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Despite the online shopping trend, many women still prefer in-store experiences for trying on and buying clothes. The body positivity movement endorsed by many brands implies that all women, even those with lower body appreciation, should feel included in this setting. However, studies have yet to quantitatively explore the mediating role of women’s positive body image between clothing size and in-store experiences. To address this gap, this study examined the in-store experiences of 642 women from largely Western nations (Mage = 45.96, standard deviation (SD) = 9.31) who self-reported as straight-, mid- and plus-sizes and the mediating role of body appreciation.

Participants completed online questionnaires with measures including clothing size, body appreciation, in-store experiences and preferences for in-store changes.

Women of mid-size and plus-size were more likely than women of straight-size to report lower body appreciation, which led to a greater desire for guidance from staff about styles but less likelihood to approach them, higher discomfort going up a size and lower confidence trying on clothes. In contrast, straight-size women generally felt more comfortable and confident in-store clothes shopping. A direct link between clothing size and lower purchase intentions without in-store representation was found; however, body appreciation did not mediate this link. Preferences for in-store changes included better support from sales staff and more inclusive imagery.

This study indicates that in-store clothes shopping may not feel like retail therapy for women who identify as mid-size or plus-size and experience low body appreciation. It highlights the need for comprehensive reform within the fashion retail industry by prioritizing inclusivity through better staff support and in-store representation for all sizes.

The aim of this study is to understand how digital platforms and context-specific characteristics of China – such as swift guanxi – affect opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) entering this market.

This study adopts a qualitative approach based on a multiple-case study of Italian SMEs in the wine industry that have activated international activities in China. Primary data consist of 32 interviews with SMEs’ managers, local consumers and other stakeholders involved in firm internationalization.

The findings of this study highlight that in SMEs’ internationalization, the process of knowledge/learning on digital platforms takes place in a bidirectional way thanks to the interactions among multiple stakeholders, which activate consumer education and knowledge sharing.

While previous research has emphasized firms' knowledge acquisition in the internationalization process, this study incorporates both the consumer perspective and the firm perspective, along with considering interactions with various stakeholders.

After reading and analyzing the case study, the students will be able to recognize the role of the mega environment in shaping business strategy, explore the challenges and opportunities in a mature industry (Foam), understand the business context of a family-owned firm and assess the implications and recommend managerial strategies.

In July 2019, Unifoam, a leading foam manufacturer, found itself at a crossroads as the company leadership grappled with diverging vision and future course of action. The newly appointed chief executive, Mr Faraz Khalid Shaikh, had overseen significant investments in expanding production capacity, and the time had come to reap the rewards. However, a series of unexpected events had unfolded, presenting the company with a unique set of challenges. Unifoam relied heavily on imported raw materials from China. Unifoam had high hopes of capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. However, the newly formed government had made significant policy changes regarding currency valuation and borrowing rates. This had increased the company’s working capital cost by 40%. This unexpected development had divided the board on the future direction and had forced the leadership to confront a crucial question: Should they hit the brakes or accelerate their growth strategies? This case study explored into the dynamic interplay between external factors, internal divisions and the family-owned nature of Unifoam. The analysis recognized the influence of the mega environment on the company’s strategy, exploring the challenges and opportunities within the mature foam industry and assessing the implications of conflicting approaches. This case study also offered valuable insights and managerial recommendations to guide the company’s path forward. Through embracing discomfort and confronting strategic dilemmas head-on, Unifoam sought to navigate uncharted waters and emerge as a resilient player in the evolving foam industry.

This is suitable for BBA or at the very start of MBA in the strategy courses, mainly business strategy and strategic management, and the case study can be positioned during the initial weeks in the course to provide a quick review of the basic analysis frameworks used in strategic decision-making.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The objective is to identify the effects of suspicion as well as knowledge gaps, especially in noninterpersonal contexts. This study aims to propose a robust framework for future research. The overarching goal is to foster a comprehensive understanding of consumer suspicion, its implications and its potential avenues in the ever-evolving field of consumer behavior.

