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ABSTRACT. While previous research has examined motivations, there is a significant gap in the marketing literature: few studies have investigated the consumption of secondhand luxury goods, including the role of social stigmatization and the strategies consumers use to cope with it. Therefore, this study aims to explore secondhand luxury consumption using a mixed-methods approach, combining in-depth interviews and experimentation. We investigate why and how individuals engage with secondhand luxury goods and the meanings they associate with these practices.

ABSTRACT. Gift-giving is a key social practice, yet givers and receivers often evaluate the same gift differently. This submission investigates these giver–receiver asymmetries through four preregistered replication studies that examine (1) gifting without reciprocation, (2) gifting self-improvement products, (3) digital versus physical gift cards, and (4) regifting. In addition to testing the main effects of the original studies, we extend the replications by assessing the effects’ generalizability to new product categories and examining mediating effects of offensiveness, appreciation, and thoughtfulness. Two main effects (gifting without reciprocation and regifting) replicated directly, while the others showed indirect-only mediation effects. Appreciation consistently mediated giver–receiver asymmetries across contexts, thoughtfulness did so in two studies, and offensiveness in only one. These findings suggest that asymmetries between givers and receivers may be less often driven by a fear of offending than proposed in the original studies. Thus, the results highlight the importance of appreciation as a central psychological process in gift-giving, suggesting that positive relational motives may outweigh concerns about offense in shaping how givers and receivers experience gift exchanges.

ABSTRACT. The present study aims to develop a scale for measuring Moral Motives in Consumption. Our proposed scale builds on the Three Moral Motives Framework introduced by Goenka et al. (2025), which identifies three distinct moral motives that explain how and why moral considerations shape consumer behavior: 1) Moral-Beneficence Motive; 2) Moral-Self Motive; and 3) Moral-Duty Motive. Each motive is associated with a particular mindset that activates context-specific beliefs about what constitutes right and wrong behavior.

ABSTRACT. Game live streaming (GLS) has become a prominent platform for entertainment and interactivity, yet the role of GLS communities in shaping customer experiences remains underexplored. Drawing on Social Network Theory, this study examines how social dynamics within GLS—social identity, customer–streamer rapport (C–SR), customer–customer rapport (C–CR), and online altruism—affect perceived emotional support and service evaluations, including electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and virtual gifting. We conducted three field studies and four scenario-based online experiments with six Twitch streamers, employing regression analyses, ANOVA, and PROCESS models to test hypotheses. Results show that stronger social identity enhances perceived emotional support, which in turn drives favorable service evaluations. C–SR amplifies this effect, whereas C–CR does not significantly moderate it. Online altruism further strengthens the relationship between social identity and emotional support. These findings demonstrate that GLS social networks extend beyond entertainment, enabling streamers to foster emotional connections, reinforce community belonging, and improve customer engagement and evaluations.

ABSTRACT. In the last decade, live streaming has become a profitable business model. Live streaming platforms allow streamers to reply to viewer comments during their streaming sessions. The synchronous interaction enables the streamer to adjust the streaming content in real-time, catering to the specific needs and desires of the viewers (Gua, et al. 2022). Furthermore, the platforms provide streamers with an opportunity to monetize their viewership during their streaming sessions, and viewers “pay” to maintain their relationship with streamers (Chou & Nguyen, 2023). Existing live streaming research primarily focuses on usage motivations and e-commerce aspects, the motivations and intentions to gift remain largely unexplored. Drawing on existing consumption theory, this study aims to develop a model investigating the determinants of online users’ gifting motivations and their effects. The distinct contribution of this study lies in the consideration of the dynamic interaction of online users with streaming, focusing on the dynamic interaction and relationship between the viewers and streamers, and accounting streaming quality and perceived values of gifting behaviors.

ABSTRACT. Social media has become a dominant channel for online shopping but also a major arena for scams and deceptive advertising. In 2021, U.S. consumers lost over $770 million to social-media-based fraud, with Facebook and Instagram accounting for most incidents. Despite increasing public concern and regulatory scrutiny, social-media companies often deny liability, claiming they merely host advertising content. Guided by attribution theory, this study examines how consumers assign responsibility for social-commerce scams and whether platforms are held accountable for enabling fraudulent activities. Specifically, it investigates how brand familiarity (well-known vs. lesser-known) influences perceived platform responsibility, trust recovery, and avoidance intentions. A between-subjects experiment will present participants with simulated Instagram advertisements depicting fraud involving either a well-known or lesser-known brand. Measures will assess attribution of responsibility, controllability, trust, and avoidance intentions. It is expected that scams involving well-known brands will heighten perceived platform responsibility and increase avoidance intentions, with perceived responsibility mediating these effects. The study contributes to attribution theory by identifying social-media platforms as emerging agents of consumer blame in digital marketplaces and underscores the managerial importance of developing proactive accountability mechanisms—such as verified advertising and transparent seller disclosures—to sustain consumer trust in the expanding social-commerce ecosystem.

ABSTRACT. The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies across industries is transforming consumer behavior and decision-making processes. This study explores consumer adoption of AI technologies through a mixed-method approach, combining a systematic bibliometric analysis of 4,424 scholarly articles with qualitative insights to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors driving and impeding AI adoption by consumers. The study employs the TCM-ADO framework to analyze prevailing theories, contexts, and methodologies while identifying critical antecedents, decisions, and outcomes influencing consumer adoption. Key themes emerge around consumer emotions, neuroscientific measurement techniques, AI as decision support systems, ethical dilemmas, and the interplay between human intelligence and algorithmic advice. The findings reveal that consumer adoption is a complex, multi-dimensional process shaped by economic, social, personal, psychological, and cultural factors. The study proposes a forward-looking research agenda highlighting the need for interdisciplinary inquiry into emotional influences, ethical considerations, and human-AI interaction dynamics. Managerial implications stress the importance of designing socially and culturally sensitive AI products that foster customer satisfaction, trust, and sustained adoption. This research contributes to theory development by integrating consumer behavior and technology acceptance literature. It offers practical guidance for AI innovators, marketers, and policymakers aiming to enhance consumer engagement with AI technologies

ABSTRACT. Consumers are subject to many behavioral biases when making financial decisions, leading to poor performance. Robo-advisors (i.e., artificial intelligence (AI) technology that provides automated financial services) are a potential alternative to fight behavioral biases in financial decision-making. Our research shows that making consumers aware of these biases increases their use of robo-advisors and this relationship is mediated by trust in the technology. We also identified a boundary condition: transparency. Specifically, the effect of awareness on trust and the direct effect of awareness on intention to use the robo-advisor are stronger when transparency is high (vs. low). Our findings enrich our understanding of consumer psychology behind technology adoption and inform managers on effective strategies to encourage the use of robo-advisors.

ABSTRACT. This study examines patient adoption of AI-assisted treatment in oncology, where AI promises earlier detection and personalized therapies yet faces perceptual barriers. Using Consumption Values Theory, we model functional, social, emotional, and epistemic values as antecedents of intention to accept AI-supported recommendations. Survey data from 250 cancer patients located in France were analyzed with PLS-SEM (SRMR = 0.041; NFI = 0.910). Emotional value emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.59, p < .01), followed by functional value (β = 0.26, p < .05), while social value was negative (β = −0.34, p < .05) and epistemic value non-significant (β = 0.08, p > .05). Findings extend TAM/UTAUT by specifying psychological value drivers and suggest emphasizing reassurance, clinician endorsement, explainability, and demonstrated performance to foster patient-centered AI adoption.

ABSTRACT. France and the United Kingdom face important but distinct health-system pressures: in France, care overuse, and a widening social-insurance deficit raise sustainability concerns;in the UK, National Health System capacity and access constraints—workforce shortages, long waiting lists are the important strain.In parallel, the medical sector is experiencing a big shift driven by the expanding use of AI diagnostic-support tools. While these tools promise efficiencies, they also reconfigure the interaction between physicians and patients and raises a set of questions to which, to our knowledge, the academic literature has not yet provided answers: How is AI used and perceived by physicians during consultations? How is it perceived by patients? Does it affect the evaluation of the physician and trust in the physician or in the physician’s diagnosis? Might it trigger verification behaviour on the patient’s part, such as multiplying consultations to reduce perceived risk? Or, on the contrary, can this technology enhance accuracy and thus perceived safety, thereby strengthening trust and loyalty? This exploratory study, combining secondary data and semi-structured interviews, addresses this research gap by examining how AI diagnostic-support tools are used and perceived by physicians and how this use influences patients’ perceptions in both the UK and French healthcare contexts.

ABSTRACT. Across three experimental studies, this research examines how consumers attribute gender dimensions to cocktails based on the spirit used and how these perceptions influence order intentions. Drawing on categorization theory, Study 1 demonstrates that consumers stereotype beverages as gendered, viewing whiskey and bourbon as masculine and vodka and rum as feminine. Study 2 shows that these gender perceptions mediate the relationship between spirit type and order intentions, such that beverages perceived as more feminine elicit higher willingness to order. Study 3 replicates these findings and demonstrates that the effect is moderated by consumers’ self-identified gender, with stronger effects observed among those identifying as more feminine. These results advance theory on gender stereotyping by extending it beyond food to the beverage domain and highlighting the psychological mechanisms driving drink choice. Practically, these findings offer insights for marketers and hospitality professionals aiming to position beverages in ways that align with gender norms.

ABSTRACT. This research examines young adults’ perceptions of luxury fine dining with a series of open-ended questions based on the scenario of celebrating a special occasion. They were asked what constitutes luxury fine dining, what emotions they would feel, what would cause them satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and what value they would get from the experience. The three key elements of what makes a restaurant luxury fine dining are food quality, service quality, and atmosphere demonstrating that a high price alone is insufficient to make something a luxury experience. The three main emotions they anticipated while luxury fine dining are excitement, calm, and pride. The excitement came from the choice of restaurant and special occasion, while calm came from knowing the luxury restaurant would take care of everything so they could enjoy the experience. The key driver of satisfaction is service, with food being second. Finally, the social value that comes with close associations, conditional value of a special occasion, and emotive/hedonic value were the three key values named in the study. Implications for luxury fine dining theory and practice are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.

ABSTRACT. This study bridges the gap between olfactory marketing and the Internet of Things (IoT) in luxury hospitality. It investigates how intelligent, emotion-detecting IoT devices can dynamically shape guest experiences, focusing specifically on the guest room. While research confirms that ambient scent powerfully influences consumer emotion through direct neurological pathways, the potential for real-time personalization remains underexplored. Building on literature concerning Sensory-Enabling Technologies (SETs), this research proposes an experimental methodology. It advocates using objective, real-time emotion measurement tools (e.g., FaceReader) to capture guest affective states via IoT wearables. The primary objective is to determine which olfactory stimuli are most effective when tailored to detected discrete emotions (e.g., excitement, calm), moving beyond general pleasure and arousal. The anticipated findings will demonstrate that a responsive system, delivering congruent scents based on a guest's instantaneous emotional state, can significantly enhance perceptions of personalization, exclusivity, and well-being. This research contributes to theory by integrating IoT, sensory marketing, and emotion analytics. It offers luxury hotels a strategic framework for employing intelligent olfactory marketing to gain a competitive edge through hyper-personalized, emotionally resonant guest experiences.

