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The new focus of brand communication in social media has driven firms to develop the effective visual content strategy. In light of narrative transportation theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of a photo’s narrative elements on self-brand connection through viewers’ transportation and emotional responses. Additionally, this study tests the role of telepresence on Instagram in this psychological mechanism.

Using between-subjects experimental design, two experimental studies test the effect of implied movement (Study 1) and diverse narrative elements such as a character, implied motion for chronology and the relevant background (Study 2).

Results demonstrate that a single narrative element, i.e. implied motion, does not induce a viewer’s transportation to the presented image. Rather, the viewer’s transportation occurs as a function of complex and diverse narrative elements, such as implied motion and the background as a context.

Findings suggest that the concept of photo narrative should be taken into consideration in a visually-oriented social media environment. To increase self-brand connection, social media communication should be designed with diverse elements to promote viewers’ active simulation and create meaning to the branded photo story.

This study expands the theory of narrative transportation by applying it to a visual form. Additionally, this research investigates the effect of social media communication on self-brand connection; the findings of this study demonstrate that a major goal of social media communication is not to sell products but to strengthen consumer-brand relationships through branded storytelling.

In the age of transparency, nonprofit organizations have attempted to raise awareness of unethical business practices through diverse social media platforms, putting firms under great pressure to incorporate sustainability in their operations. Focusing on the issue of animal cruelty which is a relatively under-investigated topic in the fashion industry, the purpose of this paper is to examine how different levels of animal cruelty depicted in nonprofit organizations’ ethical consumption campaigns influence viewers’ negative emotions and lead to their supportive behavior and ethical consumption intention.

In the main study, undergraduate students (n=82) from a big public University in the USA were recruited in exchange for extra credit and randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions of animal cruelty in a single-factor, three-level, between-subjects experimental design: non-threatening condition (n=26), low-threatening condition (n=27) and high-threatening condition (n=29).

The results indicated that the levels of negative emotional arousal are positively related to levels of perceived animal cruelty in social media campaigns. In addition, negative emotional arousal mediates the effect of perceived animal cruelty on the intention of supportive behavior, but no mediation effect on ethical consumption intention was found. Additionally, the findings of this study revealed that the indirect effect of perceived animal cruelty on supportive behavior intention is moderated by participants’ moral justification such as the reality of economic development and government dependency.

The findings of this study contribute to the literature by advancing the current understanding of the role of negative emotional images in ethical consumption campaigns in the context of animal cruelty in the fashion industry.

This study aims to investigate the effects of two visual design principles, repetition and compositional lines, in a food image on purchase intention in the context of a mobile food delivery app and test the effect of crossmodal correspondences between vision and taste as a processing mechanism.

In this study, two experiments were conducted using burgers and iced tea as stimuli.

The results demonstrate that repetition of an identical food product increases visual appeal for both burgers and iced tea. However, the optimal level of repetition was different between the two products. The findings show that different compositional lines generate different levels of visual appeal and the effects of compositional lines vary between burgers and iced tea. The results also validate the serial mediation effects of vision and taste between design principles and purchase intention.

The findings of this study add substantially to the understanding of visual information processing in food retailing by demonstrating how design principles such as repetition and compositional lines facilitate crossmodal responses between vision and taste and influence purchase decisions in a mobile platform. Also this study provides guidance as to how food retailers use design principles (e.g. repetition and compositional lines) for different products effectively when the food retailers develop visual digital content for a mobile app.

Brand online social networking (BOSN) is a novel marketing phenomenon in which companies initiate and cultivate relationships with their customers through online social networking (OSN) sites. Because of its openness to the public, BOSN is distinct from a traditional brand community. This study aims to explore patterns and schemes of individuals’ BOSN based on the sociological schemas noted in Goffman’s dramaturgical approach.

This study adopts in-depth personal interviews to uncover the full meaning of BOSN. A total of 21 Facebook brand page participants were interviewed, and the interviews were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim, providing data for analysis. Triangulation was accomplished through examination of informants’ Facebook webpages that presented their own postings. The transcribed data were interpreted using a hermeneutic approach.

The data analysis based on the dramaturgical lens reveals four key themes: diversity in consumers’ intentionality toward BOSN social connections, their feeling of contamination of the digital self and a desire for autonomy, consumers’ roles as the actors and audiences on a brand’s BOSN stage and backstage experience and consumers’ feeling of intimacy. Findings highlight how individuals’ perceptions of audiences and the social media platform as a stage influence their performance in BOSN conjointly. These findings reveal that individuals participate in BOSN as a means of augmenting their identity.

Findings from this study advance the extant literature addressing online brand communities by exploring a novel form of brand assemblages within the context of social media. Employing a dramaturgical approach, this study identifies the distinct nature of the consumer–brand relationship in the virtual agora of OSN, which is hyperindividualistic in nature and is used to augment a sense of self.

