Marketing Domain Research Articles

A picture says more than a thousand words: Using consumer neuroscience to study instagram users' responses to influencer advertising

AbstractCompanies are increasingly relying on influencer marketing as a relevant pillar of their marketing communication strategy. It is therefore of vital importance to practitioners to understand better under what conditions a larger number of followers can trigger more positive responses in consumers than a smaller number and vice versa. Through a laboratory study, the authors recorded simultaneously eye‐tracking and electroencephalogram data from 109 participants to test the research question with a 2 (type of influencer: micro vs. meso) × 2 (argument quality: weak vs. strong) between‐subject design using mediated moderated linear regression analysis. The results highlight that the photo of the influencer using the product attracts more attention (i.e., fixation percentage) in the weak (vs. strong) argument quality only for micro‐ and not for meso‐influencers. Moreover, we found a statistically significant index of moderated mediation through the level of attention, which suggests that the percentage of fixations on the photo mediates the joint effect of influencer type and argument quality on behavioral activation system (BAS). Specifically, we found that when the advertising post presents weak argument quality the enhanced attention to the photo of the micro‐influencer leads to an increase in the BAS, with possible implications on advertising effectiveness and online message design. Our findings offer important theoretical and practical contributions to the influencer marketing domain by showing how the different verbal and visual elements of influencer posts affect Instagram users' responses to such posts.

Identifying research trends of machine learning in business: a topic modeling approach

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the suitability of topic modeling as a review method, identifies and compares the machine learning (ML) research trends in five primary business organization verticals.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents a review framework of published research about adopting ML techniques in a business organization context. It identifies research trends and issues using topic modeling through the Latent Dirichlet allocation technique in conjunction with other text analysis techniques in five primary business verticals – human resources (HR), marketing, operations, strategy and finance.FindingsThe results identify that the ML adoption is maximum in the marketing domain and minimum in the HR domain. The operations domain witnesses the application of ML to the maximum number of distinct research areas. The results also help to identify the potential areas of ML applications in future.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing literature by finding trends of ML applications in the business domain through the review of published research. Although there is a growth of research publications in ML in the business domain, literature review papers are scarce. Therefore, the endeavor of this study is to do a thorough review of the current status of ML applications in business by analyzing research articles published in the past ten years in various journals.

Does the digitalization of retailing disrupt consumers’ attachment to retail places?

This study breaks new ground in the marketing domain by extending the concept of place attachment to the study of the online retail environment. We provide empirical evidence that consumers can establish strong attachments not only with traditional offline places but also with online retail stores. Moreover, we assessed how distinct dimensions of the place affect the formation of consumers’ attachment and their behavioral loyalty. Our findings show that while consumers who feel a strong sense of attachment toward the place engage in spreading positive word-of-mouth regardless of the environment, their attachment to the store does not prevent them from switching to another provider, especially in the online environment.

Visual Search from the perspective of in-store exploration behavior: scale development and validation

ABSTRACT This study aims to establish a visual search scale that measures shoppers’ in-store exploration behavior. We propose that the attentional control theory used in the psychology domain is transferable to the marketing domain, thus adding a new perspective to existing models of shoppers’ in-store exploration behavior. We develop our psychometric scales and test them over four phases to confirm their validity. Finally, we discuss how visual search could affect shoppers’ in-store exploration behavior, giving marketing managers a new way to deliver effective in-store advertisements, encourage shoppers’ impulsivity, and improve customer relationship management. Marketing managers and manufacturers can use our visual search scale to easily capture several important aspects: the extent to which shoppers consider a product that they do not plan on buying before entering the store, which product categories tend to be considered impulsively, and if in-store shopping behaviors differ between planned and impulsive considerations.

A Study on Digital Revolution in the domain of Marketing

Connecting with your audience at the proper time and place has always been the goal of marketing. This calls for you to reach out to them today online, where they are already spending time. All marketing activities that take place online are referred to as digital marketing, often known as online marketing. To engage with present and potential customers, businesses use digital channels including search engines, social media, email, and other websites. This also involves messaging via text or other types of multimedia.