ABSTRACT. This study develops and empirically validates the concept of Service Anxiety, a multidimensional form of workplace anxiety specific to service encounters, within the luxury hospitality sector in Sri Lanka. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods approach, the research integrates insights from a qualitative exploration with 30 semi-structured interviews of frontline employees and line managers, followed by a large-scale quantitative study involving 650 employee–customer dyads across six five-star hotels. The qualitative phase enabled the conceptualisation of Service Anxiety as a higher-order construct composed of Appearance Anxiety, Communication Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Negative Self-Evaluation, Performance Anxiety, Behavioural Anxiety and Protective Actions. These insights informed the development of the conceptual framework, which was subsequently tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to validate the measurement structure and examine causal pathways between job demands, Service Anxiety, motivational mediators and customer outcomes. Findings revealed that Role Ambiguity, Abusive Supervision, Emotional Dissonance and Powerlessness significantly increase Service Anxiety, while Customer Mistreatment was not significant. Serial mediation analysis showed that Service Anxiety indirectly reduces Customer Satisfaction through Job Passion and Brand Identification, highlighting the importance of intrinsic motivation and identification processes in mitigating emotional strain.

ABSTRACT. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming sales organizations, reshaping both structures and roles. While prior work has focused on AI’s technical potential, less attention has been given to how AI alters task complexity, salesperson behavior, and role design. This conceptual paper develops two integrative frameworks—the AI Role Progression Curve and the Human-AI Role Fit Matrix—to guide theory and practice on aligning AI adoption with sales role characteristics. Drawing on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and ambidexterity theories, we synthesize insights from sales and technology literature to analyze six core roles: Sales Development Representatives, Account Executives, Sales Engineers, Customer Success Managers, Strategic Account Managers, and Sales Leaders. Our analysis demonstrates that AI functions evolve along a spectrum, from automation in operational roles to synthesis and advisory support in strategic roles, with adoption shaped by behavioral archetypes (e.g., hunters, farmers, hybrids). The frameworks clarify how AI acts simultaneously as a demand and a resource, influencing performance, well-being, and role effectiveness. For scholars, the paper extends work design and sales technology research. For practitioners, it offers a roadmap for balancing automation and augmentation while preserving uniquely human differentiators such as empathy, judgment, and trust.

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform the business-to-business (B2B) sales environment by influencing how salespeople prepare, communicate, and execute key tasks. Despite broad adoption of AI-driven tools such as Salesforce Einstein and general-purpose tools like ChatGPT, managers struggle to understand how AI alters salesperson decision-making. The goal of this study is to clarify how distinct forms of AI assistance, AI-Assisted Research (AIR), AI-Assisted Messaging (AIM), and AI-Assisted Automation (AIA), shape salesperson confidence and trust in AI-enabled selling. Drawing upon Adaptive Selling Theory (Spiro & Weitz, 1990) and Bounded Rationality (Simon, 1990), this study conceptualizes AI systems as value co-creators that introduce new decision cues into select steps of the selling process (Moncrief & Marshall, 2005). We apply these frameworks to understand how salespeople cognitively interpret and respond to AI-generated recommendations, and how trust and efficacy determine whether those cues are effectively incorporated into selling routines.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the ability of digital tools to help farmers reducing the commercial uncertainty of their farms. It is based on the approach to uncertainty from the perspectives of Resource Dependency Theory and Transaction Cost Theory. We adopt the Quantitative Comparison Analysis (QCA) method, combining 73 market gardeners questionnaires, with 16 semi-structured interviews. Our results enable identifying 5 strategies : outlet diversification, sales planning, commercial relationship, trust and contractual arrangement. They range through constrain absorption to vertical integration. Outlet diversification and contractual arrangement are effective for direct and indirect sales while sales planing exclusively benefits to direct sales and commercial relationships benefits to indirect. Digital tools for sales organisation are particularly efficient. For direct sellers, they facilitate sales planning and for indirect sellers they facilitate outlet diversification. More importantly, they enable transmitting practical information (on volume, pricing, traceability, etc.) which proves effective in supporting contracting, strengthening the commercial relationship, and outlet diversification. Tools for marketing are only helpful for direct sellers. Farmers who communicate on social media can diversify their markets because it allows them reaching new customers. It also helps them sensibilizing their customers and persuade them to order products in advance,

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) are transforming both marketing practice and the educational environments that prepare future marketers. Yet, most marketing curricula have not evolved to match the pace of technological change, creating a widening gap between classroom instruction and industry expectations. This paper proposes an AI Integration Continuum as a practical framework for embedding AI progressively into college-level courses. The continuum ranges from traditional, human-centered instruction to fully immersive, AI-driven learning ecosystems, outlining corresponding pedagogical strategies, tools, and ethical considerations at each stage. By situating AI integration within an adaptive and ethically grounded model, the framework enables educators to align course design with emerging workforce competencies while maintaining academic integrity and critical thinking as central learning outcomes. The paper concludes that AI literacy and ethical fluency are now foundational requirements for employability and professional relevance. Strategic, staged adoption—supported by institutional commitment and interdisciplinary collaboration—offers a sustainable path forward for higher education to remain innovative, inclusive, and future-ready in an AI-driven economy.

ABSTRACT. This sales education study examines student reactions to AI‑enabled sales roleplays through the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model, assessing how perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment shape attitudes toward using AI in sales training. Building on system success research, we model Navigation, Convenience, and Substitutability as reflective indicators of a higher‑order System Quality factor relevant to AI roleplay platforms. Using student data and standard measurement/structural modeling procedures, we compare the original specification to a parsimonious System Quality model and test paths from System Quality to perceptual mediators (Ease of Use, Usability, and Enjoyment) and from the mediators to attitudes. We also consider model extension factors related to the reasons for and against attitudes toward AI roleplay technology. Results highlight the practical design implications for scalable, immersive sales roleplay training that balances functional effectiveness with hedonic engagement. Pedagogical implications for sales education are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This abstract introduces a novel experiential assignment that uses synthetic datasets, leveraging open-source AI tools to scaffold concepts in statistics courses. Preceding the project, weekly lectures and assignments reacquaint students with techniques such as hypothesis testing and multivariate regression. The final project requires students to create a hypothetical marketing consulting firm and a client firm, create branding for both firms, synthesize an artificial dataset for a consulting project, analyze the results, and report conclusions, including recommendations to influence the dependent variable of the research. Guided by Kolb's (1984) Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), Yusuf et al.'s (2024) framework for enhancing critical thinking, and Barger et al.'s (2025) recommendations for AI integration best practices, this project promotes conceptual understanding, identity development, and reflective learning while lowering statistics anxiety. This paper contributes to marketing education by providing a customizable and pedagogically supported framework for integrating AI into marketing courses (McAlister et al., 2024).

ABSTRACT. This structured abstract examines how university students engage with Artificial Intelligence-based educational technology (AI-EdTech) in their individual learning processes and how these interactions shape teaching practices within higher education. Guided by Service-Dominant Logic and research on trust in automation, we conceptualize academic learning as a co-created service system among students, instructors, and AI agents. Within this system, Conversational Pedagogical Agents (CPAs) are an emerging AI-EdTech category that supports dialogic learning and personalized feedback. While text-based CPAs such as ChatGPT are widely adopted, trends toward embodied agents (e.g., avatars) heighten questions about engagement and trust. Ninety-four business students participated in a peer-interview study investigating the role of AI-EdTech in exam preparation and study routines. An inductive content analysis revealed five user types: rejecters, hesitant, hidden, rational users, and enthusiasts – ranging from self-directed to AI-guided learning. Across all interviews, students expressed skepticism about AI’s reliability but differed in how they verified or delegated learning tasks. The findings in this study highlight trust transfer from institutions to AI systems as a critical challenge for higher education and propose using these qualitive insights to develop latent typologies of AI use in our future quantitative research.

ABSTRACT. Not only is there a vast literature on developing and designing scale measurements use in conducting marketing and consumer behavior academic research, but there are a number previously published scale measures that capture the same conceptual construct for which researchers will either adopt or adapt for their own research endeavors. Available AI tools help identify, access, and categorize that scale measurement literature quicker than ever before. Yet, AI generated literature insights of scale measurements create new questions concerning the actual quality and relevancy of many of the scales designs in capturing quality data for investigating and testing proposed relationships between constructs of interest. This special session focuses on identifying and discussing how AI generated insights influence a variety of fundamental, underlying scale design elements which create different problematic scaling issues, designs, and practices that negatively impact researchers’ efforts of capturing high quality and relevant data. Using a ‘Question and Answer’ format, a panel of scale measurement expert researchers’ break down the fundamental, underlying elements needed to enhance the construction of solid scale measurements within the growing AI research environment. One overall unexplored question is: “Should academic researchers trust AI literature insights when adopting and/or adapting previous published scale measurements?”

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of AI-powered personalization on customer engagement and value co-creation in streaming services. Drawing on service-dominant logic and customer engagement theory, the research examines personalization as a driver of engagement, engagement as a mediator toward co-creation, and trust as a potential moderator. A quantitative survey was conducted with 104 users of Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube, recruited via online platforms. Multi-item Likert scales measured personalization, engagement, value co-creation, and trust. Data were analyzed using SPSS, including descriptive statistics, reliability testing, correlations, and regression analysis. The results provide strong support for the link between personalization, engagement, and value co-creation. Users who perceived higher personalization reported significantly greater engagement (R² = .401, β = .633, p < .001), and engaged users were more likely to co-create value (R² = .297, β = .545, p < .001). The moderating role of trust was not supported, though transparency and fairness remain important reputational assets. Findings confirm engagement as a mediating mechanism and highlight risks of algorithmic fatigue among heavy users. The study contributes to personalization literature by integrating engagement and co-creation into a unified framework and offers practical guidance for designing transparent, adaptive, and participatory personalization systems.

ABSTRACT. Advances in artificial intelligence have enabled virtual influencers (VIs) to engage consumers on social media, yet their lack of real experiences raises concerns about credibility and authenticity. This study examines how disclosing VI ownership (individual vs. brand) affects perceptions of enigmatic appeal, artificiality, trust, message scrutiny, and attitudes toward promoted brands and purchase intentions. We also explore whether disclosure influences the application of injunctive norms in moral judgments of VIs, particularly when they endorse products linked to fast fashion overproduction. Two online experiments expose participants to Instagram posts by the VI @lilmiquela promoting the clothing brand WEEKDAY, with ownership disclosure and sustainability critique as experimental factors. Analyses using ANOVA and structural equation modeling will clarify how transparency about VI ownership shapes consumer perceptions and brand responses.

