ABSTRACT. Unfair negative online reviews represent a fast growing repuational threat for brands, yet little is known about the cognitive and emotional route through which third party observers translate negative unfairness into marketplace behavior. Integrating fairness theory and cognitive appraisal theory, this research develops and tests a moderated mediation model in which negative review unfairness (fair vs unfair) shapes consumers intentions via empathy toward the brand, while brand response strategy (accommodative vs defensive) serves as moderator. Three online experiments (total N=900) in the hospitality sector provide convergent evidence. Study 1 confirms that unfairness perceptions lower consumers intentions to spread negative word of mouth (NWOM). Study 2 demonstrates that empathy fully mediates the relationship between unfairness and NWOM. Study 3 reveals that brand response strategy does not moderate the empathy and negative word of mouth relationship; accordingly, moderated mediation is not supported. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications to the unfair negative reviews literature by highlighting the benefits of both the accommodative and the defensive strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) updated nutrition label design on consumer decision-making. Through three online experiments, we explore how label changes—specifically larger calorie fonts and the addition of a separate line for added sugars—affect product choices under varying levels of consumer involvement. Participants were randomly assigned to view snack bars with either the old or new labels. Results reveal a significant interaction between label type and involvement level. Under low-involvement conditions, the new labels increased attention to calorie information but sometimes led to less healthy choices due to overlooked sugar content. In contrast, high-involvement participants used the new labels to make more health-conscious decisions. Additionally, when participants were primed with specific health goals, the influence of label design and involvement diminished, suggesting a shift from bottom-up (label-driven) to top-down (goal-driven) processing. These findings highlight the nuanced effectiveness of the FDA’s label redesign: while it improves calorie awareness, it may not consistently promote healthier choices in quick-decision contexts. The study underscores the need for further research into optimizing label design to support informed and ethical consumer behavior across varying engagement levels.

ABSTRACT. Recent news articles discuss that younger generational cohorts, particularly Generation Z, as being the “most religious generation”, with many of them utilizing faith in times of loneliness, uncertainty, and inner distress residual from turbulent global conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study is to investigate the comparative effects of religiosity and spirituality on the likelihood that individuals would engage in shopping behaviors to combat negative emotions or memories. By studying this, the intention is to further elucidate the effects of religion within younger generations and how this could have a profound effect on trends of shopping-based coping mechanisms underneath hedonic consumption. Utilizing social identity theory, the impact of global consumer culture trends on this relationship is included in the study through consideration of consumer susceptibility to normative influences. To further test the strength of the main relationship, severe recent global happenings that enhance awareness of death inevitability, such as the Ukraine war and Gaza famine, are also taken into account through the variable of morality salience, supported by terror management theory (TMT).

ABSTRACT. In contemporary advertising, brands increasingly pursue non-transactional outcomes such as enhanced reputation, advocacy, and voluntary content creation as enduring indicators of advertising effectiveness that extend beyond immediate sales. These outcomes reflect deeper consumer–brand relationships and contribute to long-term brand equity. Building on this perspective, this study aims to investigate how perceived femvertising translates into non-transactional outcomes, specifically brand’s CSR reputation and user-generated content (UGC) behaviour, through the mediation mechanism of brand authenticity (BA). Grounded in self-congruence theory, we argue that concept-congruent femvertising enhances positive BA perceptions and, in turn, enhances the brand’s CSR reputation and user-generated content behaviour. The study also aims to test the effect of customers’ AI ad discomfort as a control variable of the theoretical relationships. The findings in this study will enrich the literature by testing a model in which BA dimensions operate as constructs that connect perceived femvertising with measurable non-transactional outcomes. This will shed light on understanding the relationship between femvertising (e.g., an important advertising strategy adopted by many brands) and BA (e.g., a critical branding objective) and support marketers with actionable insights.

ABSTRACT. Marketers across industries and applications have leveraged the power of story to humanize brands (Escalas, 2004) and foster emotional connection with consumers (Woodside et al., 2008). However, while research has explored the use of narrative in brand communication, the role of the implied gender of the protagonist in brand storytelling has remained unexamined. Leveraging Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987) and Communal vs. Agentic Processing (Abele & Wojciszke, 2014; Meyers-Levy, 1989) as theoretical underpinnings, we examine how the implied gender of the protagonist of a brand story influences both customer-company identification and perceptions of the brand’s authenticity. Findings from an online experiment reveal that female protagonists can enhance customer-company identification, which then gives rise to higher perceptions of brand authenticity.

ABSTRACT. While brands are working to determine the appropriate level of idealization into their endorsement strategies, studies about the influence of the endorser’s facial idealization on women are scarce. This research integrates the literature on the endorser’s idealization conceptualization and social comparison theory to examine, across a phenomenological interpretative approach, how the endorser’s facial idealization impacts social comparison. Our results highlight several psychological mechanisms according to the endorser type: attribution theory for the celebrity; match-up hypothesis for the expert and similarity for the ordinary consumer. Furthermore, we show that social comparison does occur when the endorser is the idealized model. These findings advance the literature about the impact of the endorser’s beauty idealization on social comparison and offer marketers a better understanding of the use of beauty idealization in advertising endorsement campaigns.

ABSTRACT. Human–robot collaboration (HRC) refers to the cooperative process in which humans and robots work together to achieve shared goals. It is becoming increasingly important as robots move beyond isolated industrial tasks to work directly alongside people in workplaces, homes, and public spaces. However, the growing adoption of robots has also raised concerns among employees. Drawing on existing HRC literature and equity theory, this study explores the underlying mechanisms shaping individuals’ perceptions of HRC and how these perceptions influence their evaluations of fairness. Specifically, we examine (1) the effect of a robot’s task complexity on employees’ perceptions of equity, and (2) how this effect is mediated by employees’ psychological contract and work detachment. Three studies were conducted, including one field study, one secondary textual data analysis, and one online experiment. Findings across Studies 1 to 3 indicate that when robots perform high-complexity (vs. low) tasks, human employees tend to perceive greater equity in HRC. This perception emerges because such task allocation strengthens employees’ psychological contracts, motivating them to invest more effort and experience a stronger sense of accomplishment. In turn, these enhanced feelings of obligation and fulfillment reduce work detachment, fostering more positive and equitable evaluations of the collaboration.

ABSTRACT. While many Gen Z individuals express a desire to avoid unethical offerings, research highlights a persistent ethical purchasing gap, with intentions rarely translating into actual purchasing behaviour. Extant literature largely explores the drivers and barriers of ethical consumption yet studies exploring why individuals actively choose to purchase unethically remain scarce. This thesis responds to this gap by shifting the lens from the widely studied barriers to ethical consumption, towards a more focused interrogation of why Gen Z students engage in ethically questionable consumption via online marketplaces. Gen Z students represent an important unit of analysis, as they are both highly aware of ethical issues and simultaneously immersed in digital marketplaces like Temu, Shein, and Ali Express that thrive on low-cost and exploitative consumption models. Drawing on Moral Disengagement Theory within an inductive, interpretive-centred, qualitative design, the study seeks to illuminate the justification and rationalisation strategies that enable individuals to reframe or suspend their moral standards, thereby legitimising their participation in these behaviours.

ABSTRACT. This study explores consumer identity formation as a narrative process within the transmodern marketplace. Integrating social identity theory, self-concept theory, and symbolic interactionism, identity is conceptualized as fluid, reflexive, and performed through stories consumers tell about themselves and their consumption. Moving beyond postmodern fragmentation, a transmodern epistemology reframes consumers as reflexive narrators seeking coherence between individuality and moral responsibility. Using the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) with Mexican artist Alberto Cavazos, this research elicits deep metaphors linking morality, sustainability, and identity. Analysis of eight visual narratives reveals three interlocking theme-pairs: balance ↔ control, resource ↔ control, and transformation ↔ balance, that reposition sustainability as a relational, ongoing practice of moral becoming. Control emerges as mindful regulation, resource as care and nourishment, and transformation as processual becoming that integrates rather than resolves paradox. These findings advance a transmodern account of responsible consumption, bridging modernist coherence and postmodern multiplicity. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the interpretive power of visual-narrative inquiry to surface tacit moral meanings. Theoretically, it reframes the responsible consumer as a reflexive storyteller negotiating coherence, ethics, and belonging within the evolving moral ecosystem of the marketplace.

