ABSTRACT. The Academy of Marketing Science Publishing Code of Ethics provides directions for a high integrity manuscript. AMS has addressed major issues faced by publishers, editors, authors and the academic community. Specific issues addressed include conducting research, authorship, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, human subjects, along with respondents and reviewing. Authorship disputes have been the most frequent ethical issue over the last few years across all academic disciplines. Issues include who meets the requirements of authorship, author order on the manuscripts, and the debates around the value of graduate students assisting in research and qualification for authorship. The other issues addressed in the code focus on documented concerns about ethics in publishing.

ABSTRACT. While the existing marketing research is invaluable in understanding how e-retailers can provide effective online experience for customers, there is a lack of a unified approach to examining the lived OSE. Limited prior research has addressed this issue effectively, especially empirically (Pentina, Amialchuk, and Taylor, 2011; Michaud-Trévinal and Stenger, 2014; Kawaf and Tagg, 2017). Moreover, a large stream of research has focused on the antecedents and consequences of the online customer experience (OCE). This research therefore attempts to measure the OSE from a shopper perspective and builds on a theoretical framework that moves beyond the existing antecedents and consequences models. It addresses the question of how shoppers construct their own online experience and what constitutes an experience rather than what may influence it. The theoretical framework has been refined, including moderators, building on recent literature, and dimensions have been specified, with new items. We have added clear definitions of the constructs, and a test of these new items will be launched in a couple of weeks within a student population, in order to specify some scales of the model. This study is another incremental step towards the development of a measurement instrument of the OSE and its nomological network.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to further develop the concept of similarity and investigate its influences on cognitive processes such as mental imagery and memorization. We ran an exploratory study to explore and develop the concept of sensory similarity. We ran a mix-design 2x2 experiment with a between-subjects factor (interface tactile properties: rough vs. smooth) and a within-subjects factor (product characteristics: exfoliate vs. cream). We are currently analyzing the database and results will be available by the time of the conference.

ABSTRACT. Retailing is changing profoundly because of digitalization. Customer behavior is deeply modified in many sectors of retailing. This research aims to provide a deepened understanding of the impacts of others customers on the commercial interaction. It focuses on positive interactions between “other” customer and the focal customer which could modify the emotional context. This research presents and justifies a conceptual model relying positive commercial interactions with customers’ experience evaluation and intention to leave the commercial interaction considering the emotional context and the gender.

ABSTRACT. Consumption of luxury goods is often associated with status and conspicuousness. However, a segment of luxury consumers do not wish their consumption to be too conspicuous. We can call this type of consumption to be subtle luxuries. In this research we explore what are subtle luxuries and why do some people consume them? These are luxuries used for some inner personal satisfaction and not to conspicuously broadcast their net worth. Depth interviews were conducted to elicit motivations for consuming luxury goods while avoiding broadcasting such consumption. This qualitative exploration suggested an underlying motivation: controlling to some extent contacts with other people. This could take the form of filtering access to or from others, passive exclusion, or hidden protest by differentiating themselves from people whose behavior they dislike.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship of materialism and consumption values in the context of luxury goods purchase decisions. This problem was chosen because of the growing demand for luxury goods in Thailand, where the study was based, along with the historical but incomplete association of materialism and luxury goods purchase. Following studies that have proposed that Sheth, Newman and Gross’s (1991) theory of consumption values could explain luxury consumption, this research tested the effect of materialism on six consumption values. The primary research was a quantitative online survey of Thai consumers (n = 149). Correlations showed that, as expected, the consumption values were independent. However, regression showed that materialism did have an effect on values including conditional value, social value, and price value (negative). The implication of this study is that consumption values could play an intermediate role between consumer materialism and luxury purchase decisions.

ABSTRACT. Does pleasure-oriented happiness differ from meaning-oriented happiness? Given prior research, the present study investigates the affective and well-being differences between hedonic and eudaimonic purchases. Findings show that consumers experience different levels of certain dimensions of elevation and well-being in relation to different types of purchases. This has implications not only for consumer research in happiness and well-being but also for marketing practitioners who are actively engaged in the business of delivering happiness to their target consumers through their market offerings.

ABSTRACT. Sales of counterfeit products is worth up to ½ trillion $US in 2016 and is expected to increase driven by demand. Drawing from Schwartz theory of human values this research extends existing literature on counterfeit consumption behaviour by addressing two crucially important questions: 1) how do personal values affect counterfeit consumption, 2) how do these relationships vary as a function of counterfeit experience? This article reveals that self-transcendence values play a prominent role in explaining counterfeit consumption and the influence is negative. In contrast, openness to change, conservation, and self-enhancement values have no direct significant impact. Counterfeit experience moderates the relationship of self-transcendence values and counterfeit consumption. This research develops a better understanding of when and what personal values might influence counterfeit consumption. The findings bridge a salient knowledge gap and, subsequently, contribute to the value and consumption behaviour literature.

ABSTRACT. Is Europe ready for an “electric road revolution?” Particularly the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is considered to play a significant role when it comes to technology acceptance by consumers. German energy provider EnBW, which also is a provider of charging infrastructure for e-mobility, was therefore asking themselves the following questions: How powerful is the charging infrastructure in Europe from the perspective of EV users today? How convenient is the charging process? How transparent are the charging costs? How do users evaluate more general environmental factors that are important to them, such as safety, lighting conditions, and traffic load at the charging station? To answer these research questions emerging from managerial practice, EnBW and Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) collaborated in a joint research project, in which EnBW acted as an ‘integral partner’. We base our research on a user experience study with 12 user teams evaluating 442 charging points from different providers in Germany, France, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands. It provides manufacturers of charging infrastructure as well as service providers such as EnBW with a reliable information base for improving the customer and user orientation of their offers, and contributes to further increase technology acceptance of electric vehicles.

ABSTRACT. Digitalization has revolutionized retailing and this has spurred retailers to adopt consumer-facing in-store technologies (CFIT), to enhance the shopping experience and for competitive advantage. CFIT are technologies that the consumer experiences directly whilst in-store, such as digital signage and interactive screens, AR and VR, Wi-Fi, virtual fitting rooms, etc. However, issues related to the strategic drivers and processes involved in technological change within a fashion retailing context are still open. This is a very current debate, both in academia and in the industry. The study adopts a qualitative approach to achieve deep understanding of rapidly-evolving managerial mindsets. Data was gathered through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with key industry informants drawn from fashion retailers, technology providers and strategists. Data analysis followed an inductive approach. Findings suggest core issues revolving around levels of cultural change embracement for innovation, technology assimilation, and processes of technology integration. Results were fed back to the participants, via sharing reports, consulting and running workshops. This helped retail participants make informed decisions and overcome cultural transformational barriers. Results helped technology providers understand the importance of providing a full coaching service, rather than providing the single technology piece. Start-ups could gain further details on implications for working with retail clients.

ABSTRACT. Major outlets for marketing research specifically mention practical relevance as one of the main criteria for the publication of manuscripts, for example JM and JAMS. Yet despite this, a decreasing number of scholars are focused on practice (Jaworski 2018). With the introduction of the “Theory + Practice” section in AMS Review in 2018, the editorial team has specifically responded to this growing concern over many years, that “academic research in marketing is losing its managerial relevance” (Jaworski 2018, p. 1). This special session aims to strengthen the connection between marketing academia and practice, by showing that also while doing managerially relevant research, not “every paper is a consulting project” (Steenkamp 2018, p. 171). We want to show with two specific examples (e-mobility/energy industry and fashion retail business) and the inclusion of marketing practitioners in the session, how researchers can start with asking “a CMO a simple question such as ‘what are the most difficult issues that you are struggling with today?’” (Jaworski 2018, p. 2). Based on these examples, we show how research projects could be developed and designed in collaboration with practitioners, in order to conduct and disseminate research with both academic rigor and practical relevance.

ABSTRACT. Residents are both an important internal target group of city branding efforts and a strategically valuable resource as co-creators in the city branding process. Although researchers have called for a consideration of internal branding for more than a decade, it has not been properly adapted to the city branding context. Therefore, this study aims to develop a model for implementing the city brand in residents’ minds, emotions and behaviours. The results of an online survey of 446 residents from the city of Bremen in Germany reveal that residents’ city brand commitment and satisfaction both have positive effects on their intention to stay. Residents’ city brand citizenship behaviour is positively affected by their commitment, satisfaction and understanding. Residents’ city brand satisfaction and understanding have positive effects on their commitment. Moreover, a positive relationship arises between residents’ city brand understanding and their satisfaction. The quality of city brand communication as a brand management-related antecedent exerts positive effects on residents’ city brand understanding and satisfaction, but not on their commitment. From a management perspective, residents’ city brand understanding represents an important objective for city brand managers that can be improved by ensuring that city brand communication is adequate, complete, credible, useful and clear.

ABSTRACT. Three experiments examine how relationship norms and multitasking interplay, influence information processing strategy, and affect consumers’ responses to brands’ relationship efforts. The authors argue that thoughts or feelings induced by relationship norms can lead to different reactions to the brand’s relationship queries, and multitasking can moderate the effect of brand relationship norms. Supporting the propositions, results show that multitasking produced differences in participants’ information processing strategy, and hence, led to differential evaluations of communal and exchange relationship messages. Also, the authors demonstrate when people were doing multiple tasks simultaneously and thus cognitively not reflective or distracted, communal relationship norms (vs. exchange relationship norms) made salient in the context were beneficial as such a relationship type enhances persuasion.

ABSTRACT. Given their competitive price, store brands (SBs) are presented with important opportunities in emerging countries. The aim of this research is to understand how store brand experience affects attitude toward store brands in two emerging countries directly and through the mediation of perceived price factors (SB relative price, SB perceived benefit, and SB perceived value). It also investigates the moderation of the country context in the relationships analyzed. Results indicate that SB experience positively affects attitude towards SBs directly. It influences it also through the mediation of price-related factors: SB relative price, SB perceived benefit and SB perceived value. Moderation analyses show that the effects of brand experience on attitude toward SBs, SB relative price, SB perceived benefit and SB perceived value are stronger in Brazil than in Colombia.