ABSTRACT. Livestream commerce (LSC) is rapidly emerging as a primary marketing trend within digital commerce, particularly on social commerce platforms like TikTok. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework, this study systematically investigates how multidimensional stimuli—including streamer attributes (Attractiveness/ATT and Credibility/CRE), livestream characteristics (Interactivity/ITA and Social Presence/SCP), content characteristics (Emotional Appeal/EAP, Information Richness/IFR, and Visual Vividness/VIV), and marketing stimuli (Price Promotion/PRP and Scarcity/SCR)—affect IPB through the mediating effect of Arousal (ARS). Furthermore, the research examines the moderating roles of Hedonic Motivation (HMO) and Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) in the relationship between ARS and IPB. Based on valid data collected from 338 TikTok users in Vietnam and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the findings reveal that ITA, SCP, EAP, IFR, VIV, and PRP positively influence ARS, which, in turn, drives IPB. Crucially, HMO significantly strengthens the ARS – IPB relationship, while ATT, CRE, SCR, and FOMO show no statistically significant effects. This research extends the SOR model in the LSC context by integrating diverse stimuli, offering profound theoretical contributions to consumer behavior theory and providing actionable strategic implications for optimizing livestream content and promotional tactics to boost IPB.

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers have become an increasingly popular alternative to human influencers in marketing communication, offering brands greater control, consistency, and creative flexibility. However, their lack of autonomy and agency raises ethical and practical concerns regarding transparency and accountability. This study examines how disclosing an influencer’s virtual nature affects consumer responsibility attribution and brand evaluations. Across two pre-registered online experiments (N = 1,728), participants viewed simulated Instagram posts featuring a virtual influencer endorsing a fictitious brand under three disclosure conditions: no disclosure, textual disclosure, and combined visual-textual disclosure. Results show that disclosure effectively increased recognition of the influencer’s artificiality and reduced perceived humanness and influencer responsibility, but did not consistently and proportionally increase brand responsibility. This asymmetry reveals a potential responsibility gap, where transparency increases recognition without ensuring accountability. Furthermore, while disclosure enhanced consumer awareness, it slightly lowered brand-related outcomes, suggesting that transparency may both inform and affect persuasive effectiveness. By doing so, this study advances understanding of transparency and accountability in virtual influencer marketing, providing experimental insights on the effects of such disclosures on brand-related outcomes

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers, computer-generated characters designed to resemble human social media personalities, are increasingly employed by brands to engage consumers. While human influencers’ effects on trust, brand loyalty, and purchase intention are well researched, the effectiveness of virtual influencers remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether virtual influencers can replicate or surpass the impact of human and disclosed virtual influencers on brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Drawing on source credibility, parasocial interaction theory, and mind perception theory, a 3x2 experimental design is applied across six scenarios varying influencer type and gender. Mediating effects of source credibility, parasocial relationship, and product congruency are examined. The study contributes theoretically by integrating psychological and marketing perspectives to advance the understanding of AI-driven endorsements, and practically by offering insights into the strategic use of virtual influencers for effective, cost-efficient, and risk-mitigated brand communication.

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers have emerged as prominent digital endorsers in fashion marketing, yet limited research examines how their video design features influence audience engagement. This study employs a multimodal approach to analyze Instagram Reels from leading fashion virtual influencers, combining video analytics with computer vision and natural language processing techniques to examine the relationships between video features and engagement outcomes. Grounded in Parasocial Interaction Theory and Perceived Authenticity Theory, we investigate how visual aesthetics, facial emotions, movement dynamics, content themes, and on-screen presence of virtual influencers relate to views, likes, comments, and shares. Results reveal that organic content with moderate aesthetics and emotional vulnerability generates significantly higher engagement rates than highly polished brand collaborations, despite lower absolute reach. Emotional depth, sustained presence, and restrained movement emerge as key drivers of audience interaction, with sad expressions yielding unexpectedly high engagement. This study extends authenticity and parasocial frameworks to synthetic media contexts, demonstrating that strategic imperfection fosters stronger audience connections than commercial polish, thereby offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for virtual influencer marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Recent advancements in generative AI technologies have enabled the development of human-twin chatbots (i.e., AI chatbots designed to resemble real humans, such as celebrities; e.g., Meta’s celebrity AI chatbots). Despite their great potential, many companies still struggle to create value with these chatbots. This study investigates how customers respond to two types of human-twin chatbot characteristics (i.e., personality similarity and appearance realism) in relation to perceived credibility and continuance intention. We conducted an experiment using ChatGPT-4o–based chatbots and demonstrated that when a human-twin chatbot is designed to mirror the personality of its human model, a less realistic appearance enhances perceived credibility. Furthermore, this study showed that the personality similarity of a human-twin chatbot positively influences continuance intention through perceived credibility only in a low appearance realism condition.

ABSTRACT. Marketers often emphasize sustainability by highlighting that products are either made from recycled materials or recyclable. This research investigates how these message framings—“recycled” versus “recyclable”—influence consumer evaluations across retail contexts. Across two controlled experiments, we demonstrate that in upscale retail settings (e.g., Nordstrom), products described as recycled elicit more favorable attitudes and higher purchase intentions than those described as recyclable. In contrast, in downscale settings (e.g., Target), the pattern reverses: consumers respond more positively to recyclable products. These effects persist regardless of the degree of recycling stated—whether 100% (“This backpack is 100% recycled/recyclable!”; Study 1) or 50% (“Our bedding collection is made from 50% recycled/recyclable cotton”; Study 2). The findings extend theories of message framing and retail context by revealing a boundary condition for sustainability communication, offering actionable guidance for marketers seeking to align environmental messaging with retail positioning.

ABSTRACT. Advertising research has documented the effectiveness of rhetorical questions in persuasive communication. However, this research has focused on one interrogative question type. Do all rhetorical questions generate the same consumer response? No! Applying motivated reasoning to the green advertising context, the present research explores how two different rhetorical question types – epiplexis and erotesis – influence consumer responses. Three experiments reveal that epiplexis enhances anger among consumers with lower levels of environmental concern. This effect is exacerbated when the source is a green brand. The novel findings contribute to the green advertising literature by (a) testing a distinct rhetorical question type and establishing a boundary condition for its positive effects, (b) identifying a consistent individual-level moderating factor, and (c) establishing a significant interaction with a specific brand type that exacerbates the negative epiplexis effect. A critical implication is that brands should be mindful of deploying certain rhetorical question types in their brand communication.

ABSTRACT. Integrating sustainability into luxury challenges long-standing assumptions about exclusivity and moral responsibility. This study examines how Switzerland’s Generation Z perceives “ethical gold”—gold sourced through Fairtrade/Fairmined certification or recycling—within the luxury-watch context. Drawing on the CSR–luxury paradox and authenticity theory in CSR communication, it explores whether ethical sourcing initiatives are recognized, valued, and trusted by younger consumers.

A sequential mixed-methods design combined expert interviews with a quantitative survey (N = 139). Despite Switzerland’s central role in gold refining, awareness of ethical-gold practices is very low (H1–H2 rejected). Respondents nevertheless show a strong ethical preference hierarchy, favoring Fairtrade/Fairmined over recycled and conventional gold (H3–H5 supported). Contrary to assumptions of generational cynicism, participants do not perceive CSR communication as greenwashing (H6 rejected). Recycling behavior exerts no significant influence (H7–H8 rejected), whereas watch enthusiasm enhances credibility perceptions (H9 supported).

Findings indicate that authenticity and brand congruence—rather than informational sophistication—drive trust in sustainable luxury communication. The study reframes the CSR–luxury paradox as generationally contingent and positions material provenance as a new source of brand legitimacy. Managerial implications emphasize measured transparency, educational storytelling, and heritage-based authenticity in advancing ethically sourced luxury.

ABSTRACT. AI-based chatbots are reshaping digital retail environments by enabling personalized, real-time interactions between customers and retailers. Prior research on AI chatbot usage has revealed that customers may get into a state of flow, i.e., a state of deep involvement and enjoyment. However, existing studies rely on retrospective survey methods, which are limited in capturing dynamic, in-the-moment flow experiences. In addition, current research disregards retailers’ benefits of customers’ flow experiences. Addressing these gaps, this study employs a neuroscientific, experimental design to examine customers’ flow experiences during interactions with a real AI-based chatbot of an omnichannel retailer. Using electrodermal activity (EDA) and eye-tracking data as neuroscientific correlates, combined with the validated Flow Short Scale (Engeser & Rheinberg, 2008), we measure both antecedents and consequences of customers’ flow experiences. In the experiment, participants completed comparable customer journey tasks with and without AI chatbot assistance in a controlled laboratory setting. Findings will contribute to flow theory by advancing real-time measurement of flow experience and identifying effects on retailer-related outcomes such as brand image. This study will provide theoretical insights into the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying customer interactions with AI interfaces and it will offer practical implications for retailers’ AI chatbot usage.

ABSTRACT. Voice Assistants (VAs) such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are reshaping how consumers interact with technology and make online purchasing decisions. Acting as conversational recommendation agents, VAs deliver personalized suggestions and simulate social interaction, redefining the digital shopping experience. Yet, VA adoption varies across generations, with Generations X, Y, and Z differing in technological familiarity, trust in AI, and interactivity. While Generation X values control, Millennials seek convenience, and Generation Z shows greater comfort with anthropomorphized AI interfaces, the psychological mechanisms driving these differences remain underexplored. Because VAs use human-like voices, they can unconsciously activate gender stereotypes and social categorization processes, while products themselves often carry gendered meanings. The alignment or misalignment among VA voice gender, user gender, and product gender may therefore shape consumer trust, attitudes, and purchase intentions differently across generations. Drawing on Media Richness Theory, Social Categorization Theory, and Product Gender Theory, this research examines how voice gender, product gender, and generational identity interact in VA-mediated decision-making. Using a multi-method design combining ZMET, an online survey, a Brand Reaction Time Test (BARTT), and a product choice experiment, the study advances understanding of how gendered cognition and generational factors shape human–AI interactions in online retail.

ABSTRACT. This research explores how transparency in AI-powered chatbot communication influences consumer trust and behavioral intentions in e-commerce. As conversational agents increasingly mediate online interactions, understanding how design features affect trust becomes essential. This study investigates three dimensions of transparency: (1) identity disclosure, (2) data-usage disclosure, and (3) explainability of recommendations. A multi-method design was employed. Study 1 surveyed 309 participants using validated scales and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the effects of transparency on trust, attitude, and intention to use. Study 2 applies an experimental design combining self-reported measures with the Brand Reaction Time Test (BARTT) to capture implicit affective responses. Results from Study 1 show that identity disclosure and explainability significantly enhance trust, which in turn predicts attitude and behavioral intention, while data-usage disclosure has no significant effect. The study contributes theoretically by integrating explicit and implicit measures to explain trust formation in human–AI interaction and by extending TAM with transparency-based trust mechanisms. Managerially, it offers actionable guidance for designing trustworthy chatbots, suggesting that clear identity and rationale explanations foster user confidence more effectively than generic data statements.

