JournalTOCs

Marketing Letters
Journal Prestige (SJR): 1.157

Citation Impact (citeScore): 2
Number of Followers: 10

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 1573-059X - ISSN (Online) 0923-0645
Published by Springer-Verlag

[2469 journals]

Building consumer connection with new brands through rituals: the role of
mindfulness
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  Abstract: Abstract The present research examines whether and how new brands can use rituals to establish consumer connections at the initiation stage of the consumer–brand relationship. Although many brands attempt to use rituals to achieve a special standing in consumers’ mind, little is known about the mechanism through which rituals affect consumers’ responses to brands, particularly when consumers encounter a new brand or product. We propose that ritualistic behaviors enhance consumers’ connections with, and purchase intention for, a new brand through mindfulness and that the behavioral dimension of rituals plays a critical role. Moreover, we propose consumers’ purchase motivation as the moderator, such that the effects of rituals on new brands are mitigated when purchase motivation is utilitarian (vs. hedonic). We present convergent evidence for the hypotheses across one field experiment and two actual product consumption experiments. These findings contribute to several streams of marketing research and offer actionable managerial implications for companies.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Strengthening the satisfaction loyalty link: the role of relational
switching costs
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  Abstract: Abstract The extant retail research has placed much emphasis on understanding customer switching and the concept of switching costs (SCs). However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive with respect to the moderating role of SCs in general and relational switching costs (RSCs) in particular. Therefore, this research focuses on the moderating role played by SCs on the satisfaction-loyalty link. Specifically, our study attempts to clarify the nonlinear moderating effect of RSCs. Furthermore, we investigate RSCs in greater depth, considering their two dimensions, brand relationship loss costs (BRLCs), and personal relationship loss costs (PRLCs). We find that there is an optimal level of BRLC whereas increasing PRLCs decreases the impact of satisfaction on loyalty in a linear manner, calling for a more nuanced assessment of this type of SC in future studies. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of SCs as a retention strategy.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
The effect of competition on product removal
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  Abstract: Abstract The relationship between innovation and competition has been vastly studied over the past fifty years. However, one piece of the puzzle that has not been studied in detail is how in certain industries competition has an effect in the number of products that are removed from the market. That is why in this paper, I use scanner data to analyze the effect of competition on product removal. In particular, I track sales in the beer industry across a set of 1107 over a period of four years. Following previous studies, I use the merger between SABMiller and Molson Coors as an unexpected change in the industry to estimate future market concentration. I find that there is a negative relationship between removal and concentration. Therefore, retailers decide to remove products from their shelves in a faster way when the market is more competitive to open the gates for a more dynamic assortment.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
We are more tolerant than I: self-construal and consumer responses toward
deceptive advertising
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  Abstract: Abstract Deceptive advertising, or advertising that intends to mislead consumers by false claims or incomplete disclosure, is ubiquitous in the marketplace. Though prior research has shown that consumers generally view companies’ deceptive communication as unethical and react to it negatively, anecdotal evidence suggests that some consumers are more accepting of such misleading tactics than others. Delving deeper into this phenomenon, this research examines the role of self-construal on consumers’ responses toward deceptive advertising. Three studies provide converging evidence that interdependent (vs. independent) consumers are more tolerant of deceptive advertising, which is mediated by their attribution styles. Moreover, we further demonstrate the self-construal effect on lie acceptability decreases as the firm becomes smaller, when it is easier for consumers to pinpoint who should be responsible for the misconduct and thus are more likely to make internal attribution.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Consumer motives for buying regional products: the REGIOSCALE
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  Abstract: Abstract Consumers are increasingly turning towards regional products (RP). The Consumer Ethnocentric Scale (CETSCALE) has been widely used to examine consumer motives for buying national and RPs. However, recent studies highlight that the CETSCALE alone does not adequately explain consumers’ intention to purchase RPs. This study adopted a mixed-method approach to provide an in-depth understanding of consumers’ motivations to buy RPs. A preliminary qualitative study based on twenty semi-structured interviews with German consumers, followed by two surveys, enabled the validation of a scale including three main drivers of consumers’ decision to purchase RPs: perceived eco-friendliness, superior quality, and territorial identity. The newly built Regional Scale (i.e., REGIOSCALE) and the CETSCALE were used to assess their explanatory power of consumers’ decision to purchase RPs. The findings reveal that the REGIOSCALE has a more substantial explanatory power of consumer decision to buy RPs than the CETSCALE.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
To buy or how much to buy' Partition dependence in purchase-quantity
decisions