ABSTRACT. The authors explore that how brand personality, brand personality appeal, and customer brand identification stimulate brand engagement by employing personality theory, congruity theory, and identity theory. The model was tested through SEM with the data collected from 413 brand community members in India. Empirical analysis reveals that brand personality and brand personality appeal, together, creates a stronger brand engagement model. Customer brand identification partially mediates the relationship between brand personality and brand engagement as well as between brand personality appeal and brand engagement. Brand personality is necessary but not sufficient in generating higher levels of brand engagement and brand personality appeal is equally important for generating customer brand engagement. The mediation analysis highlights the role of customer brand identification to the existing relationship between brand personality and brand engagement. Apart from the focus of brand personalities, brand personality appeal should also be carefully moderated to have engaged customers. A sense of brand identification also needs to be maintained along with the brand personality and brand personality appeal. The study uniquely introduces the role of brand personality appeal in engagement domain. The enhanced predictive power displayed by the combination of brand personality and brand personality appeal remained underexplored to date.

ABSTRACT. This study advances the extant knowledge about consumer emotions and behavior within the context of place identity. Survey data from 348 community park visitors is analyzed using PLS-SEM. We confirm that individuals can develop emotional attachments for places as a result of the development of place meanings, addressing the need to broaden our understanding of the effects of this construct. These emotional attachments to physical locations that are personally and socially relevant lead to intentions to return to the location and to provide positive word-of-mouth. These findings add to the body of knowledge about emotions in an area not previously examined. The behavioral intentions elicited were somewhat strengthened by servicescape satisfaction’s impact on satisfaction with the non-commercial venue. Emotional attachment was also found to heighten satisfaction with the community park venue. While the context of this study was an open community space, this work also increases our understanding of how attachment to a third place is developed, which can assist marketers in attracting more customers to a specific physical environment.

ABSTRACT. The core idea of value co-creation in service-dominant (S-D) logic is to see all involved market actors as well as their context as contributing to value co-creation. Research on value co-creation has predominantly focused on the involved actors’ operant resources (skills, knowledge, etc.). Few studies have focused on the facility’s (i.e., building with its related attributes, e.g., an office) contribution to value co-creation – regularly seen as an operand resource (tangible asset) or not included at all. However, a facility is indeed an integrated part of a firm’s value co-creation with other actors, as well as a means of enhancing value propositions, especially when it comes to addressing the increasingly business interest in sustainability. The business facility (e.g., an office, warehouse, or store) is an entity that requires resources (e.g., materials, energy, water), which also generates negative outcomes (e.g., waste) that affects both people’s well-being as well as the environment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the facility’s role in actors’ value co-creation that infuses sustainability into the actors’ resource integration processes. Thus, we offer an alternative version of Bitner’s (1992) servicescape model where the environmental and social dimensions are put forefront, i.e., what we label Servicescape 2.0.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how restaurants’ concerns shifted towards visitors’ motivating factors and its impact on visitors’ attachment with the restaurant which leads restaurant to have loyalty from visitors. The authors investigated whether attitude towards the restaurant and digital relationship experience is mediating the established relationship or not. Also, explored the role of open kitchen service in a restaurant as a moderator. An empirical investigation was carried out on a total of 745 respondents from India, where primary data was analyzed using ADANCO, Process plugin (Prof. A. Hayes) for hypothesis examination. The concept explored in the current study is innovative since it gives new directions to the restaurant to build their loyalty and get connected with the visitors with more advanced motivating factors which helps them to build visitors’ attachment towards the restaurant. The empirical study outcomes confirm that visitors’ attachment with the restaurant is high when restaurants are taking care of motivating factors such as; engaging their visitors in online communities, aspire to inspire, customized billboard, VIP gesture, quality of hygienic food, user-generated content in the form of reviews. Also, building a relationship with visitors’ help to build their experience in favor of restaurants which turns into loyal visitors.

ABSTRACT. We study the co-creation of value in customer-salesperson interaction through exploratory interviews with sales personnel and customers of six service providers operating in Europe and the US. A set of propositions is developed that considers the perspectives of both actors and explores the co-creative processes on the interpersonal level. Co-creative interaction is enabled through the customer’s disclosure of their value-generating processes and the salesperson’s engagement in these. Engendered by a commitment to work together, dialogue, sharing interests and the wish to achieve common goals, the result is the mutual co-creation of episode and relationship value for both customer and salesperson.

ABSTRACT. This exploratory study examines the way in which women of South Asian origin use Instagram, a visual social media platform, to create and share ethnic identities. Various stereotypes exist about South Asians, in particular women. The “browngirl” movement on Instagram provides a space for anyone to create content with the aim of breaking away from these stereotypes and highlighting to the world to a variety of individual multi-faceted identities that individuals are in reality. Our findings show how this communal space is building a subculture with unique narratives.

ABSTRACT. When we think of interpersonal interaction, language immediately comes to mind. The nonverbal also plays a crucial role in such an interaction. Facial expressions, an important part of nonverbal communication, convey a great quantity of information regarding a person’s feelings. By tapping into the signal that is facial expressions, researchers can acurately assess a person’s reaction to a given stimulus. This is especially relevant in the advertising industry, where advertisers put great effort into producing ads that generate intense emotions. To explore the potential of facial recognition technology in evaluating ad performance, we compared it with traditional survey-based ad evaluation. Our results show the great potential of facial analysis in ad performance evaluation, providing many advantages compared to the traditional survey method, and should be considered as a complement. Emotions are difficult to measure precisely and objectively with most traditional tools available to marketers. Facial analysis provides accuracy from direct observation. It can measure emotions in real-time and is not limited to an overall assessment by the consumer. It can also measure emotions that respondents are unable or unwilling to share. By combining both strengths, facial analysis can generate insights for better ads that would otherwise be unobtainable.

ABSTRACT. This summary exposes procedures with methodological applications and explains aspects to understand a phenomenon from the analysis of content shared on social networking sites. It includes the use of web analytics, data collection and information from digital content created or shared by users and organizations, which are extracted through data mining, stored and analyzed so that actions and actions, relationships and interactions, networks are established. and nodes, and digital communities, that allow analyzing complexity and identifying issues that can be used in marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study examined if memes with motivating messages can improve online survey respondents' engagement and data quality. Instead of incorporating images into questions, we used memes as transitional statements to motivate respondents. Field experiments were conducted with two different U.S. samples, one (n = 254) purchased from Prolific and another from Qualtrics (n = 935). Respondents answered a 13 minute survey about the environment. Half were randomly assigned to a control condition (no memes) and the other half saw memes of animals with motivating messages like "your opinions matter," or "we appreciate your help" at set points during the survey. We assessed effectiveness using both behavioral and self-report measures of data quality, effort, and survey engagement. Quantitatively, we found few statistically significant differences between conditions across both samples. However, open-ended comments revealed that respondents found the memes highly motivating and engaging. Further analyses in which respondents were classified as either "good" or "bad" in terms of speeding or failure to pass attention checks suggest that while memes cannot make a bad respondent better, they might be important for retention of "good" respondents whose continued participation in research is critical for the sustainability of quality panel data going forward.

ABSTRACT. Brand communities consist of members who are passionate supporters of the brand as well as those who have built tribal relationships with other members. Powerful brand communities are thought to deliver a number of positive outcomes for the brands to which they are affiliated. Comparatively less attention, however, has been given to any potential negative consequences associated with brand community membership. In this research, we illuminate how divergence in brand community membership is actually associated with both positive and negative brand outcomes. We find that brand community membership involves a complex set of different relationships that are associated with disparate attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, the results of two studies demonstrate how social distance to the brand and social distance to other members of the community differentially influence a member’s level of brand and community commitment, which in turn have divergent influences on important brand-related outcomes. Hence, the main contribution of this research is that we extend Construal Level Theory to reveal individual-level differences in member relationships within the brand community in order to explain and predict the dark side of brand community membership.

ABSTRACT. Size notwithstanding, brand tribes are prominent across marketplaces. Thus, brand tribalism is an important area of investigation for brand scholars and practitioners. Although antecedents and outcomes of brand tribalism have been studied across sundry settings, such effects in the context of sport remain under-researched, which is surprising, as sport fans are proto-typical of such a tribal-laden following. Therefore, focusing on collegiate football fans in the southwestern U.S. (Study #1; N=188) and professional baseball fans in South Korea (Study #2; N=313) as brand tribes, this research applies dual-process theory to examine determinants of brand tribalism; in turn, brand tribalism’s indirect effect on fan behavior via brand pride is investigated. Support for the posited model is revealed across both samples, indicating that personal expertise and pleasure antecede brand tribalism, which in turn, positively influences brand pride. The model then shows brand pride as a positive predictor of behavioral team loyalty and celebrating team success.

ABSTRACT. A growing body of literature on consumer-brand relationships suggests that brand transgressions may lead to a wide scope of consumer responses ranging from brand forgiveness to retaliation, revenge and spreading negative word of mouth (Hegner, Fetscherin, & van Delzen 2017). Academic research has only recently began investigating the negative effects of brand transgressions on consumer-brand relationships and as a result, research in this area remains limited (Khan & Lee 2014). Prior research has mainly focused on the consequences of brand crises (Tsarenko & Tojib 2015) and corporate response to such failures (Dutta & Pullig 2011). The objective of the present study is to expand the understanding of consumers’ response to brand transgressions by exploring the antecedent factors that may shape such response. These antecedents include the level of trust consumers have in the transgressor brand, the severity of the transgression and the level of power experienced by the consumer at the time of the transgression. Results of an experimental study testing the effect of trust, transgression severity and consumer power on brand avoidance provide empirical evidence that these factors exert an interactive effect on the extent to which consumers opt to avoid a brand following a transgression.

ABSTRACT. The consumer-brand relationship is a critical area of study. With heightened attachment to a brand, consumers are increasingly likely to use it as a means of self-expression. With the rise of the internet, there is now a greater opportunity for an individual consumer to serve as a manager for a brand. Thus, the question arises of how a consumer’s level of identification with a brand can impact their behavior in addition to the downstream consequences of this behavior.

This research aims to answer this question through a combination of experimental and secondary data. Our findings indicate that a consumer’s willingness to exclude other individuals is dependent on their level of experience within the product category associated with the brand. Specifically, we demonstrate that consumers with high experience are more likely to exclude others. Moreover, exclusion (inclusion) of others is found to enhance brand commitment among consumers with high (low) experience. This research contributes to the social exclusion literature by identifying a unique antecedent (and consequence) of exclusionary behavior and clarifying circumstances under which rejection of another is likely to enhance, rather than impair, consumer self-perception. This research also provides important insights into the effective management of brand communities.