Shifts in Customer Relationship

Companies require building and maintaining customer relationships to achieve excellence in the digital age. Companies should be selective and should develop relationships with loyal and profitable customers and discourage unprofitable customers to continue doing business with them. Companies require developing interactive customer relationships which are mutually beneficial and understanding the growing importance of consumer-generated marketing in the digital age and online marketing domains in forming relationships. They should respect public policies like consumer security and privacy, have knowledge of customer rights, and respect those rights to win customer trust. Firms require developing customer preference programs to strengthen the bondage with passionate customers and to attract potential buyers and convert them into regular customers. All such strategies will help companies understand the shifting nature of customer relationships in the digital age, build in-depth customer relationships, succeed in the tough environment, and achieve business excellence in the digital age.

In memoriam fundraising: An empirical exploration of donor motivations

Purpose: This research explores in memoriam fundraising from the perspective of the donor, providing empirical support for what motivates people to make permanent in memoriam donations and how making such donations assists them in the grieving process. These insights then provide guidance to aid nonpro t organisations (herein referred to as nonpro ts) in building relationships with bereaved donors.<br/> Methodology: Study one collected data using a purposive criterion sampling, with 10 in-depth interviews that were analysed using thematic analysis. Study two used an experimental design that collected data using a convenience-based sampling, with 184 participants (53.6% male, mean age 38 years). T-tests and Process models were utilised for analysis.<br/> Findings: This research demonstrates that charitable donations can play a role in bereavement and that the value they provide is to both the nonpro t, with monetary outcomes and increased donor loyalty, and to the donor, with the creation of a continued bond with the deceased. This research provides the rst empirical evidence that people use in memoriam donations, which include a permanent memorial, to create a symbolic continuing bond with the deceased and that such symbolic donations increase the giver's desire to visit the memorial. Using the ndings of this research, we provide a set of recommendations that fundraisers can follow in order to best meet the needs of both their donors and their organisation. Recommendations include ways to provide the value that donors are looking for which will aid them in their bereavement along with best practices for the organisation to allow for the most e ective in memoriam fundraising program.<br/> Implications: Providing evidence that the creation of a continued bond is a motivator for charitable giving connects the literature on charitable giving, bereavement and consumer behaviour. This research deepens our understanding of consumer behaviour by examining why people spend money to help themselves through the grieving process, thus building on the mood, decision making, and consumer-choice literatures that can be used in both for pro t and nonpro t marketing domains. Providing empirical support for the industry best practice of providing permanent memorial opportunities is of signi cant importance, as doing so can provide relationship building opportunities. This research shows that there are societal bene ts to in memoriam giving, demonstrating that it can provide value to people in their grieving process.<br/> Contribution: This is the rst empirical study that looks at motivations for in memoriam fundraising, providing evidence of continued bonds as a motivator for in memoriam donations, and the role that charitable giving can play in bereavement.

An Optimization Focused Machine Learning Approach in Analysing Arts Participative Behavior with Fine Arts Education Considerations

Fine arts education constitutes an important value for the development of nations, countries and geographies. In literature it is seen that societies and nations that give importance to fine arts, other art forms with respective education programs and agendas seem to be more developed in the fierce competitive environments. It is a known fact that art forms enhance the creativity of individuals as well as developing questioning skills and empathy. Therefore cultural plans, programs and agendas handled in the cultural ministry or similar levels should always be considered as a chance for investments made for the development of individuals and society at large. Therefore enough budgets for cultural programs should be maintained. Academic and pre-university degree art programs should be designed and formed in response to the changes and developments in the contemporary art world. Graduates should also be prepared in these programs to the career paths that they want to follow in these areas. Understanding the domain of art marketing as well as implementing marketing strategies, plans, programs in every level in this context can be helpful in enlarging the arts market which means creating more jobs and employment opportunities for more actors and actresses. Qualification of these talents should also be supported with academical or nonacademical artistic education forms. In this study theatres located in Istanbul Municipality and theatre participation behavior has been analyzed with recent machine learning trends and approaches available in data mining literature with the aim of enhancing exploratory and confirmatory understanding in such domains as theater, entertainment and art marketing with the aim of providing some insights and ideas to the arts community, leaders and society at large.

