consumers’ perceptions of the weight impact of eating frequent smaller versus infrequent larger portions and downstream implications for consumers’ choices. Essay 2 investigates people’s payout allocation preferences (i.e., frequent smaller vs. infrequent larger monetary payouts) to low-income versus high-income others, as the structure of the payouts that people receive are often determined by individuals and institutions besides the recipient. These essays offer novel theoretical and practical insights into quantity-frequency trade-offs and choices for others, with potential implications for consumers, marketers, and policymakers.

ABSTRACT. This dissertation proposes to investigate when and why advertising for stigmatized wellness products may backfire. While marketing theory often assumes that product visibility facilitates awareness and adoption, this research theorizes that visibility can amplify stigma-linked emotional responses and suppress engagement. Specifically, it proposes that internalized stigma increases interest in product solutions when consumers autonomously search for information, but reduces intent when products are made salient through marketer advertising. Drawing on a cumulative sample of over 2,500 participants across seven studies including in-depth interviews, social media and video content analysis, and experimental designs, this research tests a process model in which negative emotion mediates the relationship between stigma and intent. When consumers initiate product exploration, negative emotion fuels problem-focused coping and engagement; when product visibility is externally imposed, emotion shifts toward avoidance. This work advances theory by identifying emotional mechanisms through which stigma and salience jointly shape product engagement and offers firms guidance on when subtle outreach may outperform overt visibility in stigmatized domains

ABSTRACT. Thumbnails, reduced-size preview images or clips, serve as pivotal visual cues that help consumers navigate through video selection while “previewing” for what to expect in the video. This paper provides a scalable framework combining state-of-art computer vision techniques, novel video platform design and novel use of Bayesian learning model in highdimensional context to study: (i) how thumbnails, relative to video content, affect viewers’ behavior, and (ii) how to optimize video thumbnail selection under different creator objectives.

ABSTRACT. In today’s dynamic marketplace, consumers increasingly expect personalized experiences that align with their individual preferences, emotions, and behaviors. However, traditional approaches to understanding consumers, such as surveys, focus groups, and behavioral analytics, primarily capture conscious attitudes and historical behaviors, leaving the subconscious drivers of decision-making largely unexplored. Unlocking these implicit factors represents a critical frontier for advancing marketing effectiveness. Recent developments in neuromarketing and brain-computer interface (BCI) technology offer unprecedented opportunities to access real-time neural data that reflect consumers’ authentic reactions and latent desires. These technologies move beyond self-reported measures by providing direct insights into the neural correlates of preference formation. For example, L’Oréal has introduced a scent station that uses BCIs to recommend fragrances based on consumers’ brain responses during scent testing, illustrating the transformative potential of this emerging paradigm. Building on these developments, this research investigates how BCI technologies at the point-of-sale can be applied to generate hyper-personalized marketing recommendations by uncovering consumers’ subconscious preferences and explores the implications for marketing effectiveness. This research in progress presents the first qualitative inquiry involving 34 in-depth interviews with customers who used a functioning BCI headset in a recommendation service setting.

ABSTRACT. 2025 AMS BTB Grant Recipient

ABSTRACT. ). Most digital twin applications today enhance upstream activities (e.g., supply chain, production). However, firms are realizing the potential benefits for enhancing downstream activities (e.g., customer experiences). Recently, TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) has employed the digital twin for helping marathon runners improve their training. In particular, TCS created a digital twin of heart for the Boston Marathon champion through collecting her imaging data, heart rate during her training, and blood pressure among others from MRI and wearable devices (please see Fig.1). The digital twin of her heart could help her personalize training menu, better manage her physical conditions, and maximize her performance during a race (Lemire, 2023).

ABSTRACT. According to the traditional sociological standpoint, evaluations of a brand community are made based on the aggregation of brand users as a whole. Under this perspective, brand users are considered to be a homogenous group of prototypical consumers for a brand. Yet, while these communities are socially constructed entities that can be related to several common group-level outcomes, the brand users themselves are separate individuals with differing thoughts, intentions, and behaviors. This research takes an individual-level perspective of consumer-brand relationships, grounded in Construal Level Theory, and utilizes a longitudinal study to investigate various types of consumer-brand relationships (self-brand relationship vs. self-group relationship) which differentially influence brand user purchase and consumer citizenship behaviors. Specifically, those with close self-brand identification are likely to have increased brand commitment, leading to a stronger likelihood of making brand recommendations, providing feedback for the brand, and choosing independent consumption products. Conversely, those with close self-group identification are likely to possess greater group commitment, fostering increased intentions to help other brand users and choose social consumption products. Thus, the main contribution of this research is that it extends Construal Level Theory to illuminate the roles of competing identifications in consumer-brand relationships, emphasizing diverging effects on important behaviors.

