Search results

As innovations introduce novel benefits to customers, they would need to be positioned in a way that sets them apart in the market. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel approach for the positioning of innovations with the use of the customer imagination and, specifically, mental movies.

Using the schema approach as this study’s theoretical framework, the author proposes that innovations could be positioned using moving pictures (i.e. mental movies) instead of mental pictures (the approach traditionally taken).

A new conceptual framework for the positioning of innovations using mental movies is presented. In the framework, this study outlines how innovations can be positioned with the use of mental movies, and why such an approach would be beneficial. The framework outlines mixed reality, i.e. augmented reality, augmented virtuality and virtuality, as well as the metaverse and gaming as avenues for positioning innovations using mental movies. On the benefit side, the framework identifies successful market introductions, engagement and stickiness, memorability and positive emotions, uniqueness and differentiation and market share as the concrete benefits that can be achieved with this type of positioning.

The framework provides a novel approach for the positioning of innovations. It departs from existing literature by proposing that innovations can be positioned using mental movies. The framework also identifies why this approach would be beneficial for marketers and managers and provides concrete guidelines for how such a positioning can be achieved in the market.

Firms use design capability across the globe to compete and increase sales, e.g. Apple. However, the payoff from design know-how has been overlooked thus far. Academic research lags in this space despite the intersection of sales, technology and design in practice. This paper provides researchers and managers with implications of the interplay between design capability and technological market conditions to enhance a firm's sales.

Firms' capability design, and sales impact have been studied in this paper across different technological market conditions. Primary technological conditions of the industry under which firms operate are captured, which are technological intensity (TI), technological competitive intensity (TCI) and technological maturity (TM). Their interplay has been studied using panel data analysis, examining fixed and random effects.

Design is an important, interesting and non-imitable capacity that yields positive firm execution results. It provides an urgent differentiator and improves deal development. This study found that all four hypotheses are generally supported. The main finding is that, provided underlying technology is good, design significantly improves sales, but design alone cannot substitute for poor technology.

The results of this study link the three technological environment conditions, namely, TI, TCI and TM with sales growth. The authors find that design can and does add to superior performance, provided technological excellence exists prior. But, in the absence of good technology, design alone will hinder performance.

This paper examines the effect of firm design capability on sales growth. The paper finds a positive moderating effect of TCI and TM but a negative moderating effect of TI. The researchers believe these aspects of the design have not been studied before.

Narratives underscoring the necessity of innovation for success are pervasive. Yet, many new products fail or fail to produce their intended impacts. Conventional views typically promote the functional view of innovation, which focuses on identifying and meeting customer needs. The authors argue, however, that culture is an overlooked explanation of innovation success.

This study uses a conceptual approach, grounded in cultural sociology, to illustrate the ways in which innovation success is influenced by cultural beliefs. Accordingly, this study develops a cultural view of innovation and compare it with the functional view.

This study shows that novel products are successful to the extent their meanings and value resonate with relevant stakeholders. Not only does culture matter, but customers’ needs are often shaped by cultural values in the first place.

More systematic qualitative and quantitative research is needed to better understand the best processes for incorporating cultural beliefs into product features.

In addition to customer needs, innovators should include cultural beliefs as design requirements to ensure the product resonates with the values and everyday practices of users. One way to do this is by implementing the productive method, which provides the resources for the relevant potential users to design the product themselves.

It is not always enough to learn and solicit feedback from potential users. To fully understand the obstacles that may inhibit innovation, this study advocates for providing potential users, local engineers and other relevant stakeholders the autonomy to design, manufacture, market and distribute the product.

Temporal leadership is a new construct that predicts team outcomes. This study examines the mediating role of shared temporal cognitions and the moderating role of time pressure in the relationship between temporal leadership and project success within sustainable construction projects.

The multi-source and multi-wave data were collected via self-administered questionnaires from teams working on sustainable construction projects. The direct and mediating hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modelling, while moderated mediation hypotheses were examined by applying the bootstrap method using SPSS Process Macro.

The results showed that temporal leadership enables project success via shared temporal cognitions. Temporal leadership is most beneficial for facilitating project success via shared temporal cognitions when teams experience high time pressure.

This is the first study examining shared temporal cognitions as a mediator of the relationship between temporal leadership and project success. Also, this is the first study that considered time pressure as a boundary condition that influences the relationships between temporal leadership, shared temporal cognitions and project success within sustainable construction projects. The study provides valuable advice to project managers and project-based construction organizations about using and managing time within projects.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of esports players based on their gaming behavior patterns across game genres and compare self-efficacy, social efficacy, loneliness and three dimensions of quality of life between these subgroups.

324 participants were recruited from prolific academic to complete an online survey. We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of esports players based on their behavioral patterns across genres. Additionally, a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to test the association between cluster memberships and development and well-being outcomes, controlling for age and gender as covariates.

LPA analysis identified five clusters (two single-genre gamer groups, two multigenre gamer groups and one all-genre gamer group). Univariate analyses indicated the significant effect of the clusters on social efficacy, psychological health and social health. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the salience of the physical enactment-plus-sport simulation genre group in these outcomes.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development and well-being benefits experienced by various esports consumers, as well as the role of specific gameplay in facilitating targeted outcomes among these consumer groups.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unexplored part of the historical evolution of travel agencies in Spain, from the end of the 20th century to the 21st century. When examining promotion strategies, the study focuses on the change in marketing and public relations strategies based on the incorporation of information and communication technologies and, in particular, the use of the internet.