ABSTRACT. In a context of growing environmental concerns, it is essential to understand consumer perceptions and expectations regarding the environmental impact of websites, a topic that remains underexplored in marketing literature. While qualitative interviews constitute an appropriate tool for studying this phenomenon, this approach presents potential biases in the selection of themes and questions to address. To conduct semi-structured interviews, we propose to employ two complementary approaches: the first examines the phenomenon from the perspective of websites themselves (object-based approach), while the second addresses it through environmental issues (context-based approach). The methodology relies on two waves of semi-structured interviews conducted with 34 internet users with varied profiles: 18 following the website-centered approach and 16 following the environment-centered approach. Comparative analysis of the data reveals convergent expectations regarding stakeholder responsibility (government websites, large corporations) and the need for consistency between environmental values and web presence. The results suggest that the environment-centered approach generates more abstract reflections, while the website-centered approach facilitates discussions on technical aspects of eco-design and promotes more concrete considerations. These findings echo research on levels of representation in human thought (Trope & Liberman, 2010).

ABSTRACT. This study advances sustainable marketing research by examining how environmental values and structural barriers interact to shape consumer behavior in underserved markets. Based upon a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework, we explore both psychological and contextual determinants of sustainable consumption. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, phase one comprised 13 semi-structured interviews with residents of Native American reservation communities in the Northern Great Plains, revealing tensions between environmental concern, affordability, and access to sustainable options. These insights informed a large-scale survey (n = 256) employing the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), Sustainable Consumption Behavior (SCB) scale, and a new Barriers to Sustainable Consumption (BSC) scale designed for this context. Quantitative analyses examine how structural barriers influence perceived behavioral control and mediate the relationship between attitudes and sustainable consumption. Findings extend the TPB framework to resource-limited environments and provide actionable implications for marketers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers working in the context of underserved communities.

ABSTRACT. Wine tourism is a multifaceted experience (Santos et al., 2021), involving visits to "vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, and wine shows for which grape wine tasting and/or experiencing the attributes of a grape wine region are the prime motivating factors for visitors" (Hall & Macionis, 1998, p. 197). Byrd et al. (2016) expanded this by discussing core (wine-specific products) and supplementary services (i.e. regional services and attractions). As a growing sector in the tourism industry, wine tourism fosters economic growth in rural communities while preserving scenic landscapes (Hall et al., 2000; O'Neill & Palmer, 2004).

In the tourism and hospitality sectors, digital marketing encompasses the strategic design and management of websites, social media channels, and other digital interfaces to promote products and services, enhance brand presence and engage with potential visitors. For wineries, this involves creating a perception-rich web environment that not only attracts and informs potential customers but also positions and delivers the brand's unique value propositions. This approach aims to influence consumer behavior, enhance user experience, and ultimately drive business performance by leveraging the interactive and dynamic nature of digital media (Chan et al., 2021; Ip et al., 2010; Del Vasto-Terrientes et al., 2015).

ABSTRACT. Agritourism is one of the growing segments of the tourism industry. Agritourism development is a relatively recent addition to American agriculture, as compared to European countries. By content analysis of farm websites from Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, this study seeks to identify and categorize the agritourism activities currently promoted in this region. Findings from this study provide implications for the development and promotion of agritourism in small and emerging rural destinations, particularly those in the early stages of tourism development.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this research is to present and test a relationship marketing model in the context of tourism destinations, integrating the construct of identity salience with cognitive destination image, affective destination image, and satisfaction to predict destination loyalty. Using survey data of four samples in different destination settings, the study demonstrates that the incorporation of identity salience provides greater explanatory and predictive power than models that only specify satisfaction as the immediate, core determinant of tourists’ loyalty. The work also contributes to the literature in travel and tourism marketing from a methodological and analytical standpoint by applying cross validated predictive ability tests (CVPAT), the assessment of AIC (Akaike information criteria), BIC (Bayesian information criteria), and average loss differences to evaluate and compare the models' predictive ability.

ABSTRACT. Research on cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) is growing, but it mainly focuses on short-term exchanges between consumers and retailers. Little is known about how consumers and retailers build relationships. Understanding how these relationships develop is crucial for the long-term benefits of both parties. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a theoretical framework for consumer-retailer relationships in CBEC. We propose a framework for relationship development. Our model conceptualizes how the retailer, through its knowledge and commitment, develops offerings and websites for CBEC activities. The consumer then, through deliberation and trust-building toward the retailer, initiates the relationship. However, it is by retailer adaptation and consumer commitment that the relationship is strengthened. This paper is the first to develop a dyadic relationship framework in CBEC. This framework has theoretical implications for both the CBEC literature and the broader marketing relationship literature. It opens pathways for future research directions.

ABSTRACT. The accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into branding, advertising, and customer experience has created a paradox for marketers: how can a brand remain perceived as authentic when much of its communication, imagery, and interaction is algorithmically generated rather than humanly created? Traditional conceptions of authenticity, emphasizing heritage, craftsmanship, and sincerity (Beverland, 2005; Morhart et al., 2015). presume a human author and transparent intent. However, in the age of generative AI, authenticity is increasingly masked by algorithms. This conceptual paper seeks to redefine brand authenticity for an era in which AI systems shape brand storytelling, personalization, and relational engagement. Specifically, it develops the construct of AI-Augmented Authenticity, defined as the extent to which consumers perceive algorithmically mediated brand expressions as transparent, ethical, and aligned with the brand’s genuine identity.

ABSTRACT. The global brands indicate standards, symbolic power, and the exclusion of local expression to convey that they are culturally superior. We consider two aspects that challenge this traditional view to develop a new perspective on brand imperialism. First, we draw on Bhabha's postcolonial concept of mimicry to discuss how individuals who imitate dominant powers find themselves in a precarious position. Second, we examine the experiences of consumers in neoliberal markets, where brand meaning is created through aspiration, reflexivity, and selective adoption. By examining how people in Bangladesh, Turkey, and Vietnam interact with global brands, we observe a market of brand imperialism, where individuals demonstrate their support for a brand in public while also engaging in actions that are similar yet distinct. These performances, which are motivated by hopes and dreams, are both acts of submission and quiet resistance. A reflexive synopticon governs this cultural space of brand imperialism, where aesthetics, rather than force, demonstrate dominance. The result is a horizontal governmentality in which consumers, brands, and media platforms monitor one another and negotiate culture. Our research suggests that brand imperialism is ineffective due to its reliance on force rather than market, soft power, and consumer complicity.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this special session is to address and discuss challenges and demands international scholars manage while studying as doctoral students and working at U.S. institutions. While the discussion will encourage active participation from attendees, key topics will include cultural differences in relationship building, research collaboration demands, instructional delivery difficulties, and new job-related challenges. The international perspective of the panel members provides an opportunity to explore various challenges and provide guidance based on personal experiences in establishing an academic career in the U.S. The interactive nature of this panel provides a major benefit to attendees since it encourages not only the asking of questions but also the sharing of experiences and concerns.

ABSTRACT. While some companies have begun to embrace a privacy-first approach, their strategies differ significantly, with some investing considerable resources in communicating this new focus to consumers. For example, Apple has effectively conveyed its stance through various media channels, launching slogans like “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” Similarly, Google (“Safer with Google”), WhatsApp (“Your privacy, with layers of protection”), and Salesforce (“Your data is your data [not our product]”) have introduced comparable messaging. However, the impact on consumers and the reputational outcomes of such privacy-first initiatives have yet to be thoroughly examined, particularly regarding their influence on brand privacy reputation (BPR) (Swani et al., 2025). This paper seeks to address this gap by investigating the antecedents of BPR, which reflect consumers' perceptions of a brand’s commitment to privacy. Establishing a strong BPR is a strategic way for companies to differentiate themselves in the marketplace by signaling a deep commitment to data safety and transparency, rather than merely focusing on data revenue.

