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As part of their customer engagement (CE) marketing, firms use different platforms to interact with customers, in ways that go beyond purchases. Task-based CE strategies call for customers' participation in structured, often incentivized tasks; experiential CE initiatives instead aim to stimulate pleasurable experiences for customers. But the optimal uses of these two strategies, in terms of improving customer engagement to produce more positive marketing outcomes, are unclear. With a meta-analysis and data from 395 samples, pertaining to 434,233 customers, the present study develops and tests a unifying framework of how to optimize investments in both two engagement strategies across different engagement platforms. On average, task-based initiatives are more effective in driving customer engagement, but the effects depend on the platform. If platforms support continuous or lean interactions, task-based initiatives are more effective; on platforms that encourage spot interactions, experiential initiatives are preferable. Three customer engagement dimensions (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) in turn lead to positive marketing outcomes, though in ways that depend on the platforms' interaction characteristics (intensity, richness, initiation) and differ across digital versus physical platforms. These results provide clear guidance for managers regarding how to plan their CE marketing activities to benefit both their firms and their customers., Author(s): Markus Blut [sup.1] , Viktorija Kulikovskaja [sup.2] , Marco Hubert [sup.2] , Christian Brock [sup.3] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.4] [sup.5] [sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.8250.f, 0000 0000 8700 0572, [...]

Widespread, and growing, use of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled voice assistants (VAs) creates a pressing need to understand what drives VA evaluations. This article proposes a new framework wherein perceptions of VA artificiality and VA intelligence are positioned as key drivers of VA evaluations. Building from work on signaling theory, AI, technology adoption, and voice technology, the authors conceptualize VA features as signals related to either artificiality or intelligence, which in turn affect VA evaluations. This study represents the first application of signaling theory when examining VA evaluations; also, it is the first work to position VA artificiality and intelligence (cf. other factors) as key drivers of VA evaluations. Further, the paper examines the role of several theory-driven and/ or practice-relevant moderators, relating to the effects of artificiality and intelligence on VA evaluations. The results of these investigations can help firms suitably design their VAs and suitably design segmentation strategies., Author(s): Abhijit Guha [sup.1] , Timna Bressgott [sup.2] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.3] [sup.4] , Dominik Mahr [sup.2] , Martin Wetzels [sup.5] , Elisa Schweiger [sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.254567.7, 0000 [...]

Digital technologies are key to achieving competitive advantage across marketing and retailing contexts. At the same time, marketing managers are confronted with a variety of challenges surrounding the strategic use of these technologies and the need to re-think their digital strategies. Importantly, managers need to develop a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes towards and engagement with (or lack thereof) digital technologies. Marketing strategists can benefit from academic marketing's thought leadership to learn how they can transform these challenges into strategic opportunities for competitive advantage. This can lead to technological innovations that create customer, firm, and societal value. Some of these benefits are described in the articles that make up this special issue. We propose a framework that focuses on the role of strategic resources used by managers to develop and deliver on the promise of digital technologies. Then, we report insights from 16 boardroom interviews with senior marketing managers resulting in three broad themes: decentralized marketing, metamodern customer experiences, and marketing mechanization. We close with a research agenda to motivate additional thought-leading research in this fast-growing area., Author(s): Kirk Plangger [sup.1] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.2] [sup.3] , Ko de Ruyter [sup.1] , Catherine Tucker [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.13097.3c, 0000 0001 2322 6764, Department of Marketing, King's [...]

The UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 seeks to achieve sustainable food production and consumption, including reduced food loss and waste; SDG 2 proposes the goal of zero hunger. In pursuit of these goals, technology arguably has a central role, at every level of the food value chain. To establish this role, the authors identify and examine current technologies aimed at increasing food production and suitably redistributing unused food, as tactics to combat food loss and waste, with the shared end goal of reducing food insecurity. A proposed 2 × 2 typology illustrates how existing technologies can influence food production, distribution, and consumption, as well as influence the stakeholders in the food production–consumption chain. These insights also inform a research and development agenda pertaining to the need for technology applications that can increase food production and/or reduce food waste effectively enough to achieve the goal of zero hunger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document explores the global challenges identified by organizations like the Millennium Project and the UN Foundation, and how businesses are adapting their mission to address these challenges. The main goals of corporations now include investing in employees, delivering value to customers, dealing ethically with suppliers, supporting communities, and promoting peaceful coexistence. The document proposes a classification of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into four categories: society, economy, planet, and coordination facilitated by technology. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of these goals and the need for a comprehensive perspective. The document also includes research articles that examine the integration of qualitative and quantitative research to estimate the benefits of innovations in terms of economic and social sustainability, in support of the SDGs. These articles cover various topics such as technology, healthcare, renewable energy, climate change, and sustainable consumption. They stress the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative methodologies, scalability of initiatives, effective communication, and continuous learning to address the challenges of sustainable development. The text further discusses the significance of campaigns promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly products, as well as the role of technology in addressing social and economic issues. It underscores the need for coordination and collaboration among businesses, governments, and society to achieve the SDGs. Additionally, the text highlights the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in improving access to education, healthcare, and financial resources for vulnerable populations. Overall, the text encourages innovation, inclusivity, and collective efforts to create a sustainable future. [Extracted from the article]

