ABSTRACT. The purpose of this session is to twofold. First is to fill the void left in our socialization and training processes for junior faculty members after doctoral training and consortium. We structure this session around the three pillars of research, teaching and service, but also include discussions of tenure clocks and logistics issues. The second purpose of this session is to create a workshop environment for junior faculty specifically without senior faculty members serving as the “experts” in the room, as is customary in parallel events like consortium. While learning from senior academics is of course invaluable, it is also healthy to foster discussion among junior faculty creating a structured and intentional “safe space” and culture of collegial interaction that would otherwise be left to chance. The goal is to increase communication and, ideally, collaboration between junior faculty members who may not know each other well but will inevitably be working together in the field for many decades to come. The panelists for this session are all junior faculty members who are well-published for early in their careers and represent a broad spectrum of research areas, receive above-average teaching evaluations, and serve on multiple university committees.

ABSTRACT. Behavioral branding is a cognitive process of brand building within the consumer psychodynamics. Behavioral brands grow cognitively, gradually encompassing individuals, family and society, and establish brand personality in the competitive marketplace. This paper is based on qualitative research design using short and purposeful interviews of respondents to analyze primary opinions. The paper also critically examines the extensive literature review regarding the impact of behavioral branding on consumer loyalty, and its converge with brand attributes and vogue. This study addresses a fundamental research question on behavioral branding, as how behavioral branding experience in reference to self-congruence, brand attributes, and vogue leads to a positive influence on behavioral branding

ABSTRACT. It is claimed that the most important predictor of brand preferences and purchase decisions is self-image congruence (Sirgy, 1982; 2018; Aguirre-Rodriguez et al., 2012). The main purpose of this presentation is to compare an The Three-Component Multidimensional Model of Self-Image Congruence (Gorbaniuk, Kolańska, Wilczewski, 2019) of measuring congruence with prior methods: direct (Sirgy et al., 1997) and indirect (Aaker, 1997). Participants in this study were selected using quota sampling. The study was carried out by nine interviewers on a sample of 692 people aged 18 to 81 (M = 35.90, SD = 13.2; 50.4% were women. Preferences for brans were measured by three items (α = 0,96). We used three categories of daily products (phones, beer and cars) and 80 various brands. The results proved that the explanatory value of the Three-Component Multidimensional Model of Self-Image Congruence were successfully tested The multi-component model allows a better prediction of brand preference (48% vs 31% of the explained variance) as compared to the Aaker indirect model and is comparable to the direct Sirgy model (48% vs 49% of the explained variance). Moreover, it allows a profiled assessment, that is, an indication of which features included in “self” explain the brand’s preference.

ABSTRACT. The objective of this study is to study whether or not lonely consumers (vs. connected consumers) prefer the brands and products that are promoted through a pro-active digital marketing strategy or prefer the brands and products that are promoted through a passive digital marketing strategy. To date, the relationship between connectedness and digital media strategies has not been established and empirically tested in marketing. We hope to fill this gap in literature and to offer valuable managerial implications.

ABSTRACT. Outward Foreign Direct Investments (OFDI) from emerging economies have begun to increase significantly and have been growing at a faster pace than FDI from the developed world. The research seeks to assess the impact of Chinese acquisitions and their implications for the Made in Italy luxury sector and its firms. This paper presents the preliminary results stemming from a single case study on a Chinese acquisition in order to provide some in-depth insights over the influences and the motives driving Chinese firms to invest in the luxury Made in Italy, the patterns and modes of the Chinese acquisitions as well as the competitive strategies and the distinctive challenges that both investors and acquired firms have to face. From the findings, it emerges that both the investor and the acquired firm need to overcome several key challenges if they want to mutually benefit from the acquisition.

ABSTRACT. Prior work in experiential and material purchase shows that material purchases are associated with less happiness. In the current research, we examine the effect of acquisition mode (buy vs. rent) on happiness for material purchases. We find that renting material purchases increases happiness than purchasing them. Our research has implications for theory and practice.

ABSTRACT. In 2018, access-based consumption moved into micromobility as E-Scooters instantly resonated with consumers. Revealing the dark side of sharing, consumer misbehavior in form of e.g., careless handling or vandalism is taking its toll on scooter companies and the public. This study examines the constructs of responsibility and consumer misbehavior in access-based consumption in the context of E-scooter sharing. An exploratory observational study and 21 semistructured interviews with moderate to high E-scooter users located in Vienna, Austria were conducted to uncover several dimensions why people engage in E-scooter sharing and to identify feelings of responsibility and potential misbehavior. Results uncover increasing potential for consumer misbehavior and hint at a reduced sense of responsibility for shared products. While it is largely believed that access-based consumption represents a positive development, this research suggests that long-term market-mediated societal shifts typically also entail negative aspects, which require further investigation.

ABSTRACT. Companies increasingly offer services that curate the selection of products for consumers (e.g., clothing subscriptions, music playlists). Though algorithms drive much of this curatorial decision-making, companies may choose to humanize their services, anticipating that consumers will prefer items selected for them by a human rather than an algorithm. In contrast to the preference for humanization and aversion to algorithms established in prior work, we find that consumers exhibit a preference for algorithmic over human curation. This preference is driven by the consumer belief that algorithms are superior to humans at managing decision complexity, suggesting that consumers may counterintuitively react less positively to human curation relative to algorithmic curation. Across three experiments, we demonstrate this consumer preference for algorithmic curation. Moreover, we find that this preference is moderated by the perceived complexity of the decision. This research contributes to work that has examined the roles of algorithms and humanization on consumer preference, in addition to having practical implications for how firms communicate their curation processes.

ABSTRACT. Employing a scenario-based behavioral experiment, we test the impact of disclosure of customer-based brand equity (a forward-looking customer metric) and customer satisfaction (a backward-looking customer metric) on analyst’s stock price forecast. We also empirically test our hypotheses using archival data for a panel of 147 mono-brands in 19 industries from 2007-2015. Our results suggest that financial analysts factor customer-based brand equity information into their stock price forecasts. However, contrary to prior studies, we did not find support for the effect of customer satisfaction on the analyst’s stock price forecast. Moreover, we find that more experienced analysts pay less attention to customer-based brand equity information and issue less accurate stock price forecasts compared to less experienced analysts. Our findings suggest that firms can benefit from voluntary disclosure of customer-based brand equity, beyond their traditional financial reporting. Financial analysts can improve their forecast accuracy by accounting for customer-based brand equity. In summary, firms can't improve what they don't measure. Analysts and investors can’t account for the information that is not communicated. Increasing the quality of marketing information disclosure can redirect investors’ attention to the firm, justify marketing costs, and improve a firm’s valuation.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, the use of nudges by organizations has become widely democratized. The purpose is to encourage individuals to smoothly adopt a specific behavior. The effects of the nudges seem to open up encouraging prospects both in the social and environmental fields. However, nudge studies focus on the positive aspects of nudges. The present study tends to show that the effects of the latter are not necessarily positive. More specifically, some people feel some form of manipulation and the expected behavior is not adopted. An in situ experiment using a nudge to reduce the number of butts thrown to the ground is conducted

ABSTRACT. The information revolution in the last two decades, especially, has been like everyone for everyone, raising the power of the individual, making people active in value creation. Thus, within a network of other actors, it exerts power and influence through their individual knowledge and skills that they use to their benefit and to share with others. Philanthropic hospitals in Brazil currently provide 52% of all Unified Health System Care, accounting for one third of existing beds, with a network distributed in several states and municipalities. These health facilities need, in addition to providing fast, efficient and quality care, to ensure the image they reflect in the community in which they operate, since, combined with the lack of resources of these institutions, the financial crisis that most hospitals philanthropists have been facing, can damage your image. The aim of the present study was to perform an analysis on the image perception of a hospital located in the southern region of Brazil, seeking to evaluate how co-creative practices can help in promoting brand image.

ABSTRACT. Despite vast evidence, many drivers do not think texting and driving is dangerous. This research aims at changing this attitude via use of public service advertisements. A survey is conducted with 162 real anti-texting and driving advertisements. It is found that while both emotional and rational appeal work for changing the attitude, emotional appeal, especially fear appeal, works better. In addition, emotional appeals are more beneficial if the emotion is evoked via visual (vs. textual) elements of the ad. Lastly, creativity increases the effectiveness of the ad for changing attitudes toward texting and driving. This is the first research to study effect of these ad elements on changing attitudes toward the issue of texting and driving. The findings can help public policy makers to create advertisements that are more influential in changing the way people think of texting and driving, and ultimately mitigating the problem.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable products have become a mainstay of consumer choice in the marketplace. At the same time, there is a disconnect between consumers who are interested in acquiring and using sustainability information (Haws, Winterich, and Naylor 2012) and who are otherwise apathetic to sustainability (Ross and Dootson 2017). The growing use of blockchain technology to document product information and transactions in value chains (Francisco and Swanson 2018) creates new opportunities for marketers to make sustainability information more transparent. In this paper, we argue that different formats of blockchain-driven data information can moderate the relationship between spatial construals and sustainable consumption outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Digitization in business and society is well advanced and is about to fundamentally and sustainably revolutionize marketing processes in general and the design of exchange processes with stakeholders in particular in the sense of increasing automation and robotization. In addition to human-human, forms of human-machine or even machine-machine communication are becoming increasingly important. Very far-reaching scenarios indicate the emergence of a marketing perpetual motion in which relevant needs and demands are identified and at the same time suitable problem-solving offers are implemented without direct human intervention. Customer needs are primarily researched through automated systems that systematically monitor the customer and their brain activity, behavioral and usage patterns. The huge amount of data is processed with the help of artificial intelligence in an increasingly better decision-making manner and fed into automated marketing decision-making processes. Ultimately, increasing automation and robotization are expected to have serious effects on market research in practice and scientific marketing research. What will the scientific marketing research of the future look like? What skills and prerequisites do marketing scientists need to acquire? Will teaching offer and its institutionalization be affected? As part of the special session, this and other questions are to be taken up and discussed.