ABSTRACT. Brands make use of elements of the collective imagination to build image, aiming at a clear differentiation and easy recognition by the public. Archetypal images by brands are common and the correct exploitation ends up strengthening the symbolic meaning of products, services and people. In the electoral period the politician builds an identity and image, has a position and seeks differentiation. In Brazil, the presidential candidate Jair Messias Bolsonaro's communication strategy has attracted the attention of experts. The present study starts from the following question: What is the archetypal image of candidate Bolsonaro and how did it differ from other candidates among the young Brazilian voter audience? This paper aimed to identify the archetypal figure of Bolsonaro and his direct competitors, perceived by the young voter (18-24 years old), during the 2018 election. Through the application of structured questionnaires sought to recognize the image characteristics of candidates Jair Bolsonaro, Ciro Gomes and Fernando Haddad. About 150 young people answered the forms (totaling a sample of 450 individuals). Through semantic scales, the recognition of the archetypal personality of each candidate was evaluated. The results of the candidates were analyzed and compared using the variance analysis (ANOVA and Tukey test).

ABSTRACT. In the current geopolitical environment, we are witnessing a resurgence of political leaders who encourage higher levels of patriotism, nationalism, and ethnocentrism from their constituents. This political evolution has increased interest in studying the consumer ethnocentrism concept. While most studies on the concept focus on the preference for domestic goods and services over foreign ones, we extend the concept to the actual political candidates in the United States, and explore preferences for natural-born citizen candidates over naturalized citizen candidates. We adapt the Shimp and Sharma (1987) consumer-ethnocentrism scale to the political context, and examine what antecedents determine the political-ethnocentricity of a political constituency. Testing via structural equations modeling, we find that social-conservatism and religiosity are highly positively associated with political ethnocentrism, while consumer-cosmopolitanism is highly negatively related with political ethnocentrism. We also find that in the United States, self-reported republicans display significantly higher levels of political ethnocentrism than their democratic counterparts. Guidelines for candidates running for office, based on the findings, are also presented.

ABSTRACT. We investigate the implications for international marketing of the trade policies of Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Our analysis reveals that both presidential administrations sought to reduce the US trade deficit, and defend and enhance the international marketing performance of US firms. In the early phase of his administration, trade policy under Reagan was restrained but became more forceful. Reagan focused on the emergent trade deficit with Japan and on enhancing international market opportunities for US firms. However, Reagan’s policies fell short of their goals. Today, the US faces a much larger trade deficit, primarily with China. Adopting policy goals similar to those of Reagan, Trump’s approach has been more assertive. Like Reagan, however, Trump’s policies have fallen short of achieving intended goals. We provide some empirical background, and discuss the policies and outcomes of the policies of Reagan and Trump. We highlight implications for firms’ international marketing efforts and performance, and provide directions for future research.

ABSTRACT. The evolution of marketing has focused on the possibility of observing people as a consumer product and meeting the needs of a target market, but it is a topic little addressed in academic literature. Through the Framing Effect this qualitative research explores whether advertising framed in the physical appearance of a political candidate impacts the influence perceptions of the candidate's as consumer product. And examines whether the influence of perceptions of physical appearance impacts attractive political products on voting decisions. In the end it is analyzed whether political ideology is a factor that can displace decisions to the vote. With 582 participants an electronic survey analyzed with PLS-SEM the study contributes that a person can be observed as a product as it maintains consistency and conveys value to its potential buyers. The results reflects the new approaches to theoretical construction through framing on the relevance and importance of the reality perceived by the recipient of the message and how these aspects of perceived reality become relevant in their decisions.

ABSTRACT. Some studies in the marketing have been conducted utilizing consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) in tourism destinations settings. However, there is scant research on the predictive effects of the CBBE dimensions on various marketing outcomes that are relevant for tourism destinations. Therefore, this research examines the effects of various dimensions of Keller’s (2013) Brand Resonance Model on three behavioral intentions outcomes in the context of tourism destination: visit intentions, word-of-mouth recommendation, and willingness to spend money. Using a coastal tourism destination as a case study, survey data from a sample of 210 consumers in the United States is analyzed to provide initial evidence for the hierarchy of effects in a CBBE model by comparing the relative impact of different brand equity dimensions on behavioral intentions. Additionally, the predicting effects of CBBE dimensions are compared with those of an established scale of brand equity drawn from the marketing literature, as a way to evaluate their predicting power on the three behavioral intention variables. Research results provide general support to the role of the building blocks (constructs) in the CBBE model, although not always in the hierarchy of effects proposed by Keller (2013).

ABSTRACT. This study analyzes the role of cognitive absorption of virtual images of touristic destination and its effect on behavioral intentions to visit the destination. In contrast to frameworks on use of technology which have relied on functional attributes of technology, this study analyzes more hedonic attributes of a virtual reality experience such as immersion, heightened enjoyment, curiosity, temporal dissociation, and control. The antecedent role of traveler’s related variables –consumer innovativeness and optimal level of stimulation- as well as virtual reality variables –vividness and telepresence- are also assessed. The mediating role of easiness to use the VR video and interactivity in the link cognitive absorption-intentions to visit is assessed. Through a convenience sample of 195 undergraduate students, PLS analysis, and a survey posterior to experiencing an administered virtual reality video (Formula 1, skiing on a mountain, a tranquil beach, a roller coaster and swimming with sharks), support was found for cognitive absorption as a suitable higher-order construct to explain intentions to visit touristic destinations. In contrast to all variables, optimal level of stimulation and easiness to use the VR video does not play a role in influencing cognitive absorption and its consequent behavioral intentions.

ABSTRACT. Tourism destinations employ logos as part of their branding architecture. Logos are a simple means of establishing a brand identity, communicating brand messages, and connecting with target audiences. Often embedded in these logos are themes intended to help establish meaning or convey information about the destination. Some of the embedded themes are overt and easily recognized, but others are subtler and may not be recognizable for audiences who are less familiar with a destination. The tourism logos for 231 destinations were reviewed and themes embedded in the logos were assessed. While assessing the logos for themes, respondents were also asked about their familiarity with the destination. The results were compared to determine the extent to which familiarity with the destination helped explain the identification of themes in the logos. Analysis of the data confirmed associations between the identification of themes in logos and the respondent's familiarity with the destination. The results may have implications for place branding professionals who are looking for ways to make meaningful connections with various audiences in an effort to achieve the objectives of the destination.

ABSTRACT. Customer satisfaction (CS) is a key performance measure for global marketers. Recently, there has been a shift to applying newer digital metrics. Others contend that customer delight may be a more relevant construct than customer satisfaction. How has customer satisfaction measurement changed in the past few years? Does it differ by country and industry sector? This exploratory study examines these issues using published data. The objective of this paper is to get some sense of the shifting view of customer satisfaction worldwide. It extends the domain of customer satisfaction to include the burgeoning area of customer experience management (CEM). It also provides a framework for further research in this area.

ABSTRACT. Previous research has largely documented the decisive impact of a product’s visual appearance on consumers’ perceptions and purchase decisions. The present study focused on the impact of shape congruence in product design, using products (wine and perfume) whose packaging combined a clearly angular or rounded container and label. Positive effects of congruent designs were expected (i.e. container and label both either angular or rounded), based on processing fluency account. Specifically, it was proposed that shape congruence facilitates fluent stimulus processing, thereby inducing a positive affective reaction and trust-related perceptions. This study relied primarily on a combination of implicit measures, in order to examine participants’ automatic (unconscious) responses. The relevance of such measures for analyzing reactions to product designs is supported by theoretical models and empirical evidence strongly suggesting that consumers’ behavior is influenced more by attitudes that are automatically activated when they do not have sufficient motivation, time or cognitive capacity to engage in deliberate reasoning (which applies to many purchase situations). Results confirmed the expected positive impact of shape-congruent designs. They thus emphasize the importance shape congruence may have on product design management, in order to effectively influence consumers’ automatically activated emotion and sense of trust.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the effect of interaction between sensory emojis and background color of an email on consumers’ responses. We leverage Construal level theory that provides a theoretical framework to predict in which appropriate background color specific sensory emojis have to be inserted. We suggest that sensory emojis related to proximal (distal) senses such as touch (hear) have to be integrated in red (blue) background color. We explain these combinations through the fit between psychological distance associated with senses and the construal level activated by red or blue color. We ran an experiment, in a real situation, that tests the interplay between sensory emojis (touch vs hearing) and background colors (red vs blue) inserted into a starter email of a chatbot. Our results suggest that inserted proximal (distal) sensory emoji into red (blue) background is the optimal combination that enhances consumers' level of engagement in the discussion.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, brands have started featuring models with imperfections in advertising. However, little is known about consumers’ response to this trend. The current research attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining when model imperfection in advertising yields favorable consumer responses. We propose that imperfect-looking models induce positive consumer responses if they are paired with authenticity claims (such as “be your true self” or “be authentic”). We argue that authenticity slogans are capable of ‘unlocking’ the hidden potential of imperfection, which is the realization that imperfection implies truth. Drawing on this “imperfect=authentic” belief, we argue that ads with imperfect models have the potential to be more favorably received than ads with perfect models when aided by authenticity claims. Results of three experiments using various types of imperfections and product domains provide support to our hypothesis.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the impact of matching the color of the empty (or negative) space in the ad’s background to that of the advertised product itself on the outcomes of consumer impulsivity. Counter to prior advertising research which suggests using high-contrast as well as empty space that is white in color to achieve positive effects, this research identifies that while using a same-colored empty space as the product in an ad does reduce ad contrast, it increases the overall ad salience and the product’s hedonic appeal, which in turn increases the consumer impulse to buy the advertised product. Results from three studies, employing two different product types and colors replicate the proposed effects.

ABSTRACT. Since 2000, co-creation has been extensively investigated by research studies that promoted this marketing practice as a value creator both for firms and consumers. However, other voices raised to alert managers about existing negative effects of co-creation. Building on an integrative review, we aim to extend past research by exploring and better understanding potential darksides that consumers can perceive and experience during co-creation in the fashion domain: What are the darksides of co-creation and how to define it? What are the different factors and conditions that lead consumers to perceive and experience negative consequences after co-creation? What are the research tools to detect such negative effects when it occurs? Moving forward, we want to have a better understanding of the negative consequences that co-creation may have from a micro to macro level.

Aknowledgements: We would like to sincerely thank both the Academy of Marketing Science and the French Marketing Association for their support.