ABSTRACT. Building on research in co-branding and consumer behavior, we conducted a field experiment in Strasbourg, France, where participants evaluated the quality and purchase likelihood of a snack product either in a plain container or one featuring the logo of the local football club, Racing Club Strasbourg Alsace. Results show that cobranded products were perceived as higher in quality than non-cobranded equivalents, even when participants had low team identification, suggesting that sports team logos can elevate brand perceptions across consumer segments. Moreover, team identification moderated the influence of perceived quality on purchase intention such that highly identified fans maintained strong purchase intentions even when brand quality was lower, whereas less identified consumers relied more heavily on quality cues. Together, these findings reveal that co-branding with teams possessing local cultural capital can enhance both symbolic and perceived value. For marketers, this underscores the potential of strategic partnerships with embedded sports teams to boost perceived quality and sustain purchase interest within specific markets, offering value beyond direct fan allegiance and independent of objective product quality.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how consumers engage with brands on social media to construct and express their needs, desires, and identities. Employing a mixed-method approach that integrates consumer diaries with automated text analysis (Orange Data Mining and LIWC), we analyze firsthand diary data from 110 consumers in the U.S. and China. The analysis identifies five engagement clusters driven by emotional, social, cognitive, personal, and aspirational motivations. Chinese consumers tend to engage more actively and socially—particularly on commerce-integrated platforms—whereas American consumers exhibit more passive, self-focused behaviors, such as browsing without direct interaction. Further linguistic analysis of markers such as analytic thinking, positive emotion, and authenticity reveals significant cross-cultural differences in narrative style and language use. These findings highlight the role of cultural values in shaping digital brand interactions and demonstrate the methodological value of consumer diaries for uncovering culturally embedded patterns of brand-related behavior on social media.

ABSTRACT. In an era of information overload and brand saturation, names have become powerful political assets and liabilities. This research investigates two political brands, Reform Jersey and Reform UK, that share a common name but diverge sharply in ideology, values, and voter appeal. Using Keller’s (2001) Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model as the central theoretical framework, the study critically applies a consumer-brand perspective to examine how name similarity, ideological contrast, and brand power influence voter trust, authenticity, and differentiation. Responding to calls for comparative, cross-contextual research in political branding (Pich & Newman, 2020), this project advances understanding of how smaller, values-driven parties sustain brand equity when competing with larger, ideologically divergent counterparts. Empirically, the study integrates quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore identity, meaning, response, and relationship dimensions of political brand equity. Conceptually, it introduces a Voter/Citizen Political Brand Equity (VPBE) Framework, offering policymakers and strategists practical tools to monitor, manage, and strengthen political brand equity within dynamic democratic ecosystems.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how distinct forms of CEO overconfidence shape the firm’s market-based assets. Building on Upper Echelons Theory, we argue that executive cognition systematically channels resources toward demand and capability side assets that underpin competitive advantage. Using a large firm-year panel from the S&P 1500, we estimate fixed-effects models with industry-by-year controls and lagged regressors for three outcomes: brand equity, social equity, and knowledge equity. We operationalized overconfidence along its three theoretically distinct facets (overestimation, overplacement, and overprecision) and test their differential associations with these assets. We find that overestimation is positively related to brand equity, and overprecision shows positive U-shape effect on brand equity, consistent with decisive, coherent market actions that strengthen brands. Overplacement is negatively related to social equity, while overestimation is negatively related to knowledge equity. These results connect CEO psychology to the accumulation of market-based assets and suggest governance levers that balance branding gains against potential social equity shortfalls and underinvestment in organizational learning. The study advances marketing strategy integration by linking executive biases to asset formation mechanisms.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the presence of chief marketing officers (CMOs) at public universities across the United States to better understand their role in higher education. It examines the top 167 public universities in the U.S. over a 12-year period (2010–2021), analyzing the impact of the presence of CMOs on university outcomes such as enrollment and endowment. The study further analyzes CMO attributes, including their background and experience, as well as the university’s structural factors. As one of the first studies in marketing literature to investigate the impact of university administrators holding the title of “CMO”, it draws on upper-echelon theory and signaling theory to assess both theoretical and practical implications. The findings indicate that having a CMO is associated with an increase in enrollment compared to not having a CMO. Marketing scholars and university leaders may find these results compelling, as universities could potentially benefit financially from appointing a CMO to their top leadership teams.

ABSTRACT. CEO personality plays an important roles in shaping marketing strategies and performance outcomes. what remains largely under-explored is how CEO overconfidence influences customer satisfaction and which factors help to improve customer satisfaction in organizations with overconfident CEOs. To fill the gap in the literature, this study examines how CEO overconfidence affects customer satisfaction through R&D activities, how consumer orientation helps to improve the relationships, and how the effects can be different in retailing versus other industries. This study uses an empirical analysis with total 886 observations of S&P 500 companies over the 15-year period from 2001 to 2015. The results show that overconfident CEOs tend to actively drive R&D, while the increased R&D intensity is not always realized as higher customer satisfaction performance unless the firm’s consumer orientation is strong enough to support effective applications of R&D for consumer benefits. The relationships are stronger in the retailing industry. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the differential effects of humorous advertisements versus irritating advertisements on three outcome variables; consumer memory, positive moods, and negative moods, while also exploring the moderating role of involvement (high vs. low). Drawing on a sample of consumers exposed to ad stimuli, it was found that humorous ads significantly enhance positive moods especially when consumers are highly involved. Humorous ads also produce a robust direct effect on consumer memory. In contrast, irritating ads evoke negative moods and exhibit an indirect (negative) relation with positive moods. Notably, irritating ads do not significantly boost memory under low involvement; only when involvement is high is the irritating-ad to memory relationship strengthened. The theoretical and practical implications for advertising strategy, were discussed and the limitations and directions for future research were also outlined.

ABSTRACT. While ad creativity is a crucial driver of advertising effectiveness, it is costly to produce creative ads and creativity assessments are subjective. Hence, it is important to study factors that influence creativity assessments. This research, across three studies, demonstrates that mindfulness enhances creativity perceptions of creative advertisements. This effect is robust across different mindfulness operationalizations (dispositional vs. primed), product categories (juice ad, furniture store ad), and samples (students, MTurkers). Furthermore, Studies 2 and 3 show this positive impact on creativity assessments spills over to managerially important outcomes, including attitude towards the ad and purchase intention.

This research finds that mindfulness leads to higher creativity assessments of creative advertisements due to mindfulness’ features of being in the moment, focused attention and curiosity. Our work contributes to both the creativity and mindfulness literatures by identifying mindfulness as a key individual difference that shapes the malleability of creativity judgments. These findings suggest that marketers can use mindfulness as a segmentation variable, targeting mindful consumers with their creative campaigns. Marketers can also place their creative advertisements in environments where mindfulness is practiced or encouraged, such as wellness studios or vacation resorts.

ABSTRACT. Secret framing has been a staple message framing tactic used to entice consumers with secret formulas for a diverse array of products, from cosmetics to soft drinks. It has also been a staple messaging framing strategy in book titles or among influencers trying to convey to consumers that the information they possess is worth a purchase or click. We conduct two experiments and demonstrate that perceived exclusiveness mediates the effects of secret framing on both purchase and click intentions. We find contrasting and inconsistent results for the mediating effects of perceived forbiddenness. These initial results offer some insights into the allure of secret framing.

ABSTRACT. The successful introduction of new products is vital to firm growth, with advertising playing a key role in creating awareness and shaping consumer perceptions. While prior research highlights the importance of consumer perceptions in new product adoption, limited attention has been given to how consumers process advertising cues specifically for new products. This research addresses this gap through two complementary studies. Study 1 presents a structured content analysis of new product advertisements based on a content analysis of YouTube channels, identifying the cues and strategies firms use to promote new products. Study 2 builds on these insights by developing and testing a conceptual model of consumer response to new product advertising cues using data from an online survey of British and Australian consumers who viewed real new product ads. Together, these studies contribute to advertising theory by (i) mapping current practices in new product advertising and (ii) advancing understanding of the mechanisms underlying consumer responses. The paper reports findings from Study 1 and outlines the research design for Study 2, for which data has been collected. Full results will be presented at the conference.

ABSTRACT. Digital tipping has become a ubiquitous feature of modern service platforms, yet little is known about how the timing and framing of tip prompts interact to shape tipping behavior. Across three preregistered studies, and through the novel lens of Construal Level Theory, this research demonstrates that pre-service tipping increases abstraction and psychological distance towards service, reducing customers’ ability to evaluate the service. Conversely, post-service tipping decreases psychological distance, fostering concrete thinking and enhancing service evaluability. We further demonstrate that tip prompts are not merely numerical anchors but can be meaningful cues whose persuasiveness depends on the fit between their construal level and the tip request timing. Specifically, prompts referencing similar customers are more effective before service, while those referencing the driver are more effective after service. These findings make three contributions: (1) they extend Construal Level Theory to tipping by linking the tip request timing to psychological distance, (2) conceptualize tip prompts as meaningful anchors, and (3) show that fit between prompt type and tip request timing drives tipping behavior. Together, this research offers theoretical insight and practical guidance for designing digital service interaction.