Based on a focused review of the literature, this study synthesizes the effects of suspicion in interpersonal and noninterpersonal contexts to unveil its importance for consumer behavior.

The cognitive, affective and behavioral effects of suspicion are identified. Furthermore, a discernible imbalance is observed, as the predominant focus on interpersonal consumer contexts leaves a significant gap in the comprehension of how consumers navigate and perceive suspicion in noninterpersonal interactions. This topic is important especially in an era dominated by complex brand interrelationships and digital touchpoints. Also, the operationalization of the suspicion construct in a plethora of studies seems to be suboptimal, suggesting a need for improvements with respect to its dynamic nature. In this regard, this review provides insightful directions to advance research in the abovementioned domains.

The synthesis of the findings of the empirical articles did not focus on variations in consumer suspicion across different cultures or regions. In addition, the dynamic nature of suspicion and the evolving landscape of consumer behavior mean that findings and implications may require periodic reassessment to maintain relevance. Also, this review did not delve into the methodological diversities across the studies examined.

This review offers marketers and businesses critical insights into the consumer suspicion dynamics. By understanding these nuances, companies can tailor strategies to mitigate suspicion and optimize consumer relationships.

Through synthesizing the effects of suspicion and providing avenues for future research, this study significantly contributes to consumer behavior literature.

The insurance industry has been slow to adopt digital technologies due to high barriers to entry, product complexity, capital reserves, solvency requirements, and regulatory constraints. This chapter focuses on how insurtech is disrupting the insurance industry, resulting in a transformation from a traditional structure to a dynamic user-centric ecosystem. Next, it highlights the insurtech ecosystem by providing an in-depth analysis of the new paradigm on how insurtech is transitioning from the linear value chain to a more dynamic and interconnected value network. Finally, this chapter defines a perspective of insurtech's impact by identifying three waves of transformation within the insurance industry and understanding the evolution and chronology of insurtech's influence. Thus, this chapter provides insights into the opportunities and challenges of this technological breakthrough, offering a comprehensive view of insurtech's transformative journey within the insurance landscape.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to enumerate the unique characteristics of business-to-business (B2B) versus business-to-consumer marketing, explore strategic positioning and how niche marketing can create a competitive advantage, deduce the significance of core values in corporate culture and decision-making, explore innovative partnership and talent acquisition models, infer the role of educational marketing in sectors where clients are not fully aware of their needs and apply strategic decision-making to balance short- and long-term goals in terms of profitability and growth.

This case study tells the story of BarkB2B, a boutique marketing firm specialized exclusively in B2B marketing. Founded in Egypt in 2018, BarkB2B focused on creating long-lasting partnerships with clients in industries such as IT, logistics, construction and renewable energy. The case explores the critical aspects of BarkB2B’s business model and offers a comprehensive view of real-world challenges and opportunities in the B2B marketing landscape. It helps learners understand strategic positioning, core values in decision-making, innovative partnership-based business models, the role of educational marketing and the complexities associated with growth. It concludes by highlighting the dilemma faced by BarkB2B’s founder and managing director Naela Sakr as she reflects on the challenge of maintaining the company’s positioning while achieving greater profitability and growth.

The case study is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in marketing, strategic marketing, consumer behavior and entrepreneurship courses. It is also beneficial for marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, corporate training and executive education programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This study aims to explore and theorize value gaps within value chain management (VCM) by extending the service quality gap model to the context of global manufacturing value chains.

Drawing upon a case study of a small, family-owned Swedish furniture wholesaler, Alpha, this research adapts the service quality gap model and integrates it into the VCM framework. The investigation examines the value creation and delivery processes across a network of actors, highlighting how various gaps emerge at different stages of the value chain.

The study identifies and describes several value gaps, including those related to consumer understanding, manufacturing capabilities and coordination across the value chain. Value creation gaps arise from poor communication about consumer needs and product features, whereas value delivery gaps are mainly tied to manufacturing capacity and material restrictions. These gaps can result in misalignment between consumer expectations and the delivered value.

