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The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and provide a future research agenda for (in)congruence regarding cues between products, brands and atmospheres.

A semi-systematic literature review was conducted. The aim was to assess, critique and synthesise (in)congruence, which was found in the literature to be dispersed and interdisciplinary, and to propose a theoretical framework in the marketing domain.

Firstly, the review reveals that sensory and semantic cues are interrelated in products, brands and atmospheres. It illustrates that these cues are the foundation for (in)congruence. Secondly, the findings show various theoretical foundations for (in)congruence. These explain where and how congruence occurs. Lastly, a theoretical framework for (in)congruence and a future research agenda were developed to stimulate further research.

A theoretical framework was developed to enrich the theoretical knowledge and understanding of (in)congruence in the marketing domain.

The review reveals that products, brands and atmospheres have spillover effects. Managers are advised to understand the semantic meaning carried by cues to foster various outcomes, to estimate the trade-offs when modifying (in)congruent cues for products, brands and atmospheres.

The developed theoretical framework advances and deepens the knowledge of (in)congruence in the marketing domain by moving beyond the match and fit between two entities and by revealing the underlying mechanism and its outcomes.

This study aims to investigate the combined effects of product design and environment congruence on consumers’ aesthetic, affective and behavioral responses.

Two lab experiments with a 2 (high-level design cues vs low-level design cues) × 2 (congruent environment vs non-congruent environment) between-subjects design were conducted to test the hypotheses. The experimental stimuli (product: digital camera; environment: product display in a retail environment) were presented in a 3D simulation environment using a large TV (Experiment 1) and a stereoscopic virtual reality headset.

The results support the notion that product design cues elicit more positive aesthetic and affective responses. Environment congruence, on the other hand, plays a moderating role; product design cues elicit more favorable consumer responses in a congruent environment. In contrast, no such effect was found in a non-congruent environment.

Creating a congruent environment is only effective for well-designed products. In contrast, for products with low-level design elements, the congruence of promotional environment is not instrumental and may not elicit more favorable responses. Hence, such products can simply be presented in a generic display, especially considering the significant costs associated with designing, building and setting up a congruent display.

Despite the empirical findings supporting the significant role of product design and environment congruence on consumers’ perceptual and behavioral responses, there is a paucity of research on the combined effect of these two factors. The present investigation is an attempt to fill this gap and challenges the generalizations made in previous research suggesting that a product’s environment must be aligned with the design elements embedded in the product.

The study investigates how the congruence of online deal popularity and star rating influences service quality expectation in online group buying (OGB) websites. It also investigates the role of authenticity perceptions of online cues.

Two experiments are used to assess the effects of congruence between deal popularity and star rating on service quality expectation for service deals in an OGB website.

The findings suggest that a combination of congruently high deal popularity and high star rating has a stronger effect on expected service quality than a combination of congruently low cues. The findings further suggest that expected service quality is greater under the combination of high deal popularity and low star rating than the combination of low deal popularity and high star rating, showing the differences between incongruent cue combinations. The findings also show the moderating effect of consumer authenticity perceptions of cues on the expected service quality.

The novel contribution of the study is to extend cue congruence theory to explain how congruent online information cues and the consumers' authenticity perceptions of the cues influence consumers' judgment of online deals. The contribution is validated empirically in the context of OGB. The findings advance current knowledge concerning how consumers use online information cues.

The purpose of this study is to explore the three-way interaction effects among congruence type (proximal vs distal) of nonverbal ad messages, assessment perspective (internal vs external) of verbal ad messages and social distance (close vs faraway) on consumers’ visit intention.

After developing the four categories of restaurant advertisements and scenarios for each type of social distance, the authors used 780 observations collected from Chinese consumers via the online survey platform Sojump and WeChat. The authors conducted ANOVA to test the hypotheses.

The results reveal that in proximal congruence situations, consumers who feel a close social distance between themselves and their companions report higher visit intentions when exposed to internal versus external perspective-oriented ad messages; in distal congruence situations, external perspective-oriented ad messages elicit higher intention to visit advertised restaurant when consumers feel a far social distance between themselves and their companions.

Future research can focus on the different categories of messages, such as functional and experiential messages, to find whether similar interaction effects are explored or not.

