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With the spread of mobile payment services, reward point systems have been frequently promoted in recent years. Therefore, the number of short-term users who enroll for the purpose of earning reward points is increasing, although the low retention rate of mobile payment services has become an issue. This study examined whether or not perceived control and psychological ownership can enhance the intention to reuse mobile payment services by focusing on touch interface when using payment services. The results of these two studies revealed that payment methods requiring users to manually input the monetary amount, thereby using increased screen contact (as opposed to payment methods not requiring the input of a monetary amount), increased the sense of control over payment services, and that perceived control increased the sense of psychological ownership. In addition, it was confirmed that the improvement in psychological ownership caused by screen contact increases the intention to reuse the mobile payment service.

This article reviews studies on perceived crowding conducted in marketing research over the past decade. The findings of these studies are organized into three perspectives: the effects of perceived crowding on consumers’ cognition and emotion, the effects of perceived crowding on consumers’ utilitarian and value-expressive behaviors, and perceived crowding as a cue for inference. The review confirmed that studies on perceived crowding have been extended from in-store behavior research to consumer information processing and decision making. We also point out three issues for future research: the need for more detailed discussion of crowding as a cue for inference, the limited number of studies that address today’s in-store research and perceived crowding, and the lack of discussion of perceived crowding research through the stages of purchase decision making. This comprehensive review of empirical studies on perceived crowding explain this concept in marketing and summarize findings that are useful for understanding crowded retail environments and consumer behavior.

The diversification of devices used by consumers has drawn attention to the influence of devices on consumer behavior. This study examines the impact of device types, such as smartphones and personal computers, on consumers’ construal levels and the congruence between the device types and construal levels on consumer behavior. For this purpose, we conducted four studies: three online experiments and one field study. Study 1 showed that consumers perceive the target closer when they view it on a smartphone (vs. a PC). In Study 2, we found that consumers’ construal level becomes lower when using a smartphone (vs. a PC). In Study 3, we confirmed that the use of smartphones (vs. PCs) positively influences the evaluation of advertisements corresponding to lower construal levels. Finally, in Study 4, we examined the applicability of the findings from Studies 1 to 3 to the field of business by analyzing actual purchase data.

Marketing research has long been concerned with the characteristics of markets in which businesses are conducted. In particular, it has been argued that one should focus on growing markets and avoid entering mature markets. Innovation is difficult in a mature market; therefore, businesses easily get caught in a downfall from a mature to a shrinking market. This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses with insufficient managerial resources. Crest Holdings K.K. developed mainly by producing signboards for retail stores by bringing innovation to this area. Management efficiency was improved through digitalization and development of “esasy”, a camera that enabled observation of the effectiveness of stores’ signboards and advertisement. In this paper, we focus on the digital innovation strategy taken by Crest Holdings K.K. and their process of digital transformation through innovation by spending revenue generated from increased productivity due to digitalization. This case suggests that even small and medium-sized businesses can be revitalized in a mature market by improvement of management efficiency and innovation, if they can become digitalized.