Impulse buying by consumers has received considerable attention in consumer research. The phenomenon is interesting because it is not only prompted by a variety of internal psychological factors but also influenced by external, market-related stimuli. The meta-analysis reported in this article integrates findings from 231 samples and more than 75,000 consumers to extend understanding of the relationship between impulse buying and its determinants, associated with several internal and external factors. Traits (e.g., sensation-seeking, impulse buying tendency), motives (e.g., utilitarian, hedonic), consumer resources (e.g., time, money), and marketing stimuli emerge as key triggers of impulse buying. Consumers' self-control and mood states mediate and explain the affective and cognitive psychological processes associated with impulse buying. By establishing these pathways and processes, this study helps clarify factors contributing to impulse buying and the role of factors in resisting such impulses. It also explains the inconsistent findings in prior research by highlighting the context-dependency of various determinants. Specifically, the results of a moderator analysis indicate that the impacts of many determinants depend on the consumption context (e.g., product's identity expression, price level in the industry)., Author(s): Gopalkrishnan R. Iyer [sup.1] , Markus Blut [sup.2] , Sarah Hong Xiao [sup.3] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.255951.f, 0000 0004 0635 0263, College of Business, Florida [...]

Despite growing applications of social and healthcare marketing to enhance public well-being through anti-stigma campaigns, little research investigates how public stigma surrounding health conditions might limit the outcomes of these campaigns. By drawing on the theory of implicit worldviews, this study identifies reasons for public stigma as well as associated message frames to address these reasons. Study 1a provides evidence that implicit worldviews are relevant to campaign results. Study 1b and Study 2 demonstrate that fitting consumers' implicit worldview with suitable (i.e., biomedical or biopsychosocial) health frames reduces stigma endorsement. Study 3 identifies the perceived severity of a mental illness as a boundary condition; marketing communications have the greatest impact when they refer to an illness with lower perceived severity. Finally, Study 4 expands understanding of the phenomenon by extending the findings to physical health conditions (i.e., obesity). The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for policy and future applications., Author(s): Jan-Hinrich Meyer [sup.1] , Ko De Ruyter [sup.2] [sup.3] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.4] , Kathleen Cleeren [sup.5] , Debbie Isobel Keeling [sup.6] , Scott Motyka [sup.7] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]

In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to substantially change both marketing strategies and customer behaviors. Building from not only extant research but also extensive interactions with practice, the authors propose a multidimensional framework for understanding the impact of AI involving intelligence levels, task types, and whether AI is embedded in a robot. Prior research typically addresses a subset of these dimensions; this paper integrates all three into a single framework. Next, the authors propose a research agenda that addresses not only how marketing strategies and customer behaviors will change in the future, but also highlights important policy questions relating to privacy, bias and ethics. Finally, the authors suggest AI will be more effective if it augments (rather than replaces) human managers., Author(s): Thomas Davenport [sup.1] , Abhijit Guha [sup.2] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.3] , Timna Bressgott [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.423152.3, 0000 0001 0686 270X, Department of Technology, Operations, and Information [...]

This paper introduces a conceptual framework for understanding new and futuristic in-store technology infusions. First, we develop a 2 x 2 typology of different innovative and futuristic technologies focusing on their level of convenience and social presence for the consumer. Next, we offer a series of propositions based on the idea that convenience and social presence can trigger vividness by enhancing consumer involvement, imagery, and elaboration, which ultimately leads to enhanced sales. Finally, the paper then focuses on four moderating areas-consumer traits, product/service dimensions, mental models and social networks-to understand how they might impact the vividness experienced via the technology., Author(s): Dhruv Grewal [sup.1] , Stephanie M. Noble [sup.2] , Anne L. Roggeveen [sup.3] , Jens Nordfalt [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.423152.3, 0000 0001 0686 270X, Babson College, , 213 [...]

