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The ever-growing popularity of social media platforms is evidence of consumers engaging emotionally with these brands. Given the prominence of social media in society, the purpose of this paper is to understand social media platforms from a “brand” perspective through examining the effect of consumers’ emotional attachment on social media consumer-based brand equity (CBBE).

This paper develops a model that outlines how emotional brand attachment with social media explains social media CBBE via shaping consumer perceptions of brand credibility and consumer satisfaction. An online survey of 340 Australian social media consumers provided data for empirical testing. The inclusion of multiple context-relevant covariates and use of a method-variance-adjusted data matrix, as well as an examination of an alternative model, adds robustness to the results.

The findings of this paper support the conceptual model, and the authors identify strong relationships between the focal variables. A phantom model analysis explicates specific indirect effects of emotional brand attachment on CBBE. The authors also find support for a fully mediated effect of emotional brand attachment on social media brand equity. Further, they broaden the nomological network of emotional brand attachment, outlining key outcomes.

This paper offers a conceptual mechanism (a chain-of-effects) of how consumer emotional brand attachment with social media brands translates into social media CBBE. It also finds that a brand’s credibility as well as its ability to perform against consumer expectations (i.e. satisfaction) are equally effective in translating emotional brand attachment into social media CBBE.

Social media brands are constantly challenged by rapid change and ongoing criticism over such issues as data privacy. The implications from this paper suggest that managers should make investments in creating (reinforcing) emotional connections with social media consumers, as this will favorably impact CBBE by way of a relational mechanism, that is, via enhancing credibility and consumer satisfaction.

Lately, social media in general has suffered from a crisis of trust in society. The enhanced credibility of social media brands resulting from consumers’ emotional attachments will potentially serve to enhance its acceptance as a credible form of media in society.

Social media platforms are often examined as brand-building platforms. This paper adopts a different perspective, examining social media platforms as brands per se and the effects of emotional attachments that consumers develop towards these. This paper offers valuable insights into how consumers’ emotional attachments drive vital brand judgments such as credibility and satisfaction, ultimately culminating into social media CBBE.

This paper aims to inform social responsibility and social policy by describing the brand strategy of Australia’s largest tobacco manufacturer, British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), the year following the introduction of plain packaging and other regulation. Tobacco controls are a proven catalyst for reducing smoking, but manufacturers adapt swiftly seeking to minimise the impact of regulatory change.

BATA’s strategy was determined using 2012-2014 tobacco ingredient reports, recommended retail price lists and a supermarket retail audit.

The research identified over 70 BATA brand variants, offered in diverse packaging options, with new products and modified names appearing since 2012. In total 14 main brands are highly differentiated by price, with 45 per cent difference between the cheapest and the most expensive. Volume discounting occurs across packaging ranges, with twin packs offering best value and prices up to 10 per cent lower than those of single packs.

The research originality stems from the triangulation of three different data resources to establish brand strategy following increased regulation. The study confirms ongoing market segmentation using highly differentiated ranges, and it reveals the unintended consequences of corporate responses to regulation. Evolving variant names communicate product information and imagery previously imparted by pack design. Pricing strategies enable smokers to offset substantial excise increases through brand switching and volume buying. The research, therefore, reveals the potential for regulating these as yet unrestricted elements to enhance the impact of plain packaging and other tobacco controls, thereby further reducing the social impact of smoking.

The purpose of this paper is to revisit our original paper published over 20 years ago and reflect on its purpose, contribution and what we can glean that might have implications for future research.

A Google Scholar search showed that the article was cited 74 times. We discuss some of the contexts in which it was cited and identify two research themes that have emanated from this paper and hold promise for future research.

We discuss two of the several contexts in which our research is discussed. These include the differential ways in which cues are used in a services context, including the ways in which different cues are used to evaluate services and how cues are used to develop consumer expectations.

The study, which was cited 74 times according to Google Scholar, was formative in terms of discussion of, for example, how a variety of cues influence customer expectations and service evaluation, and how categories of cues, such as marketer controlled versus non-marketer controlled and personal versus non-personal, impact outcomes. The retrospective analysis was helpful in both reflecting on the status quo on some of these issues and suggesting directions for future research.

This study aims to investigate how customers' perception of service innovation aspects (innovativeness, service newness and relative advantage) and their participation impact value perception, satisfaction and loyalty.

The conceptual model was tested using a nationwide survey from 430 Australian customers of Uber, using structural equation modeling.

Results show that customer participation (CP) and innovativeness positively influence perceived value. Satisfaction is positively influenced by perceived value, innovativeness and relative advantage. Both perceived value and satisfaction drive loyalty. Yet, CP did not influence satisfaction. The study’s findings generally support the mediating roles of perceived value and satisfaction.

Cross-sectional data were used. Thus, the results only provide a snapshot of the relationships among constructs.

To promote loyalty, service organizations emphasize how innovative aspects of services (innovativeness and relative advantage) can create value and satisfaction. Also, CP is critical in promoting customer perceived value and loyalty.

Building on service-dominant logic (SDL), this study proposes a conceptual model investigating how perceived innovative aspects of service and CP influence perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty of service organizations.

Peer pressure and popularity are important issues for teenagers, potentially affecting teenagers’ attitudes toward luxury products. In turn, peer pressure and popularity can potentially be affected by self-concept clarity (how clearly teens view themselves). The authors empirically aim to investigate these relationships using data from a sample of Brazilian teens and find that self-concept clarity has a significant effect on peer pressure, popularity and social consumption motivation, which, by itself, directly affects attitudes toward luxury items.

The total sample consisted of 558 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 (grades 7 through 12). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

The results of the study suggest that teenagers’ social consumption motivations positively affect attitudes toward luxury.