ABSTRACT. This study examines channel marketing efficiency among Taiwan’s 3C brick-and-mortar retailers under intensifying omnichannel competition and rising costs. A modified Delphi method identified key inputs (labor hours, in-store promotions, regional media expenditure) and outputs (store revenue, walk-in traffic, O2O conversions). Using 21 counties and cities as decision units, a BCC-oriented DEA model with ICA preprocessing estimated relative efficiency, and the Malmquist index captured inter-period (2023–2024) changes in technology, management, and scale. Results show that special municipalities exhibit higher technical efficiency but suboptimal scale efficiency, while eastern and outlying regions face structural constraints. Contributions include applying ICA-DEA to avoid overestimation, incorporating O2O conversions as output, and disentangling efficiency dynamics via the Malmquist index. Recommendations include scale-efficiency programs, region-level ROMI governance, and differentiated execution by urban typology to enhance productivity and output density.

ABSTRACT. Traditional retailers like Walmart have seen great success with selling their private label brands like Great Value (Ex. Great Value Toasted Oats) in addition to the many national brands (ex. Cheerios) (Neff 2007). With the introduction of ecommerce, new opportunities opened for online only retailers like Amazon to launch their own private label brands through Amazon Basics, in addition to traditional retailers being able to progress in the omnichannel space. However, as ecommerce has evolved, new opportunities have paved the way for a different phenomenon called white labeling. A white labeled product, although manufactured similarly to a national and private label brand, is difficult to distinguish in the eyes of a consumer. Not mentioned in the marketing literature but heavily cited among industry experts, the current paper takes a deep dive into understanding what white labeling is, conceptually defining it within the marketing literature, and describing the key characteristics of it.

ABSTRACT. The evolution of consumer decision journeys has been significantly influenced by advancements in digital technology, providing various options such as add to cart, add to wishlist, and one-click purchase to facilitate the process. In this study, we focus on the wishlist function, which enables consumers to search for products and add them to wishlists before ultimately purchasing or discarding them. Despite its significance, few prior studies have examined wishlists in depth. Our aim is to understand the motivations behind wishlisting and to investigate its relationship with session characteristics, such as session depth and breadth, as well as its impact on purchasing decisions. Utilizing three datasets from an e-tailer, we explore the potential reasons for wishlisting and discover that consumers primarily use it as a temporary holding area. Next, we examine the antecedents and consequences of wishlisting, finding a positive association between session depth and wishlist incidence and a negative association between session breadth and wishlist incidence. Our results indicate that the incidence of wishlisting in a session positively impacts purchase incidence. By shedding light on the consumer decision funnel of wishlisting, our findings offer valuable insights for e-tailing platforms seeking to optimize their user experience and drive conversion rates.

ABSTRACT. Online cart abandonment remains a persistent challenge for online retailers, demanding innovative marketing strategies to convert hesitant shoppers into buyers. Among these, influencer marketing has emerged as a powerful tool that enhances trust, engagement, and purchase intentions, yet its role in reducing cart abandonment remains underexplored. This research investigates whether influencer marketing decreases online cart abandonment and examines the role of consumers’ physical and mental processes in this relationship. Study 1, a field experiment using behavioral data, tests whether observable physical behaviors such as pages viewed and total session time mediate the relationship between influencer marketing and cart abandonment. Study 2, a randomized online experiment, tests whether mental processes, specifically message framing (gain vs. loss), moderate this effect. The findings make three key contributions. First, we demonstrate that influencer marketing reduces online cart abandonment, extending prior research beyond engagement and sales outcomes. Second, we refine the assumption that increased engagement necessarily translates into conversion, as physical processes did not mediate the effect. Third, we show that mental processes, particularly loss-framed messages, strengthen the impact of influencer marketing by lowering consumers’ likelihood of abandoning their carts. These insights provide actionable guidance for marketers aiming to improve online conversion outcomes.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the motivations that drive consumers to purchase products through social media—specifically, products recommended by influencers—as these platforms continue to evolve from spaces for social connection into arenas for transactional engagement and commerce. Social media influencers play a crucial role in driving commerce growth on social media platforms and in digital marketing. Consumer behavior is shaped through influencers’ perceived authenticity and reliability. The author theorizes that product endorsements and consumption by influencers are, in turn, causing their followers to partake in the overconsumption of products. Thematic coding reveals that influencer trustworthiness, perceived need for a product, and admiration for an influencer impact consumers’ purchasing decisions. Although most participants considered their purchase a “need” and expressed overall satisfaction, their responses suggest that consumers may be redefining the boundary between a “need” and a “want.” These findings contribute to the growing literature on social media influencers’ impact on digital consumer behavior and offer theoretical and managerial implications for understanding what drives consumers to purchase products recommended by influencers.

ABSTRACT. The proliferation of institutions has intensified competition in today's global higher education landscape. A prestigious ranking of institutions does not ensure value creation for its stakeholders. While scholars have extensively explored student satisfaction, this paper highlights the critical importance of maximising value for all stakeholders within HEIs to ensure long-term institutional success. It employs a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) encompassing relevant articles on higher education, value creation and stakeholders' dynamics to provide a comprehensive view of the higher education ecosystem. To conduct the literature review systematically and logically, the PRISMA Framework is employed. Findings transition from descriptive to thematic, revealing the evolution of research focus over time - from traditional studies on student satisfaction to value creation for different stakeholders within HEIs. A thorough analysis of theories, context, characteristics and methods is carried out through the implementation of the TCCM framework that culminates in highlighting gaps and future research directions.

ABSTRACT. Communication professionals today face growing societal and environmental expectations. Beyond message design, they are expected to create visual identities and campaigns that reflect organizational commitments to sustainability and social responsibility. Typography, traditionally valued for aesthetics and legibility, is now emerging as a potential tool for responsible communication. However, its role in sustainable and societal design remains largely underexplored in marketing and communication research. This doctoral research aims to fill this gap by examining how typography can contribute to responsible communication strategies. It seeks to understand how both professionals and consumers perceive and respond to so-called “responsible” typefaces. The study investigates, on one hand, how communication practitioners integrate these typographies into their design practices, and on the other, how consumers interpret and evaluate them in relation to brand credibility, image, and sustainability commitment. Within this broader framework, the present paper addresses the first objective of the doctoral project: identifying how communication professionals define, perceive, and use responsible typography. Through semi-structured interviews, it explores the motivations driving its adoption, as well as the barriers that limit its diffusion. The findings aim to highlight how responsible typography can be integrated into communication strategies aligned with sustainability principles.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the application of biophilic design elements in live streaming e-commerce (LSE) and their impact on consumer viewing duration. With the rapid growth of LSE in China, market competition has intensified, leading to a significant demand for high-quality content among consumers. Through three studies, we first assess the direct influence of biophilic design elements on viewing duration in a controlled environment, then investigate the mediating role of feeling grounded in this process, and finally analyze the impact of design elements on viewer behavior using real behavioral data. The results indicate that live streams featuring natural elements can significantly extend viewer duration and enhance their psychological comfort. This finding provides a new perspective for the LSE field, highlighting the importance of environmental design in enhancing consumer engagement and purchase intentions. We recommend that brands and streamers integrate biophilic design elements into their streaming environments to meet consumers' expectations for quality content and strengthen brand loyalty.

ABSTRACT. Firms commonly adapt their targeting decisions by soliciting heavily profitable customers while reducing marketing investments toward less profitable ones. At the same time, customers who are heavily solicited may be more likely to make additional purchases than those who are all but forgotten by the firm. The intertwined nature of customer behaviors and firm policy may create multiple profitability paths and self-fulfilling prophecies in the customer’s future. We develop a dual-LSTM model to jointly predict customer behaviors and the firm’s adaptive marketing strategy. Our CLV model improves individual-level predictions compared to multiple benchmark models. More noticeably, our dual-LSTM model predicts diverging paths of future profitability, highlighting bimodalities and dense right tails in CLV distributions. We show that selecting customers with the highest upside potential (“best-case scenario”) is managerially meaningful and is best achieved by ranking customers based on the right tail of the CLV distribution (rather than its average) combined with our dual-LSTM methodological approach.

ABSTRACT. As AI-generated content becomes a standard feature of brand communications, disclosure of AI involvement is shifting from discretion to regulation. With frameworks such as the EU AI Act (2024) set to normalize transparency, the key question is no longer whether brands should disclose but how they should do so without eroding authenticity and trust. Poorly framed disclosure can trigger skepticism, while thoughtful framing may preserve credibility and engagement. This research investigates how the framing of AI disclosure influences consumer inferences about brand intent and evaluation. Drawing on Source Credibility Theory, Expectancy Violations Theory, and Framing Theory, several studies (eye-tracking and controlled experiments) examine the effects of motivational framing (ethics vs. efficiency), linguistic framing (“generated by AI” vs. “crafted by our team using AI tools”), regulatory context (mandatory vs. voluntary), and degree of transparency (explicit vs. implicit). The eye-tracking studies capture subconscious attention to disclosure cues, while subsequent experiments test cognitive and evaluative outcomes. Together, the studies offer a framework for responsible AI transparency, showing how disclosure framing can meet regulatory demands while maintaining authenticity and consumer trust.

ABSTRACT. As generative AI tools reshape creative practice, creative professionals increasingly co-create with systems they neither fully understand nor can entirely control. Conceptualizing this as a principal–agent relationship, we examine how creatives manage hidden information and hidden action when delegating creative tasks to AI. Based on participant observation and 21 in-depth interviews, we identify six strategies and reveal how creatives sustain authority and accountability in human–AI co-creation processes.

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how consumers search for, discover, and interact with products, offering personalized and engaging experiences. However, consumers’ expectations are often unmet, particularly during product searches, leading to subtle expectation violations. Contrary to conventional assumptions that unmet expectations reduce engagement and purchase intention, our findings reveal a counterintuitive effect: when consumers engage with Generative AI (Gen AI) co-creation tools, expectation violations can enhance purchase intention. Unmet expectations trigger a deliberative mindset, which, when leveraged through Gen AI co-creation, fosters psychological ownership and iterative product refinement. For example, integrating Gen AI into Amazon’s “Made for You” customization tool could allow consumers to co-create products that align with their preferences, turning expectation violations into engagement opportunities. We propose the Expectation–Violation Gen AI Co-Creation Framework, examining how unmet expectations, co-creation engagement, product type, and temporal context influence psychological ownership and purchase intention, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for designing engaging, expectation-responsive AI experiences in digital marketplaces.