Author(s): Dhruv Grewal [sup.1] , John Hulland [sup.2] , Praveen K. Kopalle [sup.3] , Elena Karahanna [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.423152.3, 0000 0001 0686 270X, Department of Marketing, Babson College, [...]

Despite cautionary advice against it, delighting consumers by offering them pleasant surprises is widely advocated. In this paper, using a low-price guarantee context, we show that retailers' attempts to use surprise gains to delight consumers might lead to subpar outcomes, if a countervailing cognition such as suspicion of retailer opportunism dominates consumers' thinking. In a low-price guarantee, retailers promise consumers refunds if consumers discover a lower price for a purchased product. We propose that providing a surprise component in the refund over and above the promised refund might boomerang, by increasing the likelihood of countervailing cognitions related to opportunistic signaling, in turn decreasing future purchase intentions. Over multiple studies, we provide evidence for this proposition, illustrate the underlying process, and identify boundary conditions., Author(s): Sujay Dutta [sup.1] , Abhijit Guha [sup.2] , Abhijit Biswas [sup.1] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) 0000 0001 1456 7807, grid.254444.7, Mike Ilitch School of Business, Wayne [...]

Abstract A growing reliance on customer reviews prompts firms to develop strategies to encourage customers to post online reviews of their products. However, little research investigates the behavioral consequences of [...]

Providing end consumers with the ability to return products is an important part of a retailer's service offering. While research in reverse logistics has explored the movement of returned merchandise upstream, little research examines the relational implications of returned merchandise in the business-to-business (B2B) context. This research explores the relational implications, as well as the impact on the supplier salesperson's behaviors, of retailer returns. Using a comprehensive dataset which includes longitudinal archival returns data, as well as two waves of retailer surveys reporting on salesperson behaviors, our research investigates how retail returns impact salesperson responses in the following time period, retailer perceptions of the relationship in the following time period, and returns in the following time period. Consistent with a reciprocal exchange perspective, results suggest that when salespeople respond to returns by engaging in relationship building behaviors, these behaviors are noted by the retailer, which in turn results in fewer returns in a future time period., Author(s): Lauren Skinner Beitelspacher [sup.1] , Thomas L. Baker [sup.2] , Adam Rapp [sup.3] , Dhruv Grewal [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Malloy Hall, Babson College, 0000 0001 0686 270X, grid.423152.3, [...]

Abstract Building a foundation of marketing theory requires developing effective ways to aggregate research results. Meta-analyses that accumulate knowledge within a research domain is an important means for summarizing research [...]

Conventional wisdom and prior research on processing fluency suggest that consumers prefer fluent information, such that it has positive effects on their purchase decisions. Challenging this conventional wisdom, and on the basis of recent research on processing disfluency, this study proposes that the increased effort required to process disfluent price information can lead to deeper information processing. If the advertised price offer represents a good value, it can enhance purchase decisions, even if customers prefer the disfluent display less. A series of studies in the field and lab demonstrate support for this positive impact of disfluent price information on purchase decisions., Author(s): Scott Motyka[sup.1] , Rajneesh Suri[sup.2] , Dhruv Grewal[sup.3] , Chiranjeev Kohli[sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont Colleges, 535 Watson Drive, 91711, Claremont, CA, USA (2) Department of [...]

Because co-creation allows customers to help shape or personalize the content of their experience, it can affect customer satisfaction with recovery efforts, as well as offer a more cost-effective alternative to compensation. This article identifies specific situations in which co-creation is and is not useful. Study 1 tests the impact of co-creation in comparison with compensation for enhancing satisfaction with the recovery process and demonstrates that co-creation offers a cost-efficient strategy for companies when customers must deal with severe delays. Study 2 extends these results by showing that the impact extends to repurchase intentions. Study 3 details conditions in which co-creation harms evaluations. Finally, Study 4 explores whether it is necessary for the company to meet the customer's requests when co-creating a recovery, as well as what happens when the company exceeds a customer's requests. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and research directions that emerge from the studies. Keywords Service recovery * Co-creation * Co-production, The goal of any recovery response must be to fix the immediate problem and restore equity to a potentially damaged customer-company relationship (e.g., Smith et al. 1999). Typical service recovery [...]

The key factors influencing customer loyalty are presented, focusing on the quality-value-loyalty chain. Topics addressed include the importance of technology integration for the customer, employee, and company, and how technology impacts the quality of service.