ABSTRACT. The biased perception on baby food product triggered by the format in which ingredients depicted in the front of pack are represented (namely cut vs. whole) is investigated. Our research conducted in 3 European countries (France, Germany and United-Kingdom) assessed the format of ingredient on front-of-pack on perceived fruit quantity in the recipe, healthiness, tastiness, attitude towards the product, and then purchase intention. Front of pack depicting cut ingredient images increases purchase intention via the increase of attitude towards the product and via the increase of perceived product healthiness and tastiness induced by more perceived fruit proportion in the product recipe. This research highlights the effect of format of ingredient depiction on product evaluation and the bias perception. We propose a standards suggestion for public policy on food labelling and on ethic positioning of baby food manufacturers

ABSTRACT. Relating to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) field of research, scholars have paid particular attention to cause-related business efforts with choice, as an emerging co-created cause-related marketing (CRM ) strategy (Krishna 2011; Grolleau et al. 2016). More precisely, Robinson et al. (2012) have shed light on positive effects of letting consumers choose (empowerment to select) charities to be supported by businesses that encourage health and human services support as well as environmental protection. Our research aim at investigating the potential backfire effects linked to letting consumers choose for causes to be supported by companies by exploring effects of causes importance perception, overload difficulty and the cause-brand fit on purchase intention of linked products. We also aim at formulating managerial recommandations for an efficient implementation of CSR with choice campaigns.

ABSTRACT. We explore mature consumers’ (aged 50 to 65) relationships with smart devices as they age. Although such technologies can be marketed to improve consumers’ ability to age well, we ask: do these consumers expect smart devices to fulfill that promise, or do they anticipate negative consequences? Using qualitative methodologies, we find mature consumers perceive smart devices may make them more—not less—vulnerable. Mature consumers perceive smart devices as reducing their future competence, autonomy, and relatedness. They exert agency in managing and mitigating the risk of vulnerability through four coping strategies: dissociating, minimising, depreciating, and projecting. We contribute to consumer vulnerability theories by elucidating consumers’ role in forecasting, mitigating, and managing future vulnerability in interactions with technological products generally, and smart devices specifically.

ABSTRACT. Modest fashion, which has been defined as a fashion that “incorporates style considerations into the quotidian practices of everyday religion” (Lewis, 2015), has caused great controversy in France since 2015. In particular, the commercialization of burkinis on Mark & Spencer’s website triggered numerous reactions from politics and intellectuals. Considering such an intense debate, fashion retailers have to face a harsh dilemma: should they – and if so, how – offer modest fashion lines to seize the opportunity of an important and still-growing demand, but at the risk of alienating nontargeted consumers, which represent the biggest part of the market? Building on an exploratory study and literature on nontargeted consumers’ response, we develop a conceptual model of the attitude towards modest fashion of French consumers of the majority group. We test this this model through on online quantitative survey on a sample of 206 consumers self-declared as Catholics or atheists. The results highlight the influence of values (security and tradition), age and involvement in fashion on their attitude towards modest fashion. More interestingly, this influence appears to be mediated by perceived similarity. Considering the strategical importance of this variable, we formulate managerial implications for fashion retailers established in France.

ABSTRACT. The current research expands the literature on company-customer online relationship building by investigating the influence of user reviews and manager responses on the overall rating of the corresponding company. User reviews is an important format of user-generated content, while manager responses is a strategically used form of company-generated content. This research implements a text mining approach and sentiment analysis to assess ow emotional versus rational user reviews and manager responses impact overall company ratings. Data collection implements a Python-based web crawler to gather a consistent panel of user-level activity from TripAdvisor.com. The final data includes a three-year period from 2016 to 2018 of hotel reviews featuring user information, text reviews, and ratings given by the reviewers. Manager responses and corresponding hotel ratings complete the data set. Current findings provide further insights into how companies can utilize public manager responses as a business strategy to increase online ratings of their firm. Managerial implications include that companies can improve online ratings if managers incorporate emotional responses with long sentences.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates methodological issues in cross-cultural research over the period 1995 to 2019. The aim is to deliver readers and researchers a comprehensive list of the likely methodological issues and to identify a set of protocols that cross-cultural/cross-national researchers should apply. To do so, the study identified relevant articles published in leading marketing journals since 1995 and four trained Ph.D. students code the content. The analyses identified 17 problem areas in cross-cultural advertising research. Overall, three groupings of problems were recognized: problems with the sample [S], method [M] or analysis [A]. based on the inquiry from 13 scholars known for their publications in cross-cultural/cross-national business research, the most serious problem were issues involving the sample, followed by the methods undertaken and then the analyses applied. The authors conclude that there is a need to special quality controls that are not necessarily inherent in domestic studies in order to avoid confounding problems and to ensure that the study results are sound and that the conclusions drawn are really warranted by the data involved.

ABSTRACT. There are inconsistencies in the literature for the efficacy of ethnic-based targeting and accommodation strategies: often these do not have the desired results and there is evidence that ethnic identification may be fading over time for many immigrant groups. There is evidence that acculturation may be a better predictor of consumer behavior such as preferences for brand, services, and/or marketing communications. Acculturation is an important measurement tool for understanding consumer behavior and for segmenting and targeting multi-cultural consumers appropriately (Poulis et al. 2013; Ogden et al. 2004). Acculturation is defined as a process, but it has not been treated as a process, and the literature calls for a desire to assimilate first before an individual is able to do so. The findings from extant literature suggests that acculturation is a multi-process variable that starts with first a desire or a propensity to assimilate, which then influences acculturation behavioral outcomes. We conducted an in-depth literature review and two qualitative studies in order to uncover the acculturation process and establish the Propensity to Assimilate construct.

ABSTRACT. Brands communicate and engage directly with their consumers using online communications that often contain emojis. While recent studies have begun to examine the influence of emojis within marketing contexts, yet to be understood is the influence of emojis on the consumer-brand relationship. We argue that emojis improve brand digital communications with important downstream consumption consequences that help strengthen the consumer-brand dyad. Across four initial studies we find that brands that use emojis in digital communications are perceived as more human and thus increase consumer-brand connections, which in turn help brands achieve important outcome effects, such as willingness to pay, purchase and word of mouth behaviors. While this manuscript does not detail ongoing and proposed studies, we anticipate that findings from this research will contribute to marketing theory by clarifying the influence of emojis on the consumer-brand relationship in digital settings. Additionally, results will guide marketing managers in strategic planning of brand digital communications to help cultivate a positive relationship between consumer and brand.

ABSTRACT. Although a growing number of researchers have examined the effects of personalized advertising in traditional media, research exploring the effects of personalization on customer perceptions of brands on social commerce is not well documented. The current paper is developed to bridge that gap with three primary goals: (a) to propose and test a conceptual model that captures the influence of personalized advertising on customer perceptions of brands in social commerce, (b) to examine the mediation effects of two mediators: consumer brand engagement, and consumer brand identification, and (c) to develop market segments based on the degree to which customers react to personalized ads. Study 1 confirms that all nine hypotheses are supported except for H4 (consumer brand engagement is positively associated with brand relationship) while Study 2 supports all nine hypotheses. Through cluster analysis, three market segments (Ad Lovers, Ad Adjusters, and Ad Haters) are created. Each consumer segment proposed has a typical attitude toward personalized ads that is consistent with the labels of their segment. The paper concludes with significant implications for academia and marketers.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this research is to examine how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) affects brand relationship and consequently influences purchase intention in the smartphone industry in Lebanon. A questionnaire-based study was conducted to examine the influence of eWOM on brand relationship and purchase intention of consumers. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze 350 questionnaires. The results show that there is a significant relationship between eWOM, brand relationship, and purchase intention and that brand relationship partially mediates the effect of eWOM on purchase intention. Our study offers a useful insight to theory and practice as it lays the ground of the importance of eWOM as a universal tool of communication between businesses and customers.

ABSTRACT. The pervasive use of digital devices and social media drives people to embrace emojis, graphic depictions of facial expressions. Brands also adopt emojis as marketing rhetoric, and they use such a cute, intuitive, pictorial language when formulating, implementing, and managing their promotional message content. However, previous research has found little or mixed emoji effects. The present research examines the role of multitasking and tackles mixed emoji effects by considering that people often engage in more than one task at the same time. Across two studies, we show that when participants performed multiple tasks and thus were cognitively busy, emojis led to liking. However, when participants engaged in only a single task, emojis were perceived as marketing tools that convey overt persuasion intentions, producing opposing effects on participants’ evaluative judgments.

ABSTRACT. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play an essential role set in pharmaceutical pricing and distribution channels. This article focuses on discussing the functions of PBMs in the pharmaceutical distribution channel and how they influence drug pricing. Moreover, this research also examines the impact of PBMs’ revenue and power on the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost at the retail level in the pharmaceutical distribution channel. This research sheds light on the importance of the PBMs on pharmaceutical pricing and distribution channel but also challenges the imbalance of power and dependency between PBMs, channel members and third-party payers in pharmaceutical distribution. The authors also seek to explain the complex relationship between PBMs and the multitude of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical distribution channel.

ABSTRACT. Consumers expect digital retailers to provide lower prices than brick-and-mortar retailers and likely expect digital products to be lower-priced than equivalent physical products. Two studies measure digital and print magazine prices in the market, measure consumers’ beliefs about digital and print magazine pricing, and identify factors that influence those beliefs.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines gifting, a complicated cultural practice that can be joyful, stressful, guilt-driven, and can sometimes evoke envy and burden. The aim of this research is to see if the level of price discount of a gift item influences people to purchase for a gift an item that is not perfect (i.e., “tainted”) and which may influence the degree to which it is considered material, thus taking some of the sacredness out of the gift offering. In particular, we examine gifting behavior across different age groups when discount levels vary. MANOVA results show that the age of consumers have an effect on buying a tainted and discounted gift. Specifically, younger consumers seem to be highly value-conscious and are comfortable with purchasing a tainted gift at a lower price even if the savings is small. Further results and implications will be discussed.

ABSTRACT. Many companies believe that dynamic pricing is the optimal tool to increase revenue by selecting the ideal price for each customer, based on their unique willingness-to-pay, with the help of data mining techniques and machine learning (Gupta/Pathak 2014), but they do often not consider how consumers perceive such pricing tactics. This study aims to compare the different effects of dynamic pricing, simple, and combined forms of differential pricing on customers’ perception of price complexity, price fairness and the feeling of being manipulated. Our results show that, as differential pricing strategies increase from single forms of discrimination to combined forms, all the way to dynamic pricing, price complexity and the feeling of manipulation will increase, while the perception of price fairness will decrease. These findings provide the insight that combinations of several forms of differential pricing and particularly dynamic pricing have very negative effects on consumers that need to be considered in addition to the positive effects on profit that many marketers often only see.