ABSTRACT. Lease-to-Own (LTO) is a flexible, no credit needed payment method, allowing users to pay off their purchase for up to a year while incentivizing early buy out options. The aim of this study is to review and analyze the literature on LTO payment methods and retailer promotion of payment methods (RPPM) to understand how and why retailers should promote LTO payment methods. To explore the existing literature, a systemic literature review (SLR) was conducted which resulted in 21 articles included for analysis. The analysis revealed three major themes in which the articles fell into: studies examining LTO payment method users and their experience; studies examining RPPM through temporal reframing; and one study bridging the gap between temporal reframing and non-traditional financing services through payment method segregation. This analysis contributes a holistic in-depth review of existing research relevant to LTO payment methods and their promotion. By doing so, unaddressed research avenues are revealed, specifically relating to retailers’ marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Bitcoin has emerged as one of the most disruptive assets in modern history, delivering an average annualized return of 54 percent this past decade. Its performance has accelerated corporate adoption of Bitcoin by firms known as Bitcoin treasury companies. These firms’ strategy of accumulating Bitcoin not only serves as a capital investment but also as a brand signal. This study advances the understanding of how these publicly traded firms use Bitcoin as a strategic branding tool. Drawing on 23 interviews with executives from 12 Bitcoin treasury companies and situating the analysis within the authenticity framework proposed by Moulard et al. (2021), we identify eight distinct approaches to corporate identity construction, investor communication, and brand legitimacy. We then use the approaches to develop a typology of branding strategies across four clusters: Ideological Maximizing, Financial Signaling, Pragmatic Integration, and Cautious Adoption. Importantly, this study demonstrates that brand authenticity is not solely constructed through expressive marketing tactics but is also materially produced via treasury policy, capital structure, and executive ideology.

ABSTRACT. As AI-powered voice technology reshapes society, digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are becoming key drivers of the rapidly growing voice commerce landscape. This is particularly significant for consumers with physical disabilities, for whom these technologies can enhance inclusion and independence. Yet, despite the widespread use of digital voice assistants, research in this area remains limited. This study addresses this gap by examining whether voice commerce could represent the future of accessible shopping using a quantitative online survey conducted with 113 consumers with physical disabilities. The study analyzes how perceived functional and social-cognitive factors affect perceived usefulness and usage intentions, and outlines implications for marketers and retailers. Results show that perceived usefulness and usage intentions are mainly shaped by product vividness and hedonic attitudes, while shopping facilitation and perceived control play marginal roles. Therefore, rich verbal product descriptions and enjoyable interactions are key to enhancing inclusive accessibility.

ABSTRACT. Consumer misbehavior is gaining increasing attention in research, though its complex theories and contexts make it challenging to fully understand. This study uses the motivation, action, and outcome framework developed from the theory of planned behavior and social exchange theory to examine product abuse, using a mixed method approach of qualitative and quantitative data. By integrating these frameworks, we explore the characteristics of product abuse in marketing. The quantitative analysis identifies the factors, motivations, actions, and outcomes related to abusive behavior, while the qualitative approach examines the connections between these elements. The results reveal three key factors, such as consumption culture, Dark Triad personality traits, and demographic variables, that influence the motivation for product abuse, with emotional gratification and excessive value perception as the key outcomes.

ABSTRACT. This session will focus on the future of generative AI (Gen AI) in the marketing classroom, a transformative frontier for both pedagogy and professional preparation. As tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other AI-driven platforms become integral to marketing practice, educators must reimagine how students learn creativity, analytics, and strategic thinking.

Gen AI enables personalized, data-rich learning environments where students can simulate campaigns, generate content, and analyze consumer insights in real time. However, it also challenges traditional notions of authorship, critical thinking, and academic integrity. The marketing classroom of the near future will blend human ingenuity with machine intelligence, positioning instructors as curators of AI-enhanced learning rather than sole sources of knowledge.

Faculty will need to emphasize ethical literacy, prompt-engineering skills, and interpretive judgment alongside foundational marketing principles. Assessment models must evolve to value process, reflection, and responsible use of AI tools. Ultimately, integrating Gen AI into marketing education will not replace educators—it will redefine their role as mentors, strategists, and innovators within a rapidly changing digital ecosystem.

ABSTRACT. Digital platforms increasingly shape charitable giving through subtle design features known as “nudges.” This experiment examines how two common nudges, defaults and friction, affect donation behavior when their purpose is transparently disclosed. In a 2 (default: present vs. absent) × 2 (friction: present vs. absent) × 2 (transparency: present vs. absent) between-subjects design (N = 644), participants chose hypothetical donations to an unfamiliar charity. We measured donation amount, selection of a preset $4 option, donation incidence, and perceived autonomy. Results showed that friction consistently increased donation amounts and choice of the preset option, even under disclosure, confirming its robustness. Default effects were weaker and non-significant, and combining friction with defaults yielded diminishing returns. Transparency slightly reduced donation incidence but did not undermine nudge effectiveness on other outcomes. Mediation analyses revealed that autonomy positively predicted donation, and that friction’s effect was partially suppressed by reduced autonomy, especially when combined with default. These findings suggest that ethical nudging is feasible: transparency does not eliminate effectiveness, and friction can promote generosity when framed appropriately. The study contributes to theory on psychological reactance and offers practical guidance for designing autonomy-sensitive digital donation interfaces.

ABSTRACT. Charitable giving consistently declines as the spatial distance between donors and beneficiaries increases, largely due to reduced empathy and perceived impact. Building on Construal Level Theory, this research conceptually introduces coolness—a self-reflective mindset characterized by autonomy, authenticity, and distinctiveness—as a novel boundary condition that may reverse this distance effect. We theorize that coolness aligns with high-level construals activated by psychological distance, positioning distant giving as a symbolic act of global connectedness rather than a detached moral duty. In contrast, impact goals reflect low-level construals and motivate giving to proximal causes where outcomes feel tangible. The proposed model further predicts that the positive influence of distance on donation intention under a coolness mindset will be serially mediated by higher construal levels, heightened psychological coolness, and self-focused motives. This conceptual framework extends existing work on charitable giving, psychological distance, and prosocial motivation by highlighting how feeling cool may transform distant giving into an act of self-expression.

ABSTRACT. Caregiving is an enduring, underexplored source of consumer vulnerability that alters how individuals make decisions, cope with strain, and sustain well-being. This study conceptualizes caregiving as a chronic condition that constrains cognitive, emotional, and temporal resources, shaping food-related choices. Drawing from the Theory of Planned Behavior, Coping Theory, and Transformative Consumer Research, we propose that vulnerability influences coping strategies, affecting food-choice behavior and well-being, with caregiver status moderating these relationships. Using a cross-sectional survey–experiment, data from caregivers and non-caregivers will test a moderated-mediation model linking vulnerability, coping (problem-focused vs. avoidant), food choice, and well-being. We expect higher vulnerability to predict less healthy food choices through avoidant coping, whereas problem-focused coping will foster healthier decisions. Familial caregivers are anticipated to show the most substantial indirect effects, given heightened emotional and temporal strain; professional caregivers may demonstrate weaker but meaningful effects due to institutional support. Findings will advance consumer vulnerability theory by identifying coping as a behavioral mechanism and caregiver status as a boundary condition. The research offers guidance for brands, policymakers, and health communicators to reduce decision burden and support adaptive coping via simplified healthy offerings, supportive infrastructures, and effective messaging, ultimately contributing to transformative marketing and improved consumer well-being.

ABSTRACT. Sustainability has become a critical driver of competitive advantage in business-to-business (B2B) markets, yet little is known about how companies can market sustainability effectively. While prior research highlights the benefits of sustainability—such as value creation, financial performance, and workforce engagement—the challenges of marketing sustainable solutions in B2B contexts remain largely unexplored. This proposal examines how companies’ sustainability strategies and supply chain positions shape the marketability of sustainability. Building on existing frameworks, four sustainability strategies are distinguished: Regulatory, Cost Reduction, Value Proposition, and Identification Using a mixed-method approach that combines a systematic literature review and in-depth interviews with firms across the supply chain, the study develops a holistic framework to guide B2B companies in tailoring sustainability marketing strategies to the needs, goals, and maturity of their buyers and suppliers. By integrating strategic orientation with supply chain position, the research provides insights into how firms can effectively communicate and sell sustainable value, and accelerate sustainable transformation in B2B markets.

ABSTRACT. Growing consumer demand for transparency in supply chain practices has encouraged firms to communicate sustainability claims and initiatives across upstream and downstream processes. Labor conditions, sourcing, and environmental stewardship are increasingly featured in marketing and operations communications. While previous research has started to explore the impact that first-mile efforts, such as eco-friendly sourcing and fair-trade production, have on consumers’ purchasing attitudes and choices, little is known about whether upstream sustainability strategies also shape consumers’ downstream last-mile delivery decisions. This research investigates whether the disclosure of first-mile sustainability strategies leads to more sustainable last-mile choices and whether this alignment affects perceptions of logistics service quality.

ABSTRACT. Small entrepreneurial suppliers face a fundamental contradiction in B2B sustainability relationships: powerful buyers demand sustainability credentials as market access prerequisites, yet their purchasing behaviours systematically devalue suppliers’ sustainability investments. This study examines how small entrepreneurial suppliers navigate these value perception paradoxes in B2B relationships where buyers simultaneously demand and devalue sustainable practices. We adopted an exploratory qualitative multi-case approach (Eisenhardt, 1989; Gioia et al., 2013) examining craft food and drinks firms across Ireland and Scotland. This sector provides an ideal context because small enterprises dominate (Rudawska, 2019), these firms operate in B2B networks with significant power asymmetries with retail buyers, and they face mounting sustainability pressures from regulatory requirements, retailer demands, and consumer expectations. Our analysis reveals a fundamental value perception paradox in B2B sustainability relationships. We found that the value perception paradox where sustainability simultaneously becomes essential for market access yet systematically devalued in purchasing decisions. We demonstrate how power asymmetries enable systematic value extraction where buyers leverage sustainability rhetoric to impose requirements without corresponding behavior changes. We identify collaborative marketing strategies as responses to value perception paradoxes, revealing constraints as catalysts for collective action. For practitioners, suppliers must strategically choose buyer engagement and develop alternative revenue streams.

ABSTRACT. In the media and advertising industry, negotiation and pitch processes are undergoing profound change as generative AI increasingly automates creative tasks. As a result, competitive differentiation now depends less on creative output alone and more on how agencies articulate value, justify pricing, and maintain client trust in final-stage negotiations (Grewal et al. 2024). These negotiation settings require strong communication, persuasion, and emotional intelligence skills and building trust with clients (Hartmann et al. 2025). While AI technologies are often perceived as a threat to creativity, this study adopts the perspective that AI combined with VR can act as a service partner rather than a substitute for human creativity (Ashkinaze et al. 2025; Oztas & Arda 2025). AI and VR-based negotiation trainings provides a unique opportunity to prepare professionals for such high-stakes interactions. As of today, there is now tool available which suits the needs of the media and advertising industry. The purpose of this research is to explore how agencies can build the necessary competences to navigate digital transformation and effectively communicate their value in challenging environments.