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  Abstract: Abstract Four studies demonstrate that people are more likely to buy (but not to buy more) when directly asked how much to buy in response to a set of purchase quantities (0, 1, 2 … n) than when first asked whether to buy in response to a seemingly innocuous yes/no purchase-interest question. This finding is explained in terms of response-scale partitioning. A purchase-quantity scale has a single negative (0) and multiple (n) positive response options. In contrast, a dichotomous yes/no purchase-interest question has an equal proportion of negative (“no”) and positive (“yes”) response options, the latter of which subsumes all positive quantity options into one partition. Ascertaining purchase interest using a single negative and multiple positive response options (“no,” “mildly,” “somewhat,” “likely,” “very,” and “definitely”) eliminated the effect.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Virtual currencies: different schemes and research opportunities
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  Abstract: Abstract The digitization of money has led to the emergence of numerous virtual currencies. Despite their great financial relevance, virtual currencies have not received much attention in marketing research. We classify virtual currencies into three different schemes and highlight potential factors that influence consumer behavior related to these new payment methods. This article provides marketing researchers with a research framework as well as specific research questions to initiate discussions and future research on this novel topic.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Does music really work' The two-stage audiovisual cross-modal
correspondence effect on consumers’ shopping behavior
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  Abstract: Abstract In this research, we explore the impacts of cross-modal correspondence between sound frequency and color lightness on consumers’ shopping behavior. Compared to previous studies that relied on a stable single-stage information environment, our study is based on a two-stage (i.e., elimination and choice stages) cognitive model to account for the dynamic cross-modal correspondence effect on shopping behavior. After conducting two laboratory experiments and one field experiment, we find that although consumers tend to pay more attention to light (vs. dark) products in the high (vs. low)-frequency sound condition in the elimination stage, this effect is less salient at the choice stage. We further find that consumer involvement acts as a moderator. Specifically, the correspondence effect is attenuated for highly involved consumers.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
The street music business: consumer responses to buskers performing on the
street and on online video platforms
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  Abstract: Abstract The street music business dates back hundreds of years and exists in many cities of the world. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of listeners who donate varies widely, academic research has not examined why listeners donate to buskers. An intensive field study covering 80,471 consumers assessed the relevance and magnitude of theoretically derived drivers. A second study investigated the degree to which offline success factors predict consumer responses to buskers performing on online video platforms. Estimation results reveal several drivers, many of which differ from musicians’ commonly held beliefs. This study contributes not only to the marketing of buskers but also to marketing of other businesses that engage in fundraising in public spaces.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Investigating cross-media effects in a multichannel marketing environment:
the role of email, catalog, television, and radio
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  Abstract: Abstract We empirically examine the cross-media effects of personalized and mass media on consumers’ purchase incidence in a multichannel shopping environment. We capture the cross-media effect as the combined impact of two distinct marketing communications on consumers’ purchase behavior. Our data consists of individual-level transaction data and information on consumers’ exposure to multiple marketing media consisting of personalized (catalog and email) and mass (television and radio) media. We find that personalized (mass) media are more influential in driving consumers’ online (offline) purchases in a multichannel shopping environment. Our analysis of cross-media effects reveals synergistic (attenuating) effects between media components across (within) personalized and mass media. Furthermore, our examination of media elasticities demonstrates that discounting such cross-media effects between personalized and mass media components can bias a firm’s assessment of the effectiveness of media components in a multichannel-multimedia marketing environment. Results from our model can help marketing managers in the optimal planning of integrated marketing communication in a multichannel-multimedia shopping environment.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
Speaking the same language: the power of words in crowdfunding success and
failure
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  Abstract: Abstract As crowdfunding has emerged as a popular source of funding for new ventures, budding entrepreneurs often struggle to deliver a convincing pitch to attract backers. We adopt an n-gram language model to analyze narratives of over 21,000 film projects from Kickstarter and find that the choice of words is critical to crowdfunding success. Using penalized logistic regression, we identify the relative power of phrases to predict funding outcome, resulting in a dramatic reduction in error rate. Consistent with the language expectancy theory, the linguistic analyses show that successful projects usually include words that reflect the credibility of project creators and meaningful social interactions, whereas failed projects exude negativism or uncertainty. While good word choices vary among movie genres, words of lower cognitive complexity dampen the chances of funding. These findings have broad implications for text analysis and natural language generation for persuasive marketing communications.