ABSTRACT. This study takes an organizational culture perspective to shed light onto the connection between organizational goals and strategy formulation and implementation.

ABSTRACT. Marketing agility is a dynamic capability that often influences performance directly and indirectly via other capabilities. The role of marketing agility is of interest to marketers in terms of the processes through which the marketing agility influences performance. Past research fails to test how marketing agility aligns with market complexity and simultaneously influences marketing program adaptaion of the firm under varying level of market complexity. Importantly, most of marketing agility studies focuses on building agility of developed market firms. Using 100 Pakistani firms, this study tests how emerging market exporting firms in advanced economies (EM) can improve performance through this dynamic capability. This study posits that marketing agility influence marketing program adaptation that influences firm performance. This relationship is moderated by market complexity and shows both mediated-moderation and moderated-mediation effects. Authors argue that EM faces more complex market conditions than advanced economy firms exporting to emerging markets. This makes the context feasible, provides opportunity to validate theory for emerging market and offer useful implications to managers facing the dilemma of market complexity. We found that marketing program adaptation is stronger under low market complexity and high complexity negatively moderates the indirect influence of marketing agility on performance.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates the personality trait of CEOs that has not been researched in the context of CEOs’ unique marketing decisions: CEO integrity. Although important, integrity of the CEO comes with certain side-effects on the firm which may play a crucial role in its performance. This article focuses on how the integrity of the CEO can negatively impact the entrepreneurial orientation, specifically, innovativeness, risk taking and pro-activeness orientation of the firm, which are responsible for risky outlays of the firm. The article also proposes how internal corporate governance, specifically, the compensation given to the CEO and the composition of marketing in the department, can help overcome this situation along with maintaining the integrity of the CEO. Practical and theoretical implications have been discussed.

ABSTRACT. Scholarly work in the domain of strategic marketing research has extensively applied a configurational approach to representing and theorizing multiple intertwined phenomena. The current study scrutinizes 77 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2016 in strategic marketing research. The authors identify methodological diversity and pluralism of analytical techniques (i.e., cluster analysis, interaction effects, profile deviation analysis, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis). Furthermore, using an illustrative example, they empirically compare alternative techniques for testing configurations and performance implications. They propose that a set-theoretic approach to configurational theorizing and qualitative comparative analysis provides richer insights into the causal relationship between the characteristics of a configuration and the outcome of interest. The authors lay out an agenda to guide further research in making the best possible use of the available configurational techniques.

ABSTRACT. The present study considers a sample of 339 French travellers to empirically examine the way co-creation affects consumer well-being. The findings obtained from a structural equation model confirm that the extent to which the offer is co-created with tourists has a positive impact on the latter’s well-being, and that this impact is broadly mediated by empowerment. The findings also show that consumer well-being has a positive impact on loyalty, acting as a partial mediator in the link between empowerment and loyalty. Finally, consumer satisfaction with the co-creation performance appears to strengthen their empowerment, well-being and loyalty.

ABSTRACT. Transformative Service Research (TSR) aims at improving the well-being of vulnerable and disadvantages groups by having many safeguards and polices which assumes that they are passive service actors. A key caveat with this body of literature that most of previous studies focused on a single aspect of well-being, given the fact that many aspects of our well-being are interdependent. The foundation goals of the TSR become more challenging when they are examined in the context of the sharing economy because it pays more attention to the financial well-being of service actors over other forms of well-being (e.g. social wellbeing). Our research aims at examining multiple aspects of well-being in the context of the sharing economy in a developing country which has received less research attention. We employed a qualitative research approach by interviewing 75 peer-service providers of two ride-sharing platforms in Egypt, followed by a content analysis of their discussion threats on the main Facebook group. Instead of being passive, peer-service providers, as a vulnerable group, developed three key strategies to manage their vulnerabilities: resistance, turning around and survival strategies. Some of these strategies were found to cause harm to other service actors (e.g. customers), while others were not.

ABSTRACT. One core task of marketing is to facilitate exchange between buyers and sellers. In the recent past several drivers have shaped new forms of exchange that challenge the classical way how marketing operated. The Sharing Economy represents a rapid growing part of our economies in which you can consume without having to buy and own. Peer-to-peer sharing is one important type of new exchange forms and some of the most used peer-to-peer sharing services can be found in the mobility sector. But although, hundreds of ventures with similar business models have emerged, many of them do not enjoy a long lifespan. If imitating successful business models from different markets promised similar success in new markets, there would be a lot more firms like Uber or Airbnb. While considerable marketing research has increased our understanding in many respects (e.g. distinguishing between different forms of Sharing Economy), research still lacks to understand the role and influence of marketing aspects within these new business models and how marketing components can be used to describe, distinguish and categorize. Our simplified research question from a marketer’s point of view is: What marketing aspects differentiate successful from unsuccessful peer-to-peer sharing business models in shared mobility markets?

ABSTRACT. Services marketing researchers have spent decades seeking to understand the determinants of great customer service. Scholars have proposed several theories on customer delight, customer satisfaction, service quality, customer loyalty, value co-creation, experience economy, and many others. In spite of these theoretical advances, managers still struggle to deliver excellent service. Following an extensive literature review, the present research exposes the various constraints to customer service, presents a series of propositions, and proposes a conceptual model. The model suggests that four types of constraints impede great service: human resource constraints, customer behavior and misbehavior, organizational environment, and business constraints. Human resource constraints include high levels of employee turnover, emotional labor, stressful work conditions, and lower levels of compensation among service workers. Customer behavior challenges comprise customer incivility, aggression, deviance, and lack of compatibility. Organizational environment factors include the economic environment, weather, technology, and industry norms. Finally, business factors encompass costs, seasonality, capacity constraints, and franchising of service operations. The paper concludes by offering practical suggestions on how to minimize constraints to service and recommendations for future research.

ABSTRACT. This study takes place at the interface of social media marketing culture and sales activity. Social media marketing (SMM) culture is one of four strategic dimensions within an overall framework for organizational social media strategy. We evaluate of the effects of SMM culture on sales activities including a component to assess sales representatives’ ability to effectively use social media marketing, for example by pushing content into the social platform feed of a buyer. Buyers can likewise feed content into a salesperson’s social platform. Three studies within a mixed-methods research design are proposed including responses from both sellers and buyers. Study one and two propose collection of cross-sectional data from salespersons and buyers. The results are analyzed using PLS-SEM. Study three proposes a content analysis of both sellers’ and buyers’ social media messaging and connections along with phenomenological interviews to validate the findings and add meaning to any surprising results. The proposed findings will (a) link organizational SMM culture with sales activity generated from social media marketing, (b) distinguish between SMM cultural influences on sales activity at thin and thick crossing points, and (c) provide evidence of the moderating role of sellers’ and buyers’ social media marketing ability and usage.

ABSTRACT. Firms sometimes extend their new business to categories that are different from their current categories, which is associated with a low-fit extension. A brand’s extension success may be due to both its own competence and consumers’ attitudes toward it. We consider Amazon a retailer of low-fit to fashion and Macy’s a retailer of high-fit to fashion and compare their characteristics. By utilizing product reviews of the identical products from both websites, we compare the topics discussed in the reviews as important product attributes of consumer evaluations and examine the effects of these topics on review ratings, which are potentially associated with the success factors of the low and high fashion-oriented retailers. We collected the review information of seven fashion product categories from thirty-nine individual items in the men’s and women’s divisions carried by Amazon and Macy’s. Our empirical findings are that the product topics mentioned are generally different between Amazon (the low fashion-oriented retailer) and Macy’s (the high fashion-oriented retailer). In addition, the different topics discussed at the two retailers eventually lead to different ratings. We provide managers with insights on developing and maintaining competitive advantages of the low-fit extension company and existing company.

ABSTRACT. In two online experiments we show that a humorous response strategy to online complaints leads to greater online engagement and liking of the post and increases the intention to tell a friend about it. Importantly, it also forms brand personality, which influences brand attitudes, image and purchase behavior. Despite these positive effects, we show that humorous responses reduce (increases) perceived conscientiousness (superficiality). We contribute to theory by showing that a humorous response does not affect all brand personality dimensions alike and by providing an explanation based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Our results are important for practitioners’ choice of online response strategies.

