Marketing Commons^™

Is Sales Competition A Good Motivator Or A Bad Idea? The Underlying Mechanism Of Threat Appraisals, William J. Zahn Ph.D., Yi Peng, Willy Bolander, Bryan Hochstein, David Mathis

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The common logic for competition in sales organizations is simple: as salespeople compete with one another, the sales performance of the entire group should increase. Some prior research has supported this notion, while other studies suggested that competition may adversely affect employees. Our research finds both positions have merit, as a salesperson's perceptions of a competitive psychological climate (CPC) increase sales performance and turnover intentions. To explain this countervailing effect, we turn to cognitive appraisal theory to demonstrate that salesperson appraisal of the environment motivates their behavior. Specifically, salesperson threat appraisals act as a mediator between CPC to performance and …

Social Media Influencers: Talk Is Not Cheap!, Antoinette Okono

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Social media influencers are digital opinion leaders who have amassed large followings on social media. Through their content and communication on social commerce platforms, and social networking sites, social media influencers can influence their audience's attitude towards brands and encourage purchase decisions. This paper explores the impact of social media influencers on the relationship between social commerce and purchase intention. Since the relationship between social commerce and purchase intention has been thoroughly examined by researchers, I discover through reviewing the literature how an independent entity can impact social media consumers' attitudes and purchase decisions. Specifically, I analyze the social commerce …

The Unintended Effects Of Tamper-Evident Packaging, Marissa Orlowski, Sarah Lefebvre, Laura Boman

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Third-party food delivery (TPFD) services such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub introduces increased opportunities for contamination through the introduction of unknown variables between the restaurant and consumer. Across two studies, we examine the effect of tamper-evident food packaging closures in a TPFD context, revealing a negative effect of a tamper-evident seal on willingness to pay through decreased satisfaction. This negative effect is robust across both food and beverages. Finally, consumers’ perception of risk of illness (PRI) from TPFD moderates this effect.

Facilitating The Choice Of College Major Using The Consumer Decision Process, Content Marketing, And Social Media, Julie M. Pharr

AMTP Proceedings 2022

This paper demonstrates how digital content and patterns of online engagement may be used at every stage of the consumer decision process to influence and inform the choice of college major. Implications and recommendations for college and departmental websites concerning how they can best assist prospective students in choosing a college major are highlighted throughout the paper. With its focus on process, this paper concretely shows how colleges and their academic departments can effectively leverage digital marketing and the consumer decision process to facilitate the college major choice process.

Examining The Relationships Between Branding Factors And Likelihood Of Recommending: Determinants Of Net Promoter Score, Musa Pinar, Tulay Girard

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The study identifies the branding factors related to Net Promoter Score (NPS) that would predict the likelihood of recommending the two strategic business units of the company--convenience store and fuel. It investigates customer perceptions of branding factors of a convenience store/fuel station corporate chain and the relationships among them. The data were collected from the members of the company’s loyalty program. The results reveal that the company has been performing well in branding factors, where the loyalty program is perceived the highest, followed by friendly employees, likelihood to recommend fuel, satisfaction with fuel, and helpful employees. The correlation and regression …

The Perils Of Using Self-Deprecating Humor: Customer Evaluations Of The Firm After A Service Failure, Hyunju Shin, Lindsay R. Levine

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The current study investigates the firm’s potential use of self-deprecating humor in response to a service failure and examines resulting consumer evaluations. This study utilizes two scenario-based experiments conducted in the contexts of online retailing and restaurant service. The findings indicate that self-deprecating humor leads to customers’ negative evaluations of the company by decreasing forgiveness intentions toward the company. The mechanism which explains low forgiveness intentions is found to involve heightened perception of dishonesty. Moreover, when perceived benignness of the failure is low (vs. high), self-deprecating humor has a stronger adverse effect on perceived dishonesty. This study suggests that firms …

Business Faculty’S Communication Strategies For Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sohyoun Shin

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus has far-reaching effects in the field of higher education. College faculty have been challenged by the abrupt changes, but still have to deliver the lessons and help students achieve the learning goals as well as pay attention to the impact of the pandemic on students’ wellbeing and socio-emotional development. It is essential to conduct a qualitative research to understand experienced business faculty’s communication strategies and suggest instantly applicable advices for other business instructors from a crisis communication perspective as well as through an instructional strategy lens. This extended abstract includes the results of …

Attendance Of International Students At U.S. Colleges And Universities, Nader H. Shooshtari