ABSTRACT. Tips have traditionally been requested in restaurants via a line on a paper bill, which was handed to the customer in a discreet billfold at the end of the service encounter. New digital point-of-sale technologies, such as Square, are changing the visibility of tips, reducing customer’s tipping privacy. With increasing frequency, service providers and other patrons are physically present while customers are deciding on a tip amount. Further, employees and other patrons may be able to see the tip amount that a customer selects on a tipping screen. Via two studies, we show that when customers’ tip selections are (vs. are not) visible to other patrons, tip amounts increase. Further, when tip selections are (vs. are not) visible to employees, customer engagement declines. We further demonstrate that tip amounts and customer engagement are not always correlated. For example, when customers believe no one can see their tip selections, tips may decrease while customer engagement increases. Conversely, when customers believe other patrons and employees can see their tip selections, the opposite occurs: tip amounts increase and customer engagement decreases. Finally, we demonstrate a managerial intervention that can increase tip amounts and reduce consumer inferences of manipulative intent during the tipping process.

ABSTRACT. Customer referral programs usually offer rewards for both the referrer and the referee, yet referrer-rewards are rarely mentioned in the referral message. Four studies, in different product domains (e.g., coffee, meal delivery, music streaming, and mobile games), find that disclosing referrer-rewards in the referral message increases referrers’ likelihood of sending the message, because disclosure changes the perception of the referral program from a commercial one (i.e., “I’m taking advantage of my friends”) to a communal/cooperative one (i.e., “My friend and I are taking this win-win opportunity offered by the company”) that is compatible with one’s relationship with friends.

ABSTRACT. Cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns have become common features of the marketplace. CRM often involves a for-profit business agreeing to contribute a specified amount to a cause when the business’s customers engage in revenue-generating exchanges. One set of factors that researchers have been studying relates to how the campaign is presented or framed. For example, CRM donation amounts can be presented as percentages or dollar values and campaigns can be described with vague or specific quantifiers. Jaber and Jaber (2017) examines price framing effects in a CRM context and shows that consumers that are exposed to the no ending (even) priced CRM offers tend to be affected less by it compared to consumers exposed to 99 ending CRM offers, who are affected more by the tactic and exhibit an increase in participation intention. This paper takes a similar approach and focuses on the effect of rightmost digits manipulation in prices on participation intentions for CRM campaigns in a hedonic vs utilitarian consumption situations.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study is to examine whether individuals’ level of materialism, time preference, optimism, risk taking and intuitiveness along with their demographic characteristics have an influence on their credit card debt payments. Survey data from 320 credit card users are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings of the study reveal that optimism, intuitiveness and materialism have a significant effect on handling credit card debt responsibly. Moreover perceived income adequacy and having a child also influence cautious credit card behavior.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) plays a significant role in the development of business strategies. Scholars and practitioners have thus devoted efforts to investigate the driving forces of SSCM and measures which serve to enhance its performance. A review of the literature indicates that previous studies have focused on internal and external pressures as the main drivers of SSCM, while the crucial role of the diversity of the supply chain alliance system has not received sufficient attention. Therefore, this research aims to explore the contribution of alliance portfolio diversity in sustainable supply chain practices and its impact on SSCM performance. Relevant diversity-related theories are applied to explain the mechanisms of alliance portfolio diversity and their effects on SSCM performance through several mediating roles. Furthermore, this research framework is tested within contingencies, thereby providing better insight into the studied subject. A field study is conducted to examine the framework and hypotheses wherein survey data comprised of more than 300 firms are collected and tested. The findings confirm the significant role of alliance portfolio diversity in SSCM performance, particularly under contingencies. This research thus provides field evidence for the applicability of applied theories and draws guidance criteria into SSCM policies.

ABSTRACT. Customer engagement theory has given insights since it was proclaimed a research priority by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) in 2010. Researchers are lately removed the directional and role-defined definition of a customer and focused actor engagement. This is a evolutionary development given that the engagement concept has roots in S-D logic where the focus on actors engaged in value co-creation comes down to actor engagement. This study adopts a discovery-oriented approach to explore the antecedents and outcomes of business actor engagement. The focal object for the study is what Gill et al. (2017) define as engagement initiative which is “organizational initiatives that facilitate firm-customer interactions or interactions amongst customers. Building on that actor engagement comes with both behavioral and emotional dimensions, our field study of an app in the commercial real estate industry clarifies the interplay between the beneficiary’s disposition and providing firm’s and the beneficiary’s relational substance results in various engagement outcomes. The results are condensed in a conceptual business actor engagement model that offers both theoretical and managerial implications, which allows for a deeper understanding of the business actor concept and how to segment customers based on their disposition and the relationship characteristics

ABSTRACT. Products returned by consumers have significant impacts on the sales and bottom line of retailers. So far to date, research on product returns has primarily focused on identifying demographic and personality factors of frequent returners (e.g., age; Daunt & Harris, 2012), or identifying the optimal level of “toughness” retailers should include in their return policies to discourage returns. Both of these research approaches ignore the role consumers’ attitudes, motivations and thoughts play in return behavior. One key issue that remains unclear- do consumers and retailers evaluate the ethicalness of product return situations similarly? The current research will start to answer this question by empirically exploring how consumers evaluate the ethicalness of two different product return situations. We find that respondents rely on more predictors to evaluate the ethicalness of a product return situation when the hypothetical customer has violated fewer aspects of the retailers’ return policy. In contrast, when more violations have occurred, respondents rely on fewer predictors. For retail managers, the results of this exploratory study suggest consumers are inconsistent in their ethical evaluations of different types of product return situations. This inconsistency can limit the effectiveness of “optimized” return policies.

ABSTRACT. Competition and cooperation among members of industrial networks are central concerns of SCM (Huemer, 2014). Even well-managed supply chains may exhibit cases where the interests of actors within the network do not perfectly align (Lambert and Enz, 2016, Williamson, 2008). There is a need for research exploring how firms and networks identify and address functional deficiencies within and between supply chain members to develop capabilities that support the implementation and management of better supply chain processes (Lambert and Enz, 2016). The ongoing research presented here employs a case study method to examine conversion of a steel processing firm’s extant – and largely manual – shipping procedures to an automated scheduling system. In doing so, the focal firm seeks to cooperate with their supply chain partners and preserve focal firm resources otherwise appropriated by customer firms. Per ERBV theory, this “outbound spillover rent” occurs when focal firm resources unintentionally leak out to benefit alliance partners, or in this case, marketing channel members (Lavie, 2006). This can lead to erosion of operational efficiency and effectiveness, constituting a problem worth investigating for the benefit of the focal firm and opportunities to examine how resource sharing and appropriation are managed in industrial supply chains.

ABSTRACT. In this research we show that consumers’ emotional and behavioral responses to food waste events depend on the extent to which they feel responsible for the food waste. More specifically, we show that consumers that feel responsible for food waste are more likely to engage in compensatory behaviors compared to consumers who do not feel responsible. We argue that this effect is driven by feelings of guilt. Indeed, in a series of three experiments we show that consumers’ that feel responsible for food waste show higher feelings of guilt and tend to subsequently engage in compensatory actions both within and outside the food waste domain than consumers that do not feel responsible. These findings contribute to literature on food waste by focusing on the emotional and behavioral consequences of food waste and provide useful suggestions for both policy makers and non-profit organizations aiming to reduce food waste.

ABSTRACT. Despite the warning that it would be appropriate to rationalize new products launching to gain efficiency in the value system of grocery products, the product proliferation has continued to increase. This phenomenon is even more important in mature product categories, in which marketing managers extend their product lines developing new product varieties to target more and more specific consumer needs. Hence, a huge number of products is continuously knocking at the door of retail stores, asking for a share of shelf space. Since i) product deletions are not keeping up with the rate of new product introductions, and ii) neither the number of stores nor their selling surface have increased, each single store’s shelves are hosting a higher and higher number of products. Shoppers confronted with these abundant retail assortments may find it difficult to process all the embedded information, and may feel irritated, frustrated, overloaded, uncertain, and confused. If we add to this information overload the need to process the information shown on the pack of every single product, we may understand the high risk that consumers’ shopping decisions are based on shortcuts and routinized processes. Consumers may perceive different degree of confusion depending on their decision-making style: if on one side information overload may induce consumers to select different coping strategies depending on their decision-making styles, on the other side more rational individuals may perceive lower degree of confusion compared to more intuitive and spontaneous individuals.

ABSTRACT. Bundled pricing, the sale of two or more products or services for a single price, has become increasingly common in the service industry. Examples in the hospitality and tourism industries include combined restaurant meals, hotel amenities, and travel packages. From the firm's perspective, the use of bundling can increase cost-effectiveness, while consumers may find it convenient to purchase the bundle rather than the individual items. In addition, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, and repurchase intentions have been found to increase significantly when prices are bundled. Later, Naylor & Frank (2001) show that providing an all-inclusive price package, even if the actual monetary expense is higher, significantly increases perceptions of value, especially for first-time consumers, leveraging the trade-off between benefits (typically related to quality) and costs (price paid for the package). From a theoretical perspective, much research has been conducted on how bundled pricing affects the perceived value of the products/services included in the bundle, emphasizing the monetary savings provided to consumers, enhanced repurchasing intentions, and the fact that any complementary product/service added to a bundled offer might increase the consumer’s interest in purchase the bundling.

However, the impact of price bundling on individual decision-making behavior toward the complementary items that are not part of the bundle has not previously been explored within the services marketing literature. As a field experiment conducted over a two year period in three seaside Italian resorts managed by a local chain, this study represents a unique attempt to analyze this issue in the context of a mandatory resort fee, where consumers are forced to pay for the included charges, regardless of its use.

ABSTRACT. The manuscript proposes a research model for investigating the effect on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty of the three dimensions of the customer engagement construct on Mobile Instant Messaging Apps when they are used as Engagement Platforms in a conversational marketing approach. In addition, we have verified the mediating role of fan engagement and satisfaction on loyalty to the sports team (for research model please, see figure 1). The present study intends to fill a gap in the literature as concerns the way sports organizations use conversational marketing tools to communicate with fans through MIM Apps. Overall, this study has highlighted the importance of behavioral engagement with football players through the use of WhatsApp for fan engagement and the role of emotional engagement on fan satisfaction. This last result confirms the recent results of the literature on the topic. The results also revealed that involvement and fan engagement are determining for the loyalty to the sports team and for the continued use of the MIM app in the future. In particular, it is true for young people who are particularly satisfied when using WhatsApp with the players. It means that WhatsApp, also in sports management, is capable of giving young fans a more active role, increasing the fan engagement by means of emotional and behavioral engagement. It has strong managerial implications. Fans who are engaged and more satisfied thanks to the use of MIM app can be ambassadors for the sport brand thus affecting the WoM and stimulating the support of the team. For this reason, sports team managers have to consider the MIM app as a tool that can increase fan engagement.