ABSTRACT. Based on Socio-Cultural Theory (SCT), this study aims to investigate the role of social media influencers and peers on young women’s perception of beauty and their symbolic consumption of goods and services. The framework proposes a mediating effect of appearance comparison and internalization of appearance ideals between social media influencers and peers on one hand and symbolic consumption on the other hand. We provide deeper insights into how young women internalize beauty ideals and engage in social comparisons through social media, and how this engagement is expected to influence symbolic consumer behaviors. Managerially, understanding the interplay among social media use, peers and social media influencers help companies understand the impact of micro-celebrities on young women’s consumption of goods and services. Research findings will help companies in selecting brand endorsers and considering the type of celebrity that would be the most effective in appealing to a particular target group.

ABSTRACT. The availability of tactile input, especially for products with salient material properties, can influence consumers’ confidence in their product evaluations. Thus, haptic information can serve as an indicator of product quality and may be used to reduce consumer uncertainty about the product, its quality, and value. However, when other quality or value indicators are present, haptic information may not be as important, as the consumer may rely on other indicators to assess product quality and value. The research examines how the effect of product haptic information on consumer online perceptions and shopping behavior is moderated by the price/price discount information. Further, since consumers vary in terms of how important price/price discounts are to them and to what extent they utilize price-quality inferences when evaluating products, the moderating role of consumer sale proneness and consumer price-quality inferences are examined. The results indicate that providing product haptic descriptions can positively impact purchase intention of sale prone consumers and/or those who make strong price-quality inferences, especially when products are offered at regular low prices. Moreover, presenting product haptic descriptions can impact consumers’ quality perceptions of products, which in turn, result in both higher purchase confidence and perceived acquisition value, resulting higher purchase intention.

ABSTRACT. Although the offer of digital services via mobile or fixed devices to visitors of inner-city shopping areas can be considered at an early stage, the usage of innovative technologies are gaining ground in retail practice. Surprisingly, within marketing science, little is known about customers’ perception of the quality of digital services offered by traditional retailing. This article reviews prior conceptualizations of the role of technologies in academic literature and introduces the quality of digital services as the extent to which a consumer believes that the digital service offered by a retail destination performs well. In the framework of a mixed-methods approach, a measurement tool is developed by means of seven studies. Empirical findings demonstrate that the application of a second-order construct composed of first-order dimensions, each measured by interchangeable observed items, is reasonable. The conceptualisation and validation of the measure shifts the retail agglomeration literature from a traditional offline view to an up-to-date digital perspective. Applying the scale in marketing practice enables retail destinations to assess the performance of offered digital services, evoking in turn an overall attractive evaluation of the retail destination.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to: 1) provide and empirically test a theory-based conceptual model of how online consumer motivations influence online shopping cart use and shopping cart abandonment, 2) examine the relationship between online shopping cart use and online shopping cart abandonment, 3) address the call to examine online shopping cart research with behavioral data, and 4) provide a theoretical framework linking online shopping motivations with actual shopping behaviors. In two studies (survey research and field data), we study how consumer motivations influence online shopping cart use and abandonment. We discuss managerial implications with regards to retargeting consumers to recover carts that have been abandoned in order to help facilitate e-commerce sales.

ABSTRACT. A unique opportunity for marketers is the use of social media influencers, also known as influencers. Influencers offer a compelling combination of a large audience, a personable story that consumers often perceive as authentic, and the ability to reach across geographical boundaries. Specifically in the beauty industry, where products are less tangible, influencers easily bring products to life. The source credibility model, concept of normal attractiveness, and social comparison theory potentially explain why beauty influencers are phenomenally successful in gaining loyal followers. This research aims to explore why individuals choose to follow certain beauty influencers. Participants answered open-ended questions via an online survey. Responses provide significant insights on the reasons why consumers follow beauty influencers. The results identify relatability, authenticity, trustworthiness, and similarity between the influencer and consumer as factors affecting consumers’ decisions to follow the beauty influencer. Interestingly, physical attractiveness was not an important factor for following beauty influencers. This finding provided indirect support for the importance of similarity with and relatability to the influencer, as most people do not meet the stringent, and often unrealistic, beauty standards depicted by media and models.

ABSTRACT. This panel provides an opportunity for the editors of AMS journals to discuss their commitment to publishing research that is both substantive and rigorous. Empirically, there is concern in the marketing discipline that methodical rigor often becomes more important than the underlying research problem. Appropriate rigor does not necessarily mean the “most sophisticated.” Furthermore, the ease of gathering consumer data frequently results in a neglect of more comprehensive marketing theory at all levels of the marketing system. Although individual studies can contribute via a focus on a method, the future impact of our discipline depends on our community of scholars producing research that is not only rigorous, but that—most importantly—addresses marketing problems that are of substantive importance.

ABSTRACT. This work aims to carve out differences on the communication style of social influencers in dependence of the consumers’ consumption goal (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Hypotheses on the differing relevance of demographic similarity of influencer and consumer as well as factuality of the influencer’s communication style are developed. The hypotheses are tested by means of two empirical studies, whose results are evaluated by means of structural equation modeling. The results are to some extent surprising. Demographical Similarity between influencer and consumer appears to be more important under utilitarian than hedonic conditions. Factuality seems to be of equal importance in both conditions.

ABSTRACT. On February 24th, 2018, the Forbes Communications Council (2018) mentioned "Influencer Marketing" as one of top 12 trends in Marketing. Influencers are individual figures on social media whose opinions can influence others. "Influencer marketing" is a marketing strategy utilizing these influencers who are endorsing a brand or product. BI intelligence (2017) reports that firms’ investments in influencer marketing will reach approximately $7.5 billion in 2022. However, there has been a lack of studies on this new type of endorser.

Previous research on influencers has commonly studied influencers as “opinion leaders”. However, since the Federal Trade Commission started requiring influencers to explicitly express their paid endorsements in 2017, the literature has started to recognize an influencer as an endorser (e.g., Evans, 2019). If influencers must disclose their endorsements, are they any different from traditional celebrities? Therefore, based on Attribution Theory, this study’s objective is to examine whether consumers perceive celebrities and influencers as distinct categories and if such perceived differences in turn influence consumers’ endorsement responses.

The results of three experimental studies indicate that influencers and traditional celebrities are in fact not created equal with significant differences in terms of consumers’ endorsement responses. Important theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This study analyzed the professional trajectory of Brazilian digital influencers by identifying the milestones in their career from anonymity to stardom. To this end, we adopted an interpretative exploratory approach based on the observation and analysis of digital influencers’ self-presentation videos on YouTube. As a result, five important moments emerged from data representing the main stepstones in the influencer career: 1) the initial stage, when they start a career as content creator; 2) the professionalization decision; 3) the image development, which includes career milestones such as the endorsement from traditional media, product development, partnerships and increased revenue; 4) the positioning review, comprising a crisis period and the subsequent image repositioning; 5) and finally, maturity and experience. These five stages describe the main events at the trajectory of professional influencers who evolve from ordinary YouTubers to become human brands. Finally, we conclude with managerial implications and suggestion for future studies.

ABSTRACT. Comparing to traditional retailers (e.g., Walmart), e-retailers not only adopt reselling format (i.e., the manufacturer sell to e-retailer) but also provides agency selling option (i.e., manufacturers directly sell to customers on e-retailer). Given the successes of traditional retail format (i.e., reselling) in prominent e-retailers, it remains puzzling as to why e-retailers are willing to promote the agency selling format? The author collected data from Amazon.com. A random-parameter hazard-based duration model was specified to estimate the impacts of retailing formats on product survival time. The results confirm that the product survival time is generally shorter under reselling format. Also, this study supports that when product quality is higher, reselling format increases product survival time.

ABSTRACT. Fantasy sports and sports betting are both in flux following the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to decide for themselves whether to legalize sports betting. Fifteen states have legalized so far, with many others expected to do the same. Fantasy sports operators are now incorporating sports betting into their platforms and are discovering a heavy overlap in participation between the two activities. However, little research examines the motivations that could lead some players to bet on sports and some to not bet. This research investigates the trait predictors of sports betting among fantasy sports players. We then use both a trait-based model and a demographics-based model to determine the probability that individuals will bet on sports. Our models show a fair degree of accuracy and could be used by policy makers, consumer groups, and fantasy sports operators to identify possible sports bettors among the quickly growing fantasy sports playing population.

ABSTRACT. Loureiro, Ruediger, and Demetris (2012) explains that to love a brand, consumers need to be attached to it, that is to feel that the brand is irreplaceable and would miss it when they do not have the brand. The objective of this study will be to measure how sports fans' affection to their respective team can influence their loyalty to a particular brand. It will also focus on identifying strong relationships that can make an individual loyal to the brand and explore how management strategies could help to develop brand love on sports consumers. This study includes 413 sports consumers. To analyze the collected that and to be able to develop a conclusion based on data the Partial Least Square- Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) and Hierarchical Component Models (HCMs). The significant implication of this study is that family-related feelings towards the team will develop Brand love as an emotional attachment indicator towards their teams, and emotionally attached fans will build brand loyalty to consume their products.

ABSTRACT. Consumer engagement has acquired an essential role in marketing literature. However, there does not exist a consensus among researchers in terms of its conceptualization, operationalization, and its nature. This makes it necessary to know the possible relationships with constructs that precede it and its consequences from the theoretical perspectives of relational marketing and the psychology of consumer behavior. The purpose of this research is to establish if brand love and brand involvement are antecedents of brand commitment. Also, if satisfaction, trust, loyalty, and intention to purchase were a consequence of brand commitment.