AMTP Proceedings 2022

U.S. colleges and universities have traditionally been lauded as a Mecca for attracting international students. Touted as offering the best higher education in the world, international students from around the world have traditionally flocked to U.S. educational institutions. This influx brought opportunities for international students while providing U.S. higher education institution additional revenue and a diverse student body. Beginning with the Trump Administration’s inward tilt, the welcome mat for international students was removed and the COVID pandemic added to the uncertainty and difficulty of accepting international students to U.S. and indeed much of the western countries that traditionally served as …

“Just Hanging With My Friends”: U.S. Latina/O/X’S Perspectives On Parasocial Relationships In Podcast Listening During Covid-19, Arthur D. Soto-Vasquez, Olga Vilceanu, Kristine Johnson

AMTP Proceedings 2022

There is a need to delve into major subgroups among Latina/o/xs and identify emerging patterns in their understanding and consumption of new media. This study used six small-group interviews to explore the fluidity of parasocial dynamics with podcasts in the context of young Latina/o/x podcast listeners experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown. The conceptual acronym EASY (Engaged Experience, Accessible Authenticity, Socialization in Solitude, and Youth and YouTube) was developed to interpret pandemic listening amount Latina/o/x podcast users.

The Application Of Kahneman’S Concepts To Marketing Police In Ontario, Canada, Pritpal Thind, Steve Lemay, Dave Mcmahon

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Marketing concepts are rarely applied to policing, although for most modern societies it is an essential function and part of the social contract between governments at all levels and the publics they serve. In this paper, we look specifically at how marketing concepts apply to policing in Ontario, Canada. We frame our examination with concepts like the halo effect, the availability effect, and other ideas outlined by Kahneman (2013).

Communicating Temporary Brick-And-Mortar Store Closures During Covid-19 Lockdowns In The Uk, Zsofia Toth, Tristan Emerson, Nikolina Koporcic, Sally Mckechnie, Muzna Shehzad

AMTP Proceedings 2022

This research examines how retail businesses from central England’s Midlands region communicated temporary closure of their brick-and-mortar stores via shop window messages during the first two Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. These closure notices represent important forms of crisis communication for businesses, which display various levels of information, emotional language, or functional intent, and offer signposts for business continuity. 417 shop window closure notices were photographed - 167 and 250 from the first and second periods of lockdown respectively. In order to analyse the data, a multimodal social semiotic framework was employed, allowing the study to examine the language, design and …

Exploring Stakeholders’ Perceptions Toward Event Innovations, Sophie Unson, Wei Wang Dr.

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Although the impacts of COVID-19 have been negative and long-lasting, the hospitality and tourism industry has seen the creation of new processes and ideas as a result. The events industry in particular, has a lack of research on innovative practices; therefore, this study will examine new innovations that emerged from the global pandemic. This study utilizes a multi-method research style, in which it qualitatively examines industry professional’s strategies to combat the pandemic and quantitatively measures consumers responses. The current results of the study show six major qualitative themes that will used to measure the consumer’s perceptions of events during the …

Anti-Consumption: A Preliminary Examination Of A Set Of Social Considerations That Impact A Consumer’S Decision To ‘Punish’ Marketers Deemed To Be Engaging In Irresponsible Behavior, Tammy Mccullough, Ania Izabela Rynarzewska, Sam Fullerton

AMTP Proceedings 2022

A sample of 175 students from two universities provided insight regarding the rationale for engaging in anti-consumption behavior. A review of the literature identified myriad reasons why consumers engage in personal boycotts. This study examines 12 of these reasons: environmental concerns, political stance, religious orientation/affiliation, country-of-origin (COO), attitudes towards the LGBTQ community, the size of the marketer, the use of disliked celebrity endorsers, the use of offensive marketing tactics (e.g. advertising), animal cruelty including the use of live animal testing, perceived violations of basic human rights, employing a nonunionized workforce, and employment-related discrimination based on the gender, age, race, religion, …

Monetizing Student Projects: Advice For Marketing Educators, Zach Moore

AMTP Proceedings 2022

As resources become more scarce in colleges of business, it is increasingly important for faculty members to be creative to generate revenue for their programs. This paper provides several tips for using student projects to raise funds for student development.

The Need For Non-Market Strategy: Epistemic Communities, Globesity And The Marketing Of Fast Food, Amit Mukherjee, Naz Onel

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Our preliminary research indicates the gradual coalescence of several disparate pressure groups into an epistemic community on the issue of curbing marketing practices in the quest for global obesity control. The epistemic community has converged on the WHO as the most receptive political venue and is engaged in information politics, symbolic politics, leverage politics, and accountability politics in its attempt to guide the WHO toward the path of a global regulatory regime on the marketing of fast food.

