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1 – 8 of 8Vignesh Yoganathan, Stuart Roper, Fraser McLeay and Joana César Machado
Victoria-Sophie Osburg, Vignesh Yoganathan, Sandra Brueckner and Waldemar Toporowski
Whilst many studies consider labelling as means of aggregated communication of environmental product features, the presentation of detailed product information seems a promising…
Abstract
Purpose
Whilst many studies consider labelling as means of aggregated communication of environmental product features, the presentation of detailed product information seems a promising alternative. However, the mechanisms through which detailed product information takes effect on consumers requires better understanding. The purpose of this paper is to empirically develop a framework that focuses on consumers’ perceived usefulness of, and trust in, detailed product information, whilst also considering the role of environmental self-identity. This understanding will help businesses to further stimulate eco-friendly consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modelling and conditional process analysis are utilised to test hypotheses based on a sample of 279 respondents to a German online survey.
Findings
Results show that the perceived usefulness of product information (PUPI) has a positive effect on purchase intention, and this effect is intensified by an individual’s environmental self-identity. Furthermore, for consumers with high environmental self-identity, the effect of PUPI on purchase intention is mediated in turn by trust in detailed product information and resistance to negative information.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the debate on the role of product information in ethical consumption by showing how detailed product information gives rise to favourable behavioural outcomes. When detailed information is perceived as being useful, it can affect purchase intention through greater trust and an increased resistance to negative information. Further, detailed product information appears beneficial for both, the mass market and specific segments with high environmental self-identity. Hence, this study empirically establishes the effects of detailed product information on consumer decision making, thus informing sustainability-related marketing theory and practice.
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Carola Strandberg and Maria Ek Styvén
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of brand love in place brand communication by incorporating potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes of place brand love in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of brand love in place brand communication by incorporating potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes of place brand love in a social media setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 281 residents and visitors of a place through an online survey focusing on a place brand video. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model.
Findings
Results show that place brand love has a strong direct relationship with positive word of mouth (WOM), and an indirect effect on intention to share the place brand message. Self-expressiveness of the place brand message also seems to influence place brand love as well as intention to share the message.
Research limitations/implications
The role of self-related concepts and brand love to a place has theoretical implications for research in place branding and electronic word of mouth. The study has limitations to its generalizability in terms of cultural aspects and sample representativeness.
Practical implications
Place marketers need to successfully reflect the self-concept of key stakeholders in communication messages in order to increase the probability that recipients will engage in positive WOM and share the message.
Originality/value
Research on place brand love is scarce and previous studies have focused solely on brand love in connection to tourists. The main contribution of the current study is the exploration of the role of brand love in connection to residents, who are vital co-creators of the place brand.
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Tayfun Yörük, Nuray Akar and Neslihan Verda Özmen
The purpose of this study is to reveal the research trends in guest experiences of service robots in the hospitality industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to reveal the research trends in guest experiences of service robots in the hospitality industry.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a review was carried out on the Web of Science (WoS) database with the assistance of bibliometric analysis techniques. Cluster analysis was also employed for this to group important data to determine the relationships and to visualize the areas in which the studies are concentrated. The thematic content analysis method was used to reveal on which customer experiences and on which methods the focuses were.
Findings
On the subject of experiences of service robots, the greatest number of publications was in 2021. In terms of country, China has come to the fore in the distribution of publications. As a result of thematic content analysis, it was determined that the leading factor was the main dimension of emotional experience. In terms of sub-dimensions, social interactions attracted more attention. Most of the studies discussed were not based on any theory. Apart from these, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Service Quality Model (SERVQUAL) and Perceived Value Theory (PVT) were featured more prominently among other studies.
Research limitations/implications
In this study, only the WoS database was reviewed. In future studies, it would be possible to make contextual comparisons by scanning other databases. In addition to quantitative research designs, social dimensions may be examined in depth following qualitative research methods. Thus, various comparisons can be made on the subject with mixed-method research designs. Experimental research designs can also be applied to where customers have experienced human-robot interactions (HRIs).
Originality/value
In the hospitality industry, it is critical to uncover every dimension of guests' robot acceptance. This study, which presents the current situation on this basis, guides future projections for the development of guest experiences regarding service robots in the hospitality industry.
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Richard Rutter, John Nadeau, Ulf Aagerup and Fiona Lettice
The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand relationships between a mega-sports event, the Olympic Games, and its branded main sponsors, using the lens of brand personality.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand relationships between a mega-sports event, the Olympic Games, and its branded main sponsors, using the lens of brand personality.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the internet-based website communications of the sponsor and event brands to assess congruence in brand personality identity exhibited in the communications of sponsors and how these relate to the event brand itself. A lexical analysis of the website text identifies and graphically represents the dominant brand personality traits of the brands relative to each other.
