Marketing Commons^™

What Is Xr? Towards A Framework For Augmented And Virtual Reality, Philipp A. Rauschnabel, Reto Felix, Chris Hinsch, Hamza Shahab, Florian Alt

Marketing Faculty Publications

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality, and Extended Reality (often – misleadingly – abbreviated as XR) are commonly used terms to describe how technologies generate or modify reality. However, academics and professionals have been inconsistent in their use of these terms. This has led to conceptual confusion and unclear demarcations. Inspired by prior research and qualitative insights from XR professionals, we discuss the meaning and definitions of various terms and organize them in our proposed framework. As a result, we conclude that (1) XR should not be used to connote extended reality, but as a more open approach …

B2b Ewom On Alibaba: Signaling Through Online Reviews In Platform-Based Social Exchange, Zsófia Tóth, Mona Mrad, Omar S. Itani, Jun Luo, Martin J. Liu

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• The study explores buyers' signaling of observable and unobservable supplier characteristics on the Alibaba e-platform.

• Key B2B eWOM themes that the study identifies are: product/service quality, human touch, responsiveness, and resilience.

• Findings demonstrate that human touch is vital in B2B e-platform environments too, not only in physical reality.

• Buyers' signals aim at suppliers as well as at prospective buyers and implicitly buyers send signals about themselves too.

• Signaling Theory is applied to address the signaling process, while Social Exchange Theory informs relevant cost-benefit assessments.

Abstract

This study investigates the contemporary role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in business exchanges through …

The Role Of Wisdom In Navigating Social Media Paradoxes: Implications For Consumers, Firms, And Public Policy, Abigail B. Schneider, Sunaina Chugani, Tavleen Kaur, Jason Stornelli, Michael Luchs, Marat Bakpayev, Tessa Garcia-Collart, Bridget Leonard, Lydia Ottlewski, Laura Pricer

Marketing Faculty Publications

Social media has transformed the nature of communication and simultaneously given rise to paradoxes—irresolvable situations where contradictory elements co-exist. These paradoxes are pervasive, and they can jeopardize consumer welfare because they are difficult to navigate. In this conceptual paper, we argue that the principles of wisdom provide a unique and constructive lens through which to view the social media landscape with the aim of maximizing well-being. We illustrate three social media paradoxes at individual, interpersonal, and societal levels of analysis. We also translate wisdom theory into practical recommendations for consumers, marketers, and public policy makers to facilitate wiser use of …

When The Green In Green Packaging Backfires: Gender Effects And Perceived Masculinity Of Environmentally Friendly Products, Reto Felix, Eva M. González, Raquel Castaño, Lorena Carrete, Richard T. Gretz

Marketing Faculty Publications

Previous research has emphasized the importance of product packaging to consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, but empirical studies that explore the specific mechanisms by which packaging color influences marketing-relevant downstream variables in relation to environmentally friendly products is scarce. The current research addresses this gap by building on insights from theories on consumption values, gender roles, and gendered products. In two studies, the current research shows (1) how color-induced perceptions of masculinity can trigger perceived product effectiveness and purchase intentions, (2) how competing mediation through masculinity and perceived fit with the product category influences perceived product effectiveness and purchase intentions …

Complementary Effects Of Crm And Social Media On Customer Co-Creation And Sales Performance In B2b Firms: The Role Of Salesperson Self-Determination Needs, Omar S. Itani, Ashish Kalra, Jen Riley

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Social media, CRM technology & social CRM enrich the knowledge of salespeople.

• Social media, CRM technology & social CRM support value co-creation efforts.

• Knowledge mediates the effects of social media, CRM technology, and social CRM.

• Job autonomy & sales quota ease moderate the effect of knowledge on value co-creation.

• Value co-creation increases sales performance.

