Marketing Commons^™

Spatial Future Ahead! Augmented Reality And Anticipated Life Consequences, Sergio Barta, Reto Felix, Chris Hinsch, Mahdokht Kalantari, Nina Krey, Philipp A. Rauschnabel

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study explores how initial exposure to immersive spatial computing experiences using AR headsets generates lasting inspiration and shapes consumers expected long-term life consequences (i.e., enhancement of reality, perceived substitutability and social impact).

Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a time-lagged research design based on 148 first-time users of spatial computing devices (AR headsets). Respondents were interviewed once shortly after being exposed to AR and a few days later. Data is analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings: Users' immediate “inspired-by” experiences predict increased “inspired-to” intentions days later. Such inspiration translates into anticipated consequences such as virtually customizing …

Taking Pride In Vegan Consumption: A Construal Level Theory Account Of Ad Message Appeal And Future Self Connectedness, Mona Safizadeh, Atefeh Yazdanparast, Reto Felix

Marketing Faculty Publications

Despite growing interest in vegan products, research examining the motivations, underlying psychological processes, and boundary conditions that drive consumer preference for vegan products remains limited. Drawing on theories of temporal self and appraisal theory, we find that an immediate message appeal (e.g., animal welfare), as compared to a future outcome message appeal (e.g., environmental benefits), leads to higher preference for vegan products. Anticipated consumption pride, but not guilt, mediates this relationship, highlighting the role of positive emotions in shaping ethical behavior. Furthermore, we examine how aligning the temporal orientation of advertising message appeals with individuals' construal mindsets, as primed by …

The Impact Of Npo Credibility On Enterprise Brand Image In Cause-Related Marketing: A Study Based On The Mediating Effect Of Perceived Corporate Hypocrisy, Jun Wang, Ling Zheng, Xinyi Li, Chiquan Guo

Marketing Faculty Publications

In recent years, scandals regarding the malpractices of many nonprofit organizations (NPOs) for selfish ends have eroded public trust in them. Therefore, it is necessary to consider whether the credibility of NPOs, as one of the three key implementers in cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns, has a transfer effect on enterprise brand image. The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between NPO credibility and enterprise brand image, along with its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. Drawing on the affect-transfer model as well as attribution theory, we propose a theoretical model. This model highlights the mediating role of …

Perceived Value Of Undergraduate Academic And Experiential Learning In Nonprofit And For-Profit Sector Hiring Decisions, Jack Gault, Steve Bok, Evan Leach

Marketing Faculty Publications

Rising tuition costs and growing scrutiny of higher education outcomes have renewed debate about the value of traditional subject-centered curricula. Employers increasingly demand graduates possessing transferable skills and applied experience, yet limited empirical research has compared how nonprofit and for-profit hiring managers evaluate different forms of student engagement. This study addresses that gap by surveying over 400 U.S. hiring managers who assessed 34 activities spanning academic achievement, work-integrated learning (WIL), and extracurricular/co-curricular involvement. Results show that while academic performance remains important, both for-profit and nonprofit employers are placing increased emphasis on competencies developed through applied and integrative learning. Importantly, nonprofit …

The Effects Of Academic, Extracurricular, And Co-Curricular Engagement On Undergraduate Employability And Compensation, Jack Gault, Steve Bok, Evan Leach, Marc Duey

Marketing Faculty Publications

Employers worldwide are increasingly seeking undergraduates who combine strong academic performance  with professional competencies developed through extracurricular and co-curricular activities. This  empirical investigation surveyed 651 U.S. and multinational hiring managers (HMs) to assess how these  factors influenced their internship and entry-level hiring decisions. Results indicate that while superior  academic performance (AP) remains paramount, HMs assigned well-rounded students engaged in relevant  ECAs and CCAs, higher perceived employability and compensation premiums (CPs). Candidates holding  leadership roles in activities directly related to their position of interest commanded the highest CPs.  Implications include early-career guidance for students, counselors, recruiters, and other higher education  institution …