  PubDate: 2022-06-01
The creative touch: the influence of haptics on creativity
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  Abstract: Abstract An increasing number of firms rely on consumers to develop new ideas for the marketplace. While many firms rely on online crowdsourcing communities, some have created facilities that encourage in-person ideation through which consumers can interact with product design materials. This research proposes that active touch engenders a positive effect on new product creativity and highlights the importance of touch during idea generation. We further suggest that interacting with an object via active touch increases positive mood, which enhances creative performance. Results from two studies provide support for these hypotheses. Study 1 demonstrates the positive effect of active touch on new product creativity. Study 2 replicates this effect in a different product development context and provides evidence that a positive mood mediates the active touch-creativity relationship.
  PubDate: 2022-05-14
Effects of labeling on risk taking in “leveling-up” decisions:
ascending versus descending permutations and ending in terminal values
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  Abstract: Abstract Many decisions involve attempts to advance (level up) despite risk of losing what has already been gained. This research examined how permutations (ascending or descending sequences of level labels) and labels ending in terminal values of the sequence affect risk taking. Across three experiments using a “win-more-or-lose-it-all” game, participants made a series of decisions to level up or opt out and retain previously obtained chances to win. Consistent with hypotheses that approaching a terminal value in a sequence (such as a countdown sequence ending in 1) would make risk loom large, results consistently showed earlier opt-out decisions for descending permutations ending with a terminal value than for ascending sequences or descending sequences that did not end in a terminal value. Such tendencies were also stronger for numerical than for alphabetical labels (perhaps because of greater familiarity with countdown sequences in the numerical domain).
  PubDate: 2022-05-05
“No, Thanks”: How Do Requests for Feedback Affect the Consumption
Behavior of Non-Compliers'
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  Abstract: Abstract Consumers’ feedback helps firms, yet most requests for feedback are unanswered. Research on question–behavior effects suggests that providing feedback on prior experiences might influence subsequent consumption behavior, but provides little insight regarding users who decline requests (e.g., by clicking “No, Thanks”). Accordingly, we investigate whether the exposure to a request to rate a consumption experience influences users’ future conversion regardless of their compliance. We carried out two large-scale field studies in collaboration with a leading international website that offers basic service for free, and additional desirable features for a fee (“freemium”). We exposed users to a rating request and measured their subsequent likelihood of converting to the paid service. Users exposed to a rating request were more likely to convert compared with users who were not exposed; this effect persisted over 90 days. Notably, users who complied with the request were no more likely to convert compared with non-compliers.
  PubDate: 2022-04-29
The effect of trust in management on salespeople’s selling
orientation
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  Abstract: Abstract In the following study, a sales rep hard-selling orientation is much more influenced by the hard-selling orientation they perceive senior management want them to adopt when (1) they trust senior management and (2) when their sales manager is perceived to take a similar position as senior management. Thus, a strong in-sync ethical signal is sent, either low or high. Trust plays no moderating role in senior management or sales managers’ influence on a salesperson’s level of customer orientation. This is because pursuing a customer orientation does not increase risk and vulnerability the way that pursuing a hard-selling orientation does, and trust is only an influential construct when there exists risk and vulnerability. In addition, no strong in-sync ethical signal effect was observed on sales rep customer orientation.
  PubDate: 2022-04-22
A dynamic model of price competition and promotion in prescription drug
markets
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  Abstract: Abstract In prescription drug markets, the effects of advertising on demand for the drug category and for specific brands have been studied, and the interaction between price and non-price promotions, acting on demand for the drug, is well established. More recently, supply-side decisions such as competitive pricing strategies between rival firms in the same therapeutic category, and the interaction between them and consumer advertising have been examined. The study extends the research on the relationship between competitive pricing strategies and direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) by developing and estimating a dynamic model in which sales is influenced by a combination of consumer advertising, detailing, and pricing. The model is estimated using US data from two medical therapeutic categories. One of these datasets has been used in estimation of a static model in a recently published study, and we compare the results of our dynamic model with the static model results. A dynamic model is appropriate for a market where there is a limited period and planning horizon for recovering the costs of drug development before a branded prescription drug loses its patent protection. The relationship between DTCA, detailing, and pricing under different competitive strategies is examined empirically. It is found that the dynamic model can contradict a basic conclusion of a static model, regarding mode of competitive pricing behavior. The relationship between amount and type of DTCA and competitive pricing strategy is as found in previous studies. There are implications for the marketing of pharmaceutical brands during their period of patent protection.