This paper suggests some practical implications for advertisers to maximize the impact of advertisements on consumers’ behavioral outcomes via combining the different characteristics of nonverbal and verbal messages effectively, especially according to their target consumers’ characteristics.

In the view of the three-way interaction effects, this paper offers a new lens on understanding how advertisements influence consumers’ behavioral outcomes, which could contribute to the advancement of advertisement theories.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the congruence between predecessor and successor personality traits (PTs) with the values of their small family business (SFB) contributes to a successful succession transition across generations.

The conceptual model method was employed in this investigation, which describes an entity and identifies issues that should be considered in a study (MacInnis, 2011). It involves a form of theorizing that seeks to create a nomological network around the focal concept, to examine and detail the causal linkages and mechanisms at play (Delbridge and Fiss, 2013).

Drawing on the trait activation theory (TAT), this study conceptualizes that the congruence of the successor's PTs with those of the predecessor, as well as the values, transitions and nature of the assigned task, activates the successor's PTs and motivates him to work diligently for a successful succession transition while preserving the business's core values established by the founder.

This study is an eye-opener for strategists and SFB predecessors to ponder the successor's PTs disparities across generations. Additionally, it urges them to consider the congruence of SFB's values and nature of operations with the successor's PTs for successful succession transition. Thus, such awareness may contribute to stabilizing the SFB's survival rate.

This study contributed to the existing literature by answering how predecessor’s and successor's PTs congruence and SFB's values and nature of operations congruence with their PTs may contribute to successful succession transition across generations. This study contributed to the TAT by thematically explaining the organizational cues to bridge a relationship between entrepreneurial personality traits (EPT) and succession success of SFBs.

This study aims to explore how attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes affect room sales on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms from the cue congruence perspective.

More than 9.53 million reviews concerning 258,473 listings located in 35 major cities worldwide were collected from Airbnb. Data was collected from December 2019 to December 2020 and was analysed using a generalised linear model.

Results show that when attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes give positive signals, Airbnb room sales are significantly higher than when the two kinds of cues give inconsistent or negative signals; when attribute performance gives positive signals and hosts’ service quality attributes give negative signals, room sales are higher than when the former gives negative signals and the latter give positive signals; surprisingly, when both kinds of cues give negative signals, room sales are higher than when attribute performance gives positive signals and hosts’ service quality attributes give negative signals.

This paper adds useful insights on understanding of cue congruence (incongruence) effect on room sales of P2P accommodation platforms. This study has practical implications for hosts, online platform managers and guests regarding how to use online strategies and promotions on the Airbnb platform.

This study is an early attempt to explore how the combination of attribute performance and hosts’ service quality attributes affects Airbnb room sales under the conditions of consistency and inconsistency.

Understanding customer behavior from the perspective of channel integration has become a major stream of research in multi-channel retailing literature. Yet, despite recent advancements in scholarship, how retailers can most effectively sustain customers in online retailing remains unclear. Scholars have suggested online–offline channel integration (OOCI) as an effective multi-channel approach for increasing online loyalty; yet, few studies have explored OOCI's influencing mechanism. This study addresses that gap by investigating how OOCI helps achieve customer loyalty online and further examines the moderating role of retailer credibility in the influencing mechanism of OOCI.

The research model driving this study draws upon the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and cue consistency theory. The authors collected a sample of 259 customers in China with experience making multi-channel purchases from retailers that have implemented OOCI in online retailing. Structural equation modeling and response surface analyses were employed to conduct data analysis.

The results revealed that the relationship between OOCI and customers' online channel loyalty was mediated by customers' perceptions of the usefulness and risks of online channel usage. The results also found that congruence and incongruence between informational OOCI (IOOCI) and fulfillment OOCI (FOOCI) had different curvilinear associations with perceived online channel usefulness and perceived online channel risk. In addition, retailer credibility weakened the effects of IOOCI on perceived online channel usefulness and FOOCI on perceived online channel risk but strengthened the effect of IOOCI on perceived online channel risk and had no impact on the effect of FOOCI on perceived online channel risk.

Theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.

Considering Gen Z’s unique formative experience with social media, this study aims to apply the cue utilization theory to investigate the effects of social media policy as an organizational cue in attracting this cohort to hospitality and tourism (H&T) companies.

