Search

In some markets, offerings become riskier over time as producers introduce new versions that are made more affordable by increasing their risk. Existing theories suggest consumers adopt riskier versions either because they become more risk tolerant or they trade higher risk for lower price—both of which presume consumers know the risks. We reveal a third explanation: evolving market dynamics that increasingly encourage consumer inattention to risk and produce "collective ignorance." We identify factors of collective inattention and propose a three-stage model of development of collective ignorance by analyzing the case of risk buildup in the Hungarian mortgage market. Data include archival materials and interviews with borrowers, lenders, and regulators. Initially, producers offer low-risk products, and social, cultural, and institutional factors encourage attention to risk. Consumers attentive to and capable of assessing risk become early adopters. Over time, increasing adoption and changes in market factors divert consumers' attention from risk, shifting it to price. Under insufficient regulation, risk escalates: producers repeatedly cut price by offering increasingly risky products, while rising collective ignorance leads even risk-averse consumers to adopt them. We offer theoretical contributions to research on the social construction of risk, the attitude–behavior gap, and neoliberal responsibilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Average product ratings are displayed on many major websites, including online retailers, search engines, and social media sites. Research in both academia and industry has shown that consumers rely heavily on product ratings when making purchase decisions. Websites may show customer ratings in different shapes, colors, or formats. For example, some websites present their rating in a numerical format (e.g., 4.0/5) while others utilize an analog format (e.g.,). The present research investigates how a website's rating presentation may influence magnitude perceptions of the rating, which subsequently affect choices and purchase intentions. The authors propose and find that when the average customer rating is at or above the midpoint (i.e.,.5–.9) of each rating level (i.e., 1–5 on a five-point scale), the numerical (vs. analog) rating format is perceived to be lower in magnitude due to left-digit anchoring, leading to differences in choice likelihood, purchase intent, and ad click likelihood for products and services. Across nine experiments, including an eye-tracking study and a multiple-ad study without holdout, the findings show robust evidence for the proposed effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past customer spending in a category is generally a positive signal of future customer spending. Analyses of historical data at two retailers demonstrate that there exist "canary categories" for which the reverse is true. Purchases in these categories are a signal that customers are less likely to return to that retailer. The authors propose an explanation for the existence of canary categories and then develop a stylized model that illustrates four contributing factors: the probability that a customer finds their favorite brand, customers' willingness to substitute brands, the cost and attractiveness of visiting other stores, and expectations about future brand availability. The analysis uses both field data and experiments to investigate these factors. The findings suggest that canary categories exist (at least in part) because store assortments are not completely adjusted to local preferences. An implication is that canary categories are endogenous to each retailer; the same category may be a canary category at one retailer and a destination category at a competing retailer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What drives the liking of video advertisements? The authors analyzed neural signals during ad exposure from three functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data sets (113 participants from two countries watching 85 video ads) with automated meta-analytic decoding (Neurosynth). These brain-based measures of psychological processes—including perception and language (information processing), executive function and memory (cognitive functions), and social cognition and emotion (social-affective response)—predicted subsequent self-report ad liking, with emotion and memory being the earliest predictors after the first three seconds. Over the span of ad exposure, while the predictiveness of emotion peaked early and fell, that of social cognition had a peak-and-stable pattern, followed by a late peak of predictiveness in perception and executive function. At the aggregate level, neural signals—especially those associated with social-affective response—improved the prediction of out-of-sample ad liking compared with traditional anatomically based neuroimaging analysis and self-report liking. Finally, early-onset social-affective response predicted population ad liking in a behavioral replication. Overall, this study helps delineate the psychological mechanisms underlying ad processing and ad liking and proposes a novel neuroscience-based approach for generating psychological insights and improving out-of-sample predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on associative learning suggests that marketers can enhance consumer attitudes by repeatedly pairing their brands with pleasant or "positively-valenced" stimuli (e.g. attractive models, babies, cute animals) rather than unpleasant or "negatively-valenced" stimuli (e.g. garbage cans and disgusting insects)—an evaluative conditioning effect also known as affect transfer. In this research, we combine the associative learning and the goal pursuit literatures to show that the influence of affect transfer on brands depends on the mindset that is active at the time of judgment. Four experiments and one field study uniquely demonstrate that negatively-valenced brand pairings may become desirable when consumers have an instrumentality mindset, which increases attention to the instrumentality, or effectiveness, of a given consumption behavior. This pattern of results occurs due to a bidirectional association between unpleasantness and instrumentality, making a brand with negative associations seem more effective. Results are robust across contexts (health, entertainment, news) and persist regardless of whether the (un)pleasant images are within or adjacent to the advertisement. The effect attenuates when consumers have a weaker association between unpleasantness and instrumentality, and reverses when consumers are cued to focus on favorability (vs. instrumentality). Contributions and implications for associative learning and brand management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-profile instances of brands accused of cultural appropriation suggest that even the most prominent