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This series of of five exploratory studies aims to investigate the idea that consumers have visual appearance expectations (stereotypes) for service providers in different occupations and how these visual stereotypes might affect provider choice.

Subjects were given color photos of white men and a list of service occupations and asked to infer the most likely occupation for each photo. A separate group of subjects reported the visual elements they most associated with the typical appearance of providers in various occupations. Other groups chose from a set of photos the depicted individual they would most want as their attorney or accountant.

Two studies confirmed that photo was a significant predictor of inferred service occupation, suggesting that consumers have visual appearance stereotypes for what a service provider should look like. A counter-intuitive finding was that the most stereotypical appearing service provider in an occupation was significantly less desired by subjects as their service provider than a less stereotypical appearing provider displaying a Duchenne (genuine) smile.

Only visual stereotypes of male service providers were explored, confined to the un-met provider condition. Also, the reported studies were exploratory, using small samples.

The results imply that impression formation and relationship marketing begin with the viewing of an un-met service provider’s photo by a potential client at a business website or social media. Further, the findings suggest that providers will want to display a Duchenne smile in their photo, as this visual element is favorably interpreted by consumers.

This study aims to investigate the promoting effects of the quantity and quality of online review user-generated photos (UGPs) on perceived review usefulness. The research further tests the hindering effect of human facial presence in review photos on review usefulness.

Based on review samples of restaurants in a tourist destination Las Vegas, this study used an integrated method combining a machine learning algorithm and econometric modeling.

Results indicate that the number of UGPs depicting a restaurant’s food, drink, menu and physical environment has positive impacts on perceived review usefulness. The quality of online review UGPs can also enhance perceived review usefulness, whereas facial presence in these UGPs hinders perceived review usefulness.

Findings suggest that practitioners can implement certain tactics to potentially improve consumers’ willingness to share more UGPs and UGPs with higher quality. Review websites could develop image-processing algorithms for identifying and presenting UGPs containing core attributes in prominent positions on the site.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to present a comprehensive analytical framework investigating the enhancing or hindering roles of review photo quantity, photo quality and facial presence in online review UGPs on review usefulness. Using the heuristic-systematic model as a theoretical foundation, this study verifies the additivity effect and attenuation effect of UGPs’ visual elements on judgements of online review usefulness. Furthermore, it extends scalable image data analysis by adopting a deep transfer learning algorithm in hospitality and tourism.

In an effort to evaluate if and how emojis might boost customer engagement in email marketing, the current research aims to analyzes emojis' effects and investigates how certain features, such as the type of emoji or the way of emojis' presentation (repetition and position), moderate their effectiveness.

This research comprises four experimental studies. The first two analyze whether the presence and the type of emoji (facial vs non-facial) influence customer engagement. Then, two more studies analyze the influence of the presence and type of emoji, as well as repetitions (repetition vs no repetitions) and positions (left vs right). The data collection is through email marketing campaigns, with two types of brands. The analysis is a fractional factorial design in one- and two-way interactions to identify the influence of presentation features.

Emojis influence customer engagement and can trigger interactive behaviors and increase customer engagement, even in a channel that generally is less prone to interaction. The emojis increase the probability of opening the email, the number of times email gets opened and clicks to access additional content.

The varied results suggest the need for more research to confirm the findings regarding presentation features. This research offers novel implications for interactive marketing and the theory of visual rhetoric because the research establishes how visual stimuli such as emojis can persuade and capture customer attention and increase customer engagement.

Practitioners can optimize email marketing by using emojis strategically to attract audience interest, provoke interactions, build relationships and generate word of mouth, leading to better consumer experiences, loyalty and brand profitability.

Most studies use semantic analysis to analyze emojis; the current study instead tests whether emojis can increase customer engagement in a less-interactive channel and then also considers the moderating role of several emoji-relevant variables. In addition, the authors apply the theory of visual rhetoric to explicate the original findings, which are gathered from a unique data set involving real marketing campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the presence of a whole-face context during facial composite production facilitates construction of facial composite images.