ABSTRACT. The study has been conducted in Mexican virtual retail food business environment with a focus to explore the tendency of consumers’ decision making to buy unfamiliar brand extensions in developing brand association. This study aims at investigating the cultural and economic factors influencing the food business operators who choose to adopt the dark kitchen model. This study also highlights the lessons learned from their operational experiences. This research examines the factors driving customer purchase decisions, with a focus on the mediating roles of perceived benefits and trust in product assurance. There is no previous research on the cyber or dark kitchens available in the context of Mexico. Unlike primary focus of previous studies on operational efficiency and the direct benefits of dark kitchens, this study specifically examines the cognitive and perceptual factors that directly influence actual purchasing behavior influenced by communications on social media. Accordingly, this paper contributes to the existing literature on the subject.

ABSTRACT. Research on consumer relationship development in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is increasing, but it mainly focuses on the early stages. Additionally, little is known about how consumers build relationships with smaller, resource-limited retailers, often called partial online internationalization (POI) retailers in the context of CBEC. Interacting with a POI-retailer often involves high levels of uncertainty for consumers due to the retailer's unfamiliarity, which hampers consumers' trust and commitment. Therefore, this paper aims to study consumer relationship development with POI-retailers in CBEC and propose a framework to better understand this entire process. Based on three studies utilizing interviews with consumers, findings suggest that (1) the relational mechanisms of uncertainty, trust, and commitment, as well as their interaction, vary depending on the phase of the consumer relationship process, and (2) the meaning of these mechanisms changes for consumers across different phases of the process. Building on Relational exchange theory, we introduce a conceptual framework of the relationship development process in CBEC, consisting of three phases: the initial interaction phase, expansion phase, and relationship phase. The proposed model offers novel insights into relationship development, highlighting how consumers cope with uncertainty and gradually establish trust and commitment throughout the entire relationship process.

ABSTRACT. Sensory marketing in retail environments often involves the strategic use of scents and colors to shape consumer perceptions and behaviors. However, limited research has examined the determinants of product color preferences. This research investigates whether ambient scent can be used strategically to nudge consumers’ product color choices. Across four studies conducted in the lab and the field, we demonstrate that cool scents (e.g., mint, eucalyptus) increase preferences for short-wavelength color hues (e.g., blue, green), consistent with temperature-based semantic associations.

ABSTRACT. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has grown exponentially. Prior research on AI has primarily focused on how consumers compare tasks performed by AI systems relative to those performed by humans. However, AI is a broad term including different types of systems. Generative AI systems perform tasks traditionally carried out by humans, and Predictive AI systems perform tasks using data analysis to make decisions. Surprisingly, little is known about how consumers perceive and respond to these different types of AI systems. This research addresses this gap. Across three studies, we find that consumers tend to react more negatively to companies’ use of Generative AI, as compared to Predictive AI. Through the lens of Construal-Level Theory, we show that Generative AI evokes higher-level construals, or “why”-thinking, which makes consumers perceive AI threat as closer. This heightened sense of proximity to AI threat results in a more negative attitude towards companies. As such, our results suggest that managers should be cautious in adopting Generative AI for their organization, and engage in proactive, transparent communication strategies that disclose the reasons behind such adoption.

ABSTRACT. As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated into marketing practice, understanding consumer responses to AI-generated advertising is both timely and essential. Across two experimental studies, this research examines how ad source (AI vs. human) influences consumer attitudes and whether this effect is mediated by affective involvement and moderated by product type. Study 1 finds that consumers rate AI-generated ads more favorably than human-generated ones, with affective involvement partially mediating this effect. Study 2 reveals that this advantage is specific to utilitarian products, as no significant difference emerges in the hedonic context. A moderated mediation analysis confirms that the affective pathway is active only for utilitarian products. These findings contribute to theories of source effects, emotional engagement, and AI in marketing, offering practical guidance for when and how to deploy generative AI in advertising campaigns.

ABSTRACT. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a tool that has become heavily integrated into the lives of many. Due to AI’s popularity, its impact on marketing, specifically digital content creation, has become a topic of significant interest. The rapid advancement of AI technologies has enabled the creation of sophisticated graphics and content that can sometimes be indistinguishable from content produced by a human. This technological advancement presents a question in the field of marketing: Do consumers care to know if the marketing content they engage with is AI-designed? This study aims to investigate consumer perceptions and preferences regarding AI-designed marketing content, particularly whether consumers are interested in knowing, if the content they engage with is AI-created. Through one-on-one interviews with 11 students at a large southeastern university, this research will assess their awareness, trust, and preferences regarding AI-generated content in marketing. By examining consumer attitudes toward AI disclosure, this study will provide insights for marketers to maintain transparency and ethical responsibility as it relates to AI content creation.

