Search results

This study explores the direct relationship between social media user-generated content (UGC), online search traffic and offline light vehicle sales of different models.

The long-run equilibrium relationship and short-run dynamic effects between the valence and volume of UGC, online search traffic and offline car sales are analyzed by applying the autoregressive distribution lag (ARDL) model.

The study found the following. (1) In the long-run relationship, the valence of online reviews on social media platforms is significantly negatively correlated with the sales of all models. However, in the short-run, the valence of online reviews has a significant positive correlation with all models in different lag periods. (2) The volume of online reviews is significantly positively correlated with the sales of all models in the long run. However, in the short run, the relationship between the volume of online reviews and the sales of lower-sales-volume cars is uncertain. There is a significant positive correlation between the volume of reviews and the sales of higher-sales-volume cars. (3) Online search traffic has a significantly negative correlation with the sales of all models in the long run. However, in the short run, there is no consistent conclusion on the relationship between online search traffic and car sales.

This study provides a reference for managers to use in their efforts to improve offline high-involvement product sales using online information.

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to illustrate issues in offline marketing and strategy for an in-store business, familiarize students with the challenges involved in the decision-making in integrating online and offline marketing strategies, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of online and offline marketing and motivate students to apply marketing strategies to real-world business situations

Deepa Kumar, the founder of Yashram Lifestyle, had successfully built a niche brand with a strong online presence in the lingerie industry. Yashram Lifestyle was known for its innovative products and commitment to addressing the real-life vulnerabilities faced by women at different stages of life. With a vision to be a one-stop destination for all intimate and practical needs of women and girls, Yashram had introduced unique products such as period panties, starter bras, incontinence underwear and hygiene panties. On the contrary, Kumar acknowledged that offline marketing strategies, such as pop-up stores, collaborations with physical retailers and participation in industry events, could provide valuable insights into customer preferences, enhance brand visibility and foster direct customer engagement. Offline channels might also enable Yashram Lifestyle to better understand the market dynamics and further drive product innovation. However, owing to the associated costs, logistics and potential risks, Kumar was apprehensive about venturing into offline marketing. She wondered whether Yashram Lifestyle had the necessary assets and expertise to successfully scale up its operations while making these alternate decisions. Furthermore, she questioned herself whether offline marketing efforts would be worth the investment and whether they could lead to substantial growth and increased market share for Yashram Lifestyle.

The purpose of this case study is to provoke critical thought among undergraduate and postgraduate business and management students about Kumar’s potential course of action for Yashram Lifestyle to engage in offline marketing. It applies to the implementation of marketing strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This study reviewed three customer-perceived components of integrated marketing communications (IMCs): consistency, interactivity and connectivity, as predictors of positive customer evaluation (product and retail service satisfaction).

The customer data from 260 surveys were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The data were collected from the emerging economy in the Moscow region (Russia).

The results reported that IMC consistency positively impacts product and service satisfaction. However, the effect of IMC interactivity was only significant in the case of service satisfaction. Meanwhile, IMC connectivity positively influenced only product satisfaction.

The study contributes to the marketing communications theory by defining three components of omnichannel IMC. It also adds to the customer behaviour theory by confirming the diverse nature of product and service evaluation. This study focuses on the retail industry.

This research suggests that three components of IMC should be applied together towards enhancing the customer's positive post-purchase evaluation. Meanwhile, consistency enhances product and service satisfaction, interactive impacts satisfaction with the organization and connectivity with the retail service.

The shift toward omnichannel marketing requires a broader perspective on communication integration. This research reports a novelty result of estimating the separate effect of each component of omnichannel IMC (consistency, interactivity and connectivity) on product and service satisfaction.

Webrooming (i.e. searching information online and making the final purchase in a physical store) has become a popular shopping practice, but remains insufficiently studied. To address this, a research framework encompassing online and offline channel attributes (i.e. online review diagnosticity, online search convenience, expected price loss, offline purchase effort and offline after-sales service convenience), consumer traits (i.e. anticipated regret) and shopping experience (i.e. smart-shopping perception) as determinants of webrooming continuance intention is proposed.

The proposed model was validated by conducting a questionnaire-based survey that yielded 354 useable responses. The data was subjected to partial least squares structural equation modelling and importance-performance map analysis.

According to the obtained results, online review diagnosticity, offline after-sales service convenience and anticipated regret are the vital antecedents of webrooming continuance intention, while smart-shopping perception acts as the mediator.

The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge about webrooming by validating the inter-relationships between online review diagnosticity, after-sales service convenience, anticipated regret, smart-shopping perception and webrooming continuance intention.

This paper investigates the buy online and pick up in-store cooperation (BOPSC) of online and offline retailers. Specifically, this study solves the following questions: (1) What is the impact of BOPSC on their optimal price and sales volume of products? (2) When should an online retailer and an offline retailer conduct the BOPSC strategy with each other?

The paper first establishes two game models to explore the equilibriums of online and offline retailers in non-BOPSC and BOPSC. Then the condition for online and offline retailers to implement BOPSC strategy are determined. Furthermore, the applicability of the BOPSC strategy is enhanced by incorporating numerical analysis.

The study’s findings reveal that BOPSC strategy will not always beneficial to online and offline retailers, which depends on the total cost of online shopping and the product valuation of consumers. BOPSC strategy leads to the increase of prices and online orders, and the demand of offline retailer is eroded. Moreover, BOPS cooperation between different retailers is easier to achieve than omni-channel integration strategy. When the convenience difference between offline shopping and BOPSC pick-up is moderate, the effectiveness of BOPSC strategy can be improved.

This study has the following two main contributions: Firstly, the authors investigate the effects of BOPSC strategy on the prices of online and offline retailers. The study results show that the BOPSC strategy alleviates price competition and promotes a win–win situation between online retailers and offline retailers. Secondly, this paper mainly studies the cooperative behavior between online and offline retailers and reveals the optimal conditions for online and offline retailers to adopt BOPSC strategy. It can help small- and medium-sized online and offline retailers to choose suitable products for BOPSC strategy, so as to achieve the purpose of increasing profit.

This study aims to understand why consumers continue to visit physical stores despite the rise in mobile shopping and online channels. Mobile shopping has changed how consumers shop, allowing them to easily switch between channels. However, physical stores continue to remain significant because some consumers still prefer them, challenging the belief that online markets always surpass offline markets. To serve their needs effectively, retailers must understand the motivations and behaviors of shoppers in both channels. Therefore, this study aims to explore why people cross the online channel to offline by examining their dissatisfaction with online shopping, using E-SERVQUAL variables.

This study uses a two-method approach that involves in-depth interviews to develop questions related to E-SERVQUAL variables and a survey to assess respondents’ likelihood of switching from online to offline. Data was collected from 203 participants.

The results indicate that dissatisfaction with the timeliness and condition of online shopping services is a significant factor driving consumers to switch to physical stores. This challenges the notion that online markets always surpass offline markets, emphasizing the continued significance of physical stores in the retail landscape.

This study recognizes the importance and relevance of physical stores in the retail environment while challenging the assumption that online markets always outperform brick-and-mortar markets. In terms of dissatisfaction and satisfaction, it is possible to identify under what circumstances dissatisfied consumers go from online to offline by considering the distribution channel migration phenomenon.

The purpose of the study is to explore the role of affective commitment (AC) consumer empowerment on webrooming behaviour (WB) in a multichannel context of the fashion industry, with mediating (attitude [ATT]) and moderating (product involvement [PT]) effect. We used the stimulus– organism–responses theory as a theoretical underpinning.

We collected 307 responses from fashionable consumer who was purposed fashion products recently through convenience sampling approach and analysed the data with structural equation modelling and PROCESS macro.

The results illustrated that AC and consumer empowerment had a significant impact on consumer attitude and their WB. Likewise, consumer attitude had a positive mediating association between AC, consumer empowerment and WB. PI significantly moderated the relationship between ACs, consumer empowerment with attitude and attitude with WB.

This study is one of the new research works of its kind, which examines the role of AC and consumer empowerment on WB in the fashion industry. This study contributes to the growing amount of literature on fashion marketing by analysing the rapidly growing phenomena of WB in a multichannel context of the fashion industry.

This study aims to examine how the effect of pop-ups on an omnichannel brand’s subsequent online sales is moderated by the brand’s online price and premium promotions, paid search and popularity signaling.

Using a difference-in-differences approach, this study appraises variations in two similar Chinese apparel brands’ online sales before and after one of the brands’ implementations of its pop-ups and how the brand’s online promotions modify the pop-ups’ effect.

Unique, interactive pop-ups boost brands’ subsequent online sales. Online price promotions negatively moderate the effect; online premium promotions and paid search positively moderate it. Moreover, the product’s popularity diminishes the extent to which a pop-up stimulates online demand. These findings can be partially generalized to other categories, such as utilitarian products.

Only certain online strategies enhance the effect of pop-ups on brands’ online sales, so practitioners should strategically select appropriate promotion combinations when they operate pop-ups and allocate resources across channels. In addition, the moderating influence of online promotions on pop-ups depends on the type of product being promoted.

Pop-ups offer proven abilities to deliver sensory experiences to online shoppers, reinforce brand awareness and loyalty and boost online sales. This study extends prior research by examining how various online promotions moderate pop-ups’ effects.

Given that existing retail brand research tends to treat each level of a retail brand as a separate concept, this paper aims to unveil the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand, considering the distinctiveness of each level and the interrelationships between the images of different levels.

This study uses a scoping review approach that includes 478 retail brand articles. Subsequently, a thematic analysis method is applied.

The brand attributes that shape the distinct image of each retail brand level encompass diverse intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. Moreover, the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand is formed by the interrelationships between the images of different levels, which are reflected in the presence of common extrinsic attributes and their interplay at attribute, benefit and attitude levels.

Theoretically, this review provides conceptual clarity by unveiling the multi-level yet holistic nature of a retail brand, helping researchers refine and extend existing theories in retail branding, while also providing new research opportunities in this field. Practically, the findings could guide retailers in implementing differentiated branding strategies at each level while achieving synergy across all levels.

While there has been extensive research on understanding the effects of online reviews on product sales, there is not enough investigation of the inter-relationships between online reviews, online search and product sales. The study attempts to address this gap in the context of the Indian car market.

The research uses text mining and considers six important review features volume, valence, length, deviation of valence, sentiment and readability within the heuristic and systematic model of information processing. Panel data regression is used along with mediation analysis to study the inter-relationships between features of reviews, online search and sales.

The study finds that numerical heuristic features significantly affect sales and online search, numerical systematic feature affects sales and the textual heuristic and systematic features do not affect sales or online search in the Indian car market. Further, online search mediates the association between features of reviews and sales of cars.

Although only car sales data from India is considered in this research, similar relationships between review features, online search and sales could exist for the car market of other countries as well.

This research uncovers the unique role of online search as a mediator between review features and sales, whereas prior literature has considered review features and online search as independent variables that affect sales.