For the study, a non-experimental, transversal, and descriptive research with a causal correlational scope was carried out. A self-administered questionnaire was used on a sample of 200 consumers. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, Pearson's correlation, and structural equations. The results of the "Partial Least Square" measurement model allowed us to conclude that love and involvement are antecedents of the commitment to the brand and that satisfaction, loyalty, and trust are consequences of that commitment. The findings contribute to theory and practice because it allows managers to develop more effective strategies to achieve long-term relationships between consumers and the brand.

ABSTRACT. La búsqueda de bienestar a través del deporte se ha convertido en una tendencia mundial, el número de personas involucradas en prácticas deportivas se incrementa año a año, así como también se incrementa el consumo de bienes y servicios relacionados con el bienestar y el deporte (FMCG y RETAIL, 2018; Valencia y Bedoya Enríquez, 2016; Woods, 2017). Así mismo, el creciente interés sobre ambos componentes por parte de los consumidores ha generado que diferentes organismos internacionales como el Foro Económico Mundial (WEF, S.F) y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD, S.F) hayan establecido que la salud y el bienestar sean considerados, hoy por hoy, una prioridad global. Es esta la razón por la cual países como Colombia y España han diseñado programas deportivos a fin de mejorar la salud y el bienestar de sus ciudadanos a través de los mismos (Asociación Española de los Deportistas, S.F; Gobierno de Colombia Departamento nacional de planeación, 2018). Motivo por el cual se aborda la pregunta problema ¿Cuáles son los factores que facilitan o entorpecen la co-creación de bienestar en prácticas deportivas? Con técnicas cualitativas como la netnografía, etnografía, entrevistas no estructuradas, narrativas, observación participante y no participante.

ABSTRACT. In the present work we extend research into the unit bias effect by demonstrating the existence of a “Gestalt bias effect”. Drawing on the tenets of Gestalt psychology, we show that a unit bias effect can be observed for food portions that are composed of identical basic units, but which are subjectively constructed into, or perceived as a Gestalt – a larger whole. In five studies we find that such subjectively constructed food wholes constitute a new (perceptual) unit that is deemed bigger than the units it is constructed from, thereby prompting increased eating and willingness to indulge.

ABSTRACT. Wine consumption is often described as an aesthetic, hedonic and social experience. However, in spite of this positive view of wine consumption, one may acknowledge that wine can reveal harmful when consumed irresponsibly. While the question as to what individual variables could explain the tendency for people to engage in such irresponsible wine consumption is of primary interest for producers and policy makers, the marketing literature on this issue remains scarce, focusing mostly on the positive aspects of wine consumption. In this research, we propose, test in a field study (N = 654), and demonstrate that because narcissism – or the individual inflated sense of self-importance – may prompt the belief that wine consumption enhances social attractiveness, it subsequently increases wine intoxication experience. We also show that this effect is stronger among people who exhibit a high (versus low) subjective wine knowledge.

ABSTRACT. Based on restaurant reviews posted on Yelp, the current research points out that in addition to connection, distinction is also a critical aspect when consumers form their authenticity perceptions. Within the dining context, this research further discusses the specific conditions on which consumers use distinction versus connection as a criterion to construct their perceptions of authentic experiences.

ABSTRACT. Consumers are increasingly willing to opt for locally produced alternatives to counteract the downsides resulting from food that often travels all around the world. Due to a lack of a standardized definition of the term ‘local’, there is little known about consumer perception, preferences and their respective willingness to pay for local products. This study aims to fill this research gap by using a choice-based conjoint analysis. Results provide important insights for food marketers and policy makers to increase market shares for environmentally friendly local products.

ABSTRACT. Consumer consumption of shows produced as series continues to evolve. More and more consumers are watching a number of episodes at a time. Surveys have demonstrated that 60% of adults watch a few episodes of shows on demand and 76% of young adults are likely to alter social and personal habits to watch several episodes of a TV show (Sabin 2018). This activity, referred to as binge watching, is defined as “watching three or more episodes of a TV series in one sitting” (Deloitte 2015). Investigating binge watching and the associated behaviors is important not only because it is becoming prevalent but also because the global video streaming market, valued at $36.6 billion in 2018 (Grand View Research 2018), will continue to grow with the introduction of new streaming services by Apple and Disney in 2019.

ABSTRACT. The in depth understanding about the practical details of self is highly relevant to understand consumer behavior, especially in the present digital world.. The notion of digital self, possessions and extensions have been extensively studied in marketing and consumer behavior disciplines over the past few decades. However, the past studies have focused mainly on the Western perspectives focusing on independent cultures. As the countries in the non-Western regions such as Asia is advancing in terms of consumption power, technological finesse and internet penetration, it is inevitable to include the new perspectives of the interdependent self. Hence, this paper intends to address the gap by exploring the dimensions of interdependent digital self of digital natives from a non-western perspective, through a grounded theory approach. Our study contributes to the existing literature on self by identifying the dimensions of interdependent self such as meaning of self, expression of self and reference groups, which contributes to the characteristics of digital natives. We also signified how these dimensions and characteristics affect the decision making of digital natives. One of the key findings include the identification of friends as the primary reference group for the digital natives, whereas family had minuscule influence.

ABSTRACT. A good story can cause the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that can increase a person's blood pressure and heart rate. The growing importance of orality in communication and content consumption practices has made it more comfortable for many people to listen to a book instead of reading it. The main purpose of this study is to identify, if changing the way a story is presented, influences the emotional impact of the user. A sample of 120 people was considered, between 18 and 67 years of age. Research shows that audiobooks produced more consistent patterns of physiological change than movies or television clips, suggesting that the format can give authors better control of their listeners' emotional responses.

ABSTRACT. Investments in autonomous cars (ACs) are rapidly growing, yet there is scant evidence on the likely adoption of such cars. Integrating the means-end and extended self theories, we explore the drivers behind the propensity or reluctance to adopt ACs, their linkage with human values and wellbeing, and self-expression considerations of prospective adopters. Employing a large qualitative study, we find that aspects such as “enjoyment”, “inclusiveness” and “contemporaneity” contribute to the adoption of ACs, while feelings of “risk” and “threat” hinder adoption. Prospective adopters strive to enhance gains in the form “accomplishment” and “social recognition” while minimizing losses such as “financial stability” and “security”. Intriguingly, ACs’ adoption is linked to identity-related concerns, such as status. This is the first study to examine the reasons underpinning the propensity or reluctance of prospective users to adopt ACs thereby advancing knowledge in an emerging area of marketing research concerning autonomous products. Extending prior research, the study unravels how considerations about the extended self and wellbeing contribute to explaining the propensity to adopt autonomous cars. The evidence from our study offers actionable guidelines to car manufacturing companies on how to best craft marketing communication messages that effectively promote autonomous cars to prospective users.

ABSTRACT. This research identifies the missing haptic input in online retailing as a factor for consumers’ resistance to buy fruits and vegetables online (Grohmann, Spangenberg & Sprott, 2007). Further, it shows that even after product consumption experience consumers devaluate the produce, possess lower willingness to pay (WTP), and consume less amounts, if they think a produce was delivered by an online shop. Letting consumers think that they consume produce obtained from an online store (vs. letting them supposedly select the products by themselves, using their hands) is enough to induce these adverse consequences. The study further analyzes, if autotelic need for touch (aNFT) drives consumers’ negative produce perception in the online retailing context (Peck & Childers, 2003a; Peck & Johnson Wiggins, 2011). The results highlight that using a direct touch interface (e.g., a tablet) compared to an indirect touch interface (e.g., a computer mouse) mitigates the adverse consequences of missing haptic input within online, as compared to offline produce retailing. Thus, the study not only explains part of consumers’ hesitancy to adopt online produce retailing. For the first time, additionally highlights the consequences in consumer behavior after the acquisition and consumption of online goods.

ABSTRACT. Why are brands covering environments from the roof down with nature-inspired interventions? This article takes a psychological approach to explores the effects of biophilic design interventions (i.e., nature in the space) on consumer behavior. The results indicate that the positive effects of biophilic elements on store evaluation and purchase intention are driven by perceptual pleasure. In two studies, we demonstrate that a store setting that evokes pleasure by the great pleasure of nature positively impacting nature leads to greater purchase intention. Interestingly, results hold independently of consumption goals (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian). Taken together, these findings shed light on the power of nature on activating pleasure mindsets. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT. Musical “tension and release” structure exists as a universal structure in all music, can increase a listener’s attention, and can change a consumer’s cognitive state. Yet this powerful musical tool has not been studied in the context of how it shapes consumers’ attitudes towards marketing. Through a number of experiments, we outline the properties of this phenomenon, show how it is due to an underlying effect of curiosity caused by the anticipation of the “tension and release” structure, and we uncover a potential boundary condition with those consumers that exhibit a high need for cognitive closure.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines if sampling order (i.e. order effect) moderates the effect of need for touch on product evaluation. Prior studies demonstrate that individual preference to use touch plays a role in product evaluation, but no published study to date has investigated if order effect moderates this relationship. The authors conducted two experiments in which flimsy and firm cups of coffee (study 1) and normal -weight and added -weight cans of mineral water (study 2) are sampled in a random sequence. Participants were divided into low and high NFT groups based on the median value of their answers on NFT questionnaire. After the experiments authors conducted a series of paired samples t-test where participants were divided into four groups based on the NFT group and the sampling order (flimsy-firm; firm-flimsy in study 1 and normal-added weight; added -weight -normal in study 2) to test if the order effect moderates the effect of NFT on product evaluation. The findings show that order effect has a significant moderating effect of NFT on product evaluation, but only when first sampled from a firm cup/normal can by an individual with low NFT.