  PubDate: 2022-04-22
The power of nostalgia: Age and preference for popular music
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  Abstract: Abstract Marketers need evidence to help them select music to promote their products. Ethnicity, social class and/or personality type can distinguish individual music tastes, but age and nostalgia may be the largest determinant of all (North, American Journal of Psychology, 123, 199–208, 2010). Research into listener preference for music from different eras has found conflicting results. Papers generally agree that it takes an inverse U shape, but disagree on the era for which people are most nostalgic. The seminal paper found a peak for music released when listeners were 23 years of age (Holbrook & Schindler, Journal of Consumer Research, 16, 119–124, 1989), a follow-up 9 years of age (Hemming, Musicae Scientiae, 17, 293–304, 2013), and 19 years of age (Holbrook & Schindler, Musicae Scientiae, 17, 305–308, 2013). This paper attempts to correct the issues raised by Holbrook & Schindler (Musicae Scientiae, 17, 305–308, 2013) by improving the representativeness of the sample and introducing a new analysis technique, the two-lines test. This paper finds support for Holbrook & Schindler, but with a slightly younger age peak of roughly 17 years. Additionally, the larger sample allows investigation of differences by generation, which reveals differences that may be caused by their different current age, and so the relationship with, and interplay of nostalgia and music. The central conclusion of the paper is that people do exhibit a preference for music released during their late adolescence/early adulthood. When targeting consumers of a narrow age demographic, music released during this time is more likely to be preferred than any other.
  PubDate: 2022-04-22
Language matters: humanizing service robots through the use of language
during the COVID-19 pandemic
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  Abstract: Abstract Service robots are emerging quickly in the marketplace (e.g., in hotels, restaurants, and healthcare), especially as COVID-19-related health concerns and social distancing guidelines have affected people’s desire and ability to interact with other humans. However, while robots can increase efficiency and enable service offerings with reduced human contact, prior research shows a systematic consumer aversion toward service robots relative to human service providers. This potential dilemma raises the managerial question of how firms can overcome consumer aversion and better employ service robots. Drawing on prior research that supports the use of language for building interpersonal relationships, this research examines whether the type of language (social-oriented vs. task-oriented language) a service robot uses can improve consumer responses to and evaluations of the focal service robot, particularly in light of consumers’ COVID-19-related stress. The results show that consumers respond more favorably to a service robot that uses a social-oriented (vs. task-oriented) language style, particularly when these consumers experience relatively higher levels of COVID-19-related stress. These findings contribute to initial empirical evidence in marketing for the efficacy of leveraging robots’ language style to improve customer evaluations of service robots, especially under stressful circumstances. Overall, the results from two experimental studies not only point to actionable managerial implications but also to a new avenue of research on service robots that examines customer-robot interactions through the lens of language and in contexts that can be stressful for consumers (e.g., healthcare or some financial service settings).
  PubDate: 2022-04-20
“Dark patterns” in online services: a motivating study and
agenda for future research
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  Abstract: Abstract Some companies offering online services employ tactics that make it hard for customers to quit their accounts. These tactics are commonly referred to as “dark patterns” and may include hiding the cancelation procedure, asking customers to go through an excessive number of steps to complete the cancelation, or simply not letting customers quit their accounts straight away. Arguably, dark patterns are the result of misaligned incentives between companies and customers as companies can still benefit from their customers’ data even if they no longer use the companies’ services. Against this background, the authors conduct an observational survey of the state of current market practice and call for future research that enhances our understanding of dark patterns, their organizational antecedents, customers’ psychological responses to these tactics, and the wider consequences of dark patterns for firms and markets.
  PubDate: 2022-04-14
Advertising creativity and its effects: a meta-analysis of the moderating
role of modality
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  Abstract: Abstract Given the media’s changing landscape for advertising, an examination of advertising creativity and its media interaction takes on increasing importance. Accordingly, we investigate within a meta-analytic framework the moderating role of media type (i.e., traditional/non-traditional) in the relationship between advertising creativity and its effects. The analysis covers 48 papers with 298 data points. First, the meta-analytic findings indicate that ad creativity is positively related to cognition, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Second, the type of media moderates the relationship between ad creativity and its effects. Specifically, the results show that for cognition, print media exhibits a larger impact than TV and non-traditional media. For affect, there is a significant difference in the influence of print versus non-traditional media and TV versus non-traditional media. Non-traditional media produces a smaller impact than print and TV media. For conation, a comparison of TV versus non-traditional media reveals a significant difference in impact. TV media shows a larger impact than non-traditional media. Given that the motivation, opportunity, and ability to process creative ads in traditional and non-traditional media may differ, we present several directions for future research.
  PubDate: 2022-04-09