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Article
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, Eunice (Eun-Sil) Kim and Hongmin Ahn

In keeping with recent body image social trends, consumer demand for the adoption of plus-size models is increasing, although the use of thin models remains prevalent. The current…

Abstract

Purpose

In keeping with recent body image social trends, consumer demand for the adoption of plus-size models is increasing, although the use of thin models remains prevalent. The current study explores how consumers process information about fashion products displayed on different sizes of models in advertisements, focusing on model and consumer body sizes and both genders. As an underlying mechanism explaining how the relationship between model and consumer body sizes shapes consumer purchase intention, this study explores the role of guilt, shame and mental imagery.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study uses a text analytics technique to identify female consumers' general opinions of thin models in advertising. Employing a 3 (consumer body size: normal, overweight, obese) × 2 (model body size: thin, plus-size) × 2 (gender: male, female) between-subjects online experiment (n = 718), the main study comparatively analyzes the influences of plus-size and thin models on consumer responses.

Findings

The results reveal that, despite body positivity movements, thin models still generate negative emotions among female consumers. For obese female consumers, advertisements featuring plus-size models produce fewer negative emotions but not more mental imagery than advertisements featuring thin models. Conversely, for obese male consumers, advertisements featuring plus-size models generate more mental imagery but not more negative emotions than advertisements featuring thin models. The results also reveal that the relationship between consumer body size and guilt is moderated by perceived model size, which is also moderated by gender in generating mental imagery. While guilt plays a mediating role in enhancing mental imagery, resulting in purchase intention, shame does not take on this role.

Originality/value

This study is the first to present an integrated model that elucidates how consumers with varying body sizes respond to different sizes of models in advertising and how these responses impact purchase intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Our findings only apply to contexts where consumers purchase fashion clothing in response to advertisements featuring thin versus plus-size models.

Practical implications

Exposing normal-size consumers to plus-size models generates less mental imagery, and thus, practitioners should seek to match the body sizes of the models featured in advertising to the body sizes of their target audience or ad campaigns that include both plus-size and thin models may help improve message persuasiveness in fashion advertising. Moreover, guilt-appeal advertising campaigns using thin models would appeal more to thin consumers of both genders than shame-appeal advertising.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Denni Arli

Online advertising becomes an essential tool to reach the target audience. One of the most widely used strategies is re-targeting. Firstly, this study explores the impact of…

Abstract

Purpose

Online advertising becomes an essential tool to reach the target audience. One of the most widely used strategies is re-targeting. Firstly, this study explores the impact of ethics, privacy and ads' perceived benefits (ad effectiveness and ad relevance) on consumers' attitudes toward online advertising. Secondly, the study investigates the mediating effect of attitudes toward re-targeting online advertising on consumers' purchase intentions. Finally, the study investigates the moderating effect of the perceived ethicality of re-targeting online advertising on consumers' purchase intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants (n = 307) were recruited through an online survey platform (MTurk) in the USA. The sample consisted of 65% male and 35% female respondents. The majority are aged 25–34 years, followed by 35–44 years (20%), 45–54 years (14%), 18–24 years (8%) and 55 years and older (6%).

Findings

The results show that ad effectiveness and ad relevance influenced consumers' attitudes toward re-targeting. This study shows that consumers are willing to trade their privacy for better search quality. Moreover, perceptions toward the ethicality of re-targeting ads moderated the relationship between consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions.

Research limitations/implications

This study will make several contributions. First, the study will extend the consequential theory in the context of online advertising. Second, the study will assist companies in using re-targeting strategies. The results will reveal which factor is the most important factor impacting consumers' attitudes toward re-targeting strategies.

Originality/value

This is one of the first few papers investigating consumers' perceptions of the ethicality of re-targeting online advertising.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2023

Ruibin Geng, Xi Chen and Shichao Wang

Endorsement marketing has been widely used to generate consumer attention, interest and purchase decisions among targeted audiences. Internet celebrities who become famous on the…

1595

Abstract

Purpose

Endorsement marketing has been widely used to generate consumer attention, interest and purchase decisions among targeted audiences. Internet celebrities who become famous on the Internet are dependent on strategic intimacy to appeal to their followers. Our study aims to examine how multiple exposures to Internet celebrity endorsements influence consumers’ click and purchase decisions in the context of influencer marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a unique and representative dataset, the authors first model consumers’ choices for clicks and purchases with two panel fixed-effect logit models linking clicks and purchases with the frequency of exposure to Internet celebrity endorsement. To further control the endogeneity produced by the intercorrelation between the click and purchase models, the authors also adopt the two-stage Heckman probit structure to jointly estimate the two models using Maximum Likelihood Estimation. Robustness checks confirm the effectiveness of the models.