ABSTRACT. Volunteerism is a means of contributing either to the society, the organization or the individual. Either for satisfying individual’s self-interest or for altruistically helping others, volunteering creates value. The study aims to examine the impact of self versus other-oriented messages on intentions and attitudes of existing and potential volunteers. Two studies were designed using fictitious foundations, to find out the potential effects of in terms of attitude towards recruitment ads and intention to volunteer for the organization. According to Study 1, which consisted of mainly volunteering adults, the other-oriented message is found to be more activating than the self-oriented message. However, in the Study 2, which comprised of a mainly non-volunteer student sample, the two appeal’s intentional effects were in opposite direction. Participants were found out to have higher intention to volunteer for the organizations when self-oriented messages were used. Follow-up analysis of the combined data revealed that non-volunteers’ intention to volunteer was higher with self-oriented appeal than with an other-oriented appeal. These findings are discussed in terms of the implications on volunteerism and linked to recent findings regarding the role of self-and other oriented motives on determining how to approach volunteers or non-volunteers in an effective manner.

ABSTRACT. With the current rise in social media engagement, consumers’ WOM is becoming increasingly important for organizations to understand and leverage to promote future donations and awareness (Guo and Saxton 2014). Charitable organizations (e.g., the United Way) and political candidates encourage donors to share about their donations with others. Prior literature, however, has been limited in how consumers spread the words after making a donation. Do consumers have preferences about the types of WOM they engage in, such as sharing about their donation versus an organization? And if so, what is the process underlying consumers’ preferences for different types of WOM? The current research examines these issues. Across three studies, we demonstrate that consumers are more likely to talk about an organization than about their own donation. This effect is driven by consumers’ desire to influence others to donate. Furthermore, we show that it is specific to the donation context. The current research addresses recent calls (Berger 2014) for a better understanding of what consumers choose to talk about, as well as the key drivers of these choices.

ABSTRACT. The brand community literature has shown evidence that the existence of a brand community leads to greater loyalty and positive outcomes for the brand. Nonprofit organizations can benefit from supporting the growth and development of a brand community. To date, the brand community literature has focused on manufacturer’s brands. An extension has been made to alumni of higher education institutions, but traditional nonprofits have been mostly ignored. The results of this exploratory study indicated the nonprofits can benefit from developing a brand community using both online forums as well as social volunteer events.

ABSTRACT. This research mobilizes the provide vs. protect theory and the approach vs. avoidance orientations in motivations to explain differences in generosity between political ideologies. Based on a field study and a series of experiments, this research provides empirical evidence for a clear distinction between liberals and conservatives in terms of charitable donations. More specifically, we identify conditions under which the distinction takes place. Although results from a first field study supports the idea of liberals being more generous than conservatives, we show that their respective generosity towards charity does not depend on the same factors. We demonstrate that whereas conservatives' level of generosity is mostly influenced by the nature of the beneficiaries, liberals' amount of donations is more affected by the nature of the supported cause. Combining actual data from the field and experimental designs dealing with actual donations, we broaden the current field of investigation by showing that the conception of personal resonsibility within a community is a good predictor of charitable giving.

ABSTRACT. This paper uses a new dataset from a major European credit card issuer to fill an important gap in the study of coalition loyalty program effectiveness by analyzing how complex spatial relationships influence card spend and redemption activity. A coalition program offers incentives to customers at multiple businesses; the primary challenge facing coalition managers is determining the value of each store in the network. We use detailed, individual-level transaction data to analyze how the spatial evolution of a coalition loyalty program network influences card usage and redemption activity. By augmenting traditional spatial models with advances in machine learning methods we are able to properly account for the influence of complex spatial interactions and provide actionable analyses to managers. Our results suggest that if the coalition reduces the size of their network to only include key branch locations estimated credit card revenue increases substantially.

ABSTRACT. By utilizing a state-of-art deep learning technique for image and text feature extraction, this research will investigate the effects of creativity on consumers' advertising evaluation.

ABSTRACT. The role of “intelligence” within any business today is crucial (Eells and Nehemkis, 1984; Simsek et al., 2019). However, the role of intelligence across different sizes of businesses is interesting. Indeed, research suggests that small businesses struggle to acquire and accurately interpret market intelligence (MI) due to financial constraints and skill deficits (Donnelly and Simmons, 2013). Simsek et al. (2019: 972) go further and suggest that for small businesses particularly, their challenge is the manner in which data is “being considered, collected, curated and investigated”. Nonetheless, it has been identified that MI can have a considerable effect on small business market planning capabilities upon its acquisition and deployment (Donnelly et al., 2015). Consequently, it has been recognized that MI has a positive influence on the market orientation of small businesses (Pelham and Wilson, 1996; Donnelly et al., 2012). This paper, however, questions what happens to the market orientation of small businesses when market intelligence is provided, withdrawn and ultimately reinstated in small agri-food businesses over a longitudinal period. Do these small businesses return to their old ways of marketing when data is withdrawn? Or does this exposure instil a market-oriented- approach and potential cultural change as a result of exposure?

ABSTRACT. Critical literature reviews are an essential requirement for any research project. Extensive bibliometric reviews of a particular topic published in the journals that serve a field of knowledge provide guidelines both to the editors of these journals and to the authors who submit their work to them. These reviews offer a map of the territory that a journal(s) covers and enable the identification of under- or over-researched areas and trends in the journal’s coverage. Using the analysis software, VOSViewer, and the Web of Science database, a bibliographic analysis of the topics of new product development and innovation management in the top ten technology innovation management (TIM) journals is conducted. Influential authors, networks of authors and main themes are identified through this analysis and discussed.

ABSTRACT. Marketing analytics encompasses data, statistics, mathematics and technology. In combination, these components facilitate decision making. We are witnessing companies across industries adopt marketing analytics to improve and expand these capabilities. Marketing will continue to fundamentally change over the next few years due to digital transformation, analytics and mobile infusion. As analytics techniques and technology advance, job opportunities and skills will see demand skyrocket. Marketing education must move to embed analytics using active learning techniques into existing courses and introduce students to emerging skills. The result will be a cohesively structured hands-on pedagogical framework which can focus on understanding domain elements when applied to business problems. Aligning analytics and domain knowledge will generate work-ready marketing analysts.

The objective of this panel session is to discuss the transformation in academia and practice occurring as a result of marketing analytics. We will explore how marketing education and research can support the needs of practitioners. The panel will introduce curriculum and research ideas, as well as identify technologies and techniques most often used by practitioners. The panel session will include an introduction to marketing analytics, panel member insights for designing and implementing a marketing analytics curriculum, strategies for advancing research, followed by audience Q&A.

ABSTRACT. In keeping with broad trends, consumers are trying to be more green and responsible to the environment, despite inherent difficulties associated with the green trend. Just as a typical online shopping behavior, green consumers may utilize online consumer reviews to make the right purchase decision. Online reviews come in either positive or negative valence and consumers generally are affected by them and results in changes in attitude and purchase intention. No prior research has examined the effect of review valence among green consumers on eco-friendly purchase. According to the results from this study, green consumers are more sensitive to both positive and negative reviews regarding the eco-friendly products than non-green consumers. The results shed some light on the online review management. Businesses that target green consumers should try to increase positive reviews while minimize negative reviews since they could be exponential to green consumers.

ABSTRACT. This study examines helpful voting behavior of online review readers and challenges the assumption of earlier studies that online review readers exhibit homogeneity when determining the helpfulness of an online review. The results obtained using a finite mixture model (FMM) to allow for inferential statistical analysis, reveal three segments of online review readers who utilize the review characteristics (content) in different manners to determine review helpfulness. We show that segments of review readers take review characteristics into consideration in a different manner and that reviewer characteristics (context) moderates the effects of review characteristics. This study describes each segment using zip-code level demographic data. Managers can determine which segment of review readers they are serving and accordingly review platforms can display reviews that review readers in that segment are more likely to perceive helpful.

ABSTRACT. Online reviews have become an important source of information supporting consumers’ decision making and, therefore, a powerful influencer of companies’ performance. Scholars have addressed different issues related to online reviews from the perspective of both consumers and companies. However, previous studies have predominantly focused on textual reviews, while overlooking video reviews, which are rapidly increasing in popularity among consumers searching for information about products and services online. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of peer-to-peer (P2P) video reviews on consumer perceptions about the communicated message in relation to commonly used forms of textual reviews. The data from a between-subject experiment indicates that consumers receiving information from video reviews experience less uncertainty about product performance, which helps them in decision making. The study contributes to the literature on eWOM, and provides with practical implications, suggesting that companies should pay more attention to video reviews and encourage their consumers to share such reviews with peers.