Abstract

This study examines the effects of salespeople's social media and customer relationship management (CRM) technology use on value co-creation through knowledge and the downstream impact on sales performance. Based on task-technology fit and self-determination theories, the findings reveal that social media, CRM technology, and …

Trust Propensity Across Cultures: The Role Of Collectivism, Stanford A. Westjohn, Peter Magnusson, George R. Franke, Yi Peng

Marketing Faculty Publications

Does collectivism influence an individual's willingness to trust others? Conflicting empirical results from past research and the role of trust in international marketing make this question important to resolve. We investigate this question across cultures and at the individual level with four studies using multiple methods. Study 1 establishes correlational evidence between societal-level collectivism and individual-level trust propensity with results from a multi-level analysis of data from over 6,000 respondents in 36 different countries. Study 2 offers an individual-level analysis using the trust game, introducing a more rigorous behavioral outcome variable. Study 3 contributes causal evidence at the individual level …

Salesperson Moral Identity And Value Co-Creation, Omar S. Itani, Larry Chonko, Raj Agnihotri

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of salesperson moral identity centrality in value co-creation. This study identified and tested an extended identity-based formation process of selling orientation, customer orientation and value co-creation. This was accomplished by examining the role of inclusion of others in the self and circle of moral regard in the mechanism through which moral identity centrality impacts selling orientation, customer orientation and value co-creation, taking into account the contingency role of salesperson self-construal.

Design/methodology/approach

An extended identity-behavior model grounded in identity theory and the social-cognitive perspective of moral identity centrality was tested. …

The Role Of Entitlement And Perceived Resources In Gratitude’S Effect On Materialism: Longitudinal And Situational Effects, Hyunjung Crystal Lee, Sunaina Chugani, Jae-Eun Namkoong

Marketing Faculty Publications

Gratitude plays a prominent role in marketing and consumer behavior. Yet, limited causal evidence has demonstrated how gratitude works or how gratitude-based marketing influences purchase decisions. We address this gap using four studies. Studies 1 and 2, both longitudinal experiments, illustrate that gratitude reduces materialistic values by decreasing entitlement and perceived resource scarcity. Studies 3A and 3B examine the effect of gratitude on materialism in a marketing context and illustrate that gratitude-based campaigns can shift consumer preference away from material goods and toward experiential purchases. Our findings suggest that gratitude-based marketing efforts reduce materialistic values and purchases and promote experiential …

Marketing And Market, A. Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this paper, a contradiction that has developed between the key economic institution of modernity, the market, and its institutionalized practices, marketing, is explored. This paper makes observations beyond earlier discussions of this contradiction based on the history of perspectival developments in the orientations of the discipline and in marketing practices. Specifically, separation of marketing practice from consumers resulting in its conceptualization as a provisional set of activities, and the turn from a focus on needs to a focus on exchange resulting in an emphasis on the health of the market rather than on the health of the people are …

Design Power And Potential Future Of Global Organization Of Life, A. Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this essay I propose a definition of design to address its potential role in largely determining power relations in the future. Some foundational discussion of wealth, culturally constructed differently in different historical times, trends of corporatization in the contemporary world, and the birth of control society is presented to help understand the possibilities and difficulties of building future organizations of life. I invite discussions and dialogues to widen and deepen the concept of design power.

Inside Sales Social Media Use And Its Strategic Implications For Salesperson-Customer Digital Engagement And Performance, Nawar N. Chaker, Edward L. Nowlin, Maxwell T. Pivonka, Omar S. Itani, Raj Agnihotri

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Inside salespeople rely on four main strategies when it comes to using social media in their roles to engage with customers.

• Inside sales strategic social media use leads to higher levels of customer digital engagement and, ultimately, performance.

• Firm digital technology resources may shape the effects of inside sales strategic social media use.

Abstract

The nature of inside sales has shifted, increasing in autonomy, importance, and scope. Moreover, buyers are changing their preferences from face-to-face interactions to virtual-based relationships, leading to a future full of opportunities for inside salespeople using social media. The practitioner literature suggests that inside sales …

Collecting Samples From Online Services: How To Use Screeners To Improve Data Quality, Aaron D. Arndt, John B. Ford, Barry J. Babin, Vinh Luong

