Customer Engagement Behavior Research Articles

Modelling Customer Engagement Behaviour in Smart Retailing

Smart retail technologies are transforming the way companies engage with customers in retailing context. However, the real onset is unknown of which smart retail technology (SRT) characteristics and customer responses pave the way for customer engagement behaviour. This research investigates customer engagement behaviour in smart retailing by integrating meta-UTAUT and SRT characteristics. By analysing quantitative survey data using PLS path modelling, customer engagement manifestations are measured. Results show complex relationships between SRT characteristics (novelty, effectiveness, and interaction quality) and meta-UTAUT variables (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions) in influencing customers’ attitude, behavioural intention, and engagement behaviour towards smart retailing. Retailers can use the findings to influence customers’ attitudes towards smart retail technologies, encouraging them to display customer engagement behaviour.

The role of parasocial relationship in social media marketing: testing a model among baby boomers

PurposeThis study aims to apply parasocial relationship theory to understand the hospitality brand-consumer relationship on social media. Aiming to examine brand-initiated mechanisms that drive relationship development, the study identified two sets of brand actions as antecedents, namely, content-related (utilitarian and hedonic benefits) and interaction-related factors (perceived interactivity and openness). This study also investigated the subsequent impacts of parasocial relationships on customer engagement behaviors and brand loyalty. As baby boomers are an important but understudied consumer cohort in social media marketing, this study empirically tested the proposed model for this specific group.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted electronically with baby boomer consumers from the USA. The partial least squares analysis was used to test the model validity for this consumer group.FindingsThe results of this study showed that content-related factors had significant effects on the parasocial relationship, which, in turn, significantly influenced customer engagement and brand loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThis study responds to the recent calls from scholars on developing and expanding a nomological network of parasocial relationships to understand consumer-brand relationships in social media. By focusing on baby boomers, this study adds unique insights on understanding online relationships and engagement, specifically for this cohort. Future studies should expand the study by examining other generations, platform differences or using longitudinal methods.Practical implicationsThis study informs hospitality marketers in the development and implementation of a successful Facebook relationship building campaign targeting baby boomers.Originality/valueAccording to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study known to have developed a coherent parasocial relationship model that combined content-related benefits, interaction-related factors, online engagement and brand loyalty. It also represents one of the few to examine how hospitality brands can build a parasocial relationship with baby boomers, an important but cohort, on social media and provide actionable insights to hospitality marketers for this generation.

Mapping of Journal of Services Marketing themes: a retrospective overview using bibliometric analysis

PurposeJournal of services marketing (JSM) is a leading journal that has published cutting-edge research in services marketing over the past 34 years. The main objective of this paper is to provide a retrospective of the thematic structure of papers published in JSM over its publication history.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses bibliometric methods to present a retrospective overview of JSM themes between 1987 and 2019. Using keywords co-occurrence analysis, this paper unveils the thematic structure of JSM’s most prolific themes. Bibliographic coupling analysis uncovers the research trends of the journal.FindingsLeading authors, leading institutions, authors’ affiliated countries and critically, the dominant themes of JSM are identified. As its founding, JSM has published approximately 40 papers each year, with 2019 being its most productive year. On average, lead JSM authors to collaborate with 1.30 others. Keywords co-occurrence analysis identifies nine prominent thematic clusters, namely, “marketing to service”, “quality, satisfaction and delivery systems”, “service industries”, “relationship marketing”, “service failure, complaining and recovery”, “service dominant logic”, “technology, innovation and design”, “wellbeing” and “service encounters”. Bibliographic coupling analysis groups JSM papers into four clusters, namely, “brand & customer engagement behaviour”, “service co-creation”, “service encounters & service recovery” and “social networking”.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is the first to analyse the thematic structure of JSM themes over its history. The themes are analysed across time periods and then compared to dominant themes identified in contemporary service research agendas. Recommendations are made based on the gaps found. This retrospective review will be useful to numerous key stakeholders including the editorial board and both existing and aspiring JSM contributors. The selection of literature is confined to Scopus.Originality/valueJSM’s retrospection is likely to attract readership to the journal. The study’s recommendations regarding which areas have matured and which are still ripe for future contributions will offer useful guidelines for all stakeholders.