ABSTRACT. Authenticity perceptions are subjectively driven and rely on social constructions making the concept hard to be defined. The current study is following a big data approach in order to capture perceptions and beliefs concerning the authenticity of ethnic restaurants and also when online positive reviews are given in relation to authenticity under the influence of a visit to the country of origin. The key idea of our method relies on the analysis of a 3-step characterization of a big data repository extracted from TripAdvisor. Step 0 concerns reviews made for Italian restaurants before consumers visit Italy, step 1 concerns the reviews made while consumers were in Italy and step 2 concerns reviews made after their visit to Italy. This characterization exploits both sentiment analysis and graph data models. Our findings propose a depiction of authenticity for ethnic restaurants via e-word of mouth. With a big data analysis on TripAdvisor, we provided an analysis on both ratings and comments which showed the impact of authenticity. As such, consumers, after visiting the country of origin, were more critical while they provided lower ratings and they were also focusing more on authentic atmosphere and service, showing an evolution of their online reviews.

ABSTRACT. One of the biggest challenges faced by companies during developing and marketing eco-innovative products is the lack of consumers’ awareness and knowledge of green products’ benefits. In order to investigate the effect of changing consumers’ awareness or knowledge, the first step is to confirm the status quo of consumers’ perception. This project utilises data from an online survey with 280 respondents. Results indicate that the perceived environmental friendliness of paper is higher than glass which is higher than metal can which is higher than plastic. Our findings about perceived environmental friendliness for beverage packages are different to Van Dam’s (1996) result. Results also suggest that consumers with higher environmental identity have higher WTP towards paper cups and some shopping bags. These results indicate a need for future research. First due to the mixed results about how media influence sustainable-related concern, there should be a series of studies to explain the mixed results and what is a better way to improve consumers’ green awareness and knowledge. Second, the following research would focus on nudging, especially on how different people react differently to nudging and how their attitude or knowledge towards eco-innovative products will interact with the context.

ABSTRACT. New product literature has looked at a variety of organizational factors that may drive product success, such as firm orientation, innovativeness, and interfunctional coordination. What is missing from this discussion is the role of expected outcomes. Research on the self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP) in social psychology suggests that expected outcomes, defined as stakeholders’ beliefs that their actions are likely to positively impact the performance of new products, actually lead to improved new product performance. In this study we use a sample of firms that are engaged in high levels of innovation and contrast them to non-innovative firms to assess how expected outcomes impact new product success. Our results indicate that expected outcomes mediate the relationship between product success measures (e.g. market orientation, firm innovativeness) and actual success. Additionally, we find that of the several measurements available to measure success, focusing on customer needs as well as competitive advantages leads to expected product success. We also find that innovative firms are likely to see greater product performance. Our contribution to the new product literature lies in integrating a social psychological perspective by utilizing the self-fulfilling prophecy on how new product success is accomplished in innovative firms.

ABSTRACT. According to innovation, complex designs and prior customer–brand relationships can attenuate the benefits of labels that identify innovative offerings as customer ideated. However, recent marketplace initiatives in the insurance sector, i.e. a complex sector suffering customer-brand relationship issues, reveal some positive results. Therefore, this study takes a dual firm–customer perspective to examine (1) from a customer perspective, how and why customer-ideated labels might create a competitive advantage for service brands and (2) why service managers may remain reluctant to accept customers’ co-creation in innovation development. Unlike previous research, this study reveals a positive demand effect for customer-ideated insurance innovations. Loading the brand with customer-relevant meaning linked to collaboration, control, and influence (i.e., psychological empowerment) mediates these effects, quantitatively and qualitatively. In interviews, customers explain that they draw customer care inferences and perceive decreased service complexity. This perspective contrasts with experts’, who anticipate customer devaluation and disempowerment. By reconciling mixed findings in previous innovation literature, this study offers original, relevant insights into impediments that keep service firms from embracing greater customer-centricity. Accordingly, these findings show managers how and why customer co-creation of services may be beneficial for insurers and, more broadly, for complex service firms.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to understand service innovation strategies adopted by an innovative healthcare organization and to construct a theory grounded in the data that explains best practices in designing and implementing service innovations for increased performance. A qualitative method and grounded theory methodology and interview design were used. Participants were employees and management of a high performance healthcare organization in New York. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory configuration three coding stages. The results suggested six service innovation strategies linked to increased performance in healthcare organizations: consolidating related services, service accessibility, wait time reduction, patient engagement, context diversity planning, and computer technology. Implications of the study to theory and practitioners are outlined

ABSTRACT. Marketing researchers rely increasingly on online panels as data sources. An examination of the top four journals in Marketing (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science) from 2014 to 2018 indicates that 360 out of 1101 articles (32.7%) utilized MTurk data. To date, researchers have focused on analyzing the validity and generalizability of data obtained through online panels. Yet given that online panels are being so relied upon, this special session will discuss ways of improving data quality rather than examining the question of whether academic researchers should use or avoid online panels. The presentation introduces a typology for classifying screening criteria that reflect the sampling goals of identifying respondents that (1) match the target population as much as possible and (2) provide honest, attentive responses. The presentation includes the results of a study testing screening criteria using Dynata, Qualtrics, three different MTurk panels, and students. The results show that screening criteria directly influences sample attention, honesty, and prevalence of VPNs to disguise physical location. The panel will discuss best practices for collecting high quality samples using online panels from the viewpoint of authors, reviewers, and journal editors.

ABSTRACT. Retailers continuously seek differentiated strategies to survive in competitive markets. One of the differentiation strategies is to utilize environmental cues. Ambient sensory cues have been widely used in a retail environment to enhance customers’ pleasantness, satisfaction about store, and shopping behaviors. However, in many cases, its effectiveness highly depends on the degree of appropriateness or congruence between cues. The present study aims to investigate how multiple sensory cues—music and scent—interact with each other, and how the congruence between sensory cues in the atmosphere affects consumers’ emotions and evaluations of the environment.

ABSTRACT. Brand transgression may be an inevitable situation for companies. However, it is essential for companies to understand the conditions when consumers are most likely to forgive brands. Four experiments investigate the effect of product type and gift options on brand forgiveness after consumers’ experience brand transgression. The current research suggests that after experiencing a negative brand experience with a material (experiential) purchase, consumers will forgive the brand more if they can receive a hard-copy (electronic) gift card. This happens because material (experiential) purchase activates concrete (abstract) mindset, and a matching compensation option with activated mindset increase the likelihood of brand forgiveness. This research contributes to the branding literature by presenting novel and important findings for brand recovery effort after brand transgression and discusses managerial implications.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to understand how the visual electronic word of mouth emitted by a youtubeur influences the affect and the purchase intention of the consumers. We study the impact of word of mouth characteristics and the effect of social contagion. The main results are: 1. The professional status of the youtubeur, the existence of commercial links between brands and youtubers and the valence of the magazine have an impact on the feeling expressed and therefore the intention to purchase. 2. There is a social contagion, both emotional and behavioral within the audience of electronic and visual word of mouth that impacts its effectiveness. 3. 3. The number of subscribers of an individual (individual characteristic of the commentator) impacts his sensitivity to social contagion.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to contribute to the literature by exploring the way in which parasocial relationships with celebrities can affect consumer post-transgression reactions, such as forgiveness and brand trust. Thereby, we provide a deeper understanding of the power of parasocial relationships and to what extent they can serve as a brand defense mechanism. Furthermore, we explore how transgression controllability affects this relationship. More specifically, we ask can parasocial relationships soften the negative impact of a brand transgression even in controllable transgression situations? Moreover, we delineate the role of self-congruity as a mediator in explaining the mechanism between parasocial relationships and consumers’ post-transgression reactions. To explore this topic, we present one completed experiment and discuss the design of a follow-up experiment.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study is twofold. First, we examine how the CEO’s credibility (i.e. expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness) is related to brand image (i.e. functional, sensory/visual). Second, the effect of consumer materialism on the perception of the CEO’s credibility is studied. 260 participants knowledgeable of CEOs and their corresponding brands in France completed an online questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. The data were analyzed through Covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM). Our findings show the CEO’s expertise and attractiveness are positively related to functional brand image and sensory/visual brand image, respectively. These relationships are moderated by CEOs’ nationality (American vs French). Results also demonstrate the positive effect of materialism on the CEO’s expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to test and validate the effect of consumer materialism on the perception of CEOs. We also refined the relationship between the celebrity’s credibility and brand image and found moderating effect of the CEO’s nationality (global vs local).

ABSTRACT. This research examines the advertising effectiveness of human-like or anthropomorphic spokes-characters versus spokespeople in a collaborative consumption context. A 2 x 2 factorial between subjects experimental design featuring a male spokesperson and a horse as an animated spokes character across two product/ service categories: hedonic (home sharing) vs. utilitarian (camp gear sharing) was utilized. ANOVA show no difference between the treatments. Our results may serve as a starting point for marketing managers to consider the use of anthropomorphic characters instead of using celebrities that comes with a risk as personal (mis)behavior can negative affect a brand’s reputation.