Marketing Faculty Publications

Increasingly, marketing and consumer researchers rely on online data collection services. While actively-managed data collection services directly assist with the sampling process, minimally-managed data collection services, such as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), leave researchers solely responsible for recruiting, screening, cleaning, and evaluating responses. The research reported here proposes a 2 × 2 framework based on sampling goal and methodology for screening and evaluating the quality of online samples. By sampling goals, screeners can be categorized as selection, which involves matching the sample with the targeted population; or as accuracy, which involves ensuring that participants are appropriately attentive. By …

Artificial Empathy In Marketing Interactions: Bridging The Human-Ai Gap In Affective And Social Customer Experience, Yuping Liu-Thompkins, Shintaro Okazaki, Hairong Li

Marketing Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform firm-customer interactions. However, current AI marketing agents are often perceived as cold and uncaring and can be poor substitutes for human-based interactions. Addressing this issue, this article argues that artificial empathy needs to become an important design consideration in the next generation of AI marketing applications. Drawing from research in diverse disciplines, we develop a systematic framework for integrating artificial empathy into AI-enabled marketing interactions. We elaborate on the key components of artificial empathy and how each component can be implemented in AI marketing agents. We further explicate and test how artificial empathy generates …

Consumers’ Health-Locus-Of-Control And Social Distancing In Pandemic-Based E-Tailing Services, Omar S. Itani, Linda D. Hollebeek

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

COVID-19 and its precautions, including social distancing, have revolutionized traditional retailing- and consumption patterns. In this turbulent environment, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, this paper explores the direct effect of consumers’ internal/external health locus-of-control on their hygiene consciousness, which, in turn, affects their social distancing behavior. Second, this study posits that social distancing, in turn, impacts consumers’ current online grocery shopping behavior and their future online grocery shopping intentions, thus uncovering important insight.

Design/methodology/approach

To address these gaps, this paper develops a model that links consumers’ internal/external health locus-of-control to their adoption of e-tailing-based grocery services. …

Explaining Loyalty In Higher Education: A Model And Comparative Analysis From The Policy Of Gratuity, A Case Applied To Chile, Maritza Katherine Galindo-Illanes, Juan Alejandro Gallegos-Mardones, Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga

Marketing Faculty Publications

Since the 1980s, numerous transformations in higher education were experienced in Latin America, and especially in Chile, a country that allowed private entities to enter the education systems and develop a market. The opportunity triggered an increase of coverage and competition to capture and retain students, followed by marketing strategies delivering student satisfaction and pursuing student loyalty. Moreover, since 2012, higher education institutions in Chile have been allowed to adopt a policy of gratuity, giving families the co-responsibility of dealing with the cost of education. So, some institutions adopted gratuity and continued receiving funds from the state, but others did …

Counting Monopoly Money Twice: Resale Discounting In Consumer-To-Consumer Exchange, Catherine A. Armstrong Soule, Sara Hanson

Marketing Faculty Publications

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) secondhand exchange activity has exploded due to increased user connectivity stemming from widespread digital platform development and adoption. This research focuses on the effects of participation in secondhand exchange collectives on price perceptions. In three studies, the authors find that participation in secondhand exchange leads to price perception changes at various stages of the buying and reselling process, including traditional retail purchase decisions via resale discounting, a novel decision making bias. This research demonstrates that secondhand markets can cause individuals who are considering a purchase to (1) view firsthand prices as more reasonable and (2) increase purchase likelihood …

Social Credibility: Trust Formation In Social Commerce, Lena Cavusoglu, Deniz Atik

Marketing Faculty Publications

Trust formation in informal social commerce, also considered lateral exchange markets (LEMs) on social media platforms, has different dynamics from e-commerce and traditional consumerto‐ consumer (C2C) exchange. These online markets are massive in scale; thus, it is an important phenomenon in consumer research. With a holistic perspective, we conducted in-depth interviews with Instagram consumers and sellers. Our research is among the first to reveal an empirical understanding of the critical dynamics of trust formation in LEMs within social commerce and contribute to theory by introducing a novel dimension termed social credibility. Social credibility surpasses the source credibility evaluations one step …

Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Visitors' Virtual Reality (Versus In-Person) Attraction Site Tour-Related Behavioral Intentions During And Post-Covid-19, Omar S. Itani, Linda D. Hollebeek

