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1 – 10 of 464Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the essential marketing activities in the hotel industry, the effect of CSR perception on customer's revisit intention…
Abstract
Purpose
Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the essential marketing activities in the hotel industry, the effect of CSR perception on customer's revisit intention varies depending on mediators and contexts. Thus, this study aims to examine how hotel companies can effectively influence customers' patronage behaviors by leveraging overall customers' CSR perception, trust and commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, an online survey is conducted among hotel customers in the USA. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling is utilized to analyze the collected data.
Findings
The results show that customers' perception toward CSR does not have a direct effect on customers' revisit intention. Interestingly, the authors find that customers' perception influences their revisit intention only via increasing trust and commitment. Also, trust appears to be highly critical for positive behavioral outcomes than commitment.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the current research are that the different types of CSR activities and customers' demographics were not compared.
Practical implications
Customers' revisit intention is created when hotel companies provide not only CSR initiatives but also customers' perceived connection with the hotel brand.
Originality/value
Tourism and hospitality companies have focused on CSR activities because CSR activities are influential strategies to attract customers who want meaningful, responsible and sustainable experiences. By applying the cognitive consistency theory, the results of this study indicate that hotel companies can successfully use CSR activities to develop customers' revisit intention by enhancing their relational value.
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Aruna Jha, Madhavi Kapoor, Khushi Kaul and Khushi Srivastava
Importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in marketing domain is increasing immensely. The effect of CSR perception on the purchase intention differs on the basis of…
Abstract
Purpose
Importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in marketing domain is increasing immensely. The effect of CSR perception on the purchase intention differs on the basis of mediators and contexts. The objective of this study is to examine the consumer behaviour of young consumers. For this, impact of CSR perception on purchase intention, satisfaction and price fairness of Generation Z is studied.
Design/methodology/approach
Preliminary data analysis is run to check normality, skewness and common method bias. PLS-SEM is deployed to examine the relationships amongst the research variables. Sequential mediation through PLS bootstrapping helped in exploring new and exciting research results which are supported with literature.
Findings
The CSR perception of Generation Z does not have a direct effect on their purchase intention. Interestingly, satisfaction and price fairness fully mediate the relationship between CSR perception and purchase intentions separately, i.e. CSR perception of Generation Z influences purchase intention only through satisfaction and price fairness. Furthermore, satisfaction and price fairness are also found to sequentially mediate the relationship between CSR perception and purchase intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The research will aid not only the fast-food industry but the industries that are looking to focus on what Generation Z consumers expect in emerging markets including India. Understanding consumer expectations out of CSR initiatives will help them to incorporate social considerations into their marketing strategies and increase their profitability. Generation Z is regarded as the most challenging consumer demographic to market due to their proclivity for conducting extensive research and comparison shopping before making a purchase decision. As a result, the companies that want to use CSR as a strategy may find it advantageous to investigate how marketing of their CSR initiatives will lead to competitive edge and influence purchase decisions of this generational cohort.
Originality/value
This study adds to the academic literature by developing and evaluating a research model for consumer responses of a very important generation cohort to CSR in an emerging economy setting. CSR activities alone may not be enough to improve purchase intention of Generation Z adults. Sequential mediation for Generation Z adults' relationship between CSR and price fairness flows through satisfaction and finally to purchase intention is interesting because it clearly establishes a link amongst belief, attitude and actions of the target audience under study in a meaningful way within the framework given by cognitive consistency theory.
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Daniel Böger, Pascal Kottemann and Reinhold Decker
This paper aims to investigate what influence the perceptions of two parent brands have on the perception of a newly formed co-brand. Furthermore, it elaborates whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate what influence the perceptions of two parent brands have on the perception of a newly formed co-brand. Furthermore, it elaborates whether respondents’ evaluations of the parent brands, their familiarity towards the parent brands and their usage of the parent brands affect this influence.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on both cognitive consistency and information integration theory, this paper proposes a model-based approach to quantify the parent brands’ influence on the co-brand’s perception. Using an empirical study with 317 respondents collected by a professional online market research firm, this paper highlights the benefits of this model-based approach.
Findings
The results indicate that the perception of a co-brand arises from a weighted merge of the parent brands’ perceptions. The findings further reveal that the better (worse) a parent brand’s evaluation is in contrast to the other parent brand’s evaluation, the more (less) familiar a parent brand is in contrast to the other parent brand, and the more (less) frequent a parent brand is used in contrast to the other parent brand, the larger (smaller) is its influence on the co-brand’s perception.
Originality/value
The findings shed light on the formation of a co-brand’s perception which can be crucial when selecting the right co-branding partner. Additionally, by quantifying the parent brands’ influence on the perception of the co-brand, this model-based approach helps brand managers to analyze co-brand pairings beforehand and select the best pairing in accordance with their goals.