In Experiment 1, constructors viewed a celebrity face and then developed a facial composite using PRO-fit software in one of two conditions: either the full-face was visible while facial features were selected, or only the feature currently being selected. The composites were named by different participants. The authors then replicated the study using a more forensically valid procedure: in Experiment 2 non-football fans viewed an image of a premiership footballer and 24 hours later constructed a composite of the face with a trained software operator. The resulting composites were named by football fans.

In both studies, the presence of the facial context promoted more identifiable facial composites.

Current composite software was deployed in a conventional and unconventional way to demonstrate the importance of facial context.

Results confirm that composite software should have the whole-face context visible to witnesses throughout construction. Although some software systems do this, there remain others that present features in isolation and these findings show that these systems are unlikely to be optimal.

This is the first study to demonstrate the importance of a full-face context for the construction of facial composite images. Results are valuable to police forces and developers of composite software.

The purpose of this paper is to test the effectiveness of the mere integration of social network applications to provide a signal concerning the “trustworthiness” of an unfamiliar e‐vendor in order to enhance subsequent purchase intentions.

To investigate the impact of web communities on consumers' initial trust beliefs (i.e. ability, benevolence and integrity), a 2×3 between‐subjects full factorial online experiment was carried out, using a fictitious web site for a gift gadgets selling company, manipulating it for inclusion or exclusion of a “social networking site”, and for inclusion or exclusion of “a corporate blog (text only blog, photo and text blog, or no blog)”. Data were obtained from 226 online shoppers.

Although the authors could not reveal any effects of the integration of social network applications on “ability” beliefs, it was possible to demonstrate their capacity to “signal” “benevolence” and “integrity”, which in turn have a significant impact on purchase intentions. Unfamiliar e‐retailers may foster perceptions of “integrity” by utilizing text‐blogs into their web sites, but they should avoid embedding facial photos of shop representatives in the blog. If e‐retailers want to make use of “a corporate blog with facial photo”, it is recommended to combine it with the integration of a social networking site such as Facebook in order to boost perceptions of “benevolence”.

The simple integration of “social network applications” can affect “initial trust beliefs” towards unfamiliar e‐tailers and subsequent “purchase intentions”, but it appears essential to utilize just the right cue combination in order to obtain the desired effect. The effectiveness of integrating a social network application may vary according to the type and may affect different trust beliefs (benevolence, integrity).

An important issue in e‐commerce remains how trust is developed between consumers and e‐retailers. This paper investigates the use of different web communities and the influence of their integration in the commercial web site on consumers' initial trust beliefs in the online environment. The findings will help business managers to understand how social media should be used to lead to optimal results.

The prevalence of body art is on the rise; particularly among college age persons. This study aims to use group norms theory (GNT) and the justification‐suppression model of the expression of prejudice to examine the impact of body art such as tattoos and piercings on ratings of acceptability by co‐workers.

In a full‐factorial two‐by‐two scenario‐based experiment the authors manipulated the presence or absence of face‐to‐face customer contact and the interdependency of the distribution of rewards.

After controlling for participants' own tattoos and piercings, impression management, openness‐to‐experience, and agreeableness, the authors have found that an inside sales job and independent rewards are significantly positively related to acceptability but that their interaction was not.

The limitations of this study include the fact that it is a scenario‐based experiment using a fictitious co‐worker and that the sample is comprised of college students. However, manipulating body art in a live confederate would likely to have been impossible and college students are in the age group in which body art is most prevalent, making them logical candidates on which to examine the hypotheses.

Even those with body art themselves still prefer not to work with body art (non‐concealable) wearers in jobs with high levels of face‐to‐face customer contact or in jobs in which rewards are shared equally like team‐based sales.

An experimental design is used so as to manipulate only those characteristics of the work relationship hypothesized to be of interest, while controlling for extraneous variables like attractiveness and personality in the co‐worker, which vary greatly from person to person.

The purpose of this study is to compare learner experiences of recorded instructional videos (DVDs) with Machinima.

In this exploratory study, sets of learning sequences in management skills training were delivered to 32 learners using both methods, and learner reactions were gathered using post-event interviews.