The predictive validity of two measurement methods of self-image congruence - traditional versus new - were compared in six studies involving different consumer populations, products, consumption settings, and dependent variables (brand preference, preference for product form, consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction, brand attitude, and program choice). The traditional method is based on tapping the subject's perception of product-user image and the subject's perception of his/her self-image along a predetermined set of image attributes and adding the self-congruity scores across all image dimensions. Three problems were identified and discussed in relation to the traditional method: (1) the use of discrepancy scores, (2) the possible use of irrelevant images, and (3) the use of the compensatory decision rule. The new method is based on tapping the psychological experience of self-congruity directly and globally. The findings demonstrated the predictive validity of the new method over and beyond the traditional method. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

The study reported here examines how combinations of specific elements in the retail store environment influence consumers' inferences about merchandise and service quality and discusses the extent to which these inferences mediate the influence of the store environment on store image. Results show that ambient and social elements in the store environment provide cues that consumers use for their quality inferences. In addition, store environment, merchandise quality, and service quality were posited to be antecedents of store image - with the latter two serving as mediators - rather than components of store image (as they are typically treated in the store image literature). Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed, and future research directions are proposed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

A study was conducted to propose an empirical model that allows a multinational enterprise (MNE) to evaluate the marketing performance of its subsidiaries. The model covers the asset creation abilities of marketing expenditures. The marketing processes of the most efficient subsidiaries are also discussed.

Marketing decisions are particularly vulnerable to legal rulings made in both the courts and the legislatures. The effective management of those legal implications challenges the modern marketing professional. Grasping marketing's overall legal environment, including its governing case law, regulatory statutes and future trends, is essential. This review will provide analysis of recent court cases and legislation with particular emphasis on creatively assisting the marketer's management of the legal factor. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Researchers and practioners have seen the need to comprehend the effectiveness of self-service technologies (SSTs)-specifically, how to improve customers' perceived control and evaluations of SSTs. Drawing on resource-matching theory and the technology-based services and self-service literature, the interactive effects of two SST design features: comparative information and interactivity on customers' perceived control and interface evaluations are hypothesized. Two separate computer-based experiments were performed to test the hypotheses.

The impact of service quality on perceived risk and loyalty of customer in health care settings is discussed.

This article examines the potential negative impact of price-matching guarantees on consumers' perception of service quality and loyalty.

This article examines consumer responses to price-matching guarantees in the retail store and online environments.

The development of a service convenience scale, to measure customer satisfaction and service quality of services marketing and firms is described.

The effect of low-price guarantee and signal default on the information and protection focus of consumers is examined. The application of the attribution theory during the examination is discussed.

A study on the relationship between mean price of durables and the degree of dispersion on web revealed that aggregate level, psychophysics of prices and individual-level perception helps to understand the process.

An analysis on the function of price frame, lowering the impacts of the price range and the number of competitors carrying a product on consumers' search intentions, is discussed.

A study was conducted to examine the customers' usage of online channel in a relational and multichannel environment. The result revealed that multichannel providers influence online channel use while maintaining or enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

A large proportion of world's trade revolves around a long list of industrial products which are purchased by industrial buyers. Although it has been suggested that the impact of culture on international markets is more predominant in the consumer goods than industrial goods (Keegan 1984), little has been done in terms of understanding other variables besides culture that affect the international industrial buyer and his-her behavior. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Abstract Self-service technologies (SSTs), such as in-store kiosks, are increasingly prevalent and becoming a critical component of marketing. Researchers and practitioners alike have recognized the need to understand the effectiveness of these computer-based innovations for self-services¿in particular, how to strengthen customers' perceived control over and evaluations of SSTs. Drawing on the resource-matching theory and the technology-based services and self-services literature, the authors hypothesize the interactive effects of two SST design features¿namely, comparative information and interactivity¿on customers' perceived control and interface evaluations. The authors then propose that the interaction pattern is further moderated by two individual traits: prior experience and technology readiness. The hypotheses are tested in two separate computer-based experiments with representative samples of the general U.S. population in a shopping environment. The findings support the hypotheses, enhancing knowledge in this emerging domain and providing important implications for managers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors first propose and discuss a conceptual framework pertaining to the theme of this special issue. This framework portrays "markets" as consisting of "customers" and "consumers," specifies the distinction as well as linkages between the two, and outlines specific components of individual linkages between pairs of entities within markets. Using this framework as a backdrop, the article then provides an overview of the rest of the special issue by discussing how each of the remaining articles relate to the framework and to one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]