The use of conversational marketing tool for the engagement strategy has to keep in mind that the efficacy of the use depends on the level of fan engagement and on the fan involvement (as demonstrated by the results of independent sample t-test). MIM Apps can contribute to fan loyalty if they are used as an integrated communication channel within customer relationship strategies.

ABSTRACT. The constant change in consumer lifestyle is also reflected in their eating habits, which is consequently leading to changes in the food industry. Consumers are increasingly demanding products that are less processed and free from ingredients that are perceived negatively in various ways, such as food additives. Although additives play an important role in food supply and their safety is extensively tested, some consumers are skeptical about the use of food additives. However, studies have shown that information about the product has a fundamental role in consumer perception and product evaluation. The acceptance tends to be greater when consumers understand what they are consuming and get a feeling for the product quality, especially if they are not very familiar with the product. For this reason, the present study aims to understand consumers’ perceptions and intentions towards food additives in processed foods. Furthermore, the objective was to comprehend how the overall judgment can change according to the quantity of product information. The empirical results showed significant differences between the groups of product information for the variables risk perception, attitude and willingness to pay a premium. In addition, descriptive statistics have revealed some interesting general patterns regarding product evaluation.

ABSTRACT. Although insects are nutritional and their consumption plays an economic and environmental role globally, they are viewed as inedible within French culture. The aim of this research is to study to what extent strategies for regulating people’s ambivalence would make it possible to counter the reasons for rejecting insects as food – danger, aversion and disgust – and to promote their acceptance. Using an original interdisciplinary theoretical framework, we examine whether linking studies on food behaviour in sociology on the one hand and in psychology on the other can resolve a marketing issue with regard to the culturally defined consumption of insects. A qualitative study conducted with 37 participants validates this theoretical approach and puts forward marketing suggestions for producers.

ABSTRACT. Ambient color is an integral part of any food service setting, including retail stores, restaurants, and cafeterias. A series of field and lab experiments consistently demonstrates that having red (vs. blue or vs. white) color in the ambience enhances children’s and adults’ choices for unhealthy foods. The focus on children’s food purchase behavior, in several of our studies, is important since the obesity rate among children is high and childhood obesity often leads to serious lifelong medical problems. The results of our field experiments, conducted at cafeterias of elementary, middle, and high schools, show that a prominent presence of red (vs. non-red) color in the ambience enhances likelihood of purchasing relatively unhealthy items. A series of lab studies replicates these effects with adult participants and examines the process driving the effects as well as relevant boundary conditions. Process evidence suggests that red ambient color enhances arousal and excitement, which in turn increases preference for unhealthy items. Given the ubiquity of color in any setting, the findings of this research have strong conceptual and practical implications.

ABSTRACT. In the literature, the effectiveness of an ecolabel is mainly assessed in a context of isolated signal. However, in a real purchasing situation, consumers face a variety of information and base their choice on multiple attributes. Beyond the eco-label, companies are also bringing to the fore more and more information like the mention of geographical origin. This work contributes to the advancement of the literature on eco-labels by seeking to assess their effectiveness in a context of multiple attributes of different nature. The concept of congruity is mobilized to understand the effects of extrinsic attributes of a different nature – the ecolabel and the mention of the geographical origin – on product evaluation. Several experiments test this theoretical framework in the context of generic (unbranded) products that are of growing interest.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this special session is to address and discuss challenges and demands international scholars manage while studying as a doctoral student and starting to work as a faculty member in an American institution. While the discussion will integrate the attendees’ experiences, some prepared topics are cultural differences related to 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 within the USA. 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. The ultimate goal of this panel is to leave the audience with insights on how to deal with the difficulties and challenges associated with being an international doctoral student, researcher, author, and junior faculty member in the USA. Furthermore, the interactive forum provides networking opportunities for attendees and the possibility to team up with new scholars for future projects or for future support sessions.

ABSTRACT. Organizational Frontline Research (OFR) focuses on connecting customer facing resources and customer interactions to build long term relationships. The point of contact involves exchanges between employees with customers and other entities such as AI enabled robots as well as other devices. An annual OFR symposium exists to promote scholarship in this dynamic area of marketing. This area of study considers interfaces at the point of contact including sales, service and emerging artificial intelligence engagements. This panel focuses on emerging research topics in OFR.

ABSTRACT. Entrepreneurs are increasingly eschewing traditional funding processes, which rely on a small number of large investors. Instead, they are focusing more on online crowdfunding approaches, which rely on a large number of small funders. This paper examines the effects of brand compatibility of crowdfunding projects and entrepreneurial narratives on the success of crowdfunding campaigns. Drawing upon signaling theory and using data from 581 crowdfunding campaigns, this paper investigates the following research questions: (1) What is the effect of brand compatibility on the funding level of crowdfunding projects? (2) What are the effects of narrative language style (i.e., emotional language style and cognitive language style) and narrative length on funding level? (3) What is the effect of brand compatibility on the relationship between narrative style/length and funding level? Results show the positive effects of brand compatibility, emotional language style, cognitive language style, and narrative length on the funding level. However, brand compatibility reduces the effects of cognitive language style and narrative length on the funding level. The results of this study provide strategic recommendations for entrepreneurs on how to design crowdfunding project narratives for the products that are compatible with brands and for the products that are not compatible with brands.

ABSTRACT. The majority of market orientation (MO) studies have been carried out in the context of large organizations, which often have a dedicated marketing function. Meanwhile, the application of the MO concept to SME contexts is only slowly evolving, whereas its application in micro organizational contexts has been virtually neglected. This study contributes to knowledge by exploring through a mixed method approach the nature of MO within micro firms, offering a better definition and understanding of the way in which MO is expressed within micro firms and using a scale to capture this. Second, we identify three main motivational groups of owner goals which impact the way MO is implemented. Finally, we assess the MO-performance link in micro organizational contexts. Our findings suggest that customer orientation, cooperation with competitors and proactive product orientation are key to performance in micro firms.

ABSTRACT. Entrepreneurial ecosystems represent an active and growing area of research. This study presents a bibliographic analysis of extant literature in the field, as referenced as the focal topic of concern in academic journal articles spanning the last twenty-five years. The aim is to identify the most relevant authors, countries, and institutions in the field and to analyze who has contributed to its growth since its emergence. The Web of Science Core Collection is used as the repository for the bibliometric information, and bibliographic mapping of the material is developed using the visualization of similarities, VOSviewer, software tool. Most influential authors, papers, and journals are identified, as well as the most productive and prominent nations, institutions, and teams. The findings of the bibliographic analysis highlight the intensified multi-disciplinary interest in entrepreneurial ecosystems research in recent years, as well as underline the diverse international attention that it has amassed.

ABSTRACT. The co-creation offers the opportunity for consumers to experience unique and personalized experiences, including product development. Many companies in order to consolidate market leadership and meaning to the brand, are adopting actions that propose a new experience exchange directions between company and consumer. However, combining the task of design professionals, who think the brand and its products strategically, with customer participation premise in the development of the creation process, it is a challenge that proposes the investigation of a new management model for the co-creative design. This article demonstrates this scenario and seeks to reconcile the value co-creation theory with studies on design management in order to propose a theoretical model for the co-creative design.

ABSTRACT. As the pace of technology change and as the amount of available market and competitor data increases, marketers are faced with the dilemma of managing this data to understand the changing market and competitive landscape. This study explores potential antecedents and consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption as a strategy to deal with this ever-increasing data. Based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework and institutional theory, we examine four antecedents: technological opportunism, top management support, customer orientation, and normative pressure as potential influencers to AI adoption. AMOS SEM was employed to analyze responses from a survey of 225 marketing managers, product managers, and brand managers. Results suggest that top management support, customer orientation, and normative pressure increase the likelihood of AI adoption while technological turbulence increases the effect of normative pressure on AI adoption and decreases the effect of top management support on AI adoption. In addition, AI adoption increases marketing performance.

ABSTRACT. Marketers are increasingly becoming engaging in information management activities or being tasked with advanced technology infrastructure decisions to effectively collect and analyze information. To address the increasing role of information and technology in marketing strategy, the focus of this research is twofold. First, we investigate the impact of information management on the quality of information available: How are firms managing information (strategy, structure, process) to provide high quality information? Our second research question is: How do relational (e.g., collaboration) and resource (e.g., data-decision making culture) elements impact the role of information use on information quality and firm performance? Utilizing a survey of 298 marketing and IT managers, we evaluate the impact of information governance, marketing IT collaboration, and data-driven decision-making on firm performance.

ABSTRACT. Ride hailing market is by far the fastest growing industry. However, even though there is a growing consumer demand to these services, the scarcity of publicly available data makes it difficult for marketers to understand the demographic patterns of ride hailing usage and to analyze whether their system functions fairly. In this research, we analyze the first of its kind large-scale dataset on ride hailing provided by the City of Chicago to examine fairness with respect to usage and price. As our findings suggest, low income neighborhoods pay higher prices than high income neighborhoods. Additionally, consumers from minority and low-income neighborhoods have less ride hailing usage than consumers from white dominant, high-income neighborhoods. Finally, we found that young and active consumers that use ride hailing pay higher prices in comparison to other populations of different ages. This is one of the first city level datasets on ride hailing services that is publicly available and provides insights about their practices in terms of fairness. By better understanding the factors that create unfair practices in the ride hailing market, marketers and policy makers can offer solutions or work together to set regulations aiming to prevent disparate impact in the ride hailing industry.

ABSTRACT. Sport is an exponent in the society, providing opportunities for leisure, health and integration, also providing group identity, especially soccer, which is the sport that receives the most attention from Brazilians. Brazil is the fifth largest sports market, standing out among the other countries for having already held the biggest sporting events such as FIFA World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016. Soccer allows people to identify themselves with the team motivated by several factors. The product of a football club goes far beyond the entertainment provided to the fan; it involves the excitement and pleasure of belonging to a group. Although this modality of sport is widespread in Brazil, scientific studies in the area are lacking in the literature, being limited to primary or descriptive approaches on the subject. This gap has already been pointed out by authors. From this perspective, it is necessary to investigate consumer behavior in the sportive context of soccer, as well as how feelings and emotions are involved in this context, as research on emotions and consumption can serve as guidance for managerial marketing decisions. The present study aimed to analyze feelings and emotions of soccer fans in Brazil.