A Meta-Narrative Of Consumer Journeys In Access-Based Consumption: A Case Of Fashion Rentals, Swapnil Saravade, Mohammad Ali Zolfagharian, Reto Felix, Lorena Garcia Ramon, Jacob Almaguer, Hazel Husne Dadanlar

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – The current research aims to identify a meta-narrative that depicts a big picture of the consumer journey with access-based consumption (ABC). Specifically, this research reveals the points of engagement and disengagement with ABC, as well as the transitions between them.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research methodology is applied wherein online reviews and blogs pertaining to Rent the Runway (RTR), an access-based fashion company that enables consumers to rent designer dresses and accessories, are analyzed. Specifically, individual textual narratives of users’ experiences with RTR are analyzed, and a meta-narrative is identified that depicts an overarching story of the …

The Marketing Of Populism And The Political-Economy Of War: Learning From The Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Aras Ozgun, Deniz Atik

Marketing Faculty Publications

This conceptual study explores the social and political-economic conditions that spawn competing campaigns of democracy, populism, and autocracy from a macromarketing perspective. It delves into the less visible and deeper contexts that produce contemporary autocracies and international crises they provoke by analyzing the autocratic regime in Russia that resulted in its invasion of Ukraine. Instead of the reductive framing of this conflict as a contest between unsystematic notions of democracy and autocracy, this study offers a nuanced understanding of contemporary autocracies by investigating the links between populist political movements, neoliberal ideology, and state-sponsored capitalism as a growth oriented political-economic form. …

Emoji Marketing: Toward A Theory Of Brand Paralinguistics, Jacob Almaguer, Reto Felix, Colleen M. Harmeling

Marketing Faculty Publications

Emojis, or pictographs that supplement or replace written language, have become ubiquitous in contemporary communication, including emoji marketing. Drawing on insights from linguistics and sign theory, the current research proposes an emoji marketing framework in which emoji symbolism (symbolic vs. iconic emoji use) affects consumers’ message appraisals (perceived message intimacy and clarity), which in turn influence brand cultural relevance (propositions P1 and P2). Emoji syntax (i.e., whether emojis are supplemented with text or not) and marketer-consumer group relatedness (shared vs. unshared group membership) moderate the relationship between emoji symbolism and consumers’ message appraisals. The framework suggests that messages that use …

Distance And Preference For Full Versus Shared Control: The Moderating Role Of Decision-Maker Self-Construal, Hyeyoon Jung, Peter Magnusson, Stanford A. Westjohn, Yi Peng, Douglas Dow

Marketing Faculty Publications

Previous research on the impact of distance on the choice between full versus shared control international market entry has produced inconsistent results. The authors suggest that the characteristics of the decision-maker may be an important boundary condition, which helps explain this inconsistency. Specifically, the authors examine how differences in decision-maker self-construal influence the effects of distance on entry mode decisions. To investigate the phenomenon, the authors use multiple methods to conduct three separate studies, including two experiments and a meta-analysis. The results offer consistent evidence that the distance–entry mode relationship is stronger for managers with an independent self-construal than for …

How Emerging-Market Brands Can Overcome A Weak Country Image, Mustafa Raji, Peter Magnusson, Yuri Martirosyan

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the relative effectiveness of different strategies that emerging-market brands can use to mitigate a weak country image.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs discrete choice conjoint analysis to evaluate the relative effectiveness of store image, warranty duration, third-party certification and corporate engagement on US consumers’ perceptions of products from China and Cambodia. China, representing an advanced emerging market, and Cambodia, representing a less advanced market, were selected to provide a diverse context for comparison. The study examines electric scooters (relatively more hedonic) and refrigerators (relatively more utilitarian) to test the robustness of the findings …

The Role Of Masculine And Feminine Gender Enactment In Hospitality Leadership, Michelle Russen, Mary Dawson, Tiffany Legendre

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose: The stereotypical assumptions of what it means to be hegemonically masculine and to be a leader are aligned in current society, potentially creating role incongruity for anyone who does not fit into this definition. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether masculine and feminine leadership traits of men and women hospitality managers affect employees’ intention to trust leaders and organizational attractiveness.