Although this study provides insights into the emergence of value gaps, further research is needed to determine the magnitude and reduction strategies for these gaps. In addition, understanding how consumers evaluate new products remains a critical area for investigation.

The research highlights the significance of a coordinated approach to managing value creation and delivery processes. It underscores the need for companies to capture accurate consumer data, consider manufacturing capabilities and engage in effective coordination with various actors in the value chain.

By addressing value gaps, companies can enhance consumer satisfaction and minimize potential dissatisfaction caused by misalignment between consumer expectations and delivered value. This, in turn, can lead to improved relationships with consumers and other actors within the value chain.

This research offers a novel perspective on value gaps in VCM, extending the service quality gap model to the realm of manufacturing. It underscores the importance of managing both value creation and delivery processes for enhancing competitive advantage in a global market.

The information systems (IS) literature has indicated the importance of data analytics capabilities (DAC) in improving business performance in organizations. The literature has also highlighted the roles of organizations’ data-related resources in developing their DAC and enhancing their business performance. However, little research has taken resource quality into account when studying DAC for business performance enhancement. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of resource quality on DAC development for business performance enhancement.

We studied DAC development using the resource-based view and the IS success model based on empirical data collected via 19 semi-structured interviews.

Our findings show that data-related resource (including data, data systems, and data services) quality is vital to the development of DAC and the enhancement of organizations’ business performance. The study uncovers the factors that make up each quality dimension, which is required for developing DAC for business performance enhancement.

Using the resource quality view, this study contributes to the literature by exploring the role of data-related resource quality in DAC development and business performance enhancement.

The increased digital interactions in the B2B industry have enhanced the importance of customer engagement as a measure of firm performance. This study aims to map and analyze temporal and spatial journeys for customer engagement in B2B markets from a bibliometric perspective.

The extant literature on customer engagement research in the B2B context was analyzed using bibliometric analysis. The citation analysis, keyword analysis, cluster analysis, three-field plot and bibliographic coupling were used to map the intellectual structure of customer engagement in B2B markets.

The research on customer engagement in the B2B context was studied more in western countries. The analysis suggests that customer engagement in B2B markets will take centre stage in the coming times as digital channels make it easier to track critical metrics besides other key factors. Issues like digital transformation, the use of artificial intelligence for virtual engagement, personalization, innovation and salesforce management by leveraging technology would be critical for improved B2B customer engagement.

The study provides a comprehensive reference to scholars working in this domain.

The study makes a pioneering effort to comprehensively analyze the vast corpus of literature on customer engagement in B2B markets for business insights.

This research delves into the nuanced effects of positive goal framing quantity in advertising on consumer reactions towards new products, categorizing them into incrementally new products (INPs) and really new products (RNPs). It moves beyond the traditional binary evaluation of advertising effectiveness, offering a more intricate analysis of consumer engagement based on product novelty.

Employing a comprehensive dataset encompassing 461 digital video advertisements from six leading technology-centric firms, this study employs content analysis alongside hierarchical polynomial regression to dissect the dynamics between the volume of positive goal framings and consumer engagements. This examination is contextualized within the spectrum of product innovation, offering insights into the differential consumer behaviors elicited by INPs and RNPs.

The investigation uncovers a non-linear, inverted U-shaped correlation between the volume of positive goal framings and consumer responses. This relationship exhibits variability in its intensity between INPs and RNPs, with INPs demonstrating a more pronounced response variability around a higher inflection point on the curve. This pattern underscores the complex interplay between goal framing and product novelty in shaping consumer perceptions and actions.

This study pioneers the exploration of goal framing within the realm of product advertising, shifting the analytical lens from its traditional roots in health and medicine to the intricacies of consumer behavior in response to advertising. By introducing a distinctive classification of product newness through INPs and RNPs, the research augments current understanding of effective advertising strategies, delivering profound insights for marketers and advertisers in tailoring their campaigns to align with consumer expectations and product characteristics.