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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emotional contagion theory in print ads, and expand the literature of smiling to different type of smiles and gender congruency. Emotional contagion happens when an emotion is transferred from a sender to a receiver by the synchronization of emotions from the emitter. Drawing on emotional contagion theory, the authors expand this concept and propose that smiles in static facial expressions influence product evaluation. They suggest that false smiles do not have the same impact as genuine smiles on product evaluation, and the congruence between the model gender–product in a static ad and the gender of the viewer moderates the effects.

In Experiment 1, subjects were randomly assigned to view one of the two ad treatments to guard against systematic error (e.g. bias). In Experiment 2, it was investigated whether viewing a static ad featuring a model with a false smile can result in a positive product evaluation as was the case with genuine smiles (H3). In Experiment 3, it was assumed that when consumers evaluate an ad featuring a smiling face, the facial expression influences product evaluation, and this influence is moderated by the congruence between the gender of the ad viewer and the product H gender of the model in the ad.

Across three experiments, the authors found that the model’s facial expression influenced the product evaluation. Second, they supported the association between a model’s facial expression and mimicry synchronization. Third, they showed that genuine smiles have a higher impact on product evaluation than false smiles. This novel result enlarges the research on genuine smiles to include false smiles. Fourth, the authors supported the gender–product congruence effect in that the gender of the ad’s reader and the model have a moderating effect on the relationship between the model’s facial expression and the reader’s product evaluation.

Marketing managers would benefit from understanding that genuine smiles can encourage positive emotions on the part of consumers via emotional contagion, which would be very useful to create a positive effect on products. The authors improved upon previous psychological theory (Gunnery et al., 2013; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2006) showing that a genuine smile results in higher evaluation scores of products presented in static ads. The theoretical explanation for this effect is the genuine smile, which involves contraction of both zygomatic major and orbicularis oculi muscles. These facial muscles can be better perceived and transmit positive emotions (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2006).

The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptual differences toward smiling behaviors with head inclinations displaying by the human-like robot staff and human staff in a service setting.

This study adopted a 2 (staff: robot/human personal personnel) × 3 (head tilt: left/right/straight) full factorial design, while cross-examining participants’ cultural dimensions 2 (power distance: high/lower) × 2 (gender: male/female) during the service encounter.

Overall, it was found that male and female customers with different cultural background would perceive robot and human personnel with varying degrees of head tilt very differently, namely, regarding interpersonal warmth but not customer satisfaction.

Nonverbal cues serve as important elements in the interaction. This paper provides new directions on the design of anthropomorphic robot and gives insight to people’s perceptual differences. All in all, the present study is useful in facilitating human–robot interactions.

Vendors’ social cues – physical or behavioural hints – have an impact on the professional buyer. However, little is known about that impact. The purpose of this paper is to place knowledge about the impact of social cues that other disciplines acquired in the context of business-to-business (B2B) marketing to contribute constructively to the research agenda.

By integrating findings on the processing of social cues and the behavioural response from the disciplines of neuroscience, biology and psychology (specifically the behavioural inhibition system [BIS]/behavioural activation system [BAS]-theory), this paper aims to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the automatic evaluation of vendors by professional buyers.

Social cues are likely to be of substantial value in the (first) encounter between buyer and seller. Positively evaluated social cues create an approach-motivated behavioural intention, whereas negatively evaluated ones create avoidance. This process is probably predominantly mediated by trust and moderated by personality and contextual factors.

This paper stimulates research about the impact of social cues in a B2B context. While such knowledge would add practical value, this paper also explores possibilities for managers to use neuroscientific techniques to assess and train sales agents.

The impact of social cues is hardly covered in the B2B marketing literature, but they have an important impact on B2B decision-making. The conceptual framework combines the BIS/BAS theory (approach/avoidance) with the SOR-model (stimulus-organism-response), which is unique to the B2B marketing field.

The purpose of this study is to identify conditions under which consumers prefer matte packages and those under which they prefer glossy packages and to extend the findings to the context of consumer evaluations.

A series of four experiments-conducted across a diverse range of settings and consumers (through lab experiments and field studies) and using different types of products (mobile phones, invitation cards, wrappers and coffee packs)- examined the effects of matte and glossy packaging finishes on consumer evaluations (i.e. preferences, attitudes and purchase intentions). This paper further developed moderated mediation models to illustrate the mechanisms underlying the examined effects.

People with warmth and competence focus favored matte and glossy packaging, respectively. In addition, the warmth (competence) focus enhanced the positive influence of matte (glossy) packaging on brand sincerity (competence), leading to more favorable consumer evaluations (i.e. brand attitudes, product attitudes and purchase intentions).