ABSTRACT. Purpose – This study draws on the dynamic capabilities perspective to examine the drivers of design and R&D activities. The study investigates three sets of strategic factors: competitor responsiveness (sensing), collaboration with the market and with institutions (seizing), and key product development mechanisms such as cross-functional design teams, concurrent engineering, and design technologies (reconfiguring). Design/methodology/approach – The proposed hypotheses are empirically tested using data from 2,768 Canadian manufacturing firms. Findings – The results show that competitor responsiveness, collaboration with the market, collaboration with institutions, cross-functional design teams, design technologies, and concurrent engineering are all positively related to firms’ design and R&D activities. Moreover, competitor responsiveness and design technologies exert a stronger influence on design than on R&D. Similarly, while both collaboration with the market and collaboration with institutions support design activities, collaboration with the market has a more pronounced effect. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on product design, new product development, and innovation by examining the drivers of design and R&D activities and by highlighting their differences. It provides valuable insights into firms’ internal strategic factors that promote design activities, viewed through the lens of the dynamic capabilities framework.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how market-based resource alignment (RA) - the coordination and integration of a firm’s marketing-related tangible and intangible resources - affects firm performance. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, we conceptualize two core mechanisms of RA: resource reconfiguration, which reflects a firm’s ability to adapt and redeploy resources in response to market dynamics, and resource synergy, which represents the extent of cross-functional collaboration that enhances resource complementarity. Using multi-wave survey data from Fortune 1000 firms, we test a comprehensive model that links RA components to firm performance and explores boundary conditions. Specifically, we investigate how alignment cost weakens, while customer orientation strengthens, the positive relationship between RA and performance. The findings highlight that firms that actively reconfigure and synergize their market-based resources achieve superior performance, but must manage the trade-offs arising from alignment costs. The study advances theoretical understanding of how the “organization” dimension of the VRIO framework operates through RA and provides actionable insights for managers seeking to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through dynamic resource orchestration.

ABSTRACT. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) remain one of the most widely used yet failure-prone growth strategies. This study examines the extent to which post-merger profitability stems from increases in market share or firm size and how these effects depend on competitive strategy. Using a large multi-industry panel and a novel text-based measure of differentiation and cost leadership, we show that market share gains increase profits for differentiators through pricing power and quality perceptions, while firm size gains strengthen cost leaders through efficiency and bargaining leverage. Relative to organic growth, M&As amplify these effects and produce more immediate shifts in market power, efficiency, and perceived quality. These results highlight the importance of aligning M&A objectives with strategic orientation and suggest that policymakers should evaluate mergers through a mechanism-based lens rather than relying solely on concentration thresholds.

ABSTRACT. This proposed study examines how human and virtual influencers shape relational processes, value co-creation, and brand psychological ownership within online brand communities. Drawing on Uses and Gratifications Theory and Psychological Ownership Theory, the research proposes a need–co-creation–ownership framework linking three social gratifications—social interaction, expressive information sharing, and companionship—to participatory behaviors and psychological brand connection. It is anticipated that human influencers, perceived as warm and authentic, will strengthen companionship-driven co-creation, whereas virtual influencers, characterized by novelty and creative flexibility, will enhance expressive information sharing. The research design includes three complementary studies. Study 1 will compare relational needs between human- and virtual-led communities. Study 2 will test how these needs predict value co-creation behaviors using structural equation modeling. Study 3 will examine whether value co-creation predicts brand psychological ownership and whether these effects differ by influencer type. The proposed research aims to advance influencer marketing theory by integrating motivational and psychological mechanisms that explain why consumers engage with influencer-led communities. It also intends to offer practical guidance on aligning influencer type with community relational needs to maximize engagement, co-creation, and brand attachment.

ABSTRACT. Salesperson bricolage refers to the ability of individual actors within a firm to creatively reconfigure and repurpose available resources to solve problems and navigate constraints while co-creating value within dynamic selling ecosystems. Despite its roots in the management literature, bricolage remains understudied within the sales domain. The current research extends prior work by identifying the cognitive antecedents that enable salesperson bricolage, also known as the cognitive triad (i.e., systems thinking, cognitive flexibility, and cognitive styles). Drawing upon the dynamic capability framework, this research positions the cognitive triad as a foundation to salesperson bricolage, enabling salespeople to effectively seize opportunities, transform/reconfigure resources, and sense opportunities while navigating constraints in resource-scarce ecosystems. The current work also investigates the boundary conditions under which salesperson bricolage is most effective by examining the role of salesperson autonomy and the nature of the sales offerings (i.e., goods vs. services).

ABSTRACT. This doctoral project aims to examine how artificial intelligence can contribute to experimental research in marketing and communication through the lens of text generation, a practice that remains under-documented in the current literature.

The outcomes of our doctoral research will inform and validate three methodological objectives: simulating the behavior of respondent profiles, generating realistic stimuli, and improving the analysis of open-ended responses from experimental surveys.

This doctoral project will require conducting a literature review on the use of artificial intelligence in marketing and communication, as well as training ourselves and testing several approaches and models (machine learning models; deep neural networks and large language models (LLMs) that will undergo fine-tuning; neural network–based algorithms from the Transformer family; and generative neural models tailored to different stimulus modalities, such as “Generative Adversarial Networks”, “Variational Autoencoders”, and diffusion models).

Particular attention will be paid to the accuracy, reproducibility, and robustness of the results, so that AI’s contributions effectively support the rigor of experimental research. We also aim to provide the community with open, reusable, and adaptable tools tailored to specific project needs.

ABSTRACT. Freemium platforms depend on turning free users into paying customers while keeping them engaged and satisfied. Although past research has mostly explored who converts and why, it has paid less attention to the timing of conversion. This paper views monetization as a problem of temporal alignment: figuring out when users are most open to upgrade prompts. Using Flow Theory and Nudge Theory, it suggests that the chance of conversion is highest when interventions happen during certain engagement phases, which balance focus and motivation. To formalize this, a joint survival–longitudinal model is developed, linking real-time engagement patterns to the risk of conversion events. Engagement is seen as a latent, time-changing factor inferred from behavioral and physiological data, while conversion is modeled as a time-to-event. This allows identifying “conversion-prone windows” when prompts are most effective and least disruptive. The method expands Flow Theory by viewing engagement as a moderator of compliance and enhances Nudge Theory by adding timing as a third design element. It also adapts biostatistical joint modeling to marketing, providing a scalable way to optimize digital persuasion through adaptive, engagement-based timing.

ABSTRACT. This research develops a conceptual model of strategic vulnerability, a communication strategy in which brands openly acknowledge sustainability shortcomings. Drawing on signaling and attribution theories, the study explores how admitting failures can influence consumer perceptions of brand credibility, specifically perceived accuracy, integrity, and sincerity, and in turn shape brand attitude. The model proposes that these credibility perceptions mediate the relationship between strategic vulnerability and brand attitude. It also identifies brand sustainability reputation as a boundary condition that moderates the vulnerability–integrity link, with stronger effects expected for high-reputation brands. By distinguishing strategic vulnerability from routine transparency, the study extends current understanding of how selective self-disclosure functions as a reputational signal rather than a risk. This conceptual framework contributes to research on sustainability communication and brand perception by clarifying when and why acknowledging failure can enhance consumer evaluations, offering implications for organizations seeking credible and authentic engagement with sustainability challenges.

ABSTRACT. To assist businesses in understanding consumer decision-making related to green marketing and sustainable products in India, it is also essential to support researchers in examining cognitive biases among consumers in this domain. In light of this convergence between practical business applications and academic inquiry, this systematic literature review (SLR) meticulously synthesizes extensive prior research on consumer behavior, cognitive biases, and the dynamics of green marketing for sustainable products in India. The research methodology employed in this investigation incorporates two distinct approaches: a systematic literature review (SLR) for the systematic gathering of relevant data, alongside the application of the theories, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) to facilitate a thorough review process and formulate insightful recommendations for future research endeavors. Ultimately, this study culminates in a discussion of managerial implications that arise from the findings while also addressing the inherent limitations of the research. Consequently, the outcomes of this research not only contribute to the academic discourse in the fields of marketing and consumer psychology and provide actionable insights for practitioners seeking to align their strategies with the evolving preferences of environmentally conscious consumers.

ABSTRACT. With the emphasis on corporate responsibility concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) issue by different stakeholders such as governments, activist groups, investors, society, and environmentalists, AI is seen as an essential technology for increasing transparency, optimizing resource allocations, and managing B2B customer relationships sustainably. In this research, we attempt to examine how AI-enabled B2B practices impact TBL outcomes of B2B firms. We take a multi-stakeholder perspective, indicative of the idea that B2B firms do not operate in isolation, but rather in conjunction with a host of partners including customers and society. Accordingly, our research focuses on the impact of AI-enabled practices on stakeholder well-being of both B2B buyers and distributors, and subsequently, on TBL outcomes.

ABSTRACT. As subscription models proliferate across entertainment, productivity, and news categories, consumers face growing cognitive, emotional, and financial demands in managing multiple recurring services. This study conceptualizes subscription fatigue as a multifaceted consumer state arising from the cumulative strain of navigating complex subscription ecosystems. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 11 active users of paid digital subscriptions, the research identifies both individual and structural drivers that contribute to this fatigue, including habitual sign-ups, inertia, opaque renewals, fragmented content, and cancellation frictions. Three defining features of subscription fatigue are cognitive overload, emotional drain, and economic strain, which together capture the mental, emotional, and financial pressures embedded in subscription life. The analysis further uncovers four coping strategies consumers employ to manage these burdens: portfolio composition, shared accounts, psychological rationalization, and tracking or monitoring. Together, these findings provide an empirically grounded framework for understanding subscription fatigue as an emerging aspect of digital consumer behavior. The study lays theoretical groundwork for future research on digital well-being and offers guidance for designing transparent, consumer-centric subscription systems.

ABSTRACT. Exposure to political media in public dining spaces, such as sports bars and diners may influence consumption behavior through stress-induced mechanisms, yet this relationship remains largely unexplored. This study examines whether exposure to political content increases intention to indulge compared to neutral news content. In a between-subjects design, participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions—political news, neutral news, or no news (control)—and presented with scenarios where they are asked to select menu items. We hypothesize that participants exposed to political media will choose indulgent foods, and that this effect will be strongest when participants view content that opposes their own beliefs. Anticipated results suggest that political media functions as an environmental stressor, depleting self-regulations such that participants select indulgent menu choices. Findings are expected to advance theoretical understanding of environmental triggers for stress-induced eating and provide practical implications for restaurants, public health and consumer wellbeing.

ABSTRACT. This is a placeholder for a proposal to be submitted by January 16th. The conference co-chairs asked the track chairs to submiit a proposal for a special session related to their track. This should be of interest to attendees. The track chairs are waiting for confirmation from some industry experts.

ABSTRACT. JGM proposes a dynamic special session that aligns closely with the conference theme by addressing the rapidly evolving forces reshaping global marketing strategies. This session aims to foster scholarly dialogue, advance theoretical and methodological innovations, and illuminate how businesses, governments, and industries can navigate and thrive in an increasingly fluid and interconnected world.