How virtual reality influences travel intentions: The role of mental imagery and happiness forecasting

Virtual reality can influence consumer behavior in powerful ways, but in the domain of tourism marketing, less is known about the psychological process. One possibility is that VR has stronger impact on mental imagery than traditional channels, creating vivid simulations of what it would be like to visit destinations. This process might create hedonic expectations of future happiness, which should increase the willingness to actually seek out the destination in real life. The results from a laboratory experiment provided support to this hypothesis. Participants were randomly assigned to view a nature destination either in traditional still images or virtual reality, and then reported their initial responses before making an actual consumer choice. VR exposure led to higher levels of mental imagery and happiness predictions, which in turn was associated with stronger travel intentions and purchasing decisions. However, VR effects on consumer choice were moderated by previous experience with the destination.

Exploring the relationship between lifestyle, digital financial element and digital financial services experience

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore digital financial services experience, investigate the antecedents to digital financial services experience and examine familiarity as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses dual methods: qualitative and quantitative. Multiple case studies are applied as a qualitative method to explore and capture recent development in rapidly changing digital finance. An empirical, survey-based approach is used to collect data from 258 respondents about their experiences with digital financial services experience using constructs, such as perceived ease of use, timeliness, lifestyle and digital financial element. The study used structural equation modeling using smart-PLS.FindingsUsing word count, hierarchy chart, items clustered by similarity and qualitative analysis by applying NVivo 12, the study validates the constructs and captures recent developments. Using smart PLS, the structural equation model reveals that the digital functional element positively affects the digital financial services experience. It is observed that lifestyle mediated between perceived ease of use and timeliness with digital financial services experience. Further, familiarity moderates the relationship between the digital financial element and digital financial services experience. Moreover, while this research analyzed the relationship regarding financial services customers, we suggest a comparative study between different entities.Originality/valueThe study can be considered one of its kind using qualitative and quantitative research methods. It integrates theory from both the information system and marketing domain. As the increased number of digital channels and interfaces has increased, companies need to understand how to improve the digital financial services experience.

A weighted fuzzy approach for green marketing risk assessment: Empirical evidence from dairy industry

The green marketing concept encompasses the consumers' perception and response to the green initiatives and activities that companies implement such as design for environment, green production systems and processes development, and green improvements in packaging. Despite the growing interest in the green marketing domain, few studies have been carried out on the risk assessment of green marketing implementation, especially in the dairy industry. In this study, using a developed integrated fuzzy decision-making methodology, the green marketing risk factors in the dairy industry are assessed. Firstly, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used for weighting the identified risk assessment criteria. Then, a weighted fuzzy inference system is proposed for green marketing risk assessment. Finally, risk mitigation strategies are proposed to deal with the highly ranked risk factors. This research study fills the gaps in the literature by (1) proposing a comprehensive list of green marketing risk factors in the dairy industry, (2) developing a novel weighted fuzzy inference system approach for assessing those risk factors, and (3) providing a final ranking of the dairy industry risk factors together with risk mitigation strategies for the highly ranked risk factors. The level of environmental awareness in society was found as the most important risk factor followed by governmental policies, rules, and regulations for supporting green products risk factors. Finally, some remarks are concluded together with presenting the future works.

On the Management of Broken Hearts: Learnings from the Widow(er)hood Effect for Stakeholder Relationship Management

The article’s focus is on the widow(er)hood effect—a phenomenon that has been found among individuals across the world and throughout decades—which refers to an increased risk of morbidity as well as mortality of a surviving spouse following his or her partner’s death. By transferring the essence of the phenomenon to the relationship marketing domain, it is discussed how its theoretical frame can contribute to further advance the understanding and management of stakeholder relationships. Concretely, a conceptual framework, as well as possible practical scenarios of stakeholder widow(er)hood effects, are discussed and associated impacts for companies are elicited.

Revisiting the Past to Understand the Current Debates on Service-Dominant Logic

We present a systematic review of the literature on services marketing. In doing so, we trace how the domain’s core characteristics have changed over the years, with technology playing a disruptive role. The IHIP (intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability, and perishability) framework once distinguished services marketing as a sub-discipline of marketing. However, with the advent of the concept of service-dominant logic, ‘services’ within the marketing domain are no more seen as a special case but as the core of what consumers need. The article examines the key theoretical issues surrounding the shift in services marketing and concludes by providing future directions.