A 2 (policy frame: promotion/prevention) × 2 (policy boundary: distinct/permeable) experiment was conducted with 243 Gen Z H&T job seekers. ANCOVA analyses were performed to analyze the effects of policy frame and boundary on perceived organization attractiveness and pursuit intention, respectively.

This study found that when a company policy promoted social media usage, Gen Z job seekers reported higher attractiveness and pursuit intention in the distinct boundary condition. However, when a company’s social media policy emphasized a prevention frame, Gen Z job seekers reported a similar level of perceived attractiveness and pursuit intention, regardless of the policy boundary conditions.

This study addressed the literature gaps of limited research on the Gen Z workforce and the effects of social media policy on talent attraction. Based on the cue utilization theory, this study identified the policy clause combinations that generated positive recruitment impacts among Gen Z members. The study provided unique theoretical and practical implications for H&T managers to use social media policy as a novel and cost-effective tool to attract Gen Z talents.

考虑到 Z 世代在社交媒体方面的独特成长经历, 本研究借鉴了线索利用理论, 调查了社交媒体公司政策作为组织线索在吸引这一年轻人才群体加入酒店和旅游公司方面的影响。

本研究在 243 名 Z 世代潜在的酒店和旅游从业人员中进行了 2（政策框架：促进与预防）x 2（政策边界：明显与模糊）的实验。 通过一系列 2x2 ANCOVA 分析来确认政策框架和政策边界对Z 世代的劳动力在组织吸引力和求职意愿的影响。

研究结果表明, 当公司提倡在工作中使用社交媒体, Z世代潜在员工觉得有明显边界政策的公司 （相对于有模糊边界政策的公司）具有更高的吸引力和追求意愿。 然而, 当公司的社交媒体政策强调预防框架时, 无论政策边界如何界定, Z 世代潜在员工都表示相似的组织吸引力和求职意愿。

本研究从人才吸引的角度来填补了关于 Z 世代劳动力和社交媒体政策的研究空白。 基于线索利用理论, 该研究揭示了对 Z 世代成员产生积极招聘影响的政策条款组合。 该研究为酒店和旅游管理人员使用社交媒体政策作为吸引 Z 世代人才的新颖且具有成本效益的工具提供了独特的理论和实践意义。

Teniendo en cuenta la experiencia formativa única de la Generación Z con los medios sociales, este estudio aplica la teoría de la utilización de señales para investigar los efectos de la política de medios sociales como indicio organizativo para atraer a esta cohorte a las empresas de hostelería y turismo.

Se realizó un experimento de 2x2 (marco de la política: promoción vs prevención) x (límite de la política: distinto vs permeable) con 243 personas de la Generación Z en busca de empleo en hostelería y turismo. Se aplicaron análisis ANCOVA para analizar los efectos del marco de política y el límite en el atractivo percibido de la organización y la intención de búsqueda, respectivamente.

Este estudio descubrió que cuando la política de una empresa promovía el uso de los medios sociales, los solicitantes de empleo de la Generación Z declaraban un mayor atractivo y una mayor intención de búsqueda en la condición de límite diferenciado. Sin embargo, cuando la política de medios sociales de una empresa hacía hincapié en un marco de prevención, los solicitantes de empleo de la Generación Z informaron de un nivel similar de atractivo percibido e intención de búsqueda, independientemente de las condiciones de límite de la política.

Este estudio abordó las lagunas en la literatura debido a la investigación limitada sobre la fuerza laboral de la Generación Z y los efectos de las políticas de redes sociales en la atracción de talento. Basado en la teoría de utilización de señales, el estudio identificó las combinaciones de cláusulas de política que generaron impactos positivos en la contratación entre miembros de la Generación Z. El estudio proporcionó implicaciones teóricas y prácticas únicas para que los gerentes de hostelería y turismo utilicen las políticas de redes sociales como una herramienta novedosa y rentable para atraer talento de la Generación Z.

Touch plays an important role in the evaluations of products. However, prior quantitative touch research does not present a holistic perspective of haptics. This study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of haptic information that consumers attain from touch.

Adopting a qualitative research approach, semi-structured, depth interviews were conducted with industry experts.