ABSTRACT. Employee branding has received increasing focus in the last ten years in marketing literature and practice. In the present study, we propose a model of employee branding that has internal branding practices as an antecedent and employee brand commitment and loyalty as consequences of employee brand equity (EBE). We also model employee brand performance as the final outcome of EBE and employee organization fit as a moderator of the relation between internal branding and EBE. Based on data collected from 358 service industry workers in India, we use factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test the conceptual model. Results indicate a positive and significant effect of internal branding on EBE and EBE on employee brand commitment and loyalty. However, only employee brand commitment was found to affect brand performance. The moderating effect of employee organization fit was observed. The study had important implications for employee branding theory and practice.

ABSTRACT. Service failure could be examined in different contexts (e.g., online vs. offline service failures or contractual vs. transactional service failures). One of these contexts could be when a service failure affects a group of customers at the same time. Based on the literature, the underlying psychological mechanisms of the failure perceptions as well as customer’s behavioral outcomes are different in group service failure (GSF) versus individual service failure (ISF). Yet, GSFs are common and have different effect on customer’s perception and behavioral outcomes towards the service and the company, many extant research on service failure concentrate on individual failures and the consequent customer reactions to it. The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of severity, failure stability and self-construal in group versus individual service failure setting.

ABSTRACT. Trust is considered a central construct in the relationship marketing and despite appreciating the role of service recovery efforts in restoring trust, service recovery literature has not explored the phenomenon much. Moreover, the position of trust in the service recovery context is still ambiguous. This led to the examination of the antecedents that explain the position of trust in the service recovery model and its consequential effect on the repurchase intention.

A 3 (compensation level: 20%, 50% or 100%) x 2 (compensation type: refund or coupon) between subjects experimental design, based on a clothing scenario was undertaken. The antecedents assessed to evaluate the position of trust were compensation level and type, and satisfaction with service recovery.

The conceptual model integrated ‘trust after recovery’ as a parallel mediator in the relationship between compensation level, satisfaction and repurchase intention. The results revealed that the inclusion of trust, generate a higher repurchase intention after service recovery. Our key finding of the role of trust as a parallel mediator in the service recovery context implies that the companies should compensate for the failure as per customers’ expectation to generate higher repurchase intention.

ABSTRACT. The large body of research on service failures and recoveries demonstrates that error-free services are rather an exception. Previous research and practical experience show that service providers in various industries often react in an inadequate way to service failures and thus produce a double deviation (i.e. failed service recovery) rather than finding a solution that is satisfying for the customer. The study presented here examines the impact of immediate vs. delayed compensation for different involvement conditions on consumers’ negative emotions after mixed sequences of less/more severe initial failures and less/more severe failed recoveries in a hotel context. The results show that after a double deviation, highly involved consumers react with less negative emotions when presented with an immediate recovery, independently of the order of failure severity. For moderately involved consumers, an immediate recovery better reduces anger if the failure sequence starts with a more severe failure even though the failed recovery is less severe. When the failure sequence starts with a less severe failure that is followed by a more severe failure however, the recovery timing has no effect on anger.

ABSTRACT. To maintain strong relationships with customers, firms must craft appropriate recovery messages when faced with relationship violations. As the first study to apply signaling theory to the relationship recovery process, this research investigates the effect of various firms’ response strategies on trust, satisfaction, and customer willingness to reconcile with the firm. Through a series of three scenario-based experiments, we demonstrate that signal strength, signal frame, the type of violation, and brand familiarity can help predict how customers respond to a firm’s relationship recovery efforts. Findings indicate that stronger signals directly affected the relationship repair outcomes, with stronger signals being especially important following integrity-based (vs. competence) violations. Additionally, signals framed as customer gains (vs. firm costs) are more effective at relationship repair. Finally, signal strength is more effective for less familiar brands. Results extend current relationship recovery literature through the application of signaling theory and provide practical guidance to managers.

ABSTRACT. Weather plays an important role in influencing the everyday shopping experiences for consumers (Keller et al. 2005; Lee, Gino, and Staats 2014). However, when it comes to investigating the specific impact of weather, it is methodologically difficult to control for all the factors to truly predict causality. In fact, to the authors knowledge, only a single study has attempted to experimentally test a specific factor of weather, sunlight, while controlling for all other variables (Murray et al. 2010). Due to this fact, historically, much of the research on the impact of weather lies in the realm of economics and finance and is based on the analysis of historical weather patterns and sales. With this study, we begin an investigation into the visual aspects of weather that have yet to be investigated independently, chroma and hue. We find that when the sky is cloudy, consumers’ impulse purchase habits are unaffected by their mood state. However, when the sky is sunny, consumers make more impulse purchases when they have positive moods.

ABSTRACT. Integrating research on visual marketing, spatial associations, and brand inferences, the authors conduct three studies demonstrating that when consumers see an ad featuring an object moving in a left-to-right, rather than a right-to-left, direction, their trust towards the featured brand increases. Drawing on previous literature, the authors propose that Western consumers envision motion evolving in a left-to-right trajectory. As such, print advertisements that depict objects in this direction lead Western consumers to experience a sense of “feeling right,” which ultimately enhances brand trust perceptions.

ABSTRACT. Visual imagery is one of the most important methods of communicating with consumers and has received considerable attention both within industry and academia. Despite this popularity, scholars have generally neglected the role that different forms of visual imagery play in forming consumer decisions. This is especially true concerning representational vs. abstract imagery, which is surprising given the growing use of these different forms of imagery by consumers and practitioners. Furthermore, the motivation to engage and process representation vs. abstract imagery has also remained unexamined despite the important role that motivation, particularly that of regulatory focus, plays in forming consumer attitudes and shaping behavior. To fill these gaps, five experimental studies were undertaken– including two controlled laboratory experiments and one field experiment – and demonstrate that when representational (abstract) imagery is matched with either a prevention (promotion) mindset, or a prevention (promotion)-framed marketing message, consumer-brand outcomes are enhanced (i.e., greater purchase intentions, willingness to pay, intentions to make better health decisions, and reduced ad cost per click). Further, we find that positive elaboration mediates these results.

ABSTRACT. Marketing communications frequently feature human faces to communicate information about the brand. However, researchers and executives alike have largely overlooked the influence of facial prominence, defined as the ratio between the area of the model/spokesperson’s face and the total area of the marketing display, on consumer responses to various types of persuasive communications. Across five laboratory experiments and two field studies using large-scale sales panel data from a major online retailer, the authors demonstrate that consumers prefer marketing communications with a lower facial prominence. They provide evidence that this effect is based on a consumer’s appropriate interaction space and examine how the use of celebrity endorsers and perceived similarity with the source impact the observed effects. Theoretical and managerial implications of their findings are provided.

ABSTRACT. The number of luxury companies engaged in CSR activities has increased significantly under pressure from various stakeholders, including consumers. In this context, the link between luxury and sustainable development has never aroused as much interest in the scientific community as in recent years. Beyond the compatibility between these two concepts, which has recently been increasingly examined in the literature, some issues have been neglected. This concerns in particular the issue of animal welfare, which is very recurrent in the luxury sector. Our research is the first to shed light on this subject. To this end, a quantitative study using the joint analysis method was conducted among 253 French consumers. The results show the existence of a sensitivity to the challenge of animal welfare in luxury. However, differences can be observed between two groups of consumers. Some have a preference for animal raw materials from livestock farms that respect animal welfare. Others are more favorable to the use of synthetic raw materials. In particular, the results show that the use of synthetic raw materials, even if accepted by some consumers, can lead to a reduction in the perceived value of luxury products.

ABSTRACT. Each year, thousands of firms introduce new products which target economically disadvantaged customers (EDC). Existing research reveals significant heterogeneity in the stock market response to such introduction of new products. The author proposes that four factors are likely to moderate the impact on shareholder value of EDC innovations. An event study of EDC innovation introduction announcements of 241 publicly listed U.S. firms for the period of 2007-2015 is expected to show that marketing and corporate governance factors influence how EDC innovations affect shareholder value. Using both signaling and relative deprivation theory, firms with high market orientation, strong marketing capability, new product introductions which are radical (radical vs. incremental), and higher corporate social performance are likely to accrue greater stock market returns from EDC innovations

ABSTRACT. Hunger and food waste continue to coexist as two big crises across the globe. Research has continued to focus on solutions to food waste problem which, in turn, would also help alleviate the hunger crisis. A promising solution to the food waste problem is rescuing ingredients destined for the trash early in the consumption cycle and using them to make other foods known as "upcycled foods". This research investigates the perceived benefits and concerns with respect to these foods. Findings from this research suggest that while consumers see benefits from consuming these foods, they have several concerns. Marketing interventions that tap into perceived benefits and address the concerns will help create a market for these foods.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates citizen-consumers’ representations of environmental issues by examining spontaneous user-generated content. Using an exploratory approach, we collected and analyzed 896 internet memes related to various environmental topics. Our findings highlight the human and social implications of environmental degradation. Although they use a humoristic tone, many memes suggest that the users who created and/or shared them suffer from psychological discomfort; they experience eco-anxiety, perceived lack of control and lack of faith in the future. Our results also stress the social consequences in terms of ingroup / outgroup opposition. Environmental concerns emerge as an important component to categorize individuals and to define social identity. Our analysis also emphasizes the existence of stereotypical representations of all the actors involved in the environmental crisis, as well as recurring tendency to anthropomorphize earth through human characteristics. Overall, we propose that engaging in content generation in the form of memes enables individuals to feel re-empowered and to reduce the psychological distress they experience as a result of climate change. The use of humor, anthropomorphism and other techniques can be interpreted as a coping mechanism aimed at mitigating this distress. Practical implications for public-policy makers and marketers are discussed.