ABSTRACT. Pre-service tipping, requests for gratuity before service is delivered, has proliferated across digital points of sale, yet its psychological drivers remain unclear. This research advances a cognitive-effort account of pre-service tipping, integrating choice architecture and dual-process theory. We argue that accepting a default tip minimizes effort, whereas customizing or rejecting a prompt requires deliberation that grows under time pressure and social frictions. A three-study, multi-method design evaluates this framework. Study 1 is a field experiment at a deli that varies default tip levels over three phases (low, moderate, high) while linking point-of-sale behavior to post-transaction surveys of perceived fairness, cognitive effort, satisfaction, and return intentions. Study 2 is an online experiment that manipulates default levels across multiple service contexts and measures tipping intentions alongside cognitive-effort and fairness judgments. Study 3 jointly manipulates urgency and engagement frequency to test moderated effects of defaults on intentions, satisfaction, and effort. We expect defaults to increase compliance, especially under high urgency; aggressive defaults to depress satisfaction and loyalty; and frequent users to rely on habitual tipping less sensitive to defaults. Findings will clarify cognitive mechanisms of pre-service tipping and inform interface policies that balance fairness, convenience, and employee income across service exchanges.

ABSTRACT. In the hospitality industry, managerial responses act as strategic signals of service quality and commitment to improvement. While prior research links such responses to higher ratings, it remains unclear whether improvements stem from the mere act of replying or from hotels genuinely addressing recurring issues (such as room quality or cleanliness) and using responses to communicate these actions. Drawing on signalling theory and service recovery, this study examines how response attributes, including length, delay, personalisation, and similarity, shape sentiment shifts of frequently criticised service aspects. Using TripAdvisor data and the Google Cloud Natural Language API, we track sentiment changes for the most criticised entity before and after hotels begin responding to assess whether managerial replies serve as credible signals of improvement. Results show that responses generally enhance sentiment toward the most criticised entity, but effectiveness depends on specific attributes: longer, detailed replies strengthen the effect, whereas delayed or repetitive responses weaken it. These findings advance research on online reputation management and offer practical insights for hotels and platforms by highlighting how response quality differentiates authentic engagement from superficial signalling.

ABSTRACT. This article examines the underlying mechanisms explaining the effect of brand positioning (global vs. local) on purchase intention. Drawing on signaling theory, our findings show that a global brand positioning, compared to a local one, leads consumers to perceive the brand as less ethical and less healthy, which in turn tends to reduce their purchase intentions. However, these effects are contingent upon respondents’ income levels. Specifically, high-income consumers are more likely to perceive global (vs. local) brands as less ethical and less healthy and consequently report lower purchase intentions toward globally positioned brands. In contrast, for low-income consumers, brand positioning—whether global or local—does not significantly influence their perceptions or, ultimately, their purchase intentions. This research offers theoretical contributions to the brand positioning literature and provides several managerial implications. It highlights the importance for marketing managers to consider perceived brand ethics when defining their brand positioning strategy, as ethical perceptions have become an increasingly decisive factor in consumers’ purchase decisions.

ABSTRACT. This research examines how neologisms, which are newly created words or expressions, are used in advertising and marketing to shape consumer perceptions of both the companies that use these terms and the products being promoted. While neologisms are commonly employed to highlight product features or convey innovation, little is known about their broader influence on consumer evaluations. Prior work has largely focused on metaphors, fluency, or narrative structures. In this research, we introduce the usage of neologisms as a novel variable and analyze its influence on brand and product evaluations in multiple cultural contexts. By leveraging Gelfand et al.’s (2011) cultural tightness-looseness framework, we connect cultural psychology with marketing and advertising language. We investigate the interplay between linguistic novelty and cultural context by manipulating two key factors: the presence of neologisms in advertisements and the cultural tightness of the company’s country of origin. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on linguistic framing in marketing by examining neologisms as a distinct persuasive linguistic device with cultural differences in acceptance and effectiveness. We offer insights into how perceptions of cultural norms regulate responses to novelty and deviation in language, addressing a gap in cross-cultural marketing and advertising literature.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how human resources (HR) marketing contributes to the financial performance and growth of African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing a shortage of digital talent. Using a theoretical framework that combines human, financial, and institutional capital, it explores how these factors interact to strengthen organizational competitiveness. Based on secondary data from international databases (2000-2023) and a panel analysis using fixed effects and generalized least squares models, the results reveal that human capital, measured by skills and training, is a key driver of performance. Financial capital, understood as access to mobile credit, stimulates flexibility and innovation, while institutional capital, represented by the quality of governance, increases the credibility and attractiveness of SMEs. The study thus highlights the strategic role of HR marketing as a lever for value creation and sustainable competitive advantage for African SMEs.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the cognitive mechanisms through which strategic orientations translate into superior business performance. While learning orientation and market orientation are vital, their pathways to performance need elaboration. This study demonstrates that their transformation into sustainable advantage is mediated by a firm’s practiced dominant logic and realized through managerial knowledge management competencies. Grounded in an integrative framework of Resource-Based Theory, Knowledge-Based View, and Institutional Theory, the research conceptualizes a model where strategic orientations influence performance indirectly. Practiced dominant logic the ingrained cognitive framework guiding decisions acts as the key mechanism, translating strategy into actionable capabilities. Analyzing survey data from 297 professionals using PLS-SEM, the findings confirm that the effects of learning and market orientation are fully mediated. A strong orientation cultivates an adaptive, knowledge-centric logic, which systematically enhances competencies in managing internal, external, tacit and explicit knowledge. Notably, managing externally focused tacit knowledge emerges as the most potent predictor of performance, highlighting the value of complex, hard-to-imitate assets. The study elucidates the cognitive ‘missing link’ between strategy and performance, showing dominant logic as the vessel for operationalizing strategy. Practitioners must embed these orientations into core routines to build an organization skilled at converting intelligence into superior results.

ABSTRACT. Customer Experience Management (CXM) research has predominantly focused on dyadic Business-to-Consumer (B2C) or Business-to-Business (B2B) relationships. Yet, the increasing shift towards B2B2C ecosystem, where suppliers must orchestrate experiences through autonomous intermediaries, and business customers to reach end-consumers, calls for new theoretical developments. This conceptual paper addresses this gap by developing a CXM characterization framework for triadic B2B2C contexts from the supplier perspective. Through narrative theory synthesis, we draw on B2B and B2C CXM theories through the lens of Service-Dominant Logic, particularly its axioms on resource integration, beneficiary-determined value, and institutional arrangements. Our framework comprises four interconnected dimensions: (1) Stakeholder Governance—coordinating autonomous actors across conflicting institutional logics, (2) Experience Orchestration—enabling rather than controlling experience delivery through intermediaries, (3) Adaptive Experience Learning—integrating multi-speed, multi-actor feedback systems, and (4) Value Proposition Integration—synthesizing divergent stakeholder needs into coherent experiences. We further identify five systemic challenges in triadic B2B2C contexts: Triadic Expectation Divergence, Dispersed Touchpoint Control, B2B-B2C Value Dissonance, Customer Journey Fragmentation, and Temporal Governance Misalignment. These insights establish B2B2C CXM as a distinct theoretical domain requiring ecosystem-level coordination capabilities rather than firm-centric control, providing both theoretical foundations and practical guidance for suppliers navigating complex multi-stakeholder experience management.