The role of customer engagement in cultivating relationships with automotive Facebook brand pages

PurposeThe study aims to provide a theoretical framework of how information, entertainment and social interaction value associated with automotive Facebook brand pages (FBPs) in Sri Lanka influence customer engagement behaviors (CEBs), and further, how CEB is likely to result in FBP-specific relationship outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA printed questionnaire was used to collect the data from a convenience sample of 374 undergraduate Facebook users in Sri Lanka, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS 21.0.FindingsThe findings highlighted that information, entertainment and social interaction value positively influenced CEBs in automotive FBPs in Sri Lanka. Moreover, results showed that CEB had a positive influence on FBP trust, FBP commitment and FBP loyalty. Additionally, information value was found to positively influence FBP loyalty, while social interaction value had a positive influence on FBP trust and FBP commitment.Originality/valueThe study proposes a framework for relationship building in automotive FBPs by integrating values that drive CEBs and the FBP-specific relationship outcomes of CEBs. As such, the novelty of this paper is that it focuses on building customer relationships with the FBP, instead of the brand in the context of automotive FBPs in a developing country, Sri Lanka. Further, this study proposes some additional linkages between the constructs apart from testing the antecedents and FBP-specific relationship outcomes of CEBs.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2019-0352

Prediction of customer engagement behaviour response to marketing posts based on machine learning

With the prevalence of social media platforms, the way customers engage with brands has greatly been altered. Choosing appropriate social media marketing strategies to stimulate customer engagement in different forms is an important issue. In order to better understand customer behaviours in the social media marketing context, we draw on the Stimulus-Organism-Response theory, and conceptualise and characterise marketing posts from six dimensions to get various features as stimuli, which induce or activate customers’ cognitive and affective states to varying levels, and ultimately lead to different behaviour responses. Machine learning algorithms are applied to the customer engagement behaviour choice prediction when facing marketing posts. It is proved that the post features designed by humans can be used to get good predictions, while the best results are achieved by combining the human-designed features with the high-dimensional features automatically extracted from post texts by the BERT model. Our research provides insights for firms to effectively conduct social media marketing design and customer engagement behaviour choice prediction.

Understanding the Relationship Between Customer Satisfaction, Customer Engagement and Repeat Purchase Behaviour

Emergence of technology has not only boosted the growth of customer engagement but has also paved way for customers to become active co-creators with the firms. Customer engagement activities are taking over the customer relationship building activities in the present scenario. Customers’ experience with a particular brand has its impact on satisfaction levels and their repurchasing intention in future as well. According to Rosetta Consulting report an engaged customer is likely to buy 90% more frequently and may spend 300% more than other customers. Hence, the present has tried to understand the mediating role of satisfaction on customer engagement in retaining the customers or persuading the customers to repurchase. The results show that there exists a significant mediation effect of customer satisfaction in influencing their repeat purchase behaviour.

Does Customer Experience Always Benefit Company? Examining Customers’ Epistemic Motivation and Interaction With Service Contexts

The main purpose of this study is explaining how and when customer experience benefits the company. Built upon social identity theory, we propose that customer experience leads to customer engagement behavior, via two routes: customer-company and customer-employee identification. Furthermore, we advance that customers’ epistemic motivation negatively moderates the mediated effect of customer experience on customer engagement behavior. We ran two studies to validate the measurement of customer experience and to test our hypotheses. For the two studies, we employed a survey method by recruiting consumers of beauty salons in Vietnam. The results demonstrated that EXQ as a measurement for customer experience is applicable to the context of the study and provided empirical support for the hypotheses. Such as, this research found that customer experience positively influences customer engagement behavior as mediated by customer-company and customer-employee identification. Furthermore, this research revealed that customer epistemic motivation negatively moderates the mediated effect of customer experience on customer engagement behavior via customer-employee identification. However, the moderating role of customer epistemic motivation is insignificant for the mediated relationship via customer-company identification. Finally, this research offers theoretical and practical contributions that are elaborated and further discussed.

The impact of perceived brand interactivity on customer purchases. The mediating role of perceived brand fairness and the moderating role of brand involvement

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the effect of perceived brand interactivity on customer purchases along with the mediating effect of perceived brand fairness. To increase the explanatory power of the model, this study also examines the moderating role of brand involvement.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted to measure the constructs of interest. The direct, indirect (mediation) and conditional (moderation) effects were evaluated using linear regression, PROCESS Model 4 and PROCESS Model 59, respectively. Further, the Johnson Neyman (also called floodlight analysis) technique was used to probe the interaction terms.FindingsThe study results indicate that perceived brand interactivity directly and indirectly (via perceived brand fairness) impact customer purchases. The results also reveal that the positive impact of perceived brand interactivity on perceived brand fairness is greater when brand involvement is lower. In the same vein, the positive impact of perceived brand fairness on customer purchases is greater when brand involvement is lower. However, brand involvement does not moderate the impact of perceived brand involvement on customer purchases.Originality/valueThis study examines the effect of perceived brand interactivity on customer purchases (as a customer engagement behavior) while accounting for the mediating role of perceived brand fairness and the moderating role of brand involvement. The results provide noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications.