ABSTRACT. The effect of messages appealing to affiliation needs on advertising effectiveness remains largely under-explored, despite their widespread commercial use. Similarly, the role of social context of exposure to advertisements remains relatively neglected. This work targets this dual knowledge gap. We define relational message appeal (RMA) as consisting of two levels, affiliation and autarky; and, formalize relational context of exposure (RCE) as a two-level factor, i.e. solo (lone exposure) and with peers. We empirically investigate the effects of RMA and RCE on advertising liking via affiliation needs and emotion, and further explore the potential interaction between RMA and RCE. Our findings support that affiliation needs and emotion belong in the causal path linking RMA and RCE to advertising liking.

ABSTRACT. Across four studies we find that self-effacing (self-enhancing) brand messages lead to lower (higher) skepticism which then leads to increased (decreased) brand trust and ultimately higher (lower) brand attitudes, while efficacy importance moderates these effects. Further, we find that compared to self-enhancing, self-effacing brand communications lead to greater purchase behaviors.

ABSTRACT. Abstract The research explores the definition, dynamic origination and use of brand narratives. The rapid evolution of social media and other digital opinion sources makes the creation of firm-originated brand narratives more challenging than ever. First the paper develops definitions of the consumer’s Brand Narrative, the Brand’s Narrative in the market, and the organization’s Intended Brand Narrative. A framework then expounds the origination of brand narratives in the marketplace and illustrates their use in consumer behavior. An empirical study illustrates a new method for analyzing transmedial narratives. Branding efforts are considered in light of both traditional branding communications and the new constraints on narration imposed by digital and social media.

ABSTRACT. The erotic appeal is one of the most frequently used appeals in advertising. However, scientific scrutiny focused on its performance has produced mixed findings so far. Based on construal-level theory and the concept of psychological distance, this research concentrates on erotic appeal ads’ impact in terms of consumers’ moral, attitudinal and behavioral reactions. Also, demographic as well as morally-related psychographic factors, such as gender and moral attentiveness are examined. Findings from two experimental studies each focused on a different type of psychological distance inducing variant construal levels while promoting a different product category across different ad eroticism intensity levels, show that as psychological distance or construal level increases (decreases) individuals’ reactions become less (more) unfavorable especially, when the ad’s eroticism intensity level varies from moderate to high. Also, reactions vary based on individuals’ gender and moral attentiveness such that in general, females and high morally attentive individuals denote stronger objections.

ABSTRACT. The direct selling channel represents a major income opportunity for a large number of people globally. Particularly in this “Gig Economy” era in which millennials (and others) enjoy the freedom and flexibility associated with work patterns different from prior cultural norms, direct selling firms understand that they much reevaluate and adjust their value proposition in order to remain attractive as an income-source option in the workplace. In tandem, they also know that for consumers they must present the channel as a technology-enabled, convenient source of goods and services. Earlier this spring the University of Texas at Austin hosted a major gathering of scholars and executives, with the express purpose of discussing the future of the channel and what key research questions need to be addressed to best assure that the direct selling model remains robust and viable going forward. Sponsored by the Direct Selling Education Foundation, the event generated a variety of research directions across a gamut of marketing, consumer behavior, sales, supply chain, entrepreneurship, and organizational disciplines. This interactive session will stimulate spirited ideation and conversation about the direct selling channel and its future.

ABSTRACT. Internet commerce continues to explore consumer behavior and their relationship with companies. In this context, special attention is given to the following drivers of purchasing intentions: social media advertising; bloggers or digital influencers; and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM). This research attempts to uncover the differences among the said factors regarding the purchase type - product or service. In particular, we studied the opinion of the social media users, who responded to a 20-item online questionnaire hosted by GoogleDocs. The study was conducted in Brazil and included two samples: one comprised of a clothing store customer and another - of an aesthetics center customers. Upon data analysis using ANOVA and Structural Equation Modeling, we identified significant differences between the two purchase types. We also observed the biggest influence of e-WOM in both cases. Digital Influencers represent the second most important factor. Finally, social media advertising is only the third factor which affects clothing purchasing decisions but not beauty service. The essential research contributions are: joint testing of the three communication forms; attesting the moderator effect of product type and evaluation of the usefulness of information from the interviewees’ viewpoint.

ABSTRACT. The objective of the present study is to expand the understanding of consumer engagement with brands on social media. We develop a model that explores the effect of social media brand identification and consumers’ information disclosure on the three different dimensions of consumer engagement with brands on social media. These dimensions include consumption, contribution and creation (Schivinski, Christodoulides & Dabrowski 2016). The social psychology literature suggests that self-information disclosure activates the self-concept, which in turns triggers greater engagement with others (Kettle and Häubl 2011). Results of a structural equation model testing the hypothesized relationships provided support to the effect of social media brand identification on information disclosure. Brand identification was also found to increase the perceived benefit while decreasing the perceived risk of information sharing. Support was found to the role of perceived benefit but not perceived risk on information disclosure. Consumers’ information disclosure was found to be a strong predictor of the three dimensions of consumers’ brand engagement on social media, namely consumption, contribution and creation.

ABSTRACT. Due to the increasing importance of wearable technology and their use as a tracking device for fitness, we looked at the how habitual use of social media by an individual who also uses wearable technology, impacts their motivation and social image with regards to their health consciousness. We further predict that this motivation and importance of maintaining a social image further has a spillover effect towards their behavior and attitude change towards health in their daily routine. This eventually is predicted to lead to evaluation of end goals. As expected, we found significant results to our expected theory. Further implications and limitations are discussed.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study is to evaluate consumers’ moral judgements of the brand reputation of a luxury firm when exposed to wrongdoings in branded communications. A wealth of published research has shown that ill-prepared branding messages may cause confusion to consumers, misinterpretations on behalf of message receivers, generate negative perceptions to wider audiences and ultimately damage the firms’ reputation. To this end, the case of Dolce and Gabbana 2018 campaign in China is analysed, drawing upon the basics of social media strategy, luxury market features and cross-cultural characteristics. The research evaluates consumers’ Instagram posts and relevant reactions to the 2018 Dolce and Gabbana campaign in their effort to enter the Chinese market. A systematic analysis is conducted about the extent to which luxury brand reputation is influenced by consumers’ generated content in social media. Drawing on a comprehensive and unique dataset of unsolicited consumers’ communications as response to a certain message, the study evaluates the immediate impact of the wrong message on the brand reputation. Results also show that after a negative message comes to light, firm reaction can hardly reduce or eliminate the negative consequences and restore the reputation.

ABSTRACT. As consumers follow brands on social media which align with their interests and preferences and provide them with an opportunity to express themselves and identify with others, they diffuse information regarding these brands through online word of mouth. Since human brands (e.g. musicians) offer products (e.g. music) which are information and experience goods and are thus difficult to evaluate without preliminary trial, there is a growing need to understand how consumers’ online behaviors (social following and word of mouth) have an effect on their sampling (music video viewing) behavior over time, as prior literature has suggested it as an important precursor to sales. This study examines the time-varying relationship between the aforementioned variables in a sample of musicians, using a unique econometric approach which allows not only for short-run and long-run effects to be uncovered, but also potential asymmetric effects. The results find that social following and word of mouth have significant short-run effects on sampling for most of musicians. However, these short-run effects survive in the long-run for half as many musicians. Additionally, as this is the first marketing study to apply the non-linear ARDL methodology, several novel cases of both short-run and long-run asymmetry are found and discussed.

ABSTRACT. Since the first session on marketing at the 1977 American Hospital Association conference, hospitals have understood that managing patient satisfaction to drive firm profitability is important to the survival of the organization. Health insurance firms and government agencies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) tie funding levels and designations in part to results from patient satisfaction surveys. The primary method of capturing patient satisfaction in the hospital industry is the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey (HCAHPS). The objective of this research is to delve deeper into the HCAHPS to identify how well the eight items included in the survey capture a patient’s overall satisfaction with a hospital using a graded response model (GRM). The results find that nurse communication alone is by far the highest discriminating item followed by staff responsiveness. Hospitals that are attempting to raise their patient satisfaction ratings should place greater focus on the training and management of their nursing and technician staff. Cleanliness and quietness are the least discriminating and the most difficult items meaning that these two items are not able to sort hospitals into patient satisfaction star rating scores well and need to be evaluated.

ABSTRACT. Abstract

The authors explore how appeal type, and its location can persuade consumer to be more willing toward sustainable consumption. More specifically, how the location, the timing and the prompt type would influence consumer sustainable consumption. This study is important for scholars and marketers to understand whether the appeal type along with the location can have great impact on sustainable consumption.