ABSTRACT. This paper advances the understanding of market ecosystem transformation by focusing on the challenges specific to B2B contexts. It highlights how Business Market Actors’ Engagement (BAE) acts as a subtle but crucial alignment mechanism, enabling collective action and institutional change. While engagement has often been studied in B2C markets, this research shifts the focus to B2B ecosystems—characterized by complex interdependencies and multi-actor collaboration. Drawing on rich qualitative data from the commercial real estate sector, the study examines how B2B engagement dynamics—including actors’ intentions, behaviors, and interpretations—both enable and constrain sustainability-driven transitions. The findings reveal that actor engagement in B2B markets serves as a form of institutional work, linking localized, often incentive-limited collaborations to broader institutional transformations. This process helps realign goals, practices, and expectations across organizational boundaries. The study identifies key enablers and barriers to engagement and presents a practice-oriented framework for fostering alignment, legitimacy, and systemic resilience in sustainability transitions. The concept of "crafting shape in a fluid world" captures how engagement allows market actors to generate coordination and institutional order amid uncertainty. These insights are vital for understanding how markets can be stabilized and directed toward sustainable outcomes in dynamic, complex environments.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping marketing agency work by accelerating ideation, content production, and campaign optimization, yet its usage generates both organizational gains and risks. Guided by sociotechnical systems (Leonardi, 2011; Trist, 1981) and dynamic capabilities perspectives (Teece et al., 1997; Zahra & George, 2002), this study examines how GenAI usage relates to gains (content creativity, employee experience, marketing and financial performance) and risks (job insecurity, client privacy governance), and how absorptive capacity and customer orientation condition these effects. A mixed-methods design integrates interviews with agency managers (n = 20) and a survey of managers in UK B2B agencies (n = 425). Findings show that GenAI enhances creativity, employee experience, and organizational performance, while also heightening job insecurity. Counter to conventional wisdom, absorptive capacity dampens performance benefits while mitigating risks. Customer orientation amplifies creativity and performance but does not reduce job insecurity or privacy concerns. These findings reconceptualize absorptive capacity and customer orientation as trade-off mechanisms in GenAI contexts rather than universal enablers, extending recent insights on GenAI’s paradoxical impact in marketing organizations (Grewal et al., 2025; Singh et al., 2024). They highlight hybrid human–AI models, employee upskilling, and client-centered deployment as pathways to maximize value while containing downside risks.

ABSTRACT. Time has long been recognized as fundamental to human experience, yet marketing and entrepreneurship research treats it as constraint rather than strategic site of value creation. Contemporary consumers navigate accelerated temporal conditions systematically undermining sustainable behaviors, creating a persistent intention-action gap despite high environmental awareness. This paper develops a Temporal Value Creation Framework explaining how entrepreneurs function as ‘temporal architects’ who strategically reshape consumer temporality through six temporal innovation mechanisms. Integrating temporal structuring social acceleration, narrative theory, and ecosystem innovation, we propose a framework with four layers: (1) temporal conditions creating opportunities, (2) temporal innovation mechanisms, (3) consumer temporal outcomes, and (4) market-level consequences. They are examined through four analytical lenses: structural, experiential, social, and narrative, to diagnose mechanism-context fit and acknowledge how temporal restructuring is interpretive and identity-laden. Using UAE food consumption and waste demonstrates framework application, advancing propositions that emphasize cultural moderation and UN SDG 12 alignment toward reducing food waste. The framework provides theoretical advancement for marketing and entrepreneurship by positioning temporal innovation as a distinct strategic category while offering practical guidance for entrepreneurs, marketers, and policymakers. The study posits that sustainable consumption scales when entrepreneurs redesign time, making responsible choices temporally convenient, meaningful, and habitual.

ABSTRACT. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently been a significant target of scholarly attention. However, studies investigating CSR to date have presented mixed findings regarding the effectiveness of such strategies in achieving organizational objectives. This study aims to address this shortcoming and investigate whether marketing capabilities impact the financial returns of organizations with high levels of CSR. The hypotheses are drawn from the tenets of the resource dependence theory (RDT), which states that organizations develop strategies to reduce uncertainty in their environments to improve access to essential resources, thereby ensuring the continuity of their operations and survival. Specifically, it proposes that marketing capabilities can reduce uncertainty and ambiguity associated with implementing CSR strategies, which can often be perceived by stakeholders as deviating from the core functions of the organization. Using panel data from 403 publicly listed manufacturing companies in the United States over eight years, the results indicate that CSR initiatives can represent losses for organizations; however, marketing capabilities not only mitigate these losses but also convert them into gains. Aligning profit-oriented activities with socially oriented goals and initiatives may represent gains in the long term for organizations.

ABSTRACT. Electric-vehicle (EV) adoption is central to U.S. decarbonization strategy, yet their impact on local air quality remains unclear. A recent Nature Sustainability study linked electric-vehicle charging stations (EVCS) openings to higher housing prices in California, implying improved air quality, but did not directly examine the pollution reduction of EVCS. We provide direct evidence by analyzing monthly fine data fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitors between 2015 and 2023. Treatment is defined by whether a monitor lies within 8 km of at least one operational EVCS. Using fixed-effects regressions with climate and socioeconomic controls, weighted by propensity scores, and two-stage residual-inclusion (2SRI) model with a control function instrumenting EVCS siting via power plant proximity, we estimate the causal effect EVCS openings on PM₂.₅. In both California and nationwide, EVCS openings show no short-term impact on PM₂.₅, but exhibit moderate reductions after 7–19 months that subsequently return to baseline levels. Environmental benefits thus emerge with a lag but are transitory, contrasting with the prior evidence inferred from housing-market proxies.

ABSTRACT. In response to growing environmental urgency, brands are expected to transition toward more sustainable practices while remaining competitive (Volle & Schouten, 2022; Crittenden et al., 2011). Managing this trade-off requires understanding how consumers evaluate a brand’s sustainability. Although research in sustainable marketing and CSR has advanced (Mohr et al., 2001; Cantrell et al., 2015), no validated instrument currently measures Perceived Brand Sustainability (PBS) at the brand level. This research develops and initiates the validation of a multidimensional PBS scale using established scale-development procedures (Churchill, 1979; Hair et al., 2014). Fifty qualitative interviews across 15 countries informed the conceptual structure and item generation. A first quantitative study with European students (n = 238; six brands) produced a three-factor structure - Brand Social Identity, Design for Durability, Planet Preservation - with high reliability (α = .95) and 73.5% explained variance. A second study with U.S. consumers recruited via Prolific (n = 360) provides preliminary convergent evidence (α > .96; 88.8% explained variance; p < .001). A final validation phase (EFA + CFA) is scheduled for December 2025.

This research introduces PBS as a measurable construct and establishes an empirical basis to examine how business model and marketing choices influence perceived brand sustainability.

ABSTRACT. Hospital-acquired infections remain a persistent risk, and hand hygiene performance is inconsistent. This paper synthesizes evidence through a systematic literature review (SLR) and proposes an SLR-based model with five building blocks. Recommended elements are opportunity-based shift goals aligned with WHO moments, near real time micro-feedback with high signal quality, team-level streaks with grace windows and sensible caps, rolling and fairly clustered leaderboards without public individual ranks, and context-sensitive micro-quests that trigger only where capability and opportunity exist. Feasibility was examined in five semi-structured interviews with intensive care nurses. Respondents valued clear goals, visible progress, and team-level displays, and stressed transparency on purpose, data flows, access rights, and retention. Privacy expectations favored public team data and private individual data with voluntary opt ins for personal views. Implementation prerequisites include enabling infrastructure at the point of care such as dispenser availability, reliable refill routines, and unobstructed walking paths. The study consolidates dispersed evidence into actionable guidance and identifies conditions for durable behavior change in clinical settings.

ABSTRACT. Firms increasingly publicize the origin of their product designs, highlighting when offerings are “designed by our users” or even “designed by our fans.” This research investigates the communicative and perceptual consequences of such user-designed disclosures—public statements that assign authorship of design decisions to external users. Drawing on signaling theory, lead-user innovation, and heuristic-processing perspectives, three experiments examine whether, how, and when these disclosures shape market responses. Across studies, attributing authorship to users rather than the company elevates both perceived firm innovativeness and perceived product innovativeness, the latter mediating effects on purchase intention. Disclosing that products were designed by fans rather than consumers produces equivalent outcomes when credibility and process rigor are held constant, indicating that user authorship—not the specific user subtype—is the operative cue. Furthermore, the effects are stronger in technological categories, where product performance is harder to evaluate ex ante and origin cues become more diagnostic. The findings position user-designed disclosures as credible innovation signals that operate through perceived innovativeness and are context-dependent. The study refines theory on design-origin communication and offers managers concrete guidance on what to say, how specific to be, and where such messages most effectively signal innovation.

ABSTRACT. This research examines how personality traits shape consumers’ avoidance of luxury products with prominent logos. Study 1 revealed a dual stereotype pattern held by individuals toward conspicuous luxury buyers. Study 2 extends this work by applying the 3M Model of Motivation and Personality to explain individual differences in avoidance behavior. Results show that luxury stigma consciousness (i.e., an individual difference reflecting consumers’ anticipation of being stereotyped) is a central factor driving avoidance. It is further associated with fundamental personality traits (openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), the compound trait of materialism, and the consumption-related trait of attention to social comparison information. Together, the two studies demonstrate how social judgments and personality traits jointly shape consumer avoidance in the luxury domain. These findings offer valuable insights for luxury brands navigating the rise of inconspicuous consumption and developing personality-informed marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how brutal-honesty fitness influencers (BFIs) interact with audiences with narratives about fitness and discipline through confrontational rhetoric. Unlike contemporary body-positive influencers, BFIs use blunt language, shame, and accountability to provoke motivation. Conducting a qualitative content analysis of 52 Instagram Reels from five influencers, categories emerged to inform three central themes that typify BFIs style. Implications about how message tone functions as both a tool and ethical boundary in social media communication are discussed.

