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This study aims to investigate the impact of customer perceptions of Augmented Reality (AR) attributes such as augmentation, interactivity and vividness on attitudes towards AR mobile apps, virtual product and behavioural intentions. Also, the mediation role of customer engagement in the effect of perceptions of AR attributes on attitudes and behavioural intentions is examined using the Theory of Interactive Media Effects.

The study used a cross-sectional design. A total of 456 valid data were collected from the Millennials and Generation Z cohorts using purposive sampling. The conceptual framework was assessed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Partial Least Squares-Multi Group Analysis (PLS-MGA).

The research revealed that customer perceptions of AR features such as augmentation, interactivity and vividness significantly influenced customer engagement, leading to favourable attitudes towards both the AR mobile app and the Virtual product as well as behavioural intentions. Furthermore, the study substantiates the role of customer engagement as a mediator in the relationship between customer perceptions of AR attributes and both attitudinal and behavioural outcomes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the significance of perceived augmentation as an antecedent to customer engagement and the mediating role of customer engagement on the influence of perceptions of AR attributes on attitudinal and behavioural intention.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the underlying consumer values that drive hotel booking mobile app users to engage more with the app and use the app continuously for hotel booking purposes.

By conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) on the data collected through the Qualtrics online survey platform from 506 respondents in the United States, the proposed measurements and structural models were tested.

The findings for both Generation Xers and Millennials revealed that hedonic and social values influenced mobile app engagement, which strongly influenced mobile app loyalty. Thus, to enhance customer engagement and indirectly influence mobile app loyalty, the app value delivery should appeal to social and hedonic values. Although the utilitarian values for using apps had a potential direct impact on mobile app loyalty, the mediation analysis showed that mobile app engagement, when connecting consumption values to mobile app loyalty, served as a full mediator for Generation Xers and a partial mediator for Millennials.

This study provides insights into how hotels and online travel agent (OTA) marketing managers may consider augmenting user engagement with hotel booking mobile apps. This study suggests that hoteliers and OTAs should further develop their user experience efforts to enhance the utilitarian features of their mobile app to increase revenue from repeat purchases. Additionally, this study provides implications for enhancing the hedonic and social features of hotel booking mobile apps to appeal to Millennials and Gen Xers.

This study developed and assessed an integrated model to investigate the relationships between consumption values, engagement and loyalty in hotel booking mobile apps. Furthermore, it examined generational cohorts' role in the relationships between these constructs.

Gamification in mobile apps has emerged as a compelling strategy to foster firm’s relationships with their customers through mobile applications. This study utilizes a meta-analytic review to demonstrate how gamification shapes consumer responses and how moderator variables play a role in this process.

The study employed a meta-analytic review to combine and synthesize data from 62 studies, including 71 independent samples and a sample size of 20,510 to test the research model and examine the role of moderators in this model.

Findings reveal that gamification, through the customer experience components (cognitive, hedonic, pragmatic and social elements), leads to customer engagement, resulting in word-of-mouth and loyalty. However, privacy concerns play a destructive role in this process, deteriorating customer–firm relationships. Moderator analysis indicates that gamification design elements, such as rewards, progression and customization systems, along with product and service benefit, involvement, familiarity and firm type moderate the relationship between gamification and customer response.

The meta-analysis main and moderator analysis results provide several insights for marketing managers that assist them in developing an effective gamification in mobile app strategy.

The findings reveal novel insights, encompassing both the bright and dark sides of the influence of gamification on customer response, while also examining the moderating roles of gamification, product and service and firm characteristics.

Mobile apps usually have a short lifespan, and this prevents the majority from surviving long enough to generate revenue for their developers. To address this issue, this study aims to recognize the role of engagement and immersion and develops a cognitive-affective theoretical framework to associate these factors with the lifespan of an app. Moreover, the authors focus on gaming apps because of their dominance on mobile platforms, and because a few of them become lucrative while the majority perish within a few weeks.

This study uses a longitudinal survey-based approach to collect data on one of the popular gaming apps (Pokémon Go), which received international attention. The design focuses on identifying factors that extend the lifespan of the app and affects users’ decision to continue or stop using the app over time. The authors use the survival analysis and structural equation modeling to analyze the theoretical framework.

The authors find the centrality of the users’ experience of immersion to extend the mobile app lifespan. Engagement influences immersion and immersion predicts users’ decision to continue or stop using the app. Users’ experience of immersion increases the probability of the apps’ survival by 12%.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study that proposes a theoretical framework, meticulously investigates the factors that can lead to survival of a mobile app and uses longitudinal data for the empirical analysis.

This empirical study uses the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework to examine the interrelationships amongst hotel websites and app quality, flow, telepresence, user engagement and booking intentions.

Data from two different datasets, including users of hotel websites (N sample 1 = 257) and hotel mobile apps (N sample 2 = 292), were collected. Partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was used to test the research model.