Marketing Faculty Publications

Consumer behavior is changing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus compelling attraction sites to find new ways of offering safe tours to visitors. Based on protection motivation theory, we develop and test a model that examines key drivers of visitors' COVID-19-induced social distancing behavior and its effect on their intent to use virtual reality-based (vs. in-person) attraction site tours during and post-COVID-19. Our analyses demonstrate that visitor-perceived threat severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy raise social distancing behavior. In turn, social distancing increases (decreases) visitors' intent to use virtual reality (in-person) tours during the pandemic. We find social …

“Us” To Co-Create Value And Hate “Them”: Examining The Interplay Of Consumer-Brand Identification, Peer Identification, Value Co-Creation Among Consumers, Competitor Brand Hate And Individualism, Omar S. Itani

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of identity-based relationships, customer brand identification and peer identification, in driving customer outcomes including customer experiential hedonic value, social influence and repurchase intentions through the effects on value co-creation among customers and competitor brand hate, while taking into consideration the moderating impact of individualism.

Design/methodology/approach

The study integrates social identity theory, identity-based marketing perspective and self-construal theory to develop relationships. The data comprises a web-based survey of customers in the USA and was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

Customer brand identification and peer identification are drivers of value …

The Conundrums Of Happiness And Subjective Well-Being: Views From Brazil, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Marketing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

From Cognition To Action: The Effect Of Thought Self-Leadership Strategies And Self-Monitoring On Adaptive Selling Behavior, Hayam Alnakhli, Rakesh Singh, Raj Agnihotri, Omar S. Itani

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study aims to investigate salespersons’ self-monitoring and its effect on adaptive selling behavior. As salespeople are constantly facing different customers with various needs and want and engaging in a different sales situation, salespeople must deploy their inner capabilities in practicing adaptive selling behavior during and across sales interactions. This study also investigates the impact of salesperson’s intrapersonal leadership – where leadership stems from the individuals with the purpose to influence oneself.

Design/methodology/approach

Authors draw on the social cognitive theory of self-regulation to develop our model and examine the relationship between self-monitoring, thought self-leadership and adaptive selling behavior. We …

When Consumers Live Several Experiences In One: Syncretic Thematization And Consumers’ Productive Use Of Free Time, Damien Chaney, Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In a culture of experiential consumption, themed consumer experiences have become highly marketable commodities, giving birth to new types of experiences. In this research, we explore these new forms of experiences that try to escape from commodification through syncretism. We conduct an ethnography of a highly themed festival, Hellfest in France. We identify that this festival offers an experience based on cognitive, sensory, and praxeological syncretism which aims to re-enchant as well as disorient consumers. Since syncretic experiences are perceived as several sub-experiences in one, we also show how these new types of experiences are rooted in a new conception …

R&D Investment, Business Performance, And Moderating Role Of Guanxi: Evidence From China, Chiquan Guo, Sudipto Sarkar, Jing Zhu, Yong J. Wang

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Relationship duration with major clients not only has a direct, negative effect on total income (sales).

• Relationship duration has a negative moderating effect on the association between research & development (R&D) and total income.

• Relationship duration with major suppliers has a positive moderating effect on the association between R&D and total profits.

• Relationship with government has a positive effect on total income, and it also has a negative moderating effect on the R&D-performance chain.

• Chinese firms over emphasize the importance of guanxi with the government by going overboard or overspending on it.

Social Media And Customer Relationship Management Technologies: Influencing Buyer-Seller Information Exchanges, Omar S. Itani, Michael T. Krush, Raj Agnihotri, Kevin J. Trainor

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Social media and CRM technology aid salespeople in market sensing and customer-linking activities.

• Social media utilization enhance the competitive information collection abilities of the seller.

• CRM techpositively affects seller product information communication, which enablesbuyer information sharing intentions.

• Sellers capture value from buyers by CRM utilization.

• Seller experience has significant moderating and explanatory power regarding the use of sales technology.