Linking engagement at cultural festivals to legacy impacts

Cultural festivals typically celebrate and reinforce a cultural identity, while becoming embedded in tourism experiences. They have sought to establish their sustainability through legacies of enduring involvement with the cultures and communities they serve. Although studies have examined the effects of attendance on festival impacts and legacy, we contribute further understanding by investigating the effects of visitors’ level of behavioural engagement during a festival on subsequent cultural and social post-festival legacies. Basing our conceptual development on van Doorn et al.’s Customer Engagement Behaviour framework and Service-Dominant-Logic, we incorporate behavioural engagement, emotions, festival loyalty, and post-festival cultural and social involvement intentions. Hypotheses are tested in two studies with data from 1335 visitors covering consecutive years of a national cultural festival, using cluster and mediation analyses. Findings highlight the importance of engagement and joyful emotions on festival legacy benefits. We validate an “engagement ladder” comprising four distinct clusters – “Disengaged”, “Observers”, “Learners”, and “Doers”. The most engaged clusters – “Learners” and “Doers” – have significantly higher association with legacy impacts, manifested through post-festival cultural and community involvement intentions. Our results have implications for sponsors and organisers of cultural festivals whose sustainability may be justified by encouraging visitor engagement rather than merely promoting attendance.

Understanding how customers engage with social tourism websites

研究目的本论文分析研究科技urism websitehaviours pur研究设计/方法/途径研究样本为研究科技urism websitehaviours purchasesLS-SEM分析验证假设模型。研究结果研究结果表明, 顾客愉快感知、易使用、有用性、以及可信任度等变量对顾客社交旅游网站的态度及后续参与行为（购买、sOM、推荐）有着积极影响。研究原创性/价值本论文开发并验证分析了科技接受模型变量对顾客参与行为的影响, 包括交易性（顾客购买）以及非交易性（顾客（OM、推荐、反馈）, 以社交旅游网站为背景。

The relationship between brand Facebook page characteristics, perceived value, and customer engagement behavior: An application of Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R)

Purpose – With the advancement of technology and increased use of social media, brands have become part of the virtual world and try to grab customers’ attention. Brand pages enable the consumer to voluntarily participate in providing feedback and ideas and to collaborate with others . T his adds value to the firm. This research explores which characteristics help clothing brands to influence consumers in to responding in the form of feedback, collaboration, and mobilization. Design/methodology/approach – D ata were collected from 250 respondents who had purchased their favorite clothing brand in the last four months , using five-point Likert scale questionnaires. Partial least square s structural equation model ing (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data . Findings – The results indicate that content quality leads to brand learning values and hedonic values. C ustomer contact quality only affects brand learning value. Both hedonic and brand learning value s induce customer engagement behaviors. Originality/value – This study provides useful insights for clothing brand web page managers related to customer engagement in social media. The study extends the concept of customer engagement behavior (CEB) by incorporating consumer “mobilizing behavior” as an additional element of CEB.

Effects of customer engagement behaviors on action loyalty: moderating roles of service failure and customization

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate multidimensional customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) as antecedents of action loyalty in hospitality contexts and examine service conditions that inhibit and facilitate the former relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis paper tests a holistic framework based on transaction data from 5,855 active members of a hotel firm. The hypotheses are examined using ordinary least squares regression.FindingsBy integrating transaction-related CEBs with non-transaction-related CEBs, this paper found that three CEB constructs (i.e. feedback, mobilizing and cross-buying) contribute significantly to action loyalty in hospitality contexts. These effects vary depending on the inhibitor (service failure) and the facilitator (service customization).Practical implicationsHotel managers should value customer engagement as a marketing tool to retain customers. When engaged customers encounter service failure and customization, managers can react differently to facilitate consumers’ action loyalty.Originality/valueContrary to prior studies focusing on the effects of general CEBs on attitudinal loyalty, this study examines the diverse impacts of multidimensional CEBs on customers’ action loyalty and confirms boundary conditions to coordinate the effects between CEBs from a hotel firm’s perspective.