ABSTRACT. The discipline of marketing is undergoing a significant transition that seems to have both positive and negative effects in the type and pace of knowledge it creates (Eisend, 2015). Scholarly research has become more specialized and fragmented, potentially meaningful to industry but not producing forward-thinking relevance as methodological sophistication trumps valuable contributions, such as theoretical and conceptual development (Yadav, 2010; Lehmann et al, 2011). It is worth spending time exploring how marketing provides answers and informational ground work in areas of innovation such as changing social, technological, and global-growth oriented realities of the 21st century (Webster and Lusch, 2013). Perhaps there are areas of our past that can serve as avenues for our future. Despite the current state of marketing scholarship, there are significant contributions that have come from our journals. Regardless, there will continue to be significant changes and development for business models, growth strategies, marketing channels, customer relationship management, AI, as well as the domain of mainstream marketing research, its methodology, and relevance (Clark et al, 2014).

The purpose of this Special Session is to stimulate critical, forward (backward)-looking (scrutinizing) conversation on the nature of marketing concepts and research.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates how package color saturation paired with an environmental or a self claim affects purchasing behavior. Drawing from Construal Level Theory, we expect that a low (high) saturated package color matched with an environmental (self) claim will maximize consumers’ purchasing behavior. Two experiments - including a field in the lab - provide evidence for this relationship, showing processing fluency as the underling mechanism. Results indicate that a match between a low (high) saturated package color and an environmental (self) type of claim increases consumers purchase intentions (Study 1); and actual behaviors (Study 2). We also show that this effect elicits processing fluency, which in turn positively affects consumers’ purchase behaviors. The paper offers clear managerial implications by investigating the actual behavior of consumers and providing evidence of the appropriate combination of color saturation and type of sustainable claims that boosts purchasing behavior.

ABSTRACT. Recently, scholars have paid an increasing attention to co-branding, that is, a well-known marketing strategy in which two brands create a new product that will carry the names of both brands in the partnership. In particular, the brand-leveraging process has been investigated through the consumers’ reaction to a branding strategy, in which the brand is linked to other brands.

In this paper, we propose to switch perspective from the consumer to the company and adopt a network approach to analyze co-branding alliances, in order to infer the nondyadic logics underlying partnership formation. Indeed, at difference with extant studies that analyze co-branding in dyads, our network approach highlights the influence on partnership formation of the portfolio and position of the two brands in the co-branding network. In particular, this paper focuses on the network of co-branding campaigns in the fashion industry, and the objective is to investigate the logics underlying partnership formation, and test how partnership formation is influenced by the portfolio and position of the two brands in the overall fashion industry co-branding network. Furthermore, our research aims at predicting the possibility that two brands will engage in a partnership, based on their portfolio of previous co-branding alliances. The portfolio and position of a brand in the network are described by using suitable measures from network theory, to determine brand connectivity, both direct and indirect.

The results show that, first, some brands play a central role in the network, and they act as brokers. The presence of such hubs might be used by other companies, in order to address their future partnership choices. Second, the presence of communities of brands suggests that local logics may guide partnership formation, even in the deepest shell, which is the core of the co-branding network. Local logics may include the adoption of a recursive co-branding strategy, the presence of competition effects in triplets, and a role for geographic proximity as a facilitator of co-branding partnership formation. Finally, the specific brand position in the whole network and its portfolio of relationships are used to identify the likelihood that a brand may form new partnerships and which brands it should connect with.

ABSTRACT. Consumer preferences are driven by various specific brand-related stimuli, including visual and sensory ones. Design elements (i.e., name, color, logo shape, font and package design) identify and differentiate the brand. Colors carry intrinsic meanings that contributes to brand recognition. Overall, package design can modify attitudes and expectation toward consumption. Therefore, visual and sensory stimuli impact both cognitive and emotional reactions, which influence consumers’ perceptions of products and brands, leading to higher purchase intentions so long as they match consumers’ brand preferences. Sensory stimuli have been shown to create positive associations and perceptions in consumers, resulting in positive overall experiences, with these elicited emotions, thoughts and sensations contributing to a positive brand attachment. Wine provides a valid and interesting context to understand the role of brand design elements in combination with the senses involved in wine experience. While some functional attributes of wine (e.g., producer information, label and bottle) are linked to the brand in its basic warranty function, the sensory cues (e.g., color, bouquet) contribute to brand attachment through symbolic meanings related to self-concept and social identity. This paper explores the interaction between cognition and sensory perception, particularly taste, given that, in addition to a reliance on sensory cues from the food itself, taste is susceptible to non-sensory cues such as brand. Two studies are developed to understand the role of brand design and the effect of senses. The first study investigates the effect of two major elements of the label, namely design and color, on attitudes and intentions to buy. The second study investigates how senses affect consumer experience through brand attachment in self-consumption and gift occasions. Results show that visual elements of the packaging, namely design and color, may impact on the attitude toward the wine, the intention to buy the bottle and the willingness to pay. Moreover, we demonstrate that senses act through the brand even for products that need to be consumed in order to fully appreciate their qualities.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to investigate whether edutainment, engagement and ambience can be considered as suitable dimensions of visitors’ experience at a museum that has a high level of technology adoption. Furthermore, it seeks to analyze whether visitor satisfaction influence loyalty intention and word of mouth. A structured questionnaire was developed and data were collected at the Ara Pacis and Baths of Caracalla in Rome (Italy) via 300 face-to-face interviews. Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) and a structural equation modelling approach were run for the purpose of the study. This study adds to the growing literature on technology adoption in museum experience and suggests that edutainment, engagement and ambience aspects should be considered simultaneously when measuring visitors’ experience. Further, it suggests that visitors’ satisfaction has a positive influence on loyalty intention and word of mouth. However, the study is site-specific. The application of the study to other museums would allow for wider generalizations to be made from the results obtained.

ABSTRACT. This study discusses the effect of color schemes, lighting, and music on the desire to stay at shopping malls followed by the effect of the desire to stay on other behavioral responses considering the mediating role of shopper satisfaction. A survey-based study with a sample size of 451 shoppers is used to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that color schemes and music influence the desire to stay at the shopping mall. Moreover, the desire to stay at the mall has a positive direct effect on the positive word of mouth directly, and on patronage intentions indirectly through shopper satisfaction. These results indicate the need of providing a satisfying stay for the shopper in order to improve the mall’s earnings. Implications for theory and retailers are discussed.

ABSTRACT. Product sounds play an essential role in consumers’ daily interaction with firms, brands, and products, often influencing their product perceptions, evaluations, and choices (Spence and Zampini 2006). For example, the sound made by food (e.g., cracker) can influence consumers’ flavor perceptions and eating behaviors (Spence 2012). While past research has typically analyzed how product sounds alter product perceptions and evaluations, less is known about how product sounds influence product users’ impressions in the eyes of others. This is important as consumers use products to represent themselves and to establish their social identity (Berger and Heath 2007). By investigating dress-shoe sounds, the current research demonstrates a condition under which product sounds can influence product users’ perceived status. We propose that dress-shoe sounds within typical ranges generated by hard soles on hard surfaces increase the wearer’s perceived status. This is because dress-shoe sounds attract attention that only those with a great deal of self-assurance (which status may stimulate) would seek (Hall, Coats, and LeBeau 2005). Two experiments support this hypothesized effect, which is mediated by the wearer’s perceived self-assurance and moderated by the wearer’s attire (casual vs. business casual).

ABSTRACT. The literature of marketing and consumer behavior has not dealt with the theme and particular problem of the Latin American consumer. It has been said that it consumes by mirror of the western consumer, either emulating American or European consumption. It has also been written that this is an aspirational consumer, who because of his scarce economic resources lives in a state of permanent frustration over consumption. Well, we are not at all in agreement with these approaches that belittle our attachment to our traditions, customs and customs manifested in our idiosyncrasy and cosmogony that are inserted in what is called Latin American culture (one of the ten mega-cultures of the world of nowadays). These aspects define a cultural identity that has shown a firm resistance to any attempts at culturization, mainly by the countries of the first world. This article intends to give some of the arguments of why the Latin American consumer should be interpreted as one of the ten consumer profiles of the current dominant cultures of this 'great global village'.

ABSTRACT. The paper aims to understand the effect of music plus fragrance or music alone on consumer purchase behaviour in retail stores in context with the mall. A field study was conducted in two malls which are most popular and attract the maximum crowd. Total 250 respondent’s data are used for analysis. The combination of music and fragrance is more effective compared to music alone on shopping behaviour in retail stores in context of mall. Consumers tend to stay longer due to music and fragrance environment and influences younger visitors more compared to older consumers. This research compares the effect of music and fragrance when used alone or in combination on consumer purchase behaviour in emerging markets like India as it is destination for global retail stores .The present study extended the application of stimulus response (S-O-R) paradigm as proposed by Mehrabian, and Russell (1974) to explain the purchase behaviour in two separate setups-Music alone or music plus fragrance

ABSTRACT. Rapid advances in new technology development that blend the real and virtual world are expeditiously transforming consumption experiences. During shopping experiences for example, consumers can navigate an interplay of physical and virtual environments via interfaces that create a mixed-reality shopping experience (Loureiro et al., 2019). New interfaces provide access to virtual and augmented environments to facilitate common consumption activities (Pantano, Rese, & Baier, 2017). These new realities can be classified along a mixed reality continuum based on the level of interaction with an object and the physical as well as virtual environment (Milgram et al., 1994). As mixed, virtual, and augmented consumption experiences reshape the consumer-object interaction and consumption experience, basic models in the marketing literature are re-evaluated considering the original foundation of the physical environment (Fiore, Kim, & Lee, 2005; Jin, 2011). This special session addresses the current state of this relatively new research stream. Panelists from various areas offer different perspectives on how virtual, augmented, and mixed realities shape consumers’ consumption experiences and information processing. Some discussion topics include overuse of TAM in explaining consumer adoption behavior, limited applicability MIS theories in explaining consumption behaviors beyond first-time technology adoption, and brand strategy in relation to these technologies.

ABSTRACT. This research explores how consumers perceive a firm that empowers its customers in the process of creating a design for new products. The overall objective of this study is to examine the intermediary role of consumer empowerment as a critical link between web usability, online community support, and information transparency and consumers’ preference for design uniqueness in the process of the co-creation between a firm and consumers. Another purpose of this research is to examine the moderating effect of perceived task difficulty of the consumers between consumer empowerment in the co-creation process and consumers’ propensity to pursue design uniqueness. This research argues that fashion businesses should give more power to consumers so that consumers are more actively involved in new product development activities. The authors suggest that web usability, online community support, and information transparency may affect the subjective element of consumer, which is consumer empowerment. This study has a theoretical contribution by identifying the dimensions of consumer empowerment in the marketing field. Besides, this study can provide practical implications for managers who use co-creation strategy by suggesting the potential factors that can induce consumers' participation in the firm that engages consumers in the process of developing new product designs.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the famous perceived quality-market share relationship using a longitudinal dataset compiled from the U.S. automotive industry. In the brand management literature, perceived quality and market share are both used frequently to understand the marketing performance of brands. However, findings are mixed and samples, based on consumer data, are limited. In reexamining this relationship, authors introduce a longer time-period of data drawn from the highly relevant U.S. automotive industry to examine the proposed relationships. More importantly, authors introduce a new variable, which measures a car brand’s perceived quality relative to the competitive segment versus the only existing alternative of a brand's absolute perceived quality measure. Furthermore, they introduce the quality perception gap as a moderator that has not been taken into account in the prior literature.