The paper first explicitly examines the impact of peer pressure and popularity on attitude toward luxury among teenagers.

To understand consumer brand engagement processes in luxury fashion brands. Grounded on the brand engagement in self-concept (BESC), this study examines key drivers (i.e. value co-creation, social media marketing (SMM) activities, brand self-connection and brand image) of BESC that in turn, enhance brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) in the context of luxury fashion brands.

A descriptive survey approach was utilized and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The findings reveal that value co-creation, SMM activities and brand self-connection are significantly related to BESC and subsequently, BESC is related to both brand loyalty and positive WOM. However, brand image is not related to BESC and brand loyalty but shows a strong relationship with WOM.

The recognition that consumer experiences add significant value to a brand drives companies to engage with their consumers focusing on the self-concept.

Digital platforms have transformed how brands engage with collaborative consumption actors, such as prosumers. This study aims to examine the role of customer innovativeness and perceived economic value as important boundary conditions on the effects of customer brand engagement behavior on co-production, which subsequently influences customer satisfaction.

The authors test the model using survey data from 430 users of a digital platform (i.e. UBER) in Australia. Hypotheses were tested using the bias-corrected bootstrapping method.

The findings suggest that customer innovativeness and perceived economic value positively moderate the effects of customer brand engagement behavior on co-production. Further, the mediating effects of co-production on satisfaction are stronger for highly innovative customers and for those who associate high perceived economic value with the brand.

This study provides novel insights on the boundary conditions of the effects of customer brand engagement behavior on co-production. Future research could apply this study’s conceptual framework to other digital platforms to extend the generalizability of this framework.

This study provides managerial insights into how firms can customize marketing strategies to encourage customers as prosumers in co-production by targeting highly innovative customers and focusing on perceived economic value.

This study builds on service-dominant logic and social exchange theory to examine the role of customer innovativeness and perceived economic value as novel boundary conditions in digital platform ecosystems.

This paper aims to examine the antecedents of customer inertia (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs) and their relationship to customer satisfaction, service providers’ switching intentions and actual switching behavior. Customer inertia is said to reduce the incidence of service provider switching; however, little is known about the antecedent drivers of inertia.

The conceptual model was tested by a longitudinal/discontinuous panel design using an online survey research of 1055 adult (i.e. +18 years old) subscribers to cell phone services. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was used to simultaneously estimate both the measurement and structural components of the model to determine the nature of the relationships between the variables.

Findings of the PLS structural model provide support for the direct relationship between customer inertia and its antecedents (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs). The results show that customer inertia has a moderate negative effect on the intention to change service providers but had no measurable effect on the actual behavior of changing service providers, other than indirectly, by influencing the perception of difficulty in switching some 11 months later. Further results from an analysis of indirect pathways of the antecedents to inertia show that switching costs are the only variable which indirectly reduce intentions to change service providers. The results also show that the effect of satisfaction on switching service providers is partially moderated by inertia. Importantly, these relationships are reasonably robust given past switching behavior and contract status of consumers.

The authors find evidence which explains some of the causes of inertia, and show that it has both direct and moderating effects on service provider switching intentions, though not necessarily the behavior of changing service providers. However, support was found for its indirect role through intent as an influence on switching behavior. Importantly, the authors find that inertia has lingering effects, in that it influences the perception of switching difficulties and, hence, behavior up to 11 months in the future.

Managerial implications are that service firms can profit from customer inertia through a reduction in churn. However, high levels of customer inertia over the longer term may increase the level of customer vulnerability to competitor offers and marketing activities, as satisfaction with the provider does not in itself explain switching intentions or behavior.

This study is the first study to contribute to an understanding of the antecedent drivers of customer inertia with respect to service provider switching and to empirically evaluate a variety of antecedent factors that potentially affect switching intentions. Importantly, the long lasting latent effect of inertia in indirectly influencing service switching behavior was found to persist some 11 months later.

This study empirically examines a set of drivers (i.e. social media involvement, self-brand congruence, firm image and relationship age) of consumers’ social media brand engagement (SMBE), which subsequently influences consumer outcomes (i.e. consumer satisfaction, brand trust and perceived value).

Data were collected using a self-administered online survey of 340 social media users. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the conceptual model.

Findings indicate that social media involvement, self-brand congruence and firm image are significant drivers of SMBE, while relationship age is not. SMBE subsequently impacts consumer satisfaction, brand trust and perceived value.

This study contains some limitations associated with cross-sectional research. It does not investigate consumer engagement with other entities (e.g. other commercial brands) through the use of social media.

These findings call for marketing managers and social media brand managers to pay attention and invest resources in the significant drivers of SMBE. They also provide insights on enhancing SMBE to strengthen consumer–brand relationships.

Based on consumer–brand relationship marketing and consumer psychology of brands, this study investigates brand-related relational drivers and outcomes of SMBE, thereby deepening understanding of consumer engagement in digital environments.

Considering the importance of innovation in organizations and the formation of innovative behaviors (IBs) in the life of the organization, the authors study the effect of moderating social capital (SC) and gender in the link between knowledge sharing (KS), including sharing best practices and sharing mistakes with IB.

In this research, a random sampling method was used. A questionnaire was completed by 310 employees working in five prestigious companies in the energy sector located in Mashhad province, Iran.

The findings of the research indicate the influence of KS on IB. Also, SC moderates the effect of KS on IB. However, the moderating effect of gender was not significant, sharing best practices more likely to lead IB in women. Moreover, the men are more likely to show IB as they share their mistakes in comparison with women.

This research aims to break the black box on the link between employee KS and his/her own innovativeness, which is not frequently investigated. To the authors' best knowledge, there is a lack of deep empirical study that has delved into analyzing the impact of gender-groups and SC on this relation.