This study aims to identify key motivation factors for consumers’ social search and examine the role of flow in the process. This study assessed how content quality (i.e. visual aesthetics, textual information and timeliness) and system quality (i.e., intuitiveness and interactivity) influence flow experience. Additionally, this study tested how mental simulation and ease of task mediate this process and examined how the flow experience leads to purchase intention.

An online survey via Amazon MTurk was performed using the general consumer population in the USA. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test proposed hypotheses.

Visual aesthetics, text information, intuitiveness and interactivity were found to increase consumers’ flow experience in social search on Instagram. The timeliness of information was not a significant predictor of flow experience. Additional analyses demonstrated the mediating role of mental simulation and perceived ease of task mediate in flow experience, ultimately leading to increased purchase intention.

The concept of flow should be taken into consideration in a setting of social media marketing. To create holistic consumption experiences, social media strategy should promote seamless information search by increasing both the content (i.e. visual aesthetics and text information) and system (i.e. intuitiveness and interactivity) quality.

This study expands the theory of flow by applying it to the social search process in social media. Mental simulation and perceived ease of task are distinctively recognized as essential factors for flow experience on Instagram.

Addressing stigmatized identity threat cues customers experience, this study aimed to uncover the effects of frontline employees' ethnic and body-size diversity which lead to customer self-objectification and negative store attitude.

The researchers conducted two studies: Study 1 utilized a one-way ANOVA and a PROCESS mediation model to test the effect of Western beauty-ideal stereotypes on stigmatized identity threat and self-objectification. Study 2 utilized a 2 × 2 experimental design to examine the effects of body-size diversity and ethnic diversity on perceived warmth of sales associates and store attitude.

Results demonstrate that retail store environments which present Western beauty-ideal stereotypes among sales associates cultivate higher levels of stigmatized identity threat cues with their customers, which leads to self-objectification. Also, our findings demonstrated that a lack of ethnic and body-size diversity (i.e. thin and White) among sales associates decreased the perceived sales associate warmth and in turn lowered store attitude.

Participants of the first study were limited by the White participants. The implications highlight the integral need for retailers to hire sales associates who fall outside the parameters of typical Western beauty standards because today's customers desire inclusive brands who do not discriminate based on ethnicity, body size and other characteristics.

This research utilized social identity theory to uncover the effect of retail sales associate stereotype on customer perception of employees, which has not to our knowledge been previously studied.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how e‐grocers develop their e‐fulfillment strategies to satisfy product‐specific customer needs for their grocery shopping on the internet. Findings from this paper are used to propose sustainable e‐fulfillment strategies for online grocery retailers.

Based on metrics of product information, customer service and e‐business quality, this paper conducted web content analyses of US grocery retailers in a longitudinal manner.

The research findings delineate a significant transition of e‐fulfillment strategies among grocery retailers. Evidence is found for the development of service metrics as well as strategic shifts in retail operations.

The use of a longitudinal approach provides insights into sustainable marketing strategies for online retailers to enhance consumers' perceived relative advantage and compatibility, and reduce perceived complexity in online grocery shopping.

This study aims to investigate the effects of age on mobile service quality perceptions and its impact on perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty between two significant mobile service user segments – Generation Y and baby boomers.

A multiple group structural equation modeling approach is utilized to assess the proposed model.

The results identify the mobile service quality attributes that are important to Generation Y‐ers and baby boomers. The study also finds significant differences between the two groups in terms of the effect of perceived economic and emotional value on satisfaction.

A limitation lies in the measurement of service quality. Another limitation is different methods of data collection between two age groups. Future research is recommended to examine differences between other generations, between different ethnic groups, and other demographic variables.

This study strongly suggest the effect of age on mobile service perceptions and loyalty decisions. It is suggested that marketers appeal to the emotional value for Gen Y‐ers while placing an emphasis on economic value for baby boomers.

The proposed role of gender in loyalty decisions provides insights to marketers on how to promote their services for diverse consumer segments.

This study aims to investigate determinants of satisfaction and loyalty decisions in the use of mobile services.

A research model was designed to identify multi‐dimensions of mobile service quality and perceived value, and investigate their influences on satisfaction and loyalty. Structural equation modeling was employed to test hypotheses.

Statistical analysis identified five distinct dimensions of mobile service quality, and their direct and indirect effects on economic value, emotional value on loyalty intention through satisfaction. Two dimensions of perceived value (i.e. economic value, emotional value) had significant influences on customer satisfaction, and then, on loyalty intention. Also, the results show interrelationship between economic and emotional value.

In particular, each dimension of mobile service quality appeared to have different effects on perceived economic value, emotional value, and the level of satisfaction. Accordingly, mobile service managers are recommended to develop strategic promotion efforts based on targeted consumers' needs and marketing goals.