The Effect Of Diversity Initiatives By Brands On Consumer Perceptions, Dolph F. Nelson Iv, Laura Boman

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Over the course of the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of brands that are using their platforms to raise awareness for and support social justice causes/initiatives, such as gender equality in sports, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo. Cause-related marketing (CRM), the broader terminology under which this practice falls under, has been the primary subject of prior research projects. Westberg (2004) suggests that consumers respond more favorably to CRM initiatives compared to sponsorship and sales promotion, and that there is some support that CRM initiatives help in increasing consumer attitudes of a brand. Other prior …

Saving Face: Comparing The Effects Of Endorsement Marketing Strategies On Millennial Americans, Alessandra Noli, Sindy Chapa, Daniela Castillo, Tim O'Hara, Anna Dean, Tyler Trobert

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The rapid boom of social media in the 21^st century has positioned it as a key instrument in the realm of marketing. Social media has also given rise to a new kind of endorser: the influencer. The present study tested the effects of expert influencers vs traditional celebrities on brand attitude and purchase intentions of makeup products, within a cohort of millennials. Results showed respondents tended to favor the expert influencer in terms of perceived expertise, brand attitude and purchase intention. This has important implications for marketers when it comes to deciding upon an endorser for their brand, with …

Love At First Touch: How Swiping Vs. Typing Changes Online Dating Decision-Making, Farhana Nusrat, Yaniu Huang, Cait Lamberton

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Online dating is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Due to its increasing popularity, various dimensions of online dating have been studied in recent years. However, no research has explored how the type of digital platforms used impacts online dating. In this research, we investigate how the use of different platforms (computers vs. smartphones) can influence customers’ decision-making process in the context of online dating. Through multiple studies, we demonstrate that while using their computers (vs. smartphones) to evaluate dating profiles, customers will prioritize the inner attributes of the person (e.g., personality and compatibility). Moreover, the effect …

Bitcoin: Bringing New Meaning To Purchasing Power & Bridging The Wealth Gap, Fabienne Cadet

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Bitcoin has emerged as a hot topic in our marketplace. Launched in 2009, Bitcoin is considered the first cryptocurrency, which is a virtual currency, devoid of any physical form. This paper takes a strategic approach to investigating Bitcoin usage. Additionally, the paper provides insight on the societal impact of Bitcoin. As its demand increases, it appears that Bitcoin is here to stay, therefore gaining a better understanding of this new form of currency and its impact on the market is crucial. The paper begins with background information on Bitcoin, followed by an overview of current Bitcoin users, which provides insight …

The Patient-Centric Blockchain, Sunil Erevelles, Maanasi Bulusu, Timea Honeycutt, Stephanie Seligman, Padma Bulusu

AMTP Proceedings 2022

A revolution is brewing in the healthcare marketplace. In the early nineties, the World Wide Web initiated a new era for the use of the Internet in the consumption of healthcare services. This eventually led to the Big Data movement (Erevelles et al. 2016), which initiated a non-linear transformation in healthcare analytics and developed into a dominant paradigm in the healthcare marketplace. However, the World Wide Web architecture was never designed to support a marketplace in healthcare or, for that matter, a marketplace of any other kind. It was primarily designed for the sharing of information and was even referred …

The Perceptions And Experiences Of Human Resources Recruiters Regarding Linkedin As An Online Personal Branding Representation Of Recent Business Graduates, Carlos Valdez, Carole Ann Creque, David Penn, James Gallo

AMTP Proceedings 2022

This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of Human Resource Recruiters regarding LinkedIn as an online personal branding representation of recent business program graduates by using a phenomenological approach. The population of interest comprises Human Resource Recruiters that use LinkedIn and hire recent business graduates.The recordings and or transcripts of the interviews were utilized to conduct an interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify broader themes across the data set. The identified themes follow the same order as the questions conducted during the sessions. The five themes that emerged are (1) Social platforms utilized by HR recruiters, (2) HR recruiters' …

Building A Personal Brand Using Impression Management In Social Networks, Carlos Valdez, Jorge Villegas

AMTP Proceedings 2022

As digital social networks become an integral part of career placement, advancement, and professional networks, young professionals are required to find ways to compete for the attention of potential and current employers. One of the theories that have been used across diverse areas from marketing scholars (Zamudio et al., 2013, Close et al., 2011; Noble et al., 2010) to fashion models (Parmentier et al., 2013) to understand self-promotion for professionals is personal branding. Recent articles like Swaminathan et al. (2020) have expressed the need to understand better how consumers are branding themselves in the hyperconnected world and what psychological consequences …

Spending All Your Money On Me: Influencer Marketing’S Impact On Engagement, Rebecca A. Vanmeter, Michael C. Peasley, Parker J. Woodroof

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Influencer marketing has been around for a few years and is rapidly approaching a $15 billion industry by 2022. In its nascency, the research is limited which investigates factors that substantiate the growth and popularity of advertising tools. In this study, we propose and explicate how two different types of influencers, namely mega- and macro-influencers, impact their audience's engagement with sponsored posts. Utilizing secondary data from more than 650 Instagram posts, our results suggest mega-influencers are able to mitigate the negative effect of utilizing various post attributes, including meta-tags and product prominence.