ABSTRACT. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) now writes many public-facing messages, including product descriptions and web page content, with mass customization. It can also write online product reviews. Many firms, platforms, and regulators ask authors to disclose when content is created by an AI agent. However, it is not clear whether disclosures help or hurt consumer trust. In online shopping, trust often runs through the credibility of reviews. People use reviews to make buying decisions if they are perceived as credible. If it is not credible, people do not consider it while making purchase decisions. This paper poses a simple question: Does an AI disclosure change how credible a review feels, and when is the change larger or smaller? Interestingly, pre-test results show that AI disclosure reduces review credibility on average, and the direction and the size of this penalty change with valence and age. For negative reviews, the penalty is larger for younger adults, whereas for positive reviews, the penalty is larger for older adults. One significant managerial implication of the results is that AI disclosure is not one-size-fits-all, and managers should match the AI disclosure strategy to the audience and the tone of the message to avoid penalties.

ABSTRACT. This article aims to better understand student retention by considering the use of humor as an effective pedagogical tool. We develop a conceptual model that applies services marketing theory to higher education (perhaps a paradigm shift for some higher education researchers) through the exploration of humor as an effective pedagogical tool for increasing student engagement and retention. Synthesizing marketing theories such as service dominant logic, relationship marketing theory, and social learning theory, this conceptual model posits that humor in the classroom may serve as a technique to positively impact critical, desired higher ed outcomes. This topic is especially timely and relevant as higher education struggles to build rapport between professor and the Gen Z student in a post-COVID-19, impersonal, and at times, isolated classroom environment. In daily practice, humor in the classroom aids professors in co-creating student engagement to ensure that Gen Z students learn, while financial objectives of higher education, as measured by student retention, are met.

ABSTRACT. This study addresses gaps in the literature regarding education quality and student satisfaction by integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses to map how students conceptualize satisfaction and education experience across delivery modes. By combining perceptual mapping and semantic analysis, this study contributes a novel, mixed-methods approach to understanding the student experience. Together, the MDS and Leximancer analyses uncover a dual structure of student satisfaction: one dimension aligns with structural reliability and cognitive clarity (more online-driven), and the other aligns with affective engagement and empathetic authority (more hybrid-driven). These findings provide evidence of how the business education ecosystem supports multiple, co-existing pathways to satisfaction. In doing so, it demonstrates that satisfaction is not a singular construct but a configuration of interdependent elements, structure, empathy, clarity, and motivation that vary by delivery context and by students’ roles as value co-creators in the learning process.

ABSTRACT. In an increasingly polarized U.S. sociopolitical climate, political ideology, along with recent state and federal laws and court rulings, heavily influences the curriculum and discussions in marketing classes. Topics like consumer personal and social identity, brand positioning, and relationship marketing are no longer taught without political context oversight. Invariably, these topics intersect with debates over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), data privacy, reproductive rights, and free speech. Our research employs the positivist theory of adjudication to examine how jurisprudence may impact marketing curriculum and instruction critically.

ABSTRACT. The digital era has transformed the relationship between sports, media, and fandom, enabling retired athletes to reemerge as influential digital figures. Many now serve as brand ambassadors through team partnerships or independent channels, yet limited research has explored how affiliation and fan identity shape their effectiveness. Drawing on source credibility theory, the match-up hypothesis, and social identity theory, this experimental study investigates how source type (retired focal-team athlete, retired non-focal-team athlete, or non-athlete influencer) and affiliation (team-affiliated vs. independent) influence behavioral intentions, including game attendance, streaming, and word-of-mouth. Using Los Angeles Lakers fans as participants, a 3×2 between-subjects design tests how credibility, authenticity, and team identification jointly affect persuasion. It is expected that messages from team-affiliated retired athletes will generate the highest behavioral intentions, especially among highly identified fans, while non-affiliated non-athlete influencers will elicit the lowest. The study advances theoretical understanding of identity-based persuasion by integrating credibility, authenticity, and fan identification within digital sport contexts. Practically, findings will guide sport organizations to strategically deploy alumni and independent influencers for segmented fan engagement, sustaining emotional loyalty among core supporters while extending reach to casual audiences. This research highlights how retired athletes bridge legacy and digital fandom in contemporary sport communication.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how fan participation in the co-creation of live sport and entertainment experiences strengthens brand love by deepening self–brand connection. While brand love is known to predict loyalty and advocacy, less is understood about how participatory branding practices contribute to this process. The Savannah Bananas, a collegiate summer league baseball team celebrated for participatory entertainment and viral marketing, serve as the context.