ABSTRACT. The emergence of the sharing economy has opened up several research avenues in the Marketing field. One such research area is exploring how individuals’ self-construal affects their participation motives on sharing economy. This research will thus examine the difference in participation motives among independent and interdependent individuals and explain why such difference occurs. Further, the study proposes different incentive techniques that can be used to attract individuals with both independent and interdependent individuals to participate in the sharing economy.

ABSTRACT. Today’s business environment requires the marketing function to scan, interpret and assimilate increasing amounts of information. A range of marketing performance measurement tools have been introduced within the marketing organization to assist marketers with processing environmental information. Despite this adoption, certain forms of marketing performance measurement tools have not been widely examined and scholarly calls for greater understanding have been made within the literature. Our paper focuses on one specific type of marketing performance measurement, marketing dashboards.

We develop a conceptual model grounded in information processing theory. Within our model, we examine three distinct environmental conditions and their influence on the use of marketing dashboards. Additionally, we examine the effects of marketing dashboards on the influence and status of the marketing function; and we integrate an internal moderating condition on this relationship. To test our conceptual model, we use dyadic data comprised of managers and executives. Our results demonstrate that not all environmental conditions directly enhance the use of marketing dashboards. Further, we find the use of marketing dashboards impacts marketing’s influence within the firm. We offer contributions to the literature and managerial thought.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the quadratic relationship between customer involvement capability; and firm performance and innovation. The study answers the key question of how SMEs can benefit most from customer involvement capability. Using data from SMEs operating in the service sector of an emerging economy in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found that the influence involvement capability has over firm performance differs in terms of financial and non-financial. And that, while increasing customer involvement will increase non-financial performance such as customer satisfaction and service quality, it is only at the intermediate level that financial performance is optimized. Additionally, the relationship is not linear and that at some levels, the relationship with financial or non-financial performance is more positive than other levels. The findings also suggest that involvement capability influences both process and product innovation most at intermediate levels than at low and high levels.

ABSTRACT. When considering guerrilla marketing initiatives, it is important to evaluate its value and its appropriateness. The provocative nature of guerrilla marketing campaigns can have great impact, but at the same time, unintended negative consequences can occur related to consumer perception. To delineate what cultural boundaries exist to avoid irresponsible or negative applications of guerrilla marketing by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we explore the role of the cultural context in the design of guerrilla marketing campaigns.

ABSTRACT. This study analyzes the impact of leadership, employee-engagement, market-oriented approach, and co-creation on the business design of the start-up enterprises (SUEs) in Mexico. This study aims at presenting new insights on effect of leadership on employee engagement and transformation of marketing strategies through co-creation, identification of minimum viable segment and improving organizational design to achieve market competitiveness. The information of 364 respondents was admitted to the data analysis process. In all, information of 91 percent of respondents was considered for data analysis. In view of the findings discussed in the study, it can be stated that SUEs tend to develop effective entrepreneurial leadership that is based on family-based-firms organizational design. Co-design and co-creation of products and services are the attributes of SUEs that lead to an increase in organizational performance. Effective leadership in SUEs play a significant role in developing market-oriented strategies within the niche markets by catering the needs of consumers.

ABSTRACT. This research extends research on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation by examining how different marketing channels stimulate the different motivations of consumers, influencing their purchase intention from different channels. Depending on the research from self-determination theory, this research reveals that direct selling and warehouse club can intensify the effect of entrepreneurial orientation and sense of belongingness of consumers on their purchase intention from these two channels. This research contributes to the research in self-determination theory by revealing the influence of the direct selling channel and warehouse club on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of consumers, stimulating them to purchase products from these two channels.

ABSTRACT. As sustainability becomes a top priority for firms adopting a triple-bottom-line performance evaluation, research in green marketing flourishes. However, recent studies call for a context-specific approach to such strategies that would revisit the role of green marketing under specific political, economic and environmental conditions. This paper seeks to examine and clarify the relationship between green marketing strategy and firm performance under the prism of economic uncertainty. In particular, this study provides a comprehensive view of green marketing strategy and its impact on competitive advantage in a market that undergoes a long economic recession. Noteworthy, the findings suggest that green marketing has a positive effect on firm competitiveness which becomes greater when the budget for green marketing activities is increased during a recession. This, in turn, increases financial performance. Finally, the present research uses a contemporary framework to build on current literature concerning the drivers and outcomes of a green marketing strategy. As such, it provides managers with nuanced insights about environmentally-driven competitive advantage under a recessionary period.

ABSTRACT. Current consumption patterns across the world are unsustainable, creating adverse social, environmental, and economic challenges. In response to these sustainability challenges, scholars have increasingly explored the determinants of sustainable consumption, but the insights from this work remain fragmented along definitional, epistemological, and theoretical lines. In this paper, we review and integrate recent literatures that have documented a variety of the conditions that predict, enable, or constrain sustainable consumption. The objectives of this review are threefold. First, we present an overview of the current state of the literature and discuss how the literature conceptualizes consumers as market participants and the locus of the determinants of consumer behaviour. Second, we synthesize these conceptualizations and the suggested antecedents of and impediments to sustainable consumption to advance an integrative framework of these antecedents along two thematic lines: the active-passive conceptualization of consumers and the internal-external determinants of consumer behaviour. Finally, we conclude by suggesting future research directions and propose that the underexplored, liminal spaces within our conceptual framework can serve as fruitful avenues of study to produce richer and more complete models for explaining and motivating sustainable consumption.

ABSTRACT. Socially and environmentally responsible business practices have emerged to increase companies’ profits and encourage sustainable consumer behavior. However, inside the marketing research, little knowledge exists to what extent these practices and the final purchasing of sustainable products indeed impact the consumer mindset. Hence, this article sheds light on how sustainable (organic and fair-trade) food purchases affect consciousness for sustainable consumption by considering the embodied cognition theory. The findings of actual purchase data of food products reveal that organic food purchases exert a positive effect on consumers’ environmental and social consciousness for sustainable consumption. Interestingly, fair-trade purchases additionally determine consciousness for sustainable consumption when consumers are seniors. Moreover, fair-trade purchasing activates environmental and social consciousness for sustainable consumption significantly stronger for seniors compared to young and middle-aged purchasers.

ABSTRACT. In recent years concerns about plastic pollution (e.g. trash invaded beaches, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and microplastics) has taken up the news and public discussion. Another concern regarding plastic is that the raw material for its manufacturing comes from unrenewable resources. Meanwhile, billions of water bottles (as well as other plastic products) are produced annually and mostly not recycled (i.e. the material is lost). This will eventually lead to once cheap plastic becoming expensive material when remaining resources are hard to utilize. Therefore, companies need to develop and adopt plastics made of renewable raw materials (bioplastics) in order to control the costs in the long run, but also to act pro-environmentally. Companies have already started to develop options for conventional plastics but only little is known about consumer acceptance regarding bioplastics. This study sheds light on the subject as we examine how green consumption values affect purchase intention of wood-based bioplastic water bottle and further, how utilitarian and hedonic attitudes towards ecologically innovative products mediate the relationship. To deepen the understanding, we examine how the relationships differ across country and gender.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates whether, when and why addition of scent on a print ad enhances appeal of the advertised product. Through several studies we show that relevant scent can increase product appeal, because scent acts as a cue for physical product proximity. This effect holds regardless of scent pleasantness or presentation mode. However, it is contingent on the scent’s ability to represent the promoted product.

ABSTRACT. Consumer researchers have recently started exploring ambient scents’ diverse effects and the psychological mechanisms through which they affect consumers’ perceptions and behavior. Recent research in the field focuses on scents’ perceived temperature dimension to explain, for example, food consumption and brand purchase behavior. In this research, we first replicate prior research by showing that consumers exposed to a warm (vs. cool) ambient scent prefer prestigious to regular brands—also in an FMCG context. We thereafter broaden the perspective by showing that ambient scent’s effect is not limited to purchase behavior, but can be generalized to the public policy field of general elections. Specifically, we present initial evidence that the diffusion of a warm (vs. cool) ambient scent nudges consumers to opt for right-wing instead of moderate political parties, which we attribute to power-restoration motives. Finally, our results indicate that diffusing a warm (vs. cool) ambient scent triggers a global, relational information processing style instead of a local, analytical one. Our results offer novel perspectives on the role of warm versus cool ambient scents in consumer decision-making.

ABSTRACT. Substantial research on scent marketing provides evidence for the influence of pleasant smells on consumer behavior. However, investigations accounting for scent characteristics (i.e., saltiness vs. sweetness) on providing the desired product image is still scant. This research generates valuable insights into the consequences of scent characteristics in conveying luxury associations. Specifically, this study provides initial evidence for the impact of salty scents on evoking perceptions of higher product quality, with downstream effects on consumers’ willingness to pay. The findings suggest that the effect of salty scents on willingness to pay is mediated by the increased in product quality perception. Salty scents, therefore, contribute to consumers’ decision-making by providing information about unrelated (but intrinsic) attributes to the product.

ABSTRACT. The sharing economy allows people to supply underutilized assets on multisided platforms (MSPs). Because MSPs must attract a sufficient number of suppliers – here, referring as people who aim to sell, lend or share products – to succeed, their design must provide feelings of protection from potential risks associated with the exchange with peers. In the same time, such MSPs are used by people who engage freely in the exchange and value the autonomy on the platform. In this context that combines risk perceptions and a need for autonomy, the perception of control within the exchange is likely to play a key role in explaining how people react to MSPs. Therefore, we here build on one qualitative and five quantitative studies to develop, refine and test a 12-item, three-dimensional scale of supplier’s perceived control over the exchange. Results reveal sound psychometric properties of the scale, demonstrate its unique position in relation to key marketing constructs such as perceived value, satisfaction, trust and intention to re-use the platform and attest its stability across contexts. By applying the scale in their practices, MSPs managers can diagnose and improve suppliers’ perceptions of control over the exchange and subsequently the attractiveness of their platforms.