Network-aware credit scoring system for telecom subscribers using machine learning and network analysis

PurposeA good decision support system for credit scoring enables telecom operators to measure the subscribers' creditworthiness in a fine-grained manner. This paper aims to propose a robust credit scoring system by leveraging latent information embedded in the telecom subscriber relation network based on multi-source data sources, including telecom inner data, online app usage, and offline consumption footprint.Design/methodology/approachRooting from network science, the relation network model and singular value decomposition are integrated to infer different subscriber subgroups. Employing the results of network inference, the paper proposed a network-aware credit scoring system to predict the continuous credit scores by implementing several state-of-art techniques, i.e. multivariate linear regression, random forest regression, support vector regression, multilayer perceptron, and a deep learning algorithm. The authors use a data set consisting of 926 users of a Chinese major telecom operator within one month of 2018 to verify the proposed approach.FindingsThe distribution of telecom subscriber relation network follows a power-law function instead of the Gaussian function previously thought. This network-aware inference divides the subscriber population into a connected subgroup and a discrete subgroup. Besides, the findings demonstrate that the network-aware decision support system achieves better and more accurate prediction performance. In particular, the results show that our approach considering stochastic equivalence reveals that the forecasting error of the connected-subgroup model is significantly reduced by 7.89–25.64% as compared to the benchmark. Deep learning performs the best which might indicate that a non-linear relationship exists between telecom subscribers' credit scores and their multi-channel behaviours.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the existing literature on business intelligence analytics and continuous credit scoring by incorporating latent information of the relation network and external information from multi-source data (e.g. online app usage and offline consumption footprint). Also, the authors have proposed a power-law distribution-based network-aware decision support system to reinforce the prediction performance of individual telecom subscribers' credit scoring for the telecom marketing domain.

Partnering for UN SDG #17: a social marketing partnership model to scale up and accelerate change

Purpose The United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) places partnerships as a vital mechanism, which strengthens the implementation of change strategies. The SDG targets are ambitious; acknowledging the interconnected multifaceted issues that are currently facing society. Similarly, social marketing thought is transitioning to embrace systemic change strategies, realising no one organisation can have an impact on the emerging grand challenges. Partnerships are the 5th P in the social marketing mix, however, partnerships is also a nebulous term which has been criticised for lacking theoretical development. This study aims to answer the call from both the UN and social marketing community for further research to guide the development and implementation of impactful transformative partnerships. Design/methodology/approach A robust mixed method approach to develop and test a social marketing partnership model is presented. Trust and relationship commitment are at the forefront of successful partnership exchanges. Morgan and Hunt’s (1994) trust and relationship commitment model is extended into the social marketing domain. Findings The findings validate Hasting’s (2003) call for social marketers to listen to their commercial marketing counterparts, positioning trust and commitment as essential to change strategies. As the degree of complexities in the multifaceted world continues to accelerate, partnerships for change (UN SDG #17) will pay off, driving more effective and smarter collaborations amongst a diverse range of stakeholders at different levels in different networks. Partnerships will elevate social marketing to deliver systemic transformation for complex problems with far reaching collective and sustainable consequences. Research limitations/implications With trust/mistrust critical to successful exchanges and exchange central to social marketing, quantitative measurement of the antecedents to and outcomes of partnerships can inform the evaluation, impact and management of social marketing interventions. Practical implications Three contributions are made, which support the selection, implementation and evaluation of social marketing partnerships. Key social marketing partnership characteristics are operationalised supporting the partnership selection process. Measurement scales are developed to assist in evaluating partnership relationships over time. The model is empirically tested to investigate the relationships between key mediating variables of social marketing partnerships. Originality/value This paper presents a validated 5th P Partnership model for social marketers, accelerating social marketing’s capacities to deliver systemic transformation for complex problems with far reaching collective and sustainable consequences and UN SDG #17.