Design/Methods/Approach: Explanatory mixed methods were employed. First, two experiments (study 1 = woman manager, n = 137; study 2 = man manager, n = 117) were conducted with current hospitality employees to test the interaction of …

The Interplay Of Morality, Emotional Labor, And Customer Injustice: How Salesperson Experiences Shape Job Satisfaction, Omar S. Itani, Colin B. Gabler, Ashish Kalra, Khashayar Afshar Bakeshloo (Kash), Raj Agnihotri

Marketing Faculty Publications

Despite the significant role emotions play in business-to-business (B2B) sales transactions, the impact of salesperson emotional labor on well-being, specifically job satisfaction, has garnered limited attention. To address this gap, the present study examines the relationships among salesperson moral identity, emotional labor strategies, customer injustice, and job satisfaction. An analysis of responses from B2B salespeople reveals that moral identity internalization is positively related to deep acting and negatively to surface acting, whereas moral identity symbolization is positively related to both deep and surface acting. Furthermore, surface acting has a stronger unfavorable effect on customer injustice compared to deep acting, which …

The Effect Of Distance On Persuasion In International E-Mail Marketing Campaigns, Peter Magnusson, Stanford A. Westjohn

Marketing Faculty Publications

We investigate the relative effectiveness of different persuasive appeals in international e-mail customer acquisition marketing campaigns. We conducted three separate experiments, including two lab experiments and one field experiment, to examine the impact of different persuasive appeals on customers. Our research specifically focuses on consensus and authority-focused persuasive appeals. Our findings consistently show that when there is a small cultural distance between the seller and potential buyer, consensus appeals are more effective. On the other hand, when there is a large cultural distance, authority appeals are more effective.

(In)Attention To Attractive Brand Alternatives, Danielle J. Brick, Veronica L. Thomas

Marketing Faculty Publications

Understanding how consumers maintain their brand relationships has important implications for marketers as committed consumers contribute significant value to firms. In the present research, we propose and test one such way consumers protect their brand relationships, namely through attentional avoidance of attractive alternative partners. Across multiple studies, we find support for our theory that committed consumers avoid attending to alternative brand partners by recalling less about and spending less time focused on attractive alternatives. We further find that this inattention occurs because consumers view the competing brand as a threat to the consumer’s current relationship. In addition, we investigate a …

Ecolabel Persuasion Effect Across Cultures: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, Franklin Velasco, Omar S. Itani, Paul Cajina

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose: Companies around the world have included ecolabels as a marketing strategy to convince consumers to choose products with lower environmental impact. However, the literature lacks a consensus on the effectiveness of ecolabels in persuading consumers to choose green products. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by, first, evaluating the net persuasion effect of using ecolabels and, second, investigating the role of cultural orientations, operationalized at the country level, in this effect.

Methodology: This cross-cultural meta-analysis analyzed data from 26,116 consumers across 18 countries, encompassing 75 papers published between 1995 and 2023. Univariate and meta-regression analyses were utilized.

Findings: …

Consumer Possessed: A Comment On Assessing Belk’S “Possessions And The Extended Self”, A. Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

While outstanding in observing the contemporary experience of being a “consumer” to become a “canonical article” in consumer research, as Thompson deftly analyzes, Belk’s “Possessions and the Extended Self” is subject to varied traps of remaining within the “mainstream marketing’s ideological boat.” This commentary attempts to highlight these ideological traps as we hopefully escape contemporary capitalism’s system of production of consumer subjectivity.

Sales Team Value Co-Creation In Turbulent Markets: The Role Of Team Learning And Agility, Eddie Inyang, Omar S. Itani, Hayam Alnakhli, Juliana White

Marketing Faculty Publications

Value co-creation has emerged as a way for organizations to gain a competitive advantage and differentiate themselves from the competition. In the literature, a positive link has been found between value co-creation and firm performance. However, the impact of sales team value co-creation on performance has been largely unexplored. This study explores drivers of value co-creation by sales teams and its performance outcomes, with market turbulence as a contingency factor. Using a sample of 201 salespeople in 24 sales teams, the results indicate that when sales teams co-create value with customers, they can increase their sales performance. This effect is …