ABSTRACT. Consumers often encounter quantitative claims in advertising and packaging, like “loads per container” or “calories per minute," which aim to make product comparison simpler and highlight value. Yet, these ratio-based messages often cause systematic judgment errors because consumers tend to use linear (arithmetic) reasoning instead of non-linear (harmonic) reasoning when interpreting this data. Through three experiments, this project investigates how message format and processing mode together affect understanding accuracy. The results show a paradox: analytical (vs. heuristic) processing can increase bias when the message format is inverse, but it enhances accuracy when the format aligns with consumers’ natural cognitive tendencies. Using direct formats (for example, "dollars per load” instead of “loads per container”) can improve accuracy by up to three times. These findings expand dual-process theories by highlighting format alignment as a critical factor for when analytical processing is preferable and emphasize the role of quantitative message design in advertising and consumer education. The paper discusses implications for advertising effectiveness, how information is framed, and public communication strategies.

ABSTRACT. Recent research reveals a compelling phenomenon that consumers advocate their favorite brand while having negative points of view about the substitute brand. This study investigates how advertising that uses possessive pronouns like "my" or "your" (a pseudo-ownership appeal) fosters feelings of psychological ownership and drives this oppositional brand loyalty. We further examine whether narcissism moderates this process. Two experiments with student and general population participants tested the effect of these pronouns. Study 1 demonstrated that the "my" pronoun significantly increased both psychological ownership and oppositional loyalty. Study 2, using the "your" pronoun, confirmed that psychological ownership is a key mechanism, fully mediating the relationship between the advertising appeal and oppositional loyalty. Furthermore, narcissism was a significant moderator; individuals with higher narcissistic traits exhibited a stronger increase in psychological ownership from the pseudo-ownership appeal. These findings clarify how a simple linguistic cue can trigger possessive feelings that translate into partisan consumer behavior, with an individual's level of narcissism intensifying this effect. The research provides valuable insights for understanding the psychological underpinnings of brand rivalry.

ABSTRACT. Overconfidence can be contagious, spreading from one individual to another. In crowdfunding contexts, this transmission may lead to vulnerability on the consumer´s side, as many backers lack financial literacy. Our experimental results show that exposure to an overconfident pitch increases investment likelihood among financially illiterate individuals, while financially literate individuals are least likely to invest.

ABSTRACT. The global rise in obesity is a major public health concern, with unhealthy food marketing, particularly on social media, being a significant contributor. Despite increasing health awareness, unhealthy brands still attract higher engagement than healthy ones on social media platforms, where visuals play a central role in driving consumer interaction. This study examines how the visual complexity of marketer-generated content (MGC) influences engagement with healthy and unhealthy food brands across Instagram and Twitter. Using a dataset of 21,967 image posts from the social media profiles of brands, visual complexity was measured through feature and design-based attributes. Subsequently, Negative binomial regression was applied to assess the effects of complexity, platform, and brand type on likes and comments. Results reveal that complexity levels influence engagement differently across platforms and brand types, providing actionable guidance for healthy food brands to enhance visual appeal in their social media content, building strong connections with consumers.

ABSTRACT. Online reviews have shifted healthcare authority from providers to patients, yet HIPAA regulations severely restrict how healthcare providers can respond to these reviews, even when patients disclose their own protected health information (PHI). This study examines the personalization-privacy paradox in healthcare provider responses to online reviews through a scenario-based experiment with 280 participants using a 2×2 design varying review valence and HIPAA compliance. Results reveal that HIPAA-violating responses are simultaneously perceived as more personalized and more privacy-violating. Mediation analysis demonstrates both perceptions significantly influence attitudes toward providers, with personalization effects outweighing privacy violation concerns. The net effect favors HIPAA-violating responses, suggesting current regulations may be overly restrictive. However, this benefit diminishes when consumers are aware a HIPAA violation has occurred, as awareness reduces personalization perceptions. Review valence did not moderate these effects. These findings suggest consumers' privacy calculus weighs personalization benefits more heavily than privacy costs in this context, challenging the appropriateness of current HIPAA restrictions on responding to online reviews. The research has important implications for policymakers considering regulatory adjustments and for increasing HIPAA awareness among healthcare providers and patients.

ABSTRACT. Nonprofit organizations have spent decades investing in initiatives to increase financial access and alleviate global poverty. Forming informal savings groups is a popular approach but requires extensive monetary and human resources. The desire to reach as many communities as possible while responsibly spending donor funds has encouraged nonprofit organizations to seek economical ways to increase the rate of new savings group formation. By applying the marketing concepts of intrinsic motivation and identity-based motivation, this research seeks to increase the replication rate of savings groups thus increasing global financial access. This study conducts a large-scale randomized controlled trial with a sample of 1120 savings groups using a replication training intervention. These savings groups are comprised of 15-30 low-income members, mostly women. This research contributes to the marketing literature by examining identity-based motivation as a non-monetary incentive in the field over an extended time-period.

ABSTRACT. Product-harm crises and product recalls can have massive consequences for customers and firms. While prior research focuses on procedural measures and their consequences, policymakers are concerned with product recall effectiveness, which is the success of firm actions before, during, and after a recall to prevent the use of unsafe products. Surprisingly, little is known about its components, antecedents, and outcomes. This article develops a conceptualization of product recall effectiveness, consisting of pre-recall, recall execution, and post-recall effectiveness, and outlines a framework, research agenda, and data connections. These contributions are relevant for firms, regulators, and consumer protection groups alike.

ABSTRACT. Value propositions sit at the center of marketing, yet their emergence and evolution remain undertheorized. Building on service-dominant logic and affordance theory, this article reconceptualizes value propositions as collective affordances—relational fields of value potentials that arise from configurations of multiple, interdependent actors. We argue that contextualization conditions which potentials become relevant and are drawn upon, so that a particular value-in-use outcome is actualized from a set of collective affordances. On this basis, we develop a process model in which actor-level action possibilities interact and become mutually enabling (complementary), coalescing into recognizable propositions in specific contexts within service ecosystems, and subsequently stabilizing or drifting as contexts and institutional arrangements evolve. This theorization advances value proposition research by shifting its ontological footing to a relational view that foregrounds relations and contexts and by identifying the micro-to-macro mechanisms through which distributed affordances complement one another to yield ecosystem-level value outcomes. It also explains the evolutionary dynamics: once enacted, value propositions reshape the very conditions that made them possible, altering future affordances and seeding subsequent value propositions.

ABSTRACT. As customer-agent interactions proliferate through advances in AI, capturing in-the-moment emotion is central to understanding loyalty, yet conventional post-interaction surveys fall short. They rely on biased retrospectives, missing concealed affective responses from the vast majority of non-respondents. We introduce the Event-Experience-Narrative (EEN) framework, grounded in cognitive appraisal and dual-process theories. It distinguishes three layers of affective reality: the neurobiological Event, the private felt Experience, and the communicable Narrative—linked by Embodiment and Rationalization, which can render Experience less accessible. We operationalize EEN through a two-phase measurement paradigm to approximate this concealed layer. Phase 1 interrupts interactions at critical junctures (e.g., chatbot misunderstandings) to collect immediate self-reports before memory reconstruction and regulation. Phase 2 records continuous neurophysiology during uninterrupted sessions, time-locked to the same junctures, indexing event-locked neural activity associated with Experience. Triangulating these complementary measures provides converging evidence on the concealed Experience layer. When both proximal measures indicate an affective response that retrospective evaluations do not, this pattern enables investigation of the Experience-to-Narrative transformation. This advances marketing research by identifying when concealed Experience predicts downstream behavior beyond satisfaction and how individual differences, interaction types, and regulation strategies moderate this process.