This study provides managers with insights into conferring desired impressions of sincerity (competence) upon a brand and methods of attracting certain warmth focused (competence focused) consumers by using matte (glossy) packaging finishes.

This is the study to systematically investigate the effect of packaging finishes on brand impressions and consumer evaluations.

This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the marketing practices of the Swedish toothpaste brand Stomatol (1910–1940). Through visual social semiotic analysis, it explores how the brand was a pioneer in lifestyle marketing, using discourses of modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” to sell its toothpaste.

Two hundred Stomatol advertisements were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive and analysed using visual social semiotics. The analysis considers how the idea of a cultural Swedishness centred around modernity and beauty developed between 1910 and 1940, and how both linguistic and semiotic resources were used to make these claims seem credible.

At a time when its main adversaries were capitalising upon science in their advertisements to construct authority and credibility, Stomatol instead targeted lifestyle. Modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” were central themes of their marketing campaigns, yet the way these themes were articulated varied between 1910 and 1940 in accordance with changing popular discourse. This made Stomatol more competitive than other toothpaste brands because it was able to sell an experience rather than a product, turning it into Sweden’s most popular toothpaste.

This paper demonstrates the importance of case studies to challenge the assumption that toothpaste brands have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years (a claim based on Anglocentrism). It also showcases the need to further investigate non-Anglo countries when conducting research into lifestyle marketing to build a more nuanced perspective on its origins and the supposed novelty of (largely) US practices. Thus, Stomatol makes an important case for Sweden as a trailblazer in lifestyle marketing.

According to statistics by the US National Sexual Violence Resource Center, more than 50% of women claim they have been raped by an intimate partner or an acquaintance. In this experiment, the authors test whether exposing individuals to different types of images portraying the victim and their perpetrator influences individuals' perception of (1) the perpetrator's deserved punishment and (2) the role played by the victim in her rape.

In an experimental survey, the authors randomly treat groups of individuals with manipulated facial and physical expressions of the same photographs.

The authors find that news about rape are more or less effective in uncovering the seriousness of the crime independent of the pictures accompanying them, suggesting media should avoid their misusage.

While the role of the narrative of rape has been extensively discussed in the literature from a theoretical perspective, this research provides original evidence based on actual behavioural response.

The aim of this study is to assess the mediating effect of source appearance (SA) and self-influencer congruence (SIC) on the relationship between visual content (VC) and customer engagement (CE) towards mobile advertisement.

This study uses a quantitative approach to test the proposed model based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory. The non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from Pakistani mobile users through a self-administered questionnaire.

The study results prove that VC alone cannot generate mobile users’ engagement. SA is the key in this regard, which has a relatively higher importance compared to SIC. Furthermore, the serial mediation effect of SA and SIC on CE shows that attractive sources are likely to induce higher SIC and subsequent CE.

The results reveal that without a pleasing SA and positive SIC, mobile users skip the ads by perceiving them to be irritating or interruptive. Mobile ads might cost relatively less, but the advertisers should understand the significance of the SA toward minimizing the mobile advertising skepticism.

Advertisers can enhance the user’s engagement on mobile devices by addressing both the SA and SIC in their VC. The combined effect of both the SA and SIC on CE has not been assessed before. Furthermore, this study has used the SOR mechanism to examine CE.

El objetivo general de esta investigación es evaluar el efecto mediador de la apariencia de la fuente (SA) y la congruencia del auto-influencer (SIC) en la relación entre el contenido visual (CV) y el compromiso del cliente (CE) hacia la publicidad móvil.

Este estudio utiliza un enfoque cuantitativo para probar el modelo propuesto basado en la teoría estímulo-organismo-respuesta (SOR). Se utilizó la técnica de muestreo intencional no probabilístico para recoger datos de usuarios de móviles paquistaníes mediante un cuestionario autoadministrado.

Nuestros resultados demuestran que el contenido visual por sí solo no puede generar el compromiso de los usuarios de móviles. La apariencia de la fuente es la clave a este respecto, que tiene una importancia relativamente mayor en comparación con la congruencia del auto-influencer. Además, el efecto de mediación en serie de SA y SIC en CE muestra que es probable que las fuentes atractivas induzcan un mayor SIC y el consiguiente compromiso del cliente.

Los resultados revelan que sin una SA agradable y una SIC positiva, los usuarios de móviles omiten los anuncios al percibirlos como irritantes o interruptores. Los anuncios para móviles pueden costar relativamente menos, pero los anunciantes deben comprender la importancia de la apariencia de la fuente para minimizar el escepticismo de la publicidad móvil.