Based on the findings, this research proposes a conceptual model of consumer haptic perception consisting of seven key influences, namely, the effects of haptic sensation, haptic perception, the influence of individual factors, the influence of external environmental factors, the multi-dimensionality of haptics, haptic cue congruity and haptic dominance.

This study suggests firms to understand the importance of consumers’ haptic perception as an opportunity to engage an individual’s heart and mind through information attained through touch.

This is the first study in marketing to propose a conceptual model of haptics comprising several new haptic influences. This model contributes to the emerging literature of sensory marketing by providing directions for future touch research by capturing the dynamic nature of haptics.

El tacto desempeña un papel importante en nuestras evaluaciones de los productos. Sin embargo, las investigaciones cuantitativas anteriores sobre el tacto no presentan una perspectiva holística de la percepción táctil. Este artículo pretende ofrecer una comprensión más completa de la información táctil que los consumidores obtienen del contacto.

Adoptando un enfoque de investigación cualitativa, se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas en profundidad con expertos del sector.

A partir de los resultados, esta investigación propone un modelo conceptual de la percepción táctil del consumidor que consta de siete influencias clave: Los efectos de la sensación háptica, la percepción háptica, la influencia de los factores individuales, la influencia de los factores ambientales externos, la multidimensionalidad de la sensación táctil, la congruencia de las pistas táctiles y la dominancia de la sensación táctil.

Este estudio sugiere a las empresas que comprendan la importancia de la percepción táctil de los consumidores como una oportunidad para captar el corazón y la mente del individuo a través de la información obtenida mediante el tacto.

Este es el primer estudio en marketing que propone un modelo conceptual de la percepción táctil que incluye varias influencias táctiles nuevas. Este modelo contribuye a la literatura emergente del marketing sensorial proporcionando direcciones para la futura investigación táctil al capturar la naturaleza dinámica del sentido del tacto.

触摸在我们对产品的评价中起着重要作用。然而, 在先前定量的触觉研究中并未呈现触觉的整体视角。本文旨在更全面地了解消费者通过触摸获得的触觉信息。

本文采用定性研究方法, 与行业专家进行了半结构化的深度访谈。

本研究提出了一个消费者触觉感知的概念模型, 其中包括七个关键影响因素：触觉的影响、触觉感知、个人因素的影响、外部环境因素的影响、触觉的多维性、触觉线索的一致性和触觉的主导性。

这项研究建议企业了解消费者触觉感知的重要性, 并将触觉信息传达作为吸引消费者心灵的机会。

这是营销领域首次提出触觉概念模型的研究, 该模型包含几种新的触觉影响因素。这个触觉概念模型通过捕捉触觉的动态特性为未来的触觉研究提供方向, 从而为新兴的感官营销文献做出了贡献。

The five-factor model (FFM), a popular personality typology that identifies five key personality traits, has been used to predict use intention in various e-commerce applications, but the role of FFM in triggering certain evaluations of the various quality dimensions of e-commerce websites has not been examined, revealing a gap, i.e. the authors do not know how the five personality traits impact evaluations of the quality dimensions of e-commerce websites. The 3Q model—which comprises system quality (SysQ), information quality (IQ), and service quality (SQ), spanning 13 quality dimensions—is helpful for evaluating website quality, but the model neglects user characteristics and their impacts on quality evaluation, posing another gap, i.e. the authors do not know how user characteristics impact the user's evaluation of quality dimensions. Thus, the authors used the FFM to extend the 3Q model to explain how user personality predicts the evaluation of websites in the 13 quality dimensions.

The authors used an online survey to collect responses from 392 online shoppers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The authors found that openness in a shopper predicts their favorable evaluation of a website in the quality dimensions of format and flexibility; conscientiousness predicts favorable evaluation in terms of completeness, accuracy, currency, timeliness, and service reliability; neuroticism predicts unfavorable evaluation in terms of reliability, accessibility, and assurance; and extraversion predicts favorable evaluation in terms of responsiveness; while agreeableness did not predict empathy.

In sum, the authors successfully used the FFM to theoretically extend the 3Q model, which clarifies the usefulness and pathways of personality in formulating strategies for e-commerce success.