Search results

The current increase in social media activity related to brand–consumer interactions is progressively influencing the manner in which brands and their customers communicate. Whereas this attention to social media is warranted, researchers and brand managers must also recognize that consumers connect and engage with brands across other communication platforms as well. Accordingly, this study aims to examine brand–consumer interactions taking place across social, online and physical platforms, as well as consumer motives for initiating these brand interactions across various platforms.

A mixed-method approach integrating quantitative and qualitative data was used. We administered a written diary to 102 individuals over a two-month period, in which study participants recorded their motivations and platform use in their interactions with a brand. We evaluated latent-class mixture models for complex data and multi-level latent-class mixture models to identify classes of interactions based on participants’ motivations and platform use as well as customer segments based on the identified motives-by-platform classes.

The findings reveal ten categories of motives for interacting with brands, including promotions and incentives, timely information, product information, engagement, browsing, purchase, customer service, branded content, entertainment, and personalization/exclusivity. Furthermore, six motives-by-platform interaction classes are identified. The findings suggest three consumer segments differentiated by their motives-by-platform profiles.

This study adds to past research investigating the motives behind brand–consumer interactions in social media by investigating both social media and non-social media-related interactions, and offering a typology of interaction profiles that considers interaction motives and platform preferences.

This study illustrates that consumers are driven to interact with brands based upon the ten motive categories. These motives, in turn, are associated with different platform uses. Thus, it is important for brands to adopt ambidexterity across multiple communication platforms.

This research adds to the understanding of brand–consumer interactions conducted on online and offline communication platforms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting consumers' acceptance of mobile marketing in China.

The authors draw on technology acceptance and uses and gratifications theories to develop a conceptual model of antecedent factors (including risk acceptance related to the mobile platform and personal attachment related to mobile devices) and marketing‐related and value‐based mobile activity related to the acceptance of mobile marketing practice. The conceptual model is tested using data collected among Chinese youth consumers.

The results confirm the importance of risk acceptance and personal attachment in influencing mobile marketing acceptance, and support the “priming” effect of regular mobile phone usage on orienting consumers toward accepting mobile marketing initiatives.

The study is limited to a specific sample of youth consumers in China. The findings illustrate the role of antecedent factors – including personal attachment and risk acceptance – related to acceptance of mobile marketing in the Chinese market and they emphasize the role of marketing‐related and value‐based mobile activity in mediating the relationships between antecedent factors and mobile marketing acceptance.

The findings illustrate the importance of recognizing the drivers of, and obstacles to, mobile marketing acceptance. These factors included the likelihood of providing information, likelihood of accessing content, likelihood of sharing content, level of risk acceptance, and level of personal attachment to one's mobile phone.

The paper adds to the growing literature on Chinese youth consumers by examining their acceptance of mobile marketing. The study reveals several implications for theory and practice relating to the antecedents of mobile marketing acceptance among the youth consumer segment within China, a large and emerging market.

This paper proposes a framework for connecting the involvement construct’s antecedents of Internet marketing, measured involvement degree, related constructs and consequences of consumer behavior. The research first determined the factors that influence the degree of Internet marketing involvement then established the different involvement degree clusters by measured involvement. Finally, the relationship among influence factors, Internet marketing involvement degree, and consequences of consumer behavior was analyzed. Based on the research findings, this paper discusses the possible Internet marketing strategies for a variety involvement degree clusters.

The impact of e‐business on export management companies (EMCs) has been debated for some time and several reasons for their survival have been forwarded. Based upon the resource‐based perspective of the firm, this study provides a far more fundamental reason for the survival of the well‐established EMCs‐their market‐based assets. Furthermore, this study analyzes the impact of e‐business proliferation on the well‐established EMCs transaction creating and physical fulfillment exporting services and their efficiency and effectiveness.

The promise of B2B e‐commerce had led to an explosion in the number of e‐marketplaces as firms adopted a “launch and learn” strategy. However a cash crisis and continuing losses led to tremendous consolidation in these marketplaces. This scenario was mirrored in Latin America too. With the growing importance of B2B e‐commerce worldwide, Latin American firms cannot ignore the competitive advantages that accrue by employing the Internet into their strategies. This paper presents a variety of decision models that small and medium enterprises can employ to integrate the Internet into their business decisions and thereby remain competitive.

Uses benefit needs to segment the online marketing market. Employs focus groups and a random sampling survey to search for consumer benefit needs and then segments the market by these benefits sought by customers. Shows that the various segments display significant differences in the benefits sought, lifestyles and demographics etc. Suggests that this work can assist marketing managers to focus on one or more segments that show salient consumer preferences for the benefits provided by their products or services.