Los anunciantes pueden mejorar la participación del usuario en los dispositivos móviles abordando tanto la AS como el SIC en sus contenidos visuales. Hasta ahora no se había evaluado el efecto combinado de la AS y el SIC en el CE. Además, este estudio ha utilizado el mecanismo del SOR para examinar el engagement del cliente.

本研究的总体目标是评估源外观（SA）和自我影响者一致性（SIC）对移动广告视觉内容（VC）和客户参与（CE）之间关系的中介效应。

本研究采用定量方法来检验基于刺激-有机体-反应（SOR）理论提出的模型。研究采用了非概率目的性抽样技术, 通过自填问卷的方式向巴基斯坦移动用户收集数据。

我们的研究结果证明, 仅靠视觉内容并不能引起移动用户的参与。在这方面, 源外观是关键, 与自我影响者一致性相比, 源外观的重要性相对更高。此外, SA 和 SIC 对 CE 的串联中介效应表明, 有吸引力的信息源可能会诱发更高的 SIC 和随后的客户参与。

研究结果表明, 如果没有令人愉悦的SA和积极的SIC, 移动用户就会认为广告具有刺激性或干扰性, 从而跳过广告。移动广告的成本可能相对较低, 但广告商应了解广告源外观对减少移动广告怀疑的重要性。

广告商可以通过在视觉内容中同时考虑广告联盟和广告投放中心这两个因素, 提高用户在移动设备上的参与度。之前从未有人评估过 “SA “和 “SIC “对消费者参与度的综合影响。此外, 本研究还使用了 SOR 机制来考察客户参与度。

This paper aims to historicise the contemporary chlorophyll trend through the first academic study of its early marketing in Sweden (1950–1953). Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, it demonstrates how brands used advertisements to convince female consumers of chlorophyll’s necessity to fulfil certain aspirational goals.

In all, 150 advertisements for chlorophyll products were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive, as well as 600 additional advertisements for the three most popular products (toothpaste/mouthwash, sanitary towels and soap) from 1940 to 1950 and from 1954 to 1964. Then, multimodal critical discourse analysis was used to investigate how the products were marketed before, during and after the chlorophyll trend, identifying the general themes and linguistic/semiotic structures of the advertisements.

This paper shows how the commercial use of chlorophyll offered a lucrative opportunity for marketers, acting as a “tabula rasa” on which they could use discourses of science, nature, idealised femininity and luxury to draw connections with health, modernity and beauty, despite the product having no real purpose or value.

Viewing this fad from a historical perspective emphasises how brands, marketers and influencers continue to capitalise on the anxieties of female consumers with promises around beauty, hygiene and health. It, thus, offers us critical distance to reflect on contemporary claims about chlorophyll’s health benefits to make informed choices.

The study aims to propose an instrument for measuring product-centeredness (i.e. the extent to which comment content is related to a product) using word embedding techniques as well as explore its determinants.

The study collected branded posts from 205 Instagram influencers and empirically examined how four factors (i.e. authenticity, vividness, coolness and influencer–product congruence) influence the content of the comments on branded posts.

Post authenticity and congruence are shown to have positive effects on product-centeredness. The interaction between coolness and authenticity is also significant. The number of comments or likes on branded posts is not correlated with product-centeredness.

In social media influencer marketing, volume-based metrics such as the numbers of likes and comments have been researched and applied extensively. However, content-based metrics are urgently needed, as fans may ignore brands and focus on influencers. The proposed instrument for assessing comment content enables marketers to construct content-based metrics. Additionally, the authors' findings enhance the understanding of social media users' engagement behaviors.

This paper aims to investigate three promotional publications produced by the Postum Cereal Company – A Trip Through Postumville (1920), How I Make Postum (1924) and The Wonderful Lunch Boxes (1925) – with the aim of understanding how language and other semiotic resources are used to promote its products as good and healthy choices.

The three publications were collected from the HathiTrust Digital Library and University of South Florida Tampa Special Collections. They were subjected to multimodal critical discourse analysis to tease out their subtle characteristics and how a combination of language, image, colour, typography and composition are used to represent certain ideas and values related to health and well-being.

The publications subscribe to three distinct genres – “inside the factory”, “friendly spokesperson” and “fictional world” – each of which are aimed at different target audiences. The first seeks to promote Postum as an open and transparent company; the second to promote Postum as a company that cares about its consumers; and the third to promote the health benefits of Postum in a fun and accessible manner. Nonetheless, they are united in their overall objective to link the regular consumption of Postum as essential for good health.

To date, few studies have been conducted on the Postum Cereal Company, while the limited research conducted on promotional publications has tended to overlook discourses of health and well-being. The three genres outlined in this study, thus, have the potential to foster a reappraisal of promotional publications and showcase their ability to offer new understandings on historical approaches to marketing, particularly the link with health and science.