Not all words are beneficial: The impact of management response contents on customer engagement behavior

Abstract Online reviews play an important role in motivating hotels to enhance customer engagement through appropriate management responses. However, the impact of management responses on customer engagement remains unclear. With data from hotel reviews and management responses, this study demonstrates that customer engagement is significantly reduced when causal explanations and certain words are included in management responses, as indicated by the number of future reviews. We also observe that the negative influence of causal explanations can be alleviated when management responses contain uncertain words. Furthermore, management responses which include positive-emotional words attenuate the negative impact of causal explanations. However, no significant effect is found when negative-emotional words are used in management responses. These findings can help managers develop effective response strategies to facilitate customer engagement behavior.

The role of perceived firm social media interactivity in facilitating customer engagement behaviors

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how customers’ perceptions of brands’ social media interactivity impact customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) (e.g. customer purchases, referrals, influence and knowledge) while accounting for the moderating role of brand type and social media platform. Design/methodology/approach Two separate online surveys (Study 1 (N1) = 341, Study 2 (N2) = 183) were conducted to measure the constructs of interest. Regression analyzes tests research hypotheses; PROCESS Model 1 was used to test the moderating roles of brand type and platform. Further, the pick-a-point approach (i.e. spotlight analysis) was used to probe the interaction terms. Findings The results indicate that when customers perceive a brand to be highly interactive on social media (vs inactive), they are more willing to buy brand offerings, refer the brand in exchange for monetary incentives, inform their family and friends about the brand on social media and provide feedback and suggestions for improving the brand. Furthermore, the positive impact of perceived social media interactivity on customer purchases, referrals, influence and knowledge varies across brand and social media platform types. Research limitations/implications Online surveys using convenience samples were conducted to assess the constructs of interest. Archival data may provide an avenue for further insight. Future research may be able to track actual online customer behavior using such data. Further, researchers are encouraged to corroborate the results found here over time as the winds of social media shift to new platforms. Practical implications The results suggest that interacting on social media encourages customers to contribute to brand value directly (through purchasing) and/or indirectly (through referring, influencing and suggesting). While all brands may leverage social media activity for success, the positive impact of perceived social media interactivity on CEBs is particularly impactful for non-global 500 brands. The results also indicate that customers are more willing to add value to the brand through purchases and suggestions when they perceive the brand to be highly interactive on both social media networking sites and the brand’s website. However, they are more willing to promote this brand and influence their social networks about it only when they perceive the brand to be highly (vs less) interactive on its own website. Originality/value This study examines the novel issue of the impact of perceived social media interactivity on different CEBs while accounting for the moderating role of the brand and platform used by customers. The results provide value in better understanding the levers through which social media affects performance.

Reshaping the contexts of online customer engagement behavior via artificial intelligence: A conceptual framework

As new applications of artificial intelligence continue to emerge, there is an increasing interest to explore how this type of technology can improve automated service interactions between the firm and its customers. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that details how firms and customers can enhance the outcomes of firm-solicited and firm-unsolicited online customer engagement behaviors through the use of information processing systems enabled by artificial intelligence. By building on the metaphor of artificial intelligence systems as organisms and taking a Stimulus-Organism-Response theory perspective, this paper identifies different types of firm-solicited and firm-unsolicited online customer engagement behaviors that act as stimuli for artificial intelligence organisms to process customer-related information resulting in both artificial intelligence and human responses which, in turn, shape the contexts of future online customer engagement behaviors.

The influence of personal motivation and environmental stimuli on customer participation and engagement behavior: the mediating role of experience evaluation

论个人动力和环境因素对顾客参与和顾客契合的影响：体验评价的中介效应研究目的本论文旨在帮助SEA(共享经济住宿)的民宿老板或服务提供者, 通过探索顾客参与和契合的影响因子和反应变量, 来吸引新顾客以及保留老顾客。研究设计/方法/途径本论文采用问卷形式实际调研, 探索SEA中的各种假设关系。本论文采用SmartPLS软件, 使用PLS分析法来检验模型以及展示分析结果。研究结果本论文结果表明, 个人因素（功利与享乐需求）正向影响顾客参与。环境因素（感知信息适合和感知视觉吸引）与参与意愿之间被享乐需求负向调节。此外, 结果还表明参与意愿对于顾客契合行为有着正向作用, 以及体验评价的部分中介效应。研究实践启示本论文为SEA企业从业人员提供如何吸引新顾客以及留住老顾客的宝贵见解。首先, 顾客根据需求和基于他们的需求所提供的信息可进行区分。第二, 企业主应该鼓励顾客评价他们的体验和提供反馈, 从而帮助提高住宿服务以及建立与顾客长期和谐的关系。研究原创性/价值本论文首先调研了个人需求和环境刺激对SEA参与意愿的相互作用。其次, 本论文还检验了参与意愿对于顾客契合行为的作用, 以及体验评价的中介效应。