A convergent mixed-methods design combined survey responses from 165 fans (target n = 250) with sentiment analysis of 1,771 comments from Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Measures included participation, self–brand connection, brand love, and behavioral engagement. Analyses suggest that fan participation is positively associated with brand love, with emotional connection acting as a significant mediator. Behavioral indicators such as event attendance, merchandise intent, and social media following further predicted stronger attachment. Sentiment analysis revealed convergent patterns, emphasizing humor, pride, belonging, and participation.

Findings suggest participatory branding fosters emotional attachment and strengthens loyalty and advocacy. For practice, the Savannah Bananas case shows how polls, contests, creative campaigns, merchandise, and social media communities reinforce brand love and sustain enthusiasm.

ABSTRACT. This structured abstract investigates how activating the evolutionary mate-attraction motive shapes consumers’ responses to prestige influencers in the context of luxury marketing on Instagram, focusing on potential gender differences in this process. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, the research examines whether mate-attraction activation influences consumers’ perceived prestige of the influencer, their attitude toward the influencer, and purchase intention, and how these relationships differ between men and women. An experimental study adopting a 2 (mate-attraction not-activated vs. activated) x 2 (male vs. female) between-subject design was conducted. Results reveal that, overall, activating the mate-attraction motive does not directly increase purchase intention. However, a moderated sequential mediation emerged: for men, motive activation decreased perceived prestige of the influencer, which in turn reduced attitude towards the influencer and purchase intention; for women, no significant effects were found. These findings indicate that prestige cues may backfire for men under mating salience due to intrasexual rivalry. By highlighting gender-specific pathways through which evolutionary motives shape consumer perceptions and behaviors, this study contributes to both influencer marketing and luxury consumer research by integrating evolutionary motives and identifying gender as critical boundary conditions for the effectiveness of prestige-oriented influencer strategies.

ABSTRACT. With nearly 75% of the world’s discretionary income (an astounding $31.8 trillion globally) at their fingertips, women are an extremely influential consumer segment. And with nearly three out of every four women identifying as avid sports fans, the female segment has become an increasingly attractive sector for brands seeking to invest in sports advertising. Women are reshaping the sports economy through engagement that extends beyond team loyalty, emphasizing meaning, community, and identity. This paper advances a theory-driven model in which psychological ownership serves as the central mechanism linking four established antecedents of ownership—effectance, self-identity, sense of home, and stimulation—to outcomes of sports consumption intention such as fulfillment of social needs and meaningful sports consumption. We further propose that sports consumption is influenced by gender orientation and a consumer’s feelings of psychological ownership over the team or brand. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data will be collected from self-identified female sports fans and analyzed through PLS-SEM to test the structural model. This research provides actionable insights for marketers seeking to engage female consumers authentically, revealing how identity-affirming messaging and community-building strategies align with the psychological drivers of sports consumption.

ABSTRACT. The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools into higher education has transformed learning environments, yet ethical engagement remains a critical challenge. This study explores how students navigate AI in their academic work, focusing on the conditions under which AI enhances or undermines educational value. Drawing on a service ecosystem perspective and Service-Dominant Logic (SDL), the research positions students as active co-creators and ethical agents within AI-mediated learning contexts. Through semi-structured interviews with 42 students across diverse disciplines, the study uncovers four interlinked dimensions of ethical co-creation: Distributed Ethical Agency, Dialogic Value Co-Creation, Consumer-Oriented Personalization, and Participatory Institutional Design. Findings reveal that students construct personal ethical frameworks, engage dialogically with AI tools, evaluate platforms as consumers, and advocate for inclusive policy design. The emergent Theory of Ethical and Co-creative AI-Integrated Educational Service Ecosystems reframes AI-enhanced education as a dynamic, student-driven process. This research contributes a student-centric lens to the discourse on AI ethics in education and offers actionable insights for institutions seeking to foster responsible, transparent, and adaptive AI integration. It calls for a shift from top-down governance to participatory design, empowering students to ethically and effectively co-create their learning experiences.

ABSTRACT. This paper introduces the Dead Classroom Theory (DCT) to explain how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) reshapes teaching, learning, and engagement in business schools. Drawing inspiration from the “dead internet theory,” DCT argues that when instructors and students both rely on GenAI as a substitute rather than a complement, classrooms risk becoming hollow enactments of education: “bots talking to bots.” Using process theorizing and expectancy theory, we map how GenAI mediates each stage of the education cycle and develop a taxonomy of four classroom types: Dynamic, Unavailing, Squandered and Dead. Evidence from higher education suggests that structural pressures, such as declining enrollments, larger classes, and reliance on adjunct faculty, make dead classrooms increasingly likely. DCT contributes a conceptual framework that clarifies the risks of disengagement, highlights motivational dynamics, and offers pathways for preserving human-centered, critical, and engaged forms of management education.