Abstract

Due to the increasing array of sales technology, salespeople must understand how each application assists them. This study examines how business-to-business salespeople use different forms of sales technology to meet their boundary-spanning roles. Our research draws from social exchange …

When Poignant Stories Outweigh Cold Hard Facts: A Meta-Analysis Of The Anecdotal Bias, Traci H. Freling, Zhiyong Yang, Ritesh Saini, Omar S. Itani, Ryan Rashad Abualsamh

Marketing Faculty Publications

The objective of this paper is to resolve mixed findings about which type of evidence is more persuasive—statistical or anecdotal information. In a meta-analysis of 61 papers exploring the persuasive impact of evidence type, we establish that, in situations where emotional engagement is high (e.g., an issue associated with a severe threat, involving a health issue, or affecting oneself), statistical evidence is less influential than anecdotal evidence. However, in situations where emotional engagement is relatively low (e.g., an issue associated with low threat severity, involving a non-health issue, or affecting others), statistical evidence is more persuasive than anecdotal evidence. We …

Understanding Mental Health Services And Help-Seeking Behaviours Among College Students In Vietnam, Ngoc C. Pham, Yuanqing Li, Tofazzal Hossain, Claudio Schapsis, Huan H. Pham, Michael Minor

Marketing Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE

Mental health is a significant topic, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is higher prevalence, there is less attention, to mental health problems among Asian college students, so the authors decided to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of mental health services and help-seeking behaviors in Vietnamese universities. By conducting this study, the authors hoped to contribute to current literature on the factors that contribute to professional mental health help-seeking behavior of college students in Vietnam and to suggest strategies to reduce possible barriers that prevent them from looking for professional medical help.

DESIGN

For this …

Making Energy Metrics Relevant To Service Firms: From Energy Conservation To Energy Productivity, Randle D. Raggio, Peter Ekman, Steve Thompson

Marketing Faculty Publications

Although energy conservation and reduction in environmental impact are on the international and most national agendas, service firms rarely include energy consumption metrics in their strategic decision-making. One reason for the omission is that for service industries, firm level energy utilization is most commonly measured in kilowatt hours per square meter of office space where changes often related to the space rather than the firm performance. The measure also presents several problems for firms in service industries. First, energy conservation and reduction may be counterproductive for service firms that are growing and require energy to sustain that growth. Second, it …

Explaining Customer Loyalty To Retail Stores: A Moderated Explanation Chain Of The Process, Arturo Z. Vasquez-Parraga, Miguel Sahagun

Marketing Faculty Publications

This chapter reassesses the process of how store customers become loyal to their stores; what are the core subprocesses generating customer store loyalty, and what contributing moderators enrich the final outcome. A new empirical research is designed to identify and test a parsimonious model of core relationships and moderators. The result is an explanation chain that incorporates relational variables, trust, and commitment to the traditional transactional one, customer satisfaction, and the moderating factors of the relational variables. The findings reveal that 1) customer commitment is the major contributor of explanation to true customer loyalty, significantly more than the contributed explanation …

Anime And Manga Fandom In The 21st Century: A Close-Up View, Chiquan Guo, Chengyan Zeng

Marketing Faculty Publications

Anime (animated films) and manga (comic books) fans are easily misunderstood and can even face prejudice. In fact, they are considered nerds or weirdoes in the eye of many people. This is an unfortunate happenstance for two simple reasons. First, it is a gross misperception of fans, which is fundamentally unfair to them. Second, with a growing fan base, this ever-expansive population presents ample opportunities for businesses. However, any biased view toward those fans may likely hinder marketers' efforts to serve them in an effective manner. We would like to show people what anime and manga fans are all about. …

Creating, Metavoicing, And Propagating: A Road Map For Understanding User Roles In Computational Advertising, Yuping Liu-Thompkins, Ewa Maslowska, Yuquing Ren, Hyejin Kim

Marketing Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, everyday users have become a prominent force in the advertising landscape. They actively participate in conversations with and about brands by creating, amplifying, and interacting with brand-related messages. These user activities generate large volumes of structured and unstructured data that advertisers can mine to understand consumer interests and preferences. In this article, we survey insights from the user-generated content literature through the computational advertising lens to offer a road map for future research. Specifically, we discuss three roles that users play—as creators, metavoicers, and propagators. For each role, we present key research areas that can …