By bringing together senior editorial leaders of JGM, the session will: • Promote thought leadership in global marketing; • Highlight critical issues and cutting-edge research trends; • Offer actionable insights for researchers and practitioners operating across cultural and national boundaries.

The session will also provide valuable guidance for scholars interested in publishing impactful global marketing research, particularly in emerging and digitally transforming markets.

Session Structure and Presenters:

Each speaker will deliver a 20-minute talk, followed by a 30-minute interactive Q&A.

Presentation 1: The Role of AI and Emerging Technologies in Shaping Global Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy Presenter: Li Huang, Senior Associate Editor, JGM

Presentation 2: Strategic personal branding for researchers in the digital age Presenter: Dominyka Venciute, JGM Associate Editor for Baltics

Presentation 3: Methodological Advances in Global Marketing Research Presenter: Ajay Manrai, Editor-in-Chief; Chompoonut Suttikun, Editorial Review Board; and Asha Thomas, Advisory Board

ABSTRACT. This research investigates how nostalgic snack advertising shapes Chinese consumers’ engagement and purchase intention, focusing on the moderating roles of social ties and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) framework, nostalgia is conceptualized as an emotional stimulus that drives engagement and behavioral outcomes. Three studies were conducted: a pilot to validate nostalgic cues, a main 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design comparing nostalgic versus non-nostalgic advertisements and strong versus weak social tie conditions among 240 participants aged 18–35 years in China, and a follow-up examining FoMO’s moderating effect. Results reveal that nostalgic advertising significantly increases engagement and purchase intention, with engagement fully mediating the relationship between nostalgia and purchase intention. Social tie strength did not significantly moderate these effects, indicating that nostalgia operates as a largely individual emotional experience. Conversely, FoMO weakened the engagement–purchase intention link, suggesting that excessive urgency can reduce decision satisfaction. These findings advance theoretical understanding of digital nostalgia marketing and offer practical implications for brands seeking to evoke emotional connection while avoiding psychological pressure.

ABSTRACT. This research examines consumer vulnerability in digital marketplaces: where biased choice architecture may exploit consumers’ processing limitations leading them to compromise autonomy and privacy for even modest financial incentives. We examine the effects of three common practices in digital marketplaces (automatic contract renewals, automatic data collection, and opaque disclosure format that obscure unfavorable terms) on consumer evaluations, choices, and post-transaction behaviors. Findings reveal that although consumers value autonomy, privacy and transparency in the abstract, they are often vulnerable to market offerings that severely abridge these values. Interestingly, even when they recognize having been deceived by marketplace practices, they often may not seek redress.

ABSTRACT. Drawing on cue utilization theory, this paper examines how narrative and factual information in online second-hand listings shape consumer judgments and behavior. We distinguish resale motives (narrative cues: seller vs. product-related) from usage-based attributes (factual cues: positive vs. negative) and test their effects across three controlled experiments. Resale motives generally increase trust in the seller but can lower purchase intention by making prior use salient; this ambivalence is strongest for product-related motives (e.g., upgrades/obsolescence), which heighten perceptions of wear. Seller-related motives (e.g., relocation/preferences) improve perceived condition and raise purchase intention. Factual cues play a diagnostic role: positive attributes mitigate the negative influence of product-related motives, whereas negative attributes exacerbate it; they also shape price offers and perceived urgency. Together, the studies introduce a typology of resale motives and show that consumers integrate narrative signals and factual evidence through distinct yet interacting routes (credibility vs. diagnosis) clarifying when disclosure builds credibility and when it undermines value. We discuss implications for sellers and platform design in C2C markets and outline directions for the field.

ABSTRACT. Decision makers conserve mental energy by eliminating trivial decisions: Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg wore the same outfits daily. Research demonstrates this decision fatigue mitigation preserves cognitive capacity for important choices. Following this logic, predominant research prescribes passive breaks minimizing cognitive effort to restore depleted resources. Yet paradoxically, high performers report superior performance following structured breaks like brief runs or meditation rather than passive rest like scrolling social media. Despite extensive research on resource depletion and attention restoration, existing research provides mixed findings without explaining mechanisms or boundary conditions determining when structured breaks outperform passive ones for cognitively demanding tasks. We introduce the cognitive-regulatory gap as the psychological distance in self-regulation between break activities and subsequent work tasks. Drawing on task-switching theory, we theorize that large gaps create costly cognitive transitions, while structured breaks minimize these costs by maintaining moderate engagement. We develop four propositions specifying when structured breaks reduce the cognitive-regulatory gap, how smaller gaps enhance performance beyond resource restoration, and how task demands moderate these effects. Our framework challenges resource-focused paradigms by demonstrating transition dynamics can outweigh restoration benefits for pre-task breaks. We provide actionable guidance for high-involvement consumer purchase decisions, goal pursuit, and omnichannel retail transitions.

ABSTRACT. Influencer marketing is shadowing every aspect of consumers' lives, thus necessitating an understanding of how it addresses broader societal needs and problems. While the predominant focus of Influencer marketing is on providing benefits to the sponsoring brand, it has been met with increased consumer skepticism, thus requiring it to expand its role to aid society. This article outlines the key elements required to design a successful influencer-driven social marketing program that benefits both the brand and society. We identify novel strategies to design influencer-driven social marketing programs. The study findings reemphasize the importance of congruence through influencer characteristics, such as similarity, and post/content characteristics, including social identification. Further findings suggest that consumers are more likely to believe in social cause-related content that provides them with informational value and, at the same time, is not perceived by them as promoting a brand in the guise of supporting social causes.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates whether combining a human influencer (HI) with a virtual influencer (VI) in the same corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign—forming a hybrid influencer condition—alters audience perceptions along two mediator pathways, perceived credibility and perceived novelty, relative to using a single influencer type. Drawing on the Source Credibility Model and Novelty Categorization Theory, this study conducted a three-condition experiment (HI=1, VI=2, Hybrid=3; N=110) using Univariate ANOVA. Results show a V-shaped pattern in credibility (Hybrid ≈ HI > VI) and similar pattern in novelty (Hybrid > HI ≈ VI), with VI being the lowest in both measurements. This paper argues that hybrid designs combine the emotional authenticity of HIs with the algorithmic consistency and fresh cues of VIs, thereby enhancing perceived credibility and novelty. The findings contribute to influencer marketing by providing empirical evidence on the mechanisms and contextual effectiveness of hybrid influencer strategies and offer practical guidance on when brands should consider hybrid formats in CSR endorsement and communication.

ABSTRACT. Influencer marketing leverages celebrities, public figures, or content creators with engaged audiences to promote brands. Unlike paid social marketing, influencers operate independently without direct brand control. Firms have realized that influencer-marketing is an effective way to spread information, and influence target customers. We address several issues that are understudied. Two specific aspects that we examine are the roles and effects of authenticity (to both the influencer and to the brand) of sponsored posts and the homophily of an influencer’s network, on the followers’ volume and speed of engagement with a post. We use a large data set and the doubly robust random forest causal estimation approach to develop estimates that can be used to predict and explain the influencers and their posts that will generate more and/or faster engagement. Based on our results and findings, we conclude that, other things equal, brand authenticity is more important than influencer authenticity of posts in driving engagement, and that greater homophily of followers decreases both the volume and speed of engagement. As part of this study, we also propose new metrics to measure authenticity and homophily based on text analysis of readily available data, overcoming the limitations associated with implementing survey-based measures.

ABSTRACT. As marketing managers invest in influencer marketing, it is critical that they understand the potential downsides to protect their firms. While many firm-social media influencer (SMI) partnerships create mutually beneficial outcomes, the potential risks of this marketing practice must also be considered. In this paper, we study firm-SMI partnerships through the lenses of power theory and agency theory, specifically examining opportunistic behavior. We describe a study we conducted to understand the behavior from both the firm and SMI perspectives, with the objective of identifying the categorization of the main forms of opportunistic behavior.

ABSTRACT. Consumer health tracking has become mainstream with widespread adoption, yet systematic integration between consumers and healthcare providers remains unrealized despite clear mutual benefits. This research addresses a critical gap in service ecosystem literature by examining what happens to consumers when neither device companies (due to regulatory constraints preventing medical advice) nor healthcare providers (due to infrastructure barriers preventing data integration) can offer guidance for interpreting ambiguous health data. Through dual-stakeholder qualitative interviews with 24 consumer wearable users and 13 physicians across multiple specialties, we show how consumer agency emerges as the critical factor determining whether health data access produces empowerment or burden. High-agency consumers develop independent interpretation strategies and maintain control, experiencing sustained empowerment. Low-agency consumers feel controlled by devices, experiencing burden severe enough to trigger technology abandonment. Medical necessity applications (i.e., a prescription wearable such as a continuous glucose monitor) succeed because healthcare systems designate clear guidance responsibility, while wellness applications systematically fail due to this responsibility gap. This research advances service ecosystem theory by identifying how guidance infrastructure, not technology capabilities, determines multi-stakeholder value creation, with implications for consumer wellness in digital health service design.

ABSTRACT. This study looked at how university students are starting to act like consumers when using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for their schoolwork. We used a qualitative approach, meaning we focused on deeply understanding individual experiences rather than using statistics. We assumed that each student's experience and perspective is unique (a constructivist view). We collected our data through in-depth interviews with 45 students who use AI often. These students came from a wide variety of subjects, including Engineering, Business, and Health Sciences. Our analysis revealed four main insights into how students use AI. They engage in Platform Shopping Behavior (constantly comparing and switching between tools) and have high Service Quality Expectations (demanding speed and accuracy). The study also found that students often prioritize Efficiency Over Depth in their learning and that this behavior is changing the roles and values within the university, a process we call Institutional Commodification. Ultimately, this research provides a framework for understanding how students' consumer habits are fundamentally changing teaching, learning, and the university environment.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates how and why empowering leadership fosters team creativity in frontline customer service settings. While prior research has largely focused on individual-level creativity, we examine relational processes that translate leader behaviours into collective creative outcomes. Drawing on social identity and team process perspectives, we propose that empowering leadership enhances team creativity indirectly by strengthening team identification, reducing relationship conflict, and facilitating knowledge sharing. Team efficacy is expected to amplify these effects.

A sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Study 1 used qualitative interviews with frontline employees and managers in Chinese retail banks to explore the mechanisms linking empowerment and team creativity. Thematic analysis revealed that empowering leadership promoted creative collaboration when team identification was high and conflict was low. Study 2 tested these mechanisms using multi-source, time-lagged survey data from 349 employees and 51 supervisors. Regression and PROCESS analyses confirmed that empowering leadership influenced team creativity indirectly through knowledge sharing, mediated by identification and conflict reduction, and moderated by team efficacy.

Overall, this research advances understanding of team creativity by highlighting the importance of relational, rather than purely motivational, pathways. It also offers practical implications for service organisations seeking to build creative capacity in fast-paced, customer-facing environments.