Analysis of learner responses showed that participants prefer Machinima as a learning delivery mechanism. Participants also reported being better able to concentrate on the message of the Machinima learning sequences.

The sample was not representative, being a convenience sample derived by open invitation from cohorts of two master’s degree programmes conducted at the School of Business, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. The age range of the participants was significantly skewed toward a younger age grouping. No learning test was given to assess the teaching efficacy of the methods. Implications for practice include using Machinima to model desirable behaviours to trainees. Future research should extend the research to other settings.

Research should be considered into the potential for Machinima to be considered as a replacement for DVD in management training. Sufficient encouragement arises from this study to suggest that Machinima contains none of the distractions of DVD that are recorded in this study. In addition, many organisations seek to utilise training materials with diverse audiences.

Originality of the study stems from the potential replacement of DVD with Machinima in learning.

Previous research has focused on how trustworthiness can be evoked by the physical design of on‐screen characters (OSCs) within the e‐commerce interface. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not the OSCs representation, along with user differences, influence, how likeable, appropriate and trustworthy they are.

A web site was created for a simulated online bookseller and 183 people from various countries participated in the experiments. OSC representations were tested under four conditions in the main experiment: facial appearance (human‐like vs cartoon‐like) and gender (male vs female).

The results suggest that the human‐like characters are more likeable, appropriate and trustworthy in general terms. However, when perceived capabilities of OSCs are measured, a mismatch can occur between expectations and capabilities of the human‐like OSCs. In fact, cartoon‐like OSCs, especially female, had more positive effects on the web site interface.

This study was limited to simulations of on‐screen scenarios. Future work, with access to the huge database required, could investigate the effects of truly interactive OSCs. Larger national sub‐samples would permit generalisations about cross‐cultural differences.

For e‐tailers and web designers, this study suggests critical design variables and response‐moderating variables that mediate the effects of OSCs in e‐retailing. It helps to understand customers' interaction needs in establishing and maintaining para‐social relationships, potentially increasing purchase intentions and persuasion.

The efficacy of different representations of OSCs to retail situations has been little investigated previously; this study measured how likeable, appropriate and trustworthy different OSC design formats are to different customer types.

Avatars, which are used as a technology and marketing tactic, can embody consumer-facing employees and mimic their real-life roles on companies' websites, thereby playing a key role in enhancing the relationships between consumers and brands in the online environment. Academics and practitioners have increasingly acknowledged the significance of the consumer-brand relationship in both traditional and online contexts. However, the impersonal nature of the online environment is considered to be a hindrance to the development of these relationships. Despite the importance of this technology, little attention has been paid to the investigation of the avatar concept from a marketing perspective. This paper explores the nature of the avatar concept, including its main characteristics, dimensions, and conditions as well as the attitudinal and behavioural consequences of avatar users.

Adopting the qualitative design, a taxonomy was developed from interviews. In total, 42 interviews were conducted with current university students. 30 participants participated in the exploratory interviews. A total of 12 interviews were conducted during the in-depth stage based on findings in the preceding research.

Based on the qualitative data analysis, a taxonomy was developed. The idea of the taxonomy is summarized in that different dimensions of the avatar are considered the main base (first phase) of the taxonomy. There are consequential three parts: the attitudinal consequences related to the website; the attitudinal consequences related to the brand; the behaviours towards the brand. These behaviours represent the final phase of the taxonomy.

By developing a taxonomy of using avatars on brands' websites, the authors advance the understanding consumer-brands relationships. Using avatars' verbal interactions helps in shaping consumers' cognitive, affective, attitudinal and behavioural responses and add vital empirical evidence to the increasing body of research and practices involving avatar usage in the interactive marketing area.

Emailing does not preclude emotional exchange and many times it causes us to engage in spiralling exchanges of increasingly angry emailing. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: to explore how factors of temporality are related to anger when emailing, to model circumstances that protect against, but also ignite, anger escalation, and to raise a discussion for practitioners of how to avoid damaging email communication. By intersecting literature on communication, information systems, psychology and organisational studies, factors leading to an ‘emotional verge’ are identified and summarised in a model showing factors likely to prime, but also protect against, anger escalation.