Behavioral consequences of customer inspiration: the role of social media inspirational content and cultural orientation

Purpose Although previous research emphasized the importance of inspiration in influencing consumer behavior, there is no categorical response to how social-media inspirational content inspires consumers across cultures. This paper aims to take on this agenda through a vignette experimental study. Design/methodology/approach This paper devised a vignette study involving subjects (n = 370) recruited from Nigeria and South Africa. The structural equation modeling procedure, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis aided the examination of the scale psychometrics and hypotheses testing. Findings Among other findings, this study shows that: inspirational content (utilitarian vs hedonic) exerts a positive differential effect on customer inspiration (CI) such that the effect of hedonic content is more pronounced than utilitarian content; collectivistic consumers are inspired more than individualists; CI triggers customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) and purchase intention, and an inspired-to component of CI mediates the effect of inspired-by on CEBs and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications While this study makes significant contributions to knowledge on CI, the focus on firm-generated content limits the scope of this study. Future research should examine the effect of consumer-generated content on CI. Additionally, the likely contextual influence of product type on CI and its triggers in the context of the foote, cone and belding grid creates the room to further interrogate the research model under conditions of high/low involvement products. Originality/value By showing how social-media inspirational content and cultural orientation separately influence and interact to influence CI which consequently triggers CEBs and purchase intention, the findings highlight the psychological mechanisms through which CEBs and purchase intention can be simultaneously triggered.

How discretionary behaviors promote customer engagement: the role of psychosocial safety climate and psychological capital

AbstractThe study examines the effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and psychological capital (PsyCap) on customer engagement through discretionary service behaviors including adaptive and proactive service behaviors (ASB and PSB). A field study of 56 managers, 513 service employees, and 560 customers in 56 branches of insurance companies was carried out to test a theoretical model using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM7). The results demonstrated that PsyCap and PSC were both positively associated with ASB and PSB at the individual level. The results also showed that an interaction between PsyCap and PSC was related to ASB but not PSB. This suggested that PsyCap and PSC interact in a synergic manner to affect service employees' engagement in ASB, beyond their direct effects. At the branch level, ASB was not associated with customer engagement behavior, but PSB was. Furthermore, PSB mediated the relationship between PSC and customer engagement behavior, although ASB did not.

Assessing the influence of goal pursuit and emotional attachment on customer engagement behaviors

This study draws on customer-dominant logic and self-expansion theory to examine the drivers of customer engagement behaviors in the context of emerging online interest communities. The engagement behaviors seen in online communities are operationalized into four types: augmenting, co-developing, influencing, and mobilizing. Goal pursuit (gratifying-the-self, enabling-the-self, and enriching-the-self) and emotional attachment to the community are found to be the key antecedent factors of these behaviors. The attainment of gratifying-the-self has a direct influence on these behaviors, whereas the attainment of enabling-the-self and enriching-the-self influences them via emotional attachment to the community.

The dynamic effect of interactivity on customer engagement behavior through tie strength: Evidence from live streaming commerce platforms

• Interactivity has a nonlinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship with customer engagement. • Tie strength plays a completely mediating role of interactivity and customer engagement. • The various of customer ratings and tenure of memberships moderate the interactivity–tie strength relationship. • A semantic keyword similarity method is applied to customer reviews. Interactivity, which is a key characteristic of the live streaming commerce environment, fosters users’ active attitudes and behaviors in communications and transactions. However, the literature on live streaming commerce, is scarce, and few studies examine how interactivity influences customers’ non-transactional behaviors from a dynamic perspective. In this setting, based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, we developed a research model using real-time data to investigate the dynamic effect of interactivity on customer engagement behavior through tie strength in live streaming commerce, which is a relatively new derivative of social commerce. This study developed a text mining method to quantify constructs using a large-scale sample of 3,500,445 online review texts. Our empirical study found that interactivity has a curvilinear relationship with customer engagement behavior. Besides, tie strength plays an intermediary role between interactivity and customer engagement behavior. It was further observed that both tenure of membership and popularity have an important moderating relationship between interactivity and tie strength. The study enriches the relationship marketing theory and live streaming commerce literature. Moreover, this study is one of the first studies to use real-time online data for live streaming commerce research.