ABSTRACT. Digital servitization, which refers to using digital technologies to add services to products, has become an essential strategy for manufacturers to stay ahead of the competition. This study examines the interplay between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial capability in fostering innovation ambidexterity, which subsequently drives digitalization and servitization within manufacturing enterprises. The research additionally investigates the moderating effect of four dimensions of environmental turbulence—technological, market, competitive, and regulatory—on the relationship between innovation ambidexterity and digital servitization outcomes. We use PLS-SEM to analyze survey data from 269 Vietnamese manufacturing companies. Results indicate that both entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial capability significantly boost innovation ambidexterity, which subsequently exerts a positive effect on digitalization and servitization. Moderation analyses indicate that market and competitive turbulence amplify these effects. Technological turbulence fortifies the connection to servitization but not to digitalization, while regulatory turbulence diminishes the trajectory towards digitalization. This study synthesizes entrepreneurial antecedents, dynamic capabilities, and environmental contingencies into a unified framework for elucidating digital servitization in an emerging economy.

ABSTRACT. Employee Relationship Orientation, (ERO) described as the perception a firm’s employees have about how well they are treated/respected by the firm, has been studied in its relationship with firm success, productivity, customer loyalty and profitability (King and Grace, 2010; Krekel, Ward, and De Neve, 2019). However, the role of ERO, has not been adequately researched in its relationship with both Knowledge Sharing and Entrepreneurial Orientation. In this research we try to address the following research questions: How might both EO and KS mediate the relationship between ERO and Innovation? How does ERO impact both firm innovation and firm performance. Human relations theory (Strauss, 1968) suggests that higher employee morale and productivity can come about because of employees’ increased sense of well-being. This theory provides the underlying support to the argument that employee relationship orientation can lead to improved employee cooperation and performance. For this study a survey of 301 US Marketing managers was used to provide the data. Main findings suggest both KS and EO play a mediating role in the relationship between ERO and Innovation. This study also finds that increased levels of ERO have a significant positive effect on Innovation and subsequently a positive effect on Firm Performance.

ABSTRACT. Business relationship and network lifecycle models have extensively documented the developmental stages of B2B relationships from initiation through maintenance and growth (Halinen and Tähtinen, 2002). However, research has disproportionately focused on formation and maintenance stages, with considerably less attention paid to relationship dissolution and ending processes (Zhang et al., 2021). Leadership transitions represent a critical yet understudied catalyst for relationship endings and network reconfiguration. This research addresses this gap at the intersection of relationship lifecycle theory, network resilience, and leadership transition literature. We examine how leadership departure influences the dissolution stage and overall network resilience. We conducted in depth interviews with twelve leaders across diverse organisational contexts who had departed or were departing leadership roles within three years.

Our research found that networks demonstrated varying resilience when confronted with leadership induced dissolution processes. Relationship structure, knowledge sharing and exit type, significantly influenced dissolution resistance. This study extends relationship lifecycle models beyond developmental stages to provide rich insight into the ending stage, responding directly to Zhang et al.'s (2021) call. Our framework reveals dissolution as far more complex than previously conceptualized, with multiple pathways rather than simple termination. Fundamentally, the framework challenges traditional lifecycle models positioning dissolution as an endpoint.

ABSTRACT. Writing an effective set of responses to Editor’s and Reviewers’ commentary is as much a part of publishing as the writing of the paper. When done well, it can take as much time and effort and be as long as the paper itself. And, when done well, by their individual responses the authors are attesting to their knowledge and expertise on the subject at hand as much as to the validity and contributions of the paper and its results, a consideration that is as as persuasive and a further assurance to the Editor and Reviewers. In this session, we discuss the means for the crafting of a good set of responses, including its organization, content, tone and timbre.

ABSTRACT. As part of an ongoing doctoral research, this paper examines, from a marketing perspective, the ecodesign of websites. Given the growing environmental footprint of digital technology (4.4% of the national carbon footprint in France in 2022), this research aims to clarify the notion of digital ecodesign and to analyze the perceptions, expectations, and practices of different stakeholders involved in this approach. An exploratory qualitative multi-stakeholder methodology has been deployed, employing semi-structured interviews with seven categories of stakeholders: Internet users, web designers, communication agencies, students and instructors, evaluation tool developers, environmental associations, website commissioners, and institutional actors. To date, 79 interviews have been conducted. This approach enables cross-referencing perspectives and identifying convergences and divergences among stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. Chronological age (CA) has long served as a key segmentation variable in marketing, yet it fails to reflect consumers’ psychological age and self-concept diversity. This research examines Self-Perceived Age (SPA)—how old individuals feel—as a more accurate psychographic predictor of responses to “anti-aging” advertising than CA. Building on identity-based advertising and self-awareness theory, the study explores whether dimensions of self-consciousness (public, private, and social anxiety) moderate the relationship between SPA and consumer responses. A between-subjects experiment (N ≈ 300) exposes participants to either a youth-framed anti-aging ad or a neutral control ad. SPA is measured via the Cognitive Age Scale (Barak & Schiffman 1981), and self-consciousness via the multidimensional scale by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss (1975). Dependent variables include ad attitude, perceived relevance, and purchase intention. Anticipated results suggest that SPA, not CA, predicts more favorable responses, while self-consciousness differentially moderates these effects. Public self-consciousness may enhance ad receptivity due to appearance focus, private self-consciousness may evoke introspection, and social anxiety may elicit avoidance. Findings extend psychographic segmentation and identity-based persuasion theory, offering implications for tailoring age-related messages to psychological age identity rather than demographic categories.

ABSTRACT. Sustainability-oriented consumers increasingly experience luxury as a site of moral tension rather than pure aspiration. Luxury purchases are now co-evaluated through perceived environmental and social implications, under conditions of skepticism and pre-emptive doubt induced by years of greenwashing. This study investigates how such consumers reconcile ethical constraints with the desire for symbolically meaningful goods, and how they construct conditions under which luxury becomes legitimate or disqualified.

Using 40 in-depth interviews across 13 countries, we identify: (1) an identity evolution from collecting to self-regulation; (2) a five-facet meaning structure of “sustainable luxury” centered on durability as an ethical bridge; (3) behavioral strategies shifting evaluation away from novelty toward legitimacy; (4) three stances - Quiet Minimalists, Moderate Activists, Open Activists - with distinct managerial implications; (5) structural, recognition, and belief barriers that keep this segment elusive; and (6) time as a moral regulator enabling purchase without dissonance.

We contribute a grounded model of moral reframing in high-symbolic consumption. Managerially, firms must address not only impact but epistemic barriers through durable design, verified disclosure, and stance-specific journeys. Future work will test these propositions experimentally and through latent-class segmentation and integration into a Perceived Brand Sustainability (PBS) framework.

ABSTRACT. The live stream industry is expected to be worth over $300 billion by 2030. Artificial activity through bots and inauthentic users has increased into 2025. Now more than ever, it is crucial to investigate how this "fake engagement" impacts consumers' in the live stream space. This study follows Churchill (1979)'s process for scale development to formally conceptualize and measure fake engagement in the live stream domain. This provides valuable contributions for marketers and researchers. Advertisers sponsoring live streams need to understand if their ad spend on live streaming platforms reaches genuine consumers who can purchase products. A valid and reliable scale will be useful for future research as bot activity increases online.

ABSTRACT. Patient-facing AI is being integrated into triage, diagnosis, and self-management, altering how patients navigate care. These new interactions challenge a patient's ability to manage and control their health goals. Guided by Social Cognitive Theory’s agentic perspective, this research explores how perceivable AI features influence patients’ sense of agency. We develop a conceptual framework linking four key AI affordances (Utility, Reciprocity, Adaptivity, and Sociality) to three modes of patient agency (personal, proxy, and collective). This framework explains how these affordances strengthen specific agency modes and also affect the transitions between them. We propose a multi-stage empirical validation, including a large-scale survey and a mixed-design experimental program, to test the model's structural relationships and causal pathways. This work offers practical guidance for incorporating AI technologies in the service delivery process that protects patient agency while enhancing engagement, satisfaction, and well-being.

ABSTRACT. This research explores how social movements disrupt established social hierarchies and influence consumer identity and behavior. Focusing on stigmatized minorities, we examine how exposure to movements affects brand-related discourse in online communities. Across four studies, we find that consumers who are the focus of a movement exhibit increased positive tone but decreased authenticity in brand conversations, driven by anticipated judgment. Additionally, product reviews become more neutral, reflecting identity liminality. These findings offer novel insights into the micro-level effects of macro-level cultural shifts, informing both academic theory and brand strategy during periods of social change.

ABSTRACT. Brands derive value not only from customers but also from employees whose workplace experience perceptions shape the firm’s brand value. Yet research often assumes that positive employee experiences uniformly enhance brand equity. This paper challenges that assumption by proposing a complements-substitutes framework for employee-based brand equity (EBBE). Drawing on identity economics, compensating differentials, and signaling theory, the framework distinguishes employee perceptions that complement brand-based identity capital, those that enhance capability and credibility, from those that substitute for it by compensating employees when identity value is already high. Linking over two million employee reviews to the annual brand values of the world’s leading brands, the analysis reveals that favorable perceptions of compensation and senior leadership are positively associated with brand value, while work-life balance and career opportunities show negative or mixed associations. These results suggest that firms with strong brands can substitute costly career opportunities and work-life balance policies with brand value, while employees still perceive their compensation and leadership favorably. The study advances theory by clarifying how employee experience perceptions amplify or compensate brand value and provides managers with actionable insight into aligning human resource investments with brand strategy.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to elucidate the effect of behavioral pedigree of women on brand adoption across generations. A qualitative study was conducted. 15 triads, integrated by grandmother, mother and daughter (45 participants) were interviewed to understand brand adoption across generations. The consumption experiences shared by women promotes a common brand knowledge and loyalty. The effect of intergenerational influence is observed along triads promoting brands’ usage across generations. Once a brand is adopted, brand knowledge is homogenized between family members. The concept “brand pedigree” refers to consumption homologation of the identical brand/product across three generations. Brand pedigree originates from multiple sources, but it is consolidated when consumers reassure and experience brand/product benefits observed on other family members. This paper conceptualizes the significance and functionality of the brand pedigree as a strategic tool as families establish emotional connections and experience in exercising brand choices influencing preferences of family members and fostering a sense of familiarity and trust for specific brands.

ABSTRACT. This session showcases how the Academy of Marketing Science supports scholars across the academic career lifecycle, with particular emphasis on the AMS Job Board and the expanding suite of AMS career development resources. Panelists will provide an overview of current offerings, including the AMS Job Board, career-focused learning tools, and other initiatives designed to assist job seekers, hiring departments, and mid-career faculty navigating key transition points.

After brief opening remarks, the session will shift into a structured Q&A where attendees can ask practical questions about using the AMS Job Board effectively, posting positions, enhancing job listing quality and visibility, and leveraging broader AMS resources during the job search or hiring process. The conversation will also invite attendee feedback to help guide future enhancements to AMS career services. This session is well suited for doctoral students, early-career scholars, department chairs, search committee members, and any AMS member interested in strengthening the academic hiring ecosystem.