This study draws on a qualitative analysis of the different strategies used by traditional agencies and online agencies in Spain from the mid-19th century to the present. This analysis shows how traditional communication strategies survived at the beginning of the 21st century, together with other more innovative ones, while some disappeared, being eliminated by the new online travel agencies, which created a particular conception of marketing and communication. This paper is divided into the following parts: the introduction; the beginnings of travel agency promotion in the 20th century; the evolution of promotion in travel agencies since the late 20th century; communication innovation at the beginning of the 21st century; online travel agencies; and conclusions.

This study shows that although online agencies did not manage to position themselves with a large turnover, they generated advantages and sharpened their imagination to create a new, more economical advertising model, eliminating the costs of public relations and advertising campaigns. In addition, they allowed clients to have greater independence when making their reservations, while enabling them to monitor the tastes of potential and real clients and add blogs so that consumers could express their degree of satisfaction with the product or services provided by the agency.

The focus of attention is the travel agency sector in Spain and, more specifically, communication. Studies on travel agencies and their marketing have been very scarce and partial, impeding professionals in the tourism sector from having a broad vision to direct their promotional and public relations actions. The originality of this article lies in its making a comparison between two different visions of tourism marketing and, specifically, of travel agencies, that is, the traditional vision and the innovative one. It thus helps all professionals in the sector to value and improve their marketing and communication strategies.

The purpose of the research paper is to investigate the relationship between personality traits and investment decisions in the crypto market, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The study aims to explore the effect of dark personalities and the big five personalities on investment decisions in the crypto market.

The research was conducted through two online questionnaire studies. In Study 1, data were collected from the general public, while in Study 2, data were collected from crypto investors. The researchers analyzed the effect of dark personalities and the big five personalities on investment decisions in the crypto market.

The present research found that Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopath, sadism and extraversion have positive effects on having crypto investments. In addition, focusing on actual crypto investors, the present paper showed that personalities including Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopath, consciousness and extraversion have statistically significant effect on investment decisions such as making investments in Bitcoin.

The study is original in exploring the relationship between personality traits and investment decisions in the newly emerging crypto market, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The research provides insights into how different personality traits affect investment decisions in the crypto market, which can be valuable for investors in making informed decisions.

This study aims to empirically investigate the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing (AIM) and business performance from the resource-based view (RBV) perspective.

A survey strategy was used in this study to collect data from 225 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) respondents who were on the registered list of the Ghana Enterprise Agency in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Structural equation modeling – path analysis was used to estimate the impact of AIM on the performance of SMEs.

The analyzed data shows that AIM has significant impact on the financial performance, customer performance, internal business process performance and learning and growth performance in the case of SMEs in Ghana. This study establishes the significance of AIM approach in achieving financial performance, customer performance, internal business process performance and learning and growth performance through the application of AIM determinants including, Internet of Things (IoT), collaborative decision-making systems (CDMS), virtual and augmented reality (VAR) and personalization.

Aside the aforementioned significance of this research study, this study has limitations. The sample size of this research study can be expanded to include SME respondents in other geographical areas that were not considered in this study. Future research studies should concentrate on how AIM can analyze customer communications and information such as posts on social media to develop future communications that may enhance customer engagement.

The practical implications comprise of two key items. First, this research study encourages SME owners and managers to develop an AIM method as a fundamental strategic goal in their pursuit to improve SME performance. Second, SME owners and managers should increasingly implement the four determinants of AIM indicated in this research study (i.e., IOT, CDMS, VAR and personalization) to develop essential resources for effective application of AIM to improve their performance.

The results of this study provide a strong support to RBV theory and the proposition that AIM and its determinants (i.e., IOT, CDMS, VAR and personalization) should be recognized as an essential strategic resource for improving the performance (i.e., financial performance, customer performance, internal business process performance and learning and growth performance) of SMEs. This study also contributes to the current body of knowledge on AIM and management, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

Virtual influencers (VIs), who are fictional characters, have gained popularity in recent years, particularly among Generation Z and millennials. With the hype surrounding VIs, more research is required. Thus, this study aims to examine how Gen Z members and millennials react to VIs used for marketing purposes.

This study follows an exploratory approach. The data were collected from 29 participants (14 male and 15 female) through two focus groups and semi-structured interviews.

The authors found that opinions about VIs were mixed, and two main themes emerged from the study: (1) challenges and potential and (2) decision-making and psychological aspects.

This study broadens the paradigm for analysing the efficacy of VIs. This emerging topic is of relevance for the marketing sector as well as for transdisciplinary research and practice.

This research aims to investigate the impact of missing visual information on tourists’ decision-making processes and visit intention. Drawing on perception completion law and signaling theory, the study hypothesized that tourists might use visual information to infer about a destination, even if the information is incomplete or ambiguous.

To assess the impact of missing visual information, the authors asked a group of 392 participants who had no prior familiarity with a specific garden museum to envision the interior environment of the museum garden and provide feedback on their emotional responses and aesthetic evaluations. To aid in their imagination, they were presented with a video showcasing the surrounding landscape and exterior of the museum.

The study found that participants could anticipate their overall experience of the location by inferring the resemblance of unseen areas to the images they had viewed, even without prior exposure or information. This study provides valuable insights into the cognitive processes underlying tourism decision-making and advances our understanding of how people form expectations of new and unfamiliar places.

The originality of this research relies on the mediating role of missing aesthetics and emotion on the relationship between available aesthetics and visit intention using a structural model. This study highlights the significant role of visual information in influencing tourist decision-making, even with incomplete or ambiguous data.