Relationships between the “Big Five” personality types and consumer attitudes in Indian students toward augmented reality advertising

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the “Big Five” personality traits (extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism) on the adoption of augmented reality (AR), with a particular focus on the role AR may play in interactive marketing.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative-based approach was followed by a questionnaire survey, which was completed by 230 respondents comprising graduate and postgraduate students, using structural equation modelling.FindingsWhile the trait of openness was positively associated with the perceived ease of use of AR, the usefulness of AR and subjective norms, the trait of neuroticism was negatively associated with the perceived ease of use of AR. Extraversion was positively associated with subjective norms. Perceived ease of use of AR, the usefulness of AR and subjective norms were positively associated with attitudes toward AR.Practical implicationsThe data gathered will add a valuable contribution to the currently limited data available on empirical consumer behaviour research, particularly in relation to the adoption of AR for interactive marketing.Originality/valueThe findings of this study will benefit academics working on the adoption of technology in rapidly developing fields such as automation and artificial intelligence; the study also contributes to the emerging interdisciplinary domain of psychology, information systems, marketing and human behaviour.

Augmented reality in online retailing: a systematic review and research agenda

PurposeAugmented reality (AR) has received massive attention in online retail. Therefore, the paper aims to review the state-of-the-art literature on AR in online retailing, by identifying the antecedents, drives, outcomes, theoretical lenses, typology and methodological approaches. The study further aims to identify the critical avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachTo advance the conceptual and managerial understanding of AR, the study synthesizes the literature through a systematic literature review approach by reviewing 53 articles.FindingsSeveral AR characteristics significantly influence utilitarian, hedonic, perceived risk and experiential value, ultimately resulting in a positive attitude, decision-making assistance and behavioural intentions, wherein customer experience (flow, spatial presence, mental imagery and immersion) plays a mediating role in the process. The study also lists the top authors, articles, journals, countries, theories and methodology used.Originality/valueThe study provides a comprehensive framework on consumer behaviour towards AR in online retailing. Further, the study proposes the future research agenda in the social side of AR, the dark side of AR, customer engagement, use of AR for experiential value and AR marketing domain.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Risk Handling and Vulnerability Assessment in IoT-Enabled Marketing Domain of Digital Business System

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Risk Handling and Vulnerability Assessment in IoT-Enabled Marketing Domain of Digital Business System

Determinants of Consumption Behaviors of Korean Pop Culture in Taiwan

This paper presents a qualitative analysis of associations between intrinsic (e.g., functional), extrinsic (e.g., social) and cultural consumption values, and consumption behavior of Korean pop cultural contents (KPCC) in Taiwan. Moderation effects of Korean language abilities on associations are also investigated. Results show that intrinsic consumption value has the strongest association with KPCC consumption behaviors. Functional, epistemic, and conditional values have strong associations, whereas emotional and social exhibit weak associations. Cultural value is not a strong predictor of consuming KPCCs due to Korean and Taiwan cultural characteristics not being substantially different. Language abilities weakly moderate relationships between KPCC consumption values and consumption behaviors. Implications and suggestions are addressed. The research contributes findings and implications to the domain of KPCC marketing and retailing in Taiwan.

Mapping the influence of influencer marketing: a bibliometric analysis

PurposeThe advent of social media has led to the emergence of influencers and the domain of influencer marketing (IM). Despite being a popular and evolving research domain, it still lacks a comprehensive and systematic bibliometric analysis in the field. This study attempts to fill this critical gap by mapping the influence of IM to understand the intellectual structure and propose a future research agenda for scholars working in the domain.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have used VOSviewer and Biblioshiny packages for conducting a variety of analyses such as citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, keyword analysis and three-field plot analysis.FindingsThe main findings include identifying six clusters in the domain, i.e. “mechanism of IM,” “measuring the impact of IM,” “persuasive cues in IM,” “likability factors of influencers,” “authenticity of influencers” and “understanding followers.” Future research guidelines have been proposed in each of the six clusters, followed by research and managerial implications, conclusion and limitations.Originality/valueThis study is probably the first attempt at providing a comprehensive bibliometric analysis in the domain using a combination of VOSviewer and Biblioshiny packages.