Findings
The results show the Olympic Games is communicating excitement as a leading brand personality dimension. Sponsors of the Olympics largely take on its dominant brand dimension, but do not adapt their whole brand personality to that of the Olympics and benefit by adding excitement without losing their individual character. The transference is more pronounced for long-running sponsors.
Practical implications
Sponsorship of the Olympic Games does give brands the opportunity to capture or borrow the excitement dimension alongside building or reinforcing their own dominant brand personality trait or to begin to subtly alter their brand positioning.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine how the sponsor’s brand aligns with the event being sponsored as a basis for developing a strong shared image and associative dimensions complimentary to the positioning of the brand itself.
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Fathima Zahara Saleem and Oriol Iglesias
The purpose of this paper is to present an affect-based perspective to explain levels of social media engagement.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an affect-based perspective to explain levels of social media engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses face-to-face long interviews and online observation of the Facebook profiles of respondents over an eight-month period.
Findings
Social media engagement varies depending on a user’s current and desired affective state. When individuals are in a low to moderately aroused negative affective state (such as feeling bored or upset), individuals tend to spend time passively consuming content: the lowest level of engagement. In a low to moderately aroused positive mood state (such as happiness), users both passively consume and actively participate with relevant content by liking and commenting on existing content. When users are in a highly aroused positive affective state, the propensity to create original content is greater, reflecting the highest level of engagement. When users are in a highly aroused negative affective state (such as being angry at a brand), users are motivated to vent on social media to manage the mood. Conversely, when users are in a highly aroused negative affective state related to personal trauma, the avoidance of engagement on social media is evident.
Practical implications
Brands can increase the likelihood of consumers creating positive consumer–brand stories offline and online by priming consumer affect.
Originality/value
This study explores how a desired affective state motivates varying levels of user engagement with different types of content on social media.
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Hongfei Liu, Chanaka Jayawardhena, Victoria-Sophie Osburg and Mujahid Mohiuddin Babu
The influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information, such as online reviews, on consumers’ decision making is well documented, but it is unclear if online reviews still…
Abstract
Purpose
The influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information, such as online reviews, on consumers’ decision making is well documented, but it is unclear if online reviews still matter in post-purchase evaluation and behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which online reviews (aggregate rating (AR) and individual reviews (IR)) influence consumers’ evaluation and post-purchase behaviour by considering the valence congruence of online reviews and consumption experience (CE).
Design/methodology/approach
Following social comparison theory and relevant literature, the authors conduct an online experiment (pre-test: n=180; main study: n=347). The authors rely on a 2 (CE valence) ×2 (AR valence) ×2 (IR valence) between-subjects design.
Findings
Congruence/incongruence between the valences of CE, AR and IR affects consumers’ post-purchase evaluation at the emotional, brand and media levels and review-writing behaviour. In comparison to aggregated rating, IR are more important in the post-purchase stage. Similarly, consumers have a higher eWOM-writing intention when there is congruence between the valences of CE, AR and IR.
Practical implications
The authors demonstrate the importance of service providers continually monitoring their business profiles on review sites to ensure consistency of review information, as these influence consumers’ post-purchase evaluation and behaviours. For this reason, the authors illustrate the utility of why media owners of review sites should support the monitoring process to facilitate the engagement of both businesses and customers.
Originality/value
The authors break new ground by empirically testing the impact of online review information post-purchase seen through the theoretical lens of social comparison. The approach is novel in breaking down and testing the dimensions of post-purchase evaluation and behavioural intentions in understanding the social comparison elicited by online reviews in the post-purchase phase.
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Anette Rantanen, Joni Salminen, Filip Ginter and Bernard J. Jansen
User-generated social media comments can be a useful source of information for understanding online corporate reputation. However, the manual classification of these comments is…
Abstract
Purpose
User-generated social media comments can be a useful source of information for understanding online corporate reputation. However, the manual classification of these comments is challenging due to their high volume and unstructured nature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a classification framework and machine learning model to overcome these limitations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors create a multi-dimensional classification framework for the online corporate reputation that includes six main dimensions synthesized from prior literature: quality, reliability, responsibility, successfulness, pleasantness and innovativeness. To evaluate the classification framework’s performance on real data, the authors retrieve 19,991 social media comments about two Finnish banks and use a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify automatically the comments based on manually annotated training data.
Findings
After parameter optimization, the neural network achieves an accuracy between 52.7 and 65.2 percent on real-world data, which is reasonable given the high number of classes. The findings also indicate that prior work has not captured all the facets of online corporate reputation.
Practical implications
For practical purposes, the authors provide a comprehensive classification framework for online corporate reputation, which companies and organizations operating in various domains can use. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that using a limited amount of training data can yield a satisfactory multiclass classifier when using CNN.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt at automatically classifying online corporate reputation using an online-specific classification framework.
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