ABSTRACT. The rise of generative artificial intelligence marks a transformative moment in marketing, enabling unprecedented personalization and content creation while challenging notions of authenticity and human connection. This study introduces AI-augmented empathy as the synergistic integration of human emotional intelligence and machine precision as a transformative marketing capability. Drawing upon Human–AI Symbiosis Theory and Transformative Service Research, we conceptualize how empathy augmentation reshapes consumer perceptions of brand warmth, competence, and trust. A multi-method, three-study design is employed: an online experiment manipulates empathy cues and AI disclosure; a computational text-mining analysis examines 10,091 brand–consumer interactions; and a cross-industry PLS-SEM survey validates the structural model. Results reveal that AI-augmented empathy enhances perceived warmth and competence, with authenticity mediating and transparency moderating these relationships. The findings advance transformative marketing strategies by demonstrating how ethical human–machine collaboration drives relational depth and engagement beyond automation. The study provides an actionable framework for designing transparent, emotionally intelligent AI systems that foster consumer trust, engagement, and well-being. Ultimately, it reframes the role of AI not as a replacement for human empathy but as a catalyst for augmented intelligence, where technology and humanity co-create authentic, transformative marketing experiences.

ABSTRACT. Structured Abstract enclosed.

ABSTRACT. Unlocking the future of pharmaceutical marketing requires more than incremental change—it demands a bold new engine that drives growth, adaptability, and competitive advantage through accountability and advanced analytics. Value-based Adaptive Next-gen Toolkit for Analytics & Growth Effectiveness (VANTAGE), a centralized, AI-powered marketing measurement platform, is designed to meet this challenge. By seamlessly integrating Marketing Mix Modeling, Multi-Touch Attribution, Incrementality Testing, and Platform Testing into a unified framework, VANTAGE empowers pharmaceutical companies to precisely measure impact, reduce waste, and deliver highly personalized messaging across both direct-to-consumer and healthcare professional channels. In an era of soaring drug costs and widening access gaps, VANTAGE shifts pharmaceutical marketing from a costly, fragmented expense into a strategic, transparent, and accountable function that drives real-world patient outcomes. Through this new modernized approach, companies can unlock unprecedented insights, optimize investments, and navigate disruption with agility—transforming marketing into a powerful lever for both commercial success and societal good. This paper presents a future-ready solution to redefine pharmaceutical marketing and restore its vital patient-centered purpose.

ABSTRACT. As marketing programs increasingly emphasize experiential learning and workforce readiness, corporate partnerships have become vital in bridging academia and industry. Yet, many institutions struggle to identify the right partners, articulate mutual value, and maintain sustainable engagement. This special session brings together directors and faculty leaders from universities with established corporate partnerships to share best practices and lessons learned. The discussion will explore effective sponsorship models, partnership branding, talent pipeline development, and approaches to embedding corporate engagement into curriculum and student experiences. Attendees will gain practical frameworks for partnership acquisition and stewardship, insights into leveraging advisory boards and alumni networks, and opportunities for benchmarking and cross-institution collaboration. Ultimately, this session seeks to advance a shared understanding of how higher education and industry can co-create meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships that elevate marketing education, enhance student outcomes, and strengthen the profession’s connection to practice.

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers are becoming increasingly popular on social media, raising questions about their ability to convey authenticity and foster user engagement. This study investigates how verbal authenticity varies between human and virtual influencers and their audiences and how it impacts user engagement on Instagram. Using a machine learning-based psycholinguistic analysis of 6,603 posts and 99,842 comments from three virtual and three human fashion/lifestyle influencers, we assess sentiment, emotional tone, and verbal authenticity via LIWC-22 and Receptiviti. Findings reveal that human influencers demonstrate higher levels of verbal authenticity, however, some virtual influencers achieve comparable levels when employing emotionally coherent, first-person narratives. Audience responses, regardless of influencer type, are consistently low in authenticity and emotionally neutral, highlighting a one-directional authenticity gap. Furthermore, authenticity predicts greater engagement (likes and comments) for human influencers, but this effect is limited to comment volume, and not likes, for virtual influencers. These results position authenticity as a relational performance rather than an inherent human trait and suggest that strategic content design can enable virtual personas to simulate realness effectively. This study contributes to research on AI-mediated communication and provides practical guidance for brands using these influencers in their social media strategies.

ABSTRACT. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in business-to-business (B2B) service recovery is rising, yet its effectiveness relative to human-led recovery is unclear. This research explores how industrial firms integrate AI into recovery and how different human–AI configurations shape fairness and relational outcomes. A two-phase mixed-methods design is used. Study 1, based on interviews with senior UK professionals, identifies three themes: AI as a strategic disruptor, a shift from reactive to proactive recovery, and complementarity between automation and human expertise. Guided by equity theory, three experiments then test how recovery agent type (AI, human, hybrid), timing (proactive vs. reactive), and disclosure framing (minimal, performance, regulatory, third-party certification) influence fairness, trust, satisfaction, and relationship continuity. The study advances service recovery theory by introducing AI-enabled and hybrid recovery as distinct B2B mechanisms, where recovery carries greater relational and financial consequences. It extends equity theory by examining fairness perceptions when humans and machines share responsibility for outcomes. Managerially, it offers guidance on designing recovery systems that balance automation and authenticity, highlighting when human oversight is essential for maintaining fairness and trust.

ABSTRACT. Recommendation agents (RAs) assist consumers in online shopping by providing personalized product recommendations that help decision-making. Yet, many online merchants increasingly use biased RAs whose recommendations are influenced by strategic goals beyond consumer preferences, such as profit maximization or promoting socially desirable products. While RAs have been widely studied for their benefits in personalization, existing research has paid little attention to how consumers react when interacting with highly biased and opaque RAs. This study examines how the type of bias (company-centered vs. society-centered) and the transparency of the recommendation process influence consumers’ trust, perceived betrayal, psychological reactance, and purchase intentions toward recommended products. Based on psychological contract violation theory and psychological reactance theory, this research develops and tests a research model explaining how bias type and transparency jointly shape consumers’ psychological and behavioral responses to biased recommendations. Hypotheses are tested through a 3 (bias type: none, company-centered, society-centered) × 2 (transparency: absent vs. present) between-subjects experiment simulating an online shopping environment for lunch products. The findings provide theoretical insights into responsible personalization and practical guidance for the use of transparent and trustworthy biased RAs - an approach increasingly valued by consumers in today’s digital marketplace.

ABSTRACT. Rapid advances in AI have generated widespread applications such as AI agents in marketing. This research investigates how gender and the type of service agents influence customer experience. Drawing on gender theory and human–technology interaction literature, we propose that men perceive AI-based service encounters more positively than human-based ones, whereas women’s evaluations remain consistent across agent types. The findings suggest gender and the type of agent jointly influence customer experience.

ABSTRACT. As AI Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek evolve into branded digital agents, this study investigates how their brand personality shapes user loyalty. Drawing on self-expansion theory and flow-based immersion, we propose and test a conceptual model in which brand personality fosters consumer brand engagement through psychological and experiential mechanisms. Data from 337 LLM users across 46 countries reveal that brand personality enhances self-expansion and immersion, which subsequently influence affective, cognitive, and behavioral brand engagement, ultimately driving loyalty. Notably, while brand personality directly predicts affective and cognitive engagement, its effect on behavioral engagement is fully mediated via self-expansion and immersion. These findings highlight that LLM brands are not mere tools but partners in users’ personal growth and sustained attention. The study advances theory by extending self-expansion to human-AI relationships and offers practical guidance for designing LLM brands that build deep, lasting consumer-brand relationships.

ABSTRACT. Brands increasingly seek innovative and novel strategies to stand out in the cluttered marketplace. “Odd Brand Collaboration” is adopted to increase brand visibility and generate buzz by capturing consumers' attention. Brand collaboration between mass and premium brands is taking on a new meaning. Brands create unlikely collaborations to expand their reach, drive innovation, and engage customers. This challenges traditional marketing practices and norms to generate consumer attention. More than just sales, the unexpected pairing creates shock value, sparks a conversation, and widens the audience from both ends of the spectrum. This trend of “odd couples” of unexpected or unrelated brands is creating a lot of excitement and novelty in the minds of consumers, especially the millennials and Generation Y. Various types of brand-product collaborations that exist today offer unique and limited offerings, which often intrigue consumers to purchase the product via pull strategy. These new offerings are either accepted or rejected depending on consumer perception factors. Owing to this uncertainty, the present study aims to comprehend consumer perception and the adoption of brand-product collaborations. Adopting exploratory research, the study will do data triangulation by applying Netnography, in-depth interviews, and ZMET for data collection.