brands fail to fully understand the complexities of this phenomenon. This work experimentally unpacks consumer perceptions of cultural appropriation and its impact on brand attitudes and purchase interest. The authors begin by developing and validating a scale for measuring perceptions of cultural appropriation. Next, a series of studies demonstrates that viewing this phenomenon through a historical lens can help determine when and why the use of cultural elements is viewed as appropriative. Specifically, an emphasis on historical power imbalance explains why liberal consumers are more likely to recognize cultural appropriation and why commercializing disadvantaged cultures is considered appropriation, whereas using elements from advantaged cultures may be more acceptable. The conceptualization further identifies brand actions and interventions that influence perceptions of cultural appropriation, including externally emphasizing historical power imbalance, how brands obtain cultural elements, and how brands represent the culture in their product offerings and marketing. These findings help marketers (1) avoid launching products that can be damaging to the brand and offensive to consumers and (2) understand how to better promote products in a way that prevents rather than amplifies these negative perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial from the Journal of International Marketing, titled "Brands and Branding around the World." It discusses the challenges and opportunities that brands and their managers face in the global market due to various trends and disruptions, such as the climate crisis, the pandemic, and deglobalization. The competitive landscape is also changing, with emerging market firms becoming formidable competitors with their own brands. Consumer attitudes toward brands are evolving, with expectations for brands to act responsibly. The editorial introduces a special issue of the journal that focuses on brands and branding in a global context, featuring six articles that explore different branding topics and perspectives. The articles cover areas such as pricing strategies, brand sponsorship, terroir branding, consumer reactions to product-harm crises, and consumer preferences for masstige brands. The editorial concludes by highlighting the need for further research in areas such as glocal branding, brand purpose and activism, and the use of AI in brand management. [Extracted from the article]

Online retailers worldwide invest beyond their core business of retailing to offer their own delivery services (ODS) to deliver products to customers' homes through their own logistics network. How does this shift to ODS affect customers' behaviors and sales performance? When and why do retailers venture beyond their core competence to offer ODS? To explore these questions, the authors analyze 250,055 customer transactions over 10 years across 416 cities and 49 product categories from JD, a major online retailer in China. Using difference-in-differences models, causal mediation analysis, and the synthetic control method, they find that ODS increases customers' monthly spending by 7.8% and grows city-level sales by 11.9%. This study is the first to quantify the sales impact of ODS and shed light on when and why it works. The findings reveal that ODS has greater value for markets with lower trust levels, infrequent customers, high-risk product categories, and consumers who prefer the focal retailer (versus that of third-party sellers). Causal mediation analysis further reveals that ODS not only improves delivery quality but also builds customer trust, which together increase customers' monthly spending, purchase frequency, and the number of items ordered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that consumers respond differently to decisions made by humans versus algorithms. Many tasks, however, are not performed by humans anymore but entirely by algorithms. In fact, consumers increasingly encounter algorithm-controlled products, such as robotic vacuum cleaners or smart refrigerators, which are steered by different types of algorithms. Building on insights from computer science and consumer research on algorithm perception, this research investigates how consumers respond to different types of algorithms within these products. This research compares high-adaptivity algorithms, which can learn and adapt, versus low-adaptivity algorithms, which are entirely pre-programmed, and explore their impact on consumers' product preferences. Six empirical studies show that, in general, consumers prefer products with high-adaptivity algorithms. However, this preference depends on the desired level of product outcome range—the number of solutions a product is expected to provide within a task or across tasks. The findings also demonstrate that perceived algorithm creativity and predictability drive the observed effects. This research highlights the distinctive role of algorithm types in the perception of consumer goods and reveals the consequences of unveiling the mind of the machine to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketers commonly use consensus cues about others' behavioral choices ("best seller") or their attitudes ("top rated") when labeling products. This article suggests that the effectiveness of these types of cues may differ across cultures in ways that carry implications for marketing practice. Prior research shows that in contexts that give rise to an interdependent cultural self-construal, choices are often responsive to social expectations rather than personal preferences. We propose that, because interdependents expect such behavioral conformity, cues that convey consensus about others' choices may be less diagnostic and, thus, less persuasive than cues that convey consensus about others' attitudes. Five studies examining cultural self-construal in multiple ways, along with two cross-national industry datasets, offer evidence consistent with this reasoning, suggesting that, among interdependents, behavioral consensus cues can actually be less effective than attitudinal ones, reducing persuasion and willingness to pay. However, among independents, because attitudes are assumed to influence behavioral choices, whether the consensus cue is attitudinal or behavioral makes little difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research examines how the knowledge that a product is made using a traditional method influences perceptions of its quality. We propose that consumers believe that a brand using traditional methods is beneficial for society because it is concerned about cultural preservation and this belief has a positive effect on perceived quality. Six experimental studies show that consumers evaluate products produced with a method described as traditional to be higher in quality than similar products that are not described as traditionally made and this effect is mediated