Findings

The results suggest that Internet celebrity endorsement plays a significant role in bringing referral traffic to e-commerce sites but is less helpful in affecting conversion to sales. The impact of repetitive Internet celebrity endorsements on consumers’ click decisions is U-shaped, but the role of Internet celebrities as online retailers will “shape-flip” this relationship to a negative linear relation.

Originality/value

Our study is the first to investigate the repetitive exposure effect of Internet celebrity endorsement. The results show a contradictory pattern with a wear-out effect of repetition in the advertising literature. This is the first study to show how the endorsing self, which is a common business model in influencer marketing, moderates the effectiveness of influencer marketing.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Reihaneh Alsadat Tabaeeian, Shakiba Rahgozar, Atefeh Khoshfetrat and Samira Saedpanah

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gamification in advertising affects the effectiveness of advertising on social media.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gamification in advertising affects the effectiveness of advertising on social media.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from the gamification literature, immersion, achievement and social interaction features were identified as features, and advertising effectiveness factors were brand attention, brand liking and recall. A questionnaire was used for collecting data, and a structural equation modeling approach was applied to examine the model.

Findings

The results indicated that immersion, achievement and social interaction features affect advertising effectiveness. Furthermore, advertising effectiveness factors had a significant effect on purchase intentions.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the combination of gamification in advertising by offering characteristics for gamification that can enhance advertising effectiveness through brand attention, liking and recall. Finally, it provides managerial guidance on how they can use gamification in their advertising process.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Suyash Khaneja and Shahzeb Hussain

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of physical environment design (PED) and its antecedents on consumers’ emotional well-being (EWB). Drawing on place identity…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of physical environment design (PED) and its antecedents on consumers’ emotional well-being (EWB). Drawing on place identity and emotional theories, the study aims to provide a new perspective to retail store experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 800 respondents was conducted in London, out of which 764 responses were constructively used. The data was collected from international retail outlets, and structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

Findings

The empirical results show that PED has a positive effect on consumers’ EWB. Among the antecedents, visual identity does not have any significant effect on PED and EWB. In contrast, communication had a significant effect on PED but did not have any effect on EWB, and further, cultural heritage had a positive effect on both PED and EWB. Further, moderator analysis identifies the boundary conditions under which specific theories hold.

Practical implications

The value of this paper lies in its potential to be used for creating the perfect design planning in retail stores. Significant implications for managers and researchers are highlighted.

Originality/value

This paper presents an innovative approach to develop the principles of retail store’s PED to support the EWB of consumers.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Nidhi Sharma and Nilesh Arora

There has been considerable discussion about the utilization of social media effectively in tourist research. Still, there is a paucity of information about its usage for…

Abstract

Purpose

There has been considerable discussion about the utilization of social media effectively in tourist research. Still, there is a paucity of information about its usage for ecotourism destination selection. The study aims to determine critical factors influencing travelers' behavioral and electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) intentions to use Instagram reels to select an ecotourism destination.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on the motivated consumer innovativeness theory and technology acceptance model. Purposive sampling was applied to acquire data from Instagram users. Data were gathered from 445 respondents and 415 valid responses were analyzed using partial least square structural equational modeling.

Findings

The findings of the study confirmed the positive impact of perceived ease of use, socially motivated consumer innovativeness and hedonically motivated consumer innovativeness on travelers' attitude except for perceived usefulness. The outcomes also revealed a significant influence of travelers' attitude on behavioral and e-WOM intention.

Research limitations/implications

The study's findings were intended to offer insights into traveler behavior to critical players in the tourism sector, including destination marketers, travel companies, the government and policymakers. They must comprehend how useful Instagram is for the tourist industry, which will help them better understand how to attract travelers through Instagram reels to market their destination.

Originality/value

The current investigation is the first attempt to investigate the travelers' behavioral and e-WOM intentions to use Instagram reels to select an ecotourism destination.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2023

Sara Quach, Felix Septianto, Park Thaichon and Billy Sung

This research examines the effect of team diversity on customer behavior (purchase likelihood) associated with sustainable luxury products and further considers the mediating role…

278

Abstract

Purpose

This research examines the effect of team diversity on customer behavior (purchase likelihood) associated with sustainable luxury products and further considers the mediating role of customer skepticism and the moderating role of the growth mindset in these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 aims to confirm the direct effect of team diversity on purchase intention and the mediating effect of customer skepticism. Featuring a fictitious brand, Study 2 seeks to test the moderating effects of a growth mindset. This research recruits participants located in the USA who have shopping experiences with a luxury product.