Consumer Product Perceptions Within Emerging Markets: The Product Adoption Process And Consumer Ethnocentrism, Miguel Sahagun, Larry L. Carter, Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga

Marketing Faculty Publications

The general acceptance of globalization and free trade across most national governments has led to the massive proliferation of foreign goods across the globe within the past few decades. As a result, the consumer adoption of imported products has been researched extensively; however, the bulk of these studies have focused on developed countries, leaving less developed and emerging countries vastly unexplored compared to their developed counterparts. Using Mexico to represent an emerging market with high levels of consumer ethnocentrism, this study examines the relationships among consumers’ attitudes toward imported products, their behavioral intentions, and consumer ethnocentrism within the product adoption …

Felt Something, Hence It Works: Merely Adding A Sensory Signal To A Product Improves Objective Measures Of Product Efficacy And Product Evaluations, Dan King, Sumitra Auschaitrakul, Yanfen (Cindy) You

Marketing Faculty Publications

Product efficacy is an important driver of product evaluation and product usage. This research examines how marketers can improve perceived and actual product efficacy. Given the managerial ease of adjusting product design, we demonstrate that adding a sensory signal (e.g., tingling, cooling, fizzing) to a product that promises positive outcomes would improve product evaluations and actual product efficacy. In five studies (and two additional studies reported in the Web Appendix), we show that sensory signaling (vs. nonsignaling) products elicit actual product choice and improve product evaluations, repurchase likelihood, recommendation likelihood, as well as objective measures of product efficacy (such as …

A Theory Of Innovation Diffusion: A Simulation Study, Chiquan Guo, Sudipto Sarkar, Sergio Garcia, Russell Adams

Marketing Faculty Publications

This study uses the agent-based modeling technique to discover propositions on innovation diffusion that are empirically testable. It finds the adoption rate is positively related to (1) the size of the population, (2) the degree of heterogeneity in consumer learning in the population, (3) the degree of heterogeneity in consumer innovativeness in the population, and (4) the fit-in- desire in the population for innovation. This research adds insights to the innovation diffusion literature and lays the groundwork for future empirical research.

The Effect Of Empathetic Response And Consumers’ Narcissism In Voice-Based Artificial Intelligence, Atieh Poushneh, Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga, Richard S. Gearhart

Marketing Faculty Publications

Voice-based artificial intelligence, or voice AI, is becoming more prevalent in consumers' daily transactions. Utilizing the perception-action model of empathy, this study aims to understand the holistic nature of empathetic responses in voice AI and how this technology, when rendered empathetic, can affect consumers' attention to auditory information (perceived attention) and auditory information exploration, by reaching expected outcomes of the interactive process, consumer satisfaction, and consumers' willingness to use voice AI. The results of two pretests and two experiments explain the effect of empathetic response in voice AI on consumers' perceived attention and its subsequent effect on consumers' auditory information …

The Impact Of Republican Ceo Ideology And Political Alignment On R&D Spending And Business Performance, Chiquan Guo, Md Noman Hossain, Mark Kroll, Ahmed M. Elnahas, Brandon Ater

Marketing Faculty Publications

Based on a sample of firms in the S&P 1500 index covering the years 1993 to 2016, we find that firms with Republican CEOs spend less on R&D compared to their Democratic counterparts. However, Republican CEOs ratchet up their R&D spending when a Republican is in the Oval Office. Furthermore, we find that R&D spending is negatively related to return on assets (ROA), which is indicative of the risky nature of R&D spending, but R&D is positively related to Tobin Q, a longer-term performance measure. As a consequence, when Republican CEOs manage under a Republican president, the …

The Effects Of Relationship Quality And Duration On Negative Word-Of-Mouth After A Low-Contact Service Failure, Tuğberk Kara, Tugba Tugrul

Marketing Faculty Publications

This article examines the effects of relationship quality (RQ) and relationship duration (RD) on negative word-of-mouth (WoM) after a low-contact service failure. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected through a scenario-based online survey (n=153). First, unlike the inconsistent findings in high-contact service research, the results showed that RQ led to decreased negative WoM in low-context service failures, namely telecommunication. Second, this research contributes to the literature by revealing the negative effect of RD on customers’ tendency to spread negative WoM. In addition, RD did not moderate the relationship between RQ and negative WoM.