by the belief that the brand is beneficial for society. Consistent with this theory, the positive effect of traditional production on perceived quality is attenuated when consumers view the brand to be unconcerned about cultural preservation, such as when the use of a traditional method is framed as a follower strategy (i.e. it imitates the actions of other brands) or when the brand is a multinational company. By showing that the mere mention of a traditional method can be another subtle way to position a brand as a moral actor, these findings contribute to the understanding of the link between perceived social responsibility and product evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers frequently receive refunds from prior purchases. In this research, we examine if money refunded from previous purchases is more likely to be spent than money that does not go through a refund process. Across nine pre-registered studies, we test how consumers' willingness to spend depends on the transaction history of their money. We find that, when people receive a refund and do not need to replace the originally purchased item, they are more likely to spend the refunded money on a discretionary purchase than they are to spend non-refunded money that is otherwise identical. We suggest that this pattern arises because refunded money is earmarked as "spending money" at the time of the initial purchase and then retains that earmark even after the refund is issued. When refunds arrive, therefore, they seem free from obligations and easy to spend. This research documents the psychology of purchase refunds, a topic largely unaddressed in the mental accounting literature to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production waste, or inefficiencies in product manufacturing, is a major contributor to environmental problems. Consider production waste in garment manufacturing—which has been criticized for wasteful use of natural resources (e.g. using excessive water and fabric) and wasteful disposal of resource residuals (e.g. discarding excessive wastewater and fabric scraps). The present research examines consumer reactions to production waste and its mitigation as a function of whether it is characterized in terms of resource use versus disposal. A series of seven studies (including field and secondary data) finds that (i) consumers are less sensitive to wasteful resource use than disposal due to lower perceptions of environmental harm; (ii) likewise, consumers are less sensitive to waste mitigation targeting resource use than disposal due to lower perceptions of environmental benefit; and (iii) these waste reaction differences are attenuated when resource scarcity or long-term orientation is heightened (which increases consumer sensitivity to resource use). Together, this research sheds light on how, why, and when consumers are averse to production waste, while providing guidance regarding interventions focused on fighting production waste and promoting sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of the production, representation, and reception of post-colonial advertising in India reveals a politics of consumer respectability. The post-colonial politics of consumer respectability is located at the intersection of center–periphery relations, class divisions, and colorism in a way that it frames neocolonial consumption. Advertisers depict middle-class consumer respectability by asserting Indian nationalism and by degrading the West as a symbol of colonialism. Such depictions are class- and color-based and show under-class and dark-skinned consumers in subordinate positions. Furthering such neocolonial frames of consumption, Indian advertising advances the middle-class desire for Eurocentric modernity by reinforcing the colonial trope of India as temporally lagging behind the West. Finally, middle-class consumer respectability involves a neocolonial whitening of self with epidermalized shaping of inter-corporeality and agency. In uncovering the theoretical implications of advertising as a site of avenging degradation, desiring modernity, and whitening of self, this study contributes by offering insights into how the politics of post-colonial consumer respectability furthers neocolonial frames of consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative video ads often use either celebrities or unknown actors to engage consumers and convey their messages. Although research suggests that celebrities (versus unknown actors) may enhance the effects of narrative videos on brand attitudes, this hypothesis has yet to be empirically tested, and the mechanisms behind such potential effects remain unclear. We compared the effects of celebrities and unknown actors in narrative video ads on brand attitudes and examined potential pathways through which actor type might increase or decrease persuasion. In Studies 1(a) through 1(c) and 3 we used a narrative video in two distinct versions: the original with a celebrity and an alternative where we used face-swapping technology to replace the celebrity with an unknown actor. In Study 2 we analyzed responses to unmodified ads. In Studies 1(a) through 1(c) and 2 we found no evidence that the celebrity actor increased transportation into the story or identification with the actor, but we consistently observed that celebrities increased perceptions of a parasocial relationship with the actor. However, this effect was not enhanced for a narrative video ad compared to a nonnarrative one in Study 3. Furthermore, celebrity actors were associated with reduced retrospective reflection in the path models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does mental accounting matter for total consumption expenditures? We exploit a unique setting in which individuals exogenously receive a new payment card, without requesting one. Using random variation in the time of receipt, we show that individuals temporarily increase total consumption expenditure by making purchases with the new card without reducing spending on the others. We do not observe a corresponding increase in indebtedness. Total consumption expenditure rises even for the least liquidity-constrained individuals. The evidence is consistent with consumers treating methods of payment as nonfungible budget categories, as suggested by models of mental accounting and narrow bracketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Privacy concerns may influence many choices consumers make. However, their expressed concerns are sometimes inconsistent with their information-sharing and privacy-protecting behaviors. Many theories have been proposed to explain the paradoxical gap between privacy attitudes and behaviors. Part of the privacy paradox may be explained with two measures that have received limited consideration: impulsiveness and social desirability bias (SDB). Surveys of US adults in 2015 and 2022 included questions to measure several types