The purpose of this study is to summarize the findings of consumer factor research and to suggest future lines of inquiry connected to branding outcomes. Consumers are comfortable with social media and accept firms occupying the same digital space. However, some consumers more readily engage with firms online than others. Consumer factor antecedents are numerous and yet not fully explored. Online consumer engagement has also been defined and measured in various ways. The resultant outcomes related to branding also have implications for future consumer engagement. Summarizing the findings of consumer factor research and suggesting future lines of inquiry connected to branding outcomes will enhance the understanding of consumer engagement and branding strategies to maximize marketing return on investment.

The authors review literature examining key constructs and sub-dimensions on how consumer factors impact brand engagement and brand outcomes.

Three major research areas specific to consumer factors were identified: consumer status, consumer disposition, personality trait, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and cultural dimensions. Brand engagement was explored relative to affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement. Lastly, six brand outcomes were explored: brand status, disposition, attitude, affirmation connection and aversion.

This review contributes to the literature through a deeper understanding of consumer factors that lead to consumer engagement and the resultant branding factors of consumer engagement. The authors offer framework that both identifies future research needs, and insights into how firms may create, grow and enhance consumer–brand engagement.

Given the dearth of comprehensive brand engagement frameworks in the literature, the authors offer insights into how consumer factors serve as antecedents to brand engagement and identify a research agenda for advancing the field.

This study proposes a conceptual model to comprehensively understand how sports fans perceive and accept smartphones and applications in a sport consumption context by developing a series of propositions. Theoretically based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Sport Website Acceptance Model (SWAM), this study provides fundamental groundwork to better conceptualise sports fans' decision making processes involving the latest technology used to consume sport.

Online social media are dramatically changing the ways in which firms and their consumers interact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter among younger consumers (“digital natives”) in their interactions with brands. To investigate this, the authors conduct a mixed-method study including latent class analysis (LCA) to examine the role of social media among younger consumers (referred to as “digital natives”) in their interactions with brands.

A mixed-method approach including both qualitative analysis and LCA was used to analyze daily interactions between consumers and specific brands across two primary social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Data were collected by means of a social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Data were collected by means of a social media diary collected over a one-week period.

The findings from this study suggest that brand-consumer interactions driven by social media can be characterized by five primary motivations or themes: entertainment, brand engagement (specifically identification with or connection to the brand), timeliness of information and service responses, product information, and incentives and promotions. The authors also identify relationships among these themes related to respondents' age, gender, and social media use.

Although social media have become a widespread form of communication and interaction between brands and consumers, research regarding the nature of social media-driven brand-consumer interactions is only now developing. Drawing on the perspectives of consumer online engagement and uses and gratifications theory, the results from this study are important to guiding future brand-customer interaction research. These findings help extend previous research by identifying consumer motivations that underlie social media usage in brand engagement.

These results highlight the role of social media in helping brands to be proactive in their consumer communications and interactions, in areas such as communicating product information, addressing customer service issues, engaging consumers with content relevant to the brand, providing timely information regarding promotions and new product launches, and fostering consumer-generated comments. Managers should also recognize that younger digital natives interact with brands via social media differently (e.g. for pure entertainment) than older individuals.

This study provides new insights to the nature of brand-consumer interactions, engagement, and outcomes driven by social media.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how young female customers establish psychological relationships with small- to medium-scale retail stores over time forming purchase intentions, actual purchase patterns and repurchase behaviour. Role of various customer typologies was also considered.

A case study approach was implemented to collect and analyse data, where data was collected from 20 young female customers and ten clothing retailers using purposive sampling via semi-structured interviews. Interviews with customers were conducted in a place of their choice such as in a coffee shop, whereas data from retailers were collected in the retail stores. Both online and offline retail patronage was considered to incorporate the growing tendency towards online shopping. Results were analysed using thematic analysis.

This study managed to reveal a number of interesting findings on how female customers form and develop psychological relationships with clothing retailers over time that ultimately builds customer loyalty. Customer behaviour in pre-purchase, purchase and re-purchase stages can significantly vary according to their individual perceptions, whereas they have a few favourite clothing brands that they frequently shop for. Preference for online shopping was found to be minimal, most of them enjoying in store experiences. Further, word of mouth and unique designs emerged as key contributors in establishing retail brand loyalty.

This paper provides better insights for clothing retailers and industry practitioners in understanding how customer perceptions affect clothing purchase decisions.

This paper contributes to the retail literature by emphasizing on various elements that should be amalgamated through proper synthesis to serve customers. The research is unique as it analyses customer behaviour using a recreational activity model as opposed to marketing models to demonstrate how customers develop relationships with retail brands overtime.