The 4c Framework: Towards A Holistic Understanding Of Consumer Engagement With Augmented Reality, Philipp A. Rauschnabel, Reto Felix, Jonas Heller, Chris Hinsch

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• The 4C framework highlights four unique characteristics of AR: Consumer, Content, Context, and Computing Device.

• Engagement with AR derives from an alignment of the 4 Cs.

• The paper advances theory by using the lens of complexity theory to explain how to engage consumers in AR experiences.

• The framework offers significant implications for managers and scholars.

• It allows systematic approaches to assess, communicate, and develop AR applications across various disciplines.

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging concept that impacts many disciplines, such as business, marketing, tourism, gaming, human–computer interaction, and manufacturing. Surprisingly, many scholarly and practical discussions overlook the …

How Does Big Data Affect Organizational Financial Performance In Turbulent Markets? The Role Of Customer-Linking And Selling Capabilities, Omar S. Itani, Ashish Kalra, Amin Rostami

Marketing Faculty Publications

The information age provides vast opportunities for organizations to improve their efficiencies by relying on big data-AI empowered analytics (BDA). The purpose of this study is to address the critical question of how BDA-fit affects organizational financial performance, taking into consideration differences between markets and customer change caused by technology turbulence. Using data collected at the firm level and building on Task- Technology Fit Theory and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, empirical results indicate that BDA-fit is important to drive organizational financial performance through the development of customer-linking and selling capabilities. These results vary across markets, with BDA-fit having stronger effects on …

4 Art, Fashion, And The Human Condition, Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this chapter, I wish to investigate the contemporary status and role of art and fashion together with the conditions that humanity faces resulting from modern constructions of art and fashion. I begin with the understanding that, as is the case with all concepts, art and fashion do not have a meaning that endures across all historical epochs or cultural contexts, even when they may possess some essences that make it possible to have a degree of continuity of popular conception across time and context. In each epoch and in every culture, however, they take on certain particularities imbued in …

10 The Illusion Of Democracy In Fashion Industry, Deniz Atik, Zeynep Ozdamar Ertekin

Marketing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Editorial: Towards An Emerging Science Of Customer Loyalty To Retail Stores: Explanation, Drivers, And Frameworks, Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga, Miguel Sahagun, Fabio Musso

Marketing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unpacking The Influencing Factors Of Telehealth Usage Among Older Consumers, Xiaojing Sheng, Yuri Martirosyan, Khondoker Sayeed Hossain, Reto Felix, Arjun Singh

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research unpacks the challenges and motivations of telehealth usage among older consumers—an understudied population in the extant telehealth literature. Through surveying a sample of older consumers who regularly migrate to winter in the southern areas of the United States, our qualitative analysis uncovers motivations (i.e., convenience, ease of use, efficiency, and a forced option) and challenges (i.e., telehealth limitations, privacy concerns, and lack of trust, access, and skills) of older consumers’ telehealth usage. Further, logistic regression identifies attitude toward telehealth, gender, and health status as significant predictors of telehealth usage behavior. Contributions to theory and practice are also discussed.

Necessity Entrepreneurship: An Examination Of Control Beliefs, Suwakitti Amornpan, Leon Schjoedt, Krittaya Sangboon

Marketing Faculty Publications

In the context of necessity entrepreneurship, control beliefs (that is, entrepreneurial locus of control and entrepreneurial self-efficacy) are examined as individual moderators and as simultaneous moderators of the effect perceived economic uncertainty has on entrepreneurial intention. Using recognized measures and an online questionnaire, data from a sample of 285 undergraduate business students are used to test a series of hypotheses. While confirming past findings, the results also provide surprising findings. The findings provide potential explanations for why previous research varies regarding locus of control, while the results are consistent with past entrepreneurship research on self-efficacy. Importantly, the results show that …