Findings indicate that the quality of the hotel websites and mobile apps positively influences telepresence, flow and engagement. Telepresence and flow positively affect the users booking intentions for both the samples. However, for hotel website users, engagement has a no-significant effect on booking intentions. Finally, telepresence has a non-significant effect on flow, and flow has a non-significant effect on engagement for both the users of hotel websites and mobile apps.

This study uses two datasets to understand how hotel booking channel (hotel website and mobile app) quality leads to booking intentions by tapping into telepresence, flow and engagement.

Enabled by pronounced advancement in technology, branded apps have dramatically changed how consumers communicate with brands. However, despite the proliferation of mobile apps, brands are struggling to engage users. Without engagement, a mobile app is unable to attract continued usage and brands are unable to establish relationships with consumers. Grounded in construal level theory, this study aims to adopt a fresh perspective to examine the determinants of psychological distance, which plays a key role in branded app engagement.

An online survey with valid data from 396 app users of UberEats, Foodpanda, 7-11 and FamilyMart in Taiwan was conducted.

Perceived synchronicity, localization, homophily, ease of use and design aesthetics are the key determinants that drive branded app engagement, which, in turn, facilitates continuous app usage intention, a positive brand attitude and brand loyalty.

This study contributes to the literature by revealing the five determinants of psychological distance that exert impacts on the establishment of branded app engagement. This research provides valuable findings that practitioners can emphasize to drive branded app engagement.

By integrating stimulus-organism-response theory and uses and gratifications theory, this study explored the salient gamification factors that satisfy the gratifications of conference attendees in the context of an event gamification mobile app and their relationships with conference engagement, continuance intention and word-of-mouth.

The questionnaire was developed in Qualtrics and administered on a gamification application called Goosechase during an annual hospitality conference. The proposed hypotheses were tested using the partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The gratifications of social presence, education and entertainment through a gamification mobile app influences attendees’ engagement during the conference while achievement gratification does not. Positive effects of conference engagement on their continuous intention and WOM have been also validated.

By adopting a unique integrated approach that utilizes UGT and S-O-R framework, while considering conference engagement as work-related engagement, this study offers a fresh perspective on gamification apps and discusses its theoretical and practical implications in depth.

The purpose of this paper is to examine specific gratifications obtained from using mobile instant messaging (MIM) applications by applying the uses and gratifications theory. This study explores the relationships between motivational factors, customer engagement and loyalty for existing WhatsApp subscribers in South Africa, as well as the moderating effect of application usage.

A descripto-explanatory research design was used in this quantitative study and 282 responses from an online survey were analysed. Structural equation modelling was used to test the study’s hypotheses.

The study reveals that utilitarian and hedonic motivation impact customer engagement positively in using WhatsApp, which, in turn, impacts loyalty. Social motivation in using WhatsApp bore no relationship with customer engagement. Furthermore, medium application usage moderates the link between customer engagement and utilitarian and hedonic motivation.

The study offers a greater understanding of customer engagement and motivational factors in the MIM environment. Future studies could consider more complex relationships with customer engagement in using MIM apps focussed on a younger generation.

MIM service providers should enhance customer engagement by tracking user activity and identifying customers who need to use an app more by targeting their utilitarian and hedonic needs through sophisticated marketing strategies.

This research enriches the understanding of key motivational factors impacting customers’ continued engagement towards using MIM, as opposed to the adoption thereof.

Hoping to increase the productivity of their employees, firms provide and expect their employees to use approved mobile apps. However, despite an intuitive appeal, the relationship between information technology usage and productivity is still seen as paradoxical. This study examines the relationship between employees' experience and engagement with business mobile apps provided by employers and its effects on employee work productivity.

Data from respondents who use employer-provided business apps were used to test the hypotheses. Measurement-corrected latent scores extracted from the PLS measurement evaluation were used in regression-centric assessment using PROCESS.

Results indicate that employee-users’ experience-based attributions of the business app, i.e. customization, performance quality and compatibility, have positive effects on productivity mediated by participation intensity. Further, work type (retail vs non-retail) and the depth of the employee user’s experience moderate experience-based attributions' indirect effects on productivity.

Unlike previous studies delving into this topic, this study focuses solely on the mediation and moderation effects for hypothesis testing. Specifically, this study investigates effects conditional on work type (retail vs non-retail), which the authors believe has significant implications for retailing. These findings have interesting implications for both future research and managers.

The utilization of mobile fitness applications (apps) is on the rise, making user retention and engagement critical factors in the commercial success of these apps. However, research in this area is limited and fragmented. The objective of this study is to conduct a thorough review of the available literature on the effects of digital innovations, gamification, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) on user engagement with fitness mobile apps. The findings reveal the relationships between gamification, the use of AI/ML and technology adoption on user engagement, interaction and intent to use. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of understanding how user experience, customer experience and brand experience impact customer retention and contribute to the overall success of mobile fitness apps. Furthermore, the study also identifies the gaps in the current research and recommends further studies to be conducted in these areas. Future research is encouraged to incorporate elements from the experience domains to provide consumers with engaging interactions and improve retention and commercial success for mobile fitness apps.