ABSTRACT. While artificial intelligence (AI) is now central to marketing, a critical gap persists between believing in its importance and actively using it. Our 2024 study of business students first identified this "AI readiness gap." This paper presents a follow-up study conducted in 2025, analyzing a new cross-section of students (n=275) and tracking a longitudinal panel of 182 students from the original 2024 cohort. We find that while AI familiarity (Δ = +0.7) and ethical readiness (Δ = +0.5) grew significantly, actual usage saw only a modest uptick (Δ = +0.2), proving the gap is persistent. Latent class analysis identified three distinct student segments: high-belief/low-use Believers, high-belief/high-use Adopters, and low-belief/low-use Skeptics. Critically, we find that a student's growth in ethical readiness was the strongest predictor (OR = 1.51) of their transition from a Believer to an Adopter, while privacy concerns inhibited this shift. We argue that marketing education must evolve beyond awareness campaigns and actively bridge the belief-to-behavior gap by implementing hands-on AI labs, clear ethics modules, and transparent usage policies in marketing education.

ABSTRACT. The payment environment is rapidly evolving with the rise of digital innovations such as fintech lenders, mobile transaction systems, and freelance and crowdsourcing platforms. Consumers now navigate both payer and payee roles across various contexts, from making personal purchases and charitable donations to receiving incentives and perks. Given the growing complexity of payment environments and the importance of understanding consumer psychology at the moment of transaction, my dissertation explores how various elements of payment design influence consumer perceptions and behaviors. Chapter 1 examines how offering financing options, such as installment plans, affects purchase decisions, even among consumers who intend to pay in full. Chapter 2 investigates how making incentives more visually salient affects motivation in prosocial contexts. Chapter 3 explores how consumer perks, even when they do not increase immediate satisfaction, can enhance brand loyalty by fostering psychological ownership of a tangible service element. Together, the three chapters tell a story about how seemingly minor elements in the transaction environment, such as display of payment options, salience of the payment, and simple interventions upon check-in, influence how we think, buy, and help others.

ABSTRACT. To what extent does overcrowding adversely impact customer experience (CX)? Can dynamic pricing – an extremely popular practice for regulating demand, help mitigate adverse CX? The author employs a multi-method approach to address this issue. First, a text-mining analysis of online reviews from three major service providers reveals that dynamic pricing is correlated with an increase in negative customer sentiment, potentially risking customer alienation. Second, in collaboration with a major U.S. aquarium, a unique three-wave field study corroborates these findings and tests a novel framework of CX-driven mitigation tactics. Comparing outcomes across three field conditions: (i) no dynamic pricing, (ii) dynamic pricing alone, and (iii) dynamic pricing with mitigation tactics, the author finds that dynamic pricing alone fails to improve CX and harms price fairness perceptions. The key takeaway is to supplement dynamic pricing strategies with carefully designed experiential tactics to effectively manage customer relationships in crowded settings. This dissertation essay is a culmination of close collaboration between marketing academia and practice and consequently presents findings from very realistic field settings.

ABSTRACT. Many products are prematurely disposed of despite having remaining utility. In response to these unsustainable patterns that fuel the ‘throwaway society,’ several organizations are advocating for responsible practices that can substantially reduce waste. This dissertation focuses on product life extension as a sustainable behavior that can minimize waste and maximize value for various stakeholders. Specifically, it examines how production-related information can be leveraged to motivate consumers to extend the life of products they own (i.e., product repair) and how product life extension information (i.e., product care) shapes consumers’ pre-purchase decisions. Across 11 experiments, this dissertation tests these relationships, identifies the underlying mechanisms, and delineates the boundary conditions of the effects. Together, the findings contribute to theory and practice by identifying novel ways managers can optimize value and reduce waste through the responsible use of marketing cues.

ABSTRACT. With the growth of Internet use and e-commerce in a global economy, the need to include digital marketing in the marketing curriculum has become increasingly important in producing graduates ready to enter the workforce. However, designing courses that combine technology and trends can be daunting for those just getting started. This session focuses on developing digital marketing courses that equip students with the hard and soft skills needed for entry-level roles. Instructors have a wide range of options, including industry certifications, software, and analytics tools. For the first hour, each presenter will provide examples of assignments and course design. The final half hour will be a Q&A panel discussion.