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In this invited paper, the authors aim to offer an integrated marketing communications (IMC) framework for understanding how disparate customer touchpoints impact consumer engagement and profitability in an omni-channel environment. For each aspect of the framework, the authors recommend areas for further research.

The authors review literature linking personal and electronic channels of communication in an omni-channel context to consumer engagement, with an emphasis on channel and message unity.

Five major research areas were identified: research that better links omni-channel and IMC theory and practice; conceptual and empirical research that helps operationalize the consumer-brand engagement construct, including its antecedents and consequences; Build understanding of off- and on-line consumer-brand touchpoints and how they may enhance engagement and profitability; how omni-channel IMC best monetizes buyer–seller relationships; and omni-channel IMC in other consumer decision contexts.

The emergence of omni-channel marketing is breaking down the silos across available consumer-brand touchpoints. The intersection of effective omni-channel marketing and IMC strategic and tactical initiatives offers marketers an opportunity to engage their customers and to form profitable relationships.

The authors proposed an omni-channel IMC Framework and a research agenda for advancing the field. As this is a new area of inquiry, the authors argue for the development of other comprehensive frameworks, both for general omni-channel IMC conceptualizations.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships that influence the value co-creation process and lead to consumer comfort with artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile banking (AIMB) service platforms.

A conceptual model was developed to investigate the value-in-use perceptions of AI-based mobile banking applications via five antecedents: baseline perceptions of current bank service delivery; service delivery configuration benefits; general data security; safety perceptions of specific mobile banking services; and perceptions of AI service delivery. Data were collected from 218 respondents and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

This study highlights the role and importance of the sequential relationships that impact the assessment of AIMB. The findings suggest that service delivery and the customer’s role in value co-creation change as AI is introduced into a digital self-service technology channel. Furthermore, AIMB offers transaction-oriented (utilitarian) value propositions more so than relationship-oriented (hedonic) value propositions.

The sample consisted on digital natives. Additional age cohorts are needed.

As financial institutions redirect their business models toward digital self-service technology channels, the need for customers to feel comfortable while interacting with an AI agent will be critical for enhancing the customer experience and firm performance.

The authors extend the service-dominant logic (SDL) literature by showing that value co-creation is a function of both firms’ technologies and consumers’ value-in-use, a finding that appears to be unique in the literature. The authors advance the digital transformation literature by evaluating AIMB as an interactive process that requires an understanding of key technology constructs, including perceptions of baseline service relationships, desired service configurations, security and safety issues and whether AI is useful for value co-creation. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first SDL framework that investigates interactive and structural relationships to explain value-in-use perceptions of AIMB.

The rapid growth of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), in the banking industry has played a disrupting role in traditional banking channels. This study aims to investigate factors that influence the attitudes and perceptions of digital natives pertaining to mobile banking and comfort interacting with AI-enabled mobile banking activities.

Data were collected from 218 digital natives. This paper uses multivariate regression and two separate multiple regression analyses to examine the differential effects of technology-based (i.e. attitudes toward AI, relative advantage, perceived trust and security in specific mobile banking activities) and non-technology based (i.e. need for service, quality of service) factors on mobile banking usage and AI-enabled mobile banking services.

This study identifies determining factors for mobile banking and AI-enabled mobile banking services. Results indicate a divide in how digital natives perceive relative advantage between our two dependent variables. Consistent with previous studies, the relative advantage construct has the most impact on mobile banking usage. However, relative advantage was not significant for AI-enabled mobile banking, suggesting an extra layer of complexity that goes beyond convenient fast banking.

A limitation of this study is that it does not incorporate age groups outside of digital natives. Further research is needed to test for differential effects between age groups. In addition, the discovery of no significant impact of relative advantage on AI mobile banking warrants more research on the similarities and differences between mobile banking and AI-enabled mobile banking.

To better appeal to digital natives, it is suggested that the banking industry emphasize mobile banking’s anywhere/anytime access to financial accounts, as this is important to college-age customers who may not live near their local banking institution. Moreover, the paper suggests that improvement to mobile banking features for one-on-one interpersonal contact with bank employees is needed.

This study addresses the gap in the understanding of how digital natives perceive mobile banking in comparison to AI-enabled mobile banking services.

In “Social media’s slippery slope: challenges, opportunities and future research directions”, Schultz and Peltier (2013) asked “whether or how social media can be used to leverage consumer engagement into highly profitable relationships for both parties”. The purpose of this article is to continue this discussion by reviewing recent literature on consumer engagement and proposing a framework for future research.

The paper reviews the marketing literature on social media, paying particular attention to consumer engagement, which was identified as a primary area of concern in Schultz and Peltier (2013).

A significant amount of research has been conducted on consumer engagement since 2010. Lack of consensus on the definition of the construct has led to fragmentation in the discipline, however. As a result, research related to consumer engagement is often not identified as such, making it difficult for academics and practitioners to stay abreast of developments in this area.

This critical review provides marketing academics and practitioners insights into the antecedents and consequences of consumer engagement and offers a conceptual framework for future research.

This study aims to use emotions-as-social information theory to investigate how physical (customer perceived store atmosphere) and social servicescapes (customer information searching) influence the effects of employees’ positive affective displays on customer outcomes via customer positive moods and positive expectation disconfirmation.

This research included two studies, each using a distinct research design, to empirically test the proposed model. Study 1 involved 200 observational data points on objective purchase amounts from designer watch shops. In Study 2, data were collected from 230 customers in designer jewelry stores.

The results of path analyses revealed that: employee positive affective displays are positively associated with customer purchase outcomes; employee positive affective displays had positive indirect effects on customer purchase outcomes by enhancing customer positive moods and positive expectation disconfirmation; these positive indirect effects were strengthened when customers engaged in information search behaviors; and these positive indirect effects were attenuated when customers perceive store atmosphere as favorable, indicating a substitution effect of customer perceived store atmosphere.

Previous research has not thoroughly examined the role of the servicescape in moderating the effects of employees’ positive affective displays on customer purchase outcomes. This present study not only clarified the affective and cognitive mechanisms that link employees’ positive affective displays on purchase outcomes but also identified servicescape as a critical boundary condition of these effects.