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Sadrudin A. Ahmed, Alain d'Astous and Halima Benmiloud Petersen
This paper aims to show that the congruency between the source of a product being evaluated and the commonly held perceptions of that product's association with a country of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show that the congruency between the source of a product being evaluated and the commonly held perceptions of that product's association with a country of origin (COO) leads to a more positive evaluation of that product.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an experimental study using two congruent product stimulus categories and two non‐congruent product categories, each associated with a Danish and a non‐Danish sounding brand name to elicit evaluation of product profiles from a sample of 187 young consumers.
Findings
Among all the variables included in the analysis of variance (ANOVA) tables, product‐country congruency performed the best. The second strongest main effect is attributed to familiarity with Danish products. The brand‐country congruence variable related only indirectly to the evaluation of products from Denmark through an interaction with product‐country congruence.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should seek to build data sets from a larger number of adult consumers from several countries with more product and brand stimuli associated with multiple countries.
Practical implications
Consumers who are familiar with products made in Denmark should be the prime target market for products congruent with Denmark. Because of their strong association with Denmark, these products may benefit from their association with country of design (COD) Denmark in promotional programs.
Originality/value
Using cognitive‐consistency theory, this paper extends the previous literature on the perceptions of product‐country‐fit by including the effects of brand‐country fit, technological complexity, three dimensional conception of COO, and two separate product evaluation measures, using product‐country familiarity, product involvement and product experience as moderators.
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The purpose of this paper is to better understand the impact of intercultural communication and personality on customer satisfaction and loyalty in grocery retailing. In this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the impact of intercultural communication and personality on customer satisfaction and loyalty in grocery retailing. In this endeavour, this study illustrates the unique context of intercultural communication to highlight several improvements in the literature and to encourage the advancement of the intercultural communication in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
To initiate the research, a survey approach was taken. In total, 681 questionnaires were returned out of 1,100 that were distributed within selected grocery retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The measurement of the constructs and their interrelationships is examined based on partial least square-structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings validate the proposed framework with statistically significant relationships among all constructs. Furthermore, it exposes additional insights into some practical and conceptual solutions for addressing the intercultural communication of culturally diverse encounters in the Malaysian grocery retail industry. These contributions postulate an impetus for future research in various service settings.
Originality/value
Based on role, interdependence and cognitive consistency theory, this study assesses the role of the personality of grocery retail consumers on intercultural communication competence (ICC) and its impact on inter-role congruence (IRC) and interaction comfort (IAC). It is anticipated that by filling this knowledge gap, the research will assist in strengthening retail communication strategies, which require intercultural communication adjustments in a multicultural business environment. The ICC is expected to improve the retail industry competitiveness when it positively influences IRC and IAC among customers.
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Timmy H. Tseng and Han-Yu Wang
Internet celebrities have become key resources for consumers making purchase decisions. An increasing number of internet celebrities have begun to exert their influence by…
Abstract
Purpose
Internet celebrities have become key resources for consumers making purchase decisions. An increasing number of internet celebrities have begun to exert their influence by creating self-branded products. This study aims to examine the antecedents of consumer attitudes and purchase intentions towards internet celebrity self-brands by integrating cognitive consistency theory, cue utilisation theory and the literature on brand authenticity and celebrity involvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Two sub-samples of different social media brand communities were collected via online surveys of consumers with experience purchasing targeted internet celebrity self-brands. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results of the two sub-samples provide convergent evidence that brand–consumer congruence, brand authenticity and internet celebrity involvement have positive correlations with consumer attitudes towards internet celebrity self-brands, which then positively correlate with purchase intentions in both psychological (Sub-sample 1) and social (Sub-sample 2) brand communities.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to develop a comprehensive model of consumers’ attitudes towards internet celebrity self-brands, which predict purchase intentions. The model is empirically tested in different social media brand communities, and the convergent results show the power of the proposed model. Internet celebrity involvement is proposed as a key driver of brand attitudes, which has received little attention. We conceptualise internet celebrity involvement and develop a scale to measure it. Based on the findings, we propose strategies to improve the marketing effectiveness of internet celebrity self-brands.