ABSTRACT. Although design philosophies in fashion collections have challenged binary gender norms for decades, branding strategies have evolved at a slower pace. As a result, there is still a limited understanding of how gender-neutral fashion brands and their products influence consumer responses. Based on the congruency theory, we propose exploring whether alignment or misalignment in gender cues in brand personality, fashion collections, and the consumer´s psychological gender influences brand equity and purchase intentions. The study proposes to extend fashion branding research to reflect contemporary understandings of gender diversity.

ABSTRACT. Tourism decisions are strongly influenced by travellers’ familiarity with destinations. While iconic locations such as Machu Picchu benefit from high awareness and perceived safety, emerging destinations like AlUla face greater uncertainty and risk perceptions that hinder visitation. This research examines how virtual reality (VR) can reduce these barriers by creating immersive, sensory experiences that simulate “being there.” Across three studies, a controlled lab experiment, a field experiment in travel agencies, and a behavioural follow-up, participants explored either a familiar or unfamiliar destination via VR or a traditional website. Results consistently show that VR has limited impact for familiar destinations but transformative effects for unfamiliar ones. For AlUla, VR significantly increased travel intentions, willingness to pay, budget allocation, and actual post-exposure engagement. These effects were mediated primarily by experiential familiarity, which reduced perceived risk and uncertainty. Informational familiarity played a secondary role, mainly through uncertainty reduction. For familiar destinations, VR enhanced interest but did not influence behavioural outcomes. The findings establish destination familiarity as a boundary condition for VR’s effectiveness and highlight experiential familiarity as a key factor. Practically, the research recommends prioritising VR marketing for emerging destinations, where immersive technologies can meaningfully bridge the gap between awareness and travel commitment.

ABSTRACT. The Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) framework has been extensively utilized to interpret consumer switching behaviors, yet its application to emerging tourism technologies remains underexplored. This study investigates the determinants influencing tourists’ transition from conventional tourism websites to augmented reality (AR) applications. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, qualitative interviews with 29 travelers were first conducted to identify key push, pull, and mooring factors, followed by a quantitative survey to empirically validate the proposed model. A hybrid Structural Equation Modeling–Artificial Neural Network (SEM–ANN) approach was employed to account for both linear and non-linear relationships. The results reveal that dissatisfaction with the inefficiency of traditional tourism websites (a push factor) strongly motivates users to switch to AR applications. Among the pull factors, perceived informativeness, immersion, and interactivity significantly encourage switching, emphasizing the importance of usefulness, novelty, and rich experiential engagement. Regarding mooring factors, individual innovativeness was found to be a key driver of switching intention. Overall, this research broadens the application of PPM theory within the tourism technology domain and offers practical insights for AR developers and tourism professionals. The findings help destination managers and practitioners better understand tourists’ intentions to adopt AR-based experiences and support strategic decisions that enhance engagement with AR technologies.

ABSTRACT. Advocacy organizations often rely on narrative media such as news features, documentaries, and short films to promote social causes. Building on Narrative Empathy Theory (Keen, 2006), we compare macro-level news features with micro-level narratives—both fictional (short films) and non-fictional (documentaries)—to assess their impact on empathy and behavioral intentions. Using a between-subjects experiment (N = 374), participants viewed one of three videos addressing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) crisis and then completed measures of emotional, cognitive, and sympathetic empathy and prosocial intentions. Results indicate that both documentaries and short films increased prosocial behavioral intentions relative to news features. However, only documentaries significantly enhanced emotional and cognitive empathy, and mediation analyses confirmed that these empathy dimensions accounted for the documentary’s effects on intentions. Fictional short films influenced intentions directly but not through empathy. Findings demonstrate that narrative form shapes prosocial responses and that empathy—particularly emotional and cognitive—plays a central role in linking non-fictional storytelling to social action.

ABSTRACT. On-shelf availability (OSA) is central to shopper satisfaction, loyalty, and omni-channel fulfillment. Despite decades of technological investment, out-of-stocks (OOS) in grocery and household consumables retail stubbornly remain near the historical average of 8%. This study addresses the paradox of why the proliferation of advanced technologies has not yielded substantial improvements in OSA. We surveyed 55 global retailers from the ECR Retail Loss OSA Group, representing nearly $2 trillion USD in annual sales, assessing the adoption and effectiveness of five core shelf signals: gap scans, inventory records, lost sales predictions, in-store pick data, and shelf images. Findings show technology enhances detection but not resolution. Comparative analysis revealed that technology adoption does not distinguish high-performing "Shelf Leaders" from low-performing "Shelf Learners". Instead, Shelf Leaders are differentiated by disciplined store-level execution practices. These practices include daily OSA reviews, clear accountability, and empowering associates to correct inventory records without managerial approval. This research contributes to theory by demonstrating that OSA improvements hinge less on new technological inputs and more on how these inputs are operationalized within store routines and governance structures.

ABSTRACT. Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to collect money (“the fund”) online from individuals, known as backers, on the Internet. While traditional sources of funding, such as venture capitalists or angel investors, are appealing options for entrepreneurs, they account for only a small portion of total investments in new venture formation. Our research objectives center on how crowdfunding performance, including financial validation (i.e., to what extent the entrepreneur meets the funding target) and social proof (i.e., the number of backers who support a given project), impacts a crowdfunded product’s market success following the crowdfunding campaign. This research contributes to the marketing and entrepreneurship literature by examining what happens after crowdfunding – specifically, we empirically examine the effect of crowdfunding performance on three metrics: product launch, time to market, and product adoption, all of which focus on product performance following, rather than during, the crowdfunding campaign. By doing so, we build a bridge between crowdfunding and new product success beyond the crowdfunding stage.

ABSTRACT. Sensory marketing in digital environments requires reliable tools to assess how consumers perceive multisensory cues. This paper presents an exploratory effort to develop a holistic scale measuring perceived sensory richness in mediated contexts. Drawing on Churchill’s (1979) empirical-statistical model and Rossiter’s (2002) C-OAR-SE framework, we constructed and refined an initial item pool based on literature and adapted instruments. A Principal Component Analysis (N = 151) led to a 19-item scale structured around three dimensions: multisensory stimulation, sensory congruence, and holistic valence. Each dimension demonstrated strong internal consistency (α = .838 to .925), and the overall scale showed acceptable reliability (α = .711). Predictive validity was confirmed through regression analysis, revealing a significant positive effect of sensory richness on purchase intentions (β = 1.014, t = 8.576, p < .001). The scale offers a conceptually grounded and statistically robust instrument for evaluating sensory engagement in digital experiences. It is applicable across product categories and supports both academic research and managerial decision-making. The next phase involving expert interviews will refine item wording and ensure semantic precision. This work contributes to sensory marketing by operationalizing sensory richness as a multidimensional construct and providing a validated tool for future empirical studies.

ABSTRACT. Major local and global events cause disruptions in the supply chain and entrepreneurship, often resulting in a power imbalance that negatively affects entrepreneurs. The study is based on a sample of 156 entrepreneurial SME’s operating in an environment of opportunism, deception, and potential violation of the Sherman Act by major suppliers. This study fills a gap in the B2B entrepreneurial literature. Supplier’s unethical actions on performance and reputation formed through WOM, as well as the impact on satisfaction, are studied. The buyer’s CSR philosophy provides an antecedent construct of the supplier’s unethical behavior. The results suggest negative effects of supplier deceptive behaviors on buyers’ perceptions of supplier performance. Performance positively affects satisfaction, which in turn positively affects word of mouth and reputation. Given that a firm does not have the same relationship with all suppliers, we study these practices through preferred and non-preferred suppliers. We suggest that a supplier’s unethical actions can lead to reputation degradation. SME purchasers need to proactively monitor such unethical supplier practices. Social media interactions and information sharing among entrepreneurs provide another monitoring mechanism.

ABSTRACT. When looking to the future, discussions of new technologies frequently focus on how it could be used; however, when looking toward the past, evaluations of the success, or failure, of a technology focus on the need it addressed, its behavioral impact, and the changes to the relationships of the parties involved. As conversations continue regarding the advancements in intelligent technologies’ ability to do marketing work, the purpose of this article is to position the discussion of deploying intelligent technologies not only in reference to its capabilities, but also in its potential to influence relationships between firm, marketer, and customer.

ABSTRACT. How marketing work changes as marketing managers and service providers deal with facts in a world where truthiness dominates.

ABSTRACT. This session will present five representative articles from the AMS Review’s Theories of Sustainability special issue published in 2025. Each of the presenters will use their contribution to the AMS Review special issue to answer the question “What’s next?” Important themes for future research in sustainable marketing will emerge from the presentations and the discussion to follow in this session.