Human Chefs Cook More Calories: The Impact Of Human (Vs. Robotic) Food Producer On Calorie Estimation, Wenyan Yin, Yanliu Huang, Cait Lamberton

AMTP Proceedings 2022

This research explores how the production mode (human-made vs. robot-made) has an impact on calorie estimation for vice and virtue food. Across 3 studies, we find that healthy food is inferred to have more calories when it is produced by a robot than by a human whereas the effect is reversed for unhealthy food. Unhealthy food produced by a human is estimated to have more calories than the counterpart.

Flipping The Online Classroom – Comparing The Effectiveness Of Two Teaching Modalities For Online Experiential Learning Activities, William J. Zahn Ph.D.

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Marketing educators recognize the importance of imparting theoretical marketing knowledge while also helping students acquire marketable skills through experiential learning. Experiential learning is active, reflective learning that encourages linking abstract lessons with concrete activities. Experiential education is learning by doing (Cowley, 2020; Frontczak, 1998),

Courses have shifted away from in-person lectures and moved online due to the Covid-19 epidemic (Thomason 2020). This shift has left an open question of the best way to include experiential learning in an online learning environment. In short, how can students best prepare for and learn from experiential learning without having face-to-face meetings with their …

Slogans As Persuasive Accelerants Of Electronic Word-Of-Mouth Communication: A Preliminary Conceptual Model, Theo Lynn, Pierangelo Rosati, Charles M. Wood

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Brands have been conceptualized as being made up of three different components: name, logo and slogan (Keller 1993, Dass, Kumar, Kohli, & Thomas, 2014). Slogans are short, memorable phrases that are often used to sign off on advertisements. They characterize a large proportion of brand advertising and are designed to attract consumer attention, crystallize brand positioning, increase advertising memorability, and improve brand affinity (Keller, 1993). Slogans have been part of our world for millennia, and a staple in the advertising world since its inception. Less complex messages – i.e., slogans – have been associated with improved advertising effectiveness (Lowrey 1998). …

How Cultural Factors Affect Chinese Americans’ Attitudes Towards Seeking Mental Health Services, Arlene Q. Chen, Xinji Xiao, Yueting Wu, Xuan Zhang, Sindy Chapa

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Chinese Americans are the largest ethnic group among Asian Americans. However, the treatment rate for mental illness among Chinese Americans is much lower compared to other ethnic groups. Studies have been conducted on cultural barriers that prevent Asian Americans from seeking mental health treatment, but there is a lack of research on specific ethnic groups, such as Chinese Americans or Korean Americans because they are frequently grouped into homogenous clusters. This study will identify the cultural factors that influence Chinese Americans’ attitudes towards seeking mental health treatment and analyze how these factors affect their behaviors in seeking mental health treatment.

An Exploration Of How Having A Materialistic Value Is Related To An Environmentally Sensitive Personality., Sooyeon Choi

AMTP Proceedings 2022

This study aims to examine how having materialistic value is related to an environmentally sensitive personality. The proposed model has been empirically tested using the survey data collected from 150 consumers in the United States. The results showed that different aspects of materialism have a different effect on pro-environmental belief and attitude, indicating the potentially complex implications of materialism on sustainable practices.

Investigating Consumer Choice Criteria For Free Services, Samer Elhajjar, Shaheen Borna, Russ Wahlers

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Behavioral sciences recognize the following steps in the consumer purchase decision process: recognition of a problem or a need, search for information, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation. There is a plethora of research related to the aforementioned consumer decision-making process. The unanswered question in the marketing literature is: what changes, if any, in the consumer's decision process will be observed if they can obtain the product free of charge. Results of our study indicate that when consumers are spending their money on themselves, they are very careful and want to get the most for their money. On the …

You Don't Belong: Exploring Luxury Branding Strategy, Lauren E. Beverly, Jamye Foster

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Luxury branding strategies create impressions of exclusivity which is transmitted into the brand’s products and retail spaces. Exclusivity is a necessary component to create consumer desire despite limitations of accessibility, time, effort, and pricing. A new population of aspirational shoppers, known as Chandlers, highly value exclusive brands as they increase perceptions of social status. This study will examine the impact of loud vs. discrete luxury branding on perceptions of brand status and browsing intentions, and the moderating impact of the Chandler effect.