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Ahmad Aljarah, Dima Sawaftah, Blend Ibrahim and Eva Lahuerta-Otero
The aim of this study is first, to investigate the relative effect of user-generated content (UGC) and firm-generated content (FGC) on online brand advocacy, and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is first, to investigate the relative effect of user-generated content (UGC) and firm-generated content (FGC) on online brand advocacy, and second, to examine the mediation effect of customer engagement and the moderation effect of brand familiarity in the relationship between UGC and FGC and online brand advocacy. The differential impact of UGC and FGC on consumer behavior has yet to receive sufficient academic attention among hospitality scholars.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on social learning theory, cognitive consistency theory and schema theory, this study established an integrated research framework to explain the relationship between the constructs of the study. This study adopts a scenario-based experimental design in two separate studies within contexts to examine the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results revealed that UGC is a stronger predictor of online brand advocacy than FGC. A mediation analysis supported that the effect of digital content marketing types on online brand advocacy occurs because of customer engagement. Further, when the brand was familiar, participants showed a higher level of online brand advocacy than when they were exposed to FGC (vs. unfamiliar brand), whereas the effect of familiar and unfamiliar brands on online brand advocacy remains slightly close to each other when the participants were exposed to UGC. Brand familiarity positively enhanced participants’ engagement when they were exposed to UGC. Further, customer engagement is only a significant mediator when the brand is unfamiliar.
Practical implications
This paper presents significant managerial implications for hospitality companies about how they can effectively enhance brand advocacy in the online medium.
Originality/value
This research provides a novel contribution by examining the differential impact of UGC and FGC on online brand advocacy as well as uncovering the underlying mechanism of how and under what conditions user- and firm-generated content promotes online brand advocacy in the hospitality context.
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This study aims to understand better the impact of intercultural communication, social environment and personality on customer satisfaction and post-purchase stage in retailing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand better the impact of intercultural communication, social environment and personality on customer satisfaction and post-purchase stage in retailing from Muslim customers’ perspective. In this endeavour, this study illustrates the unique context of intercultural communication to highlight several improvements contributing towards the advancement of intercultural communication literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This research adopted a survey approach where 450 questionnaires were obtained among selected grocery retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The measurement of the constructs and their interrelationships were examined based on partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The findings partially validated the proposed framework with statistically significant relationships among all constructs. Furthermore, it exposed additional insights into some practical and conceptual solutions for addressing intercultural communication of religiously and culturally diverse service encounters in the Malaysian grocery retail industry. These contributions postulated an impetus for future research in various service settings.
Originality/value
Based on the theories, this study assessed the role of the social environment and personality of grocery retail customers on intercultural communication competence (ICC). It also examined the impacts of ICC on inter-role congruence and interaction comfort. It is anticipated that by filling this knowledge gap, the research assisted in strengthening retail communication strategies, which require intercultural communication adjustments in a multicultural business environment. ICC is expected to improve the retail industry’s competitiveness when it positively influences inter-role congruence and interaction comfort among customers.
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Anshul Mandliya, Vartika Varyani, Yusuf Hassan, Anuja Akhouri and Jatin Pandey
The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between Social and Environmental Accountability (SEA), Attitude towards Environmental Advertising (AEA)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between Social and Environmental Accountability (SEA), Attitude towards Environmental Advertising (AEA), Materialism, and Intention to purchase Environmentally Sustainable Products (IPESP).
Design/methodology/approach
The study sample consists of 205 business students from two B schools in India. Data was collected through the survey method, and the moderated-mediation model was statistically tested using SPSS Process Macro software.
Findings
The findings of the study suggest that the attitude towards social and environmental accountability (SEA) is positively associated with the intention to purchase environmentally sustainable products (IPESP). Moreover, this relationship is mediated and moderated by AEA and materialism, respectively.
Practical implications
The findings of the study reveal that a consumer with low materialism and a positive attitude for both environmental sustainability and environmental advertising has higher chances of purchasing environmentally sustainable products.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on sustainability by providing a basis for understanding the moderated-mediation mechanism, which affects the relationship between SEA and IPESP; two key variables that have not been examined in combination.
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Rebeca Cordero-Gutiérrez, Ahmad Aljarah, Manuela López and Eva Lahuerta-Otero
The objective of this study is to investigate the differential impact of gain versus loss message framing on the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to investigate the differential impact of gain versus loss message framing on the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications in eliciting online brand engagement within the hospitality industry. Furthermore, this research aims to examine the extent to which evoked happiness and message credibility mediate the relationship between CSR message framing and online brand engagement, as these mediating factors have not been thoroughly examined in the existing academic literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilizes a between-subjects experimental design to test an integrative research framework, which is grounded in message framing theory and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), in order to examine the interrelationships among the various constructs of the study within a coffee shop context on Facebook.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that gain framing is a more powerful predictor of online brand engagement than loss framing. A mediation analysis supports the assertion that the effects of CSR framing communications on online brand engagement are mediated by evoked happiness and message credibility. Specifically, when the CSR message was framed in a positive (gain) manner, it was perceived as more credible and evoked more happiness, leading to increased online brand engagement. Additionally, the study’s results provide empirical evidence for the notion that the happiness elicited by brand messages enhances their credibility, leading to further online brand engagement.
Originality/value
This research makes a novel contribution to the literature by investigating the distinct effects of message framing on online brand advocacy and examining the complex interrelationships that modulate consumer engagement within the context of the hospitality industry.
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