Findings

The findings support the notion that team diversity can mitigate customers' skepticism while enhancing purchase likelihood. Moreover, this effect is stronger among those with a growth mindset. As such, the findings suggest that communicating the heterogeneous composition of team members can benefit sustainable luxury brands.

Originality/value

Underpinned by the signaling theory and incremental theory, this research examines the effects of team diversity on customer behavior (purchase likelihood) related to sustainable luxury products, as well as the role of customer skepticism (as a mediator) and a growth mindset (as a moderator) in these relationships. Thus, the findings broaden the current diversity research which has predominantly focused on team decision-making and performance.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Vaishali Sangwan and Moutusy Maity

Emerging economies are dominated by an unorganized retail landscape, with complex sociocultural norms dictating the behavior of retailers and customers. The purpose of this paper…

Abstract

Purpose

Emerging economies are dominated by an unorganized retail landscape, with complex sociocultural norms dictating the behavior of retailers and customers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of consumer embarrassment in an emerging marketing, India.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a grounded theory approach and undertakes 31 in-depth interviews with consumers in India. The data is analyzed inductively and iteratively simultaneously with data collection.

Findings

The study uncovers that sociocultural normative influences, the retail environment’s structural constraints, interaction-based buying processes and customers’ perceptions play a role in eliciting embarrassment in traditional stores. The traditional format retailers play a significant role in evoking embarrassment and, surprisingly, also in facilitating coping. Contrary to the extant findings, purchasing embarrassing products online may not ensure anonymity and elicit embarrassment. The findings contribute to understanding the phenomenon of embarrassment in emerging markets.

Originality/value

There is a dearth of research examining consumer embarrassment in emerging markets, with extant studies investigating the phenomenon in the modern retail setup of developed economies. The retail landscape of India is predominantly unorganized, with distinct transactional processes and physical characteristics that are starkly different from modern retail stores. Moreover, sociocultural normative forces have distinct influences on the informal setup of unorganized retail.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Ahsan Siraj, Yongming Zhu, Shilpa Taneja, Ehtisham Ali, Jiaxin Guo and Xihui Chen

With rapidly changing marketing landscape, nowadays, the formulation of various marketing strategies is increasingly focused on how consumers tend to make decisions. To meet the…

Abstract

Purpose

With rapidly changing marketing landscape, nowadays, the formulation of various marketing strategies is increasingly focused on how consumers tend to make decisions. To meet the highly demanding consumer expectations, market segmentation can be used as an important marketing strategy. Due to gender marketing concept familiarity in the contemporary world, gender difference is one of the reference features in the process of market segmentation for marketers. This research is aimed to examine various determining factors that foster consumer purchase decision-making and the differences between consumers of different genders while making shopping and purchase decisions with special reference to an emerging economy, i.e. Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a cross-sectional sample of 367 consumers, the study adapted Sproles and Kendall's (1986) Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) to scrutinize the decision-making of both genders in Pakistan. For data analysis, the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in addition to the structural equation modeling has been used.

Findings

The study emphasized that, with the exception of quality awareness, brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, option overload and price consciousness greatly affect buying decisions. In addition, when it comes to consumer purchase decision-making, significant gender variations were discovered for both fashion consciousness and price consciousness.

Originality/value

Drawing upon the distinctive cultural characteristics of Pakistan and its people, in-depth research was conducted on purchasing behaviors of Pakistani consumers and the decision-making characteristics of customers of different genders were summarized. The outcomes are expected to make a significant contribution to the field of gender marketing by organizations.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 July 2023

Lala Hu, Marta Galli and Roberta Sebastiani

The Chinese market represents an increasingly popular destination for wine firms and recent opportunities derive from the growth of e-commerce. The aim of this paper is to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The Chinese market represents an increasingly popular destination for wine firms and recent opportunities derive from the growth of e-commerce. The aim of this paper is to understand the impact of digital platforms on wine firms' internationalisation in China by adopting the service ecosystems approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors carried out a case study of Italian premium wine firms from the Valpolicella area by collecting 27 semi-structured interviews with key informants that operate at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of the internationalisation ecosystem. Italian wine firms were selected as the focus of the analysis, given the recent sales growth of their products in the Chinese market.

Findings

Results show that digital platforms hold a key role in the wine firms' internationalisation in China, intervening with resource integration mechanisms, alignment to the cultural context and mediating firms' digital presence in the market. The platformisation dynamics also reveal the existence of enablers and constraints in the firm internationalisation through digital platforms.

Research limitations/implications

The authors aim to contribute to the marketing literature by analysing how digital platforms influence the wine firms' internationalisation in China through an original perspective, i.e. the service ecosystems lens.

Originality/value

The study adopts the service ecosystems approach to understand the internationalisation of wine firms in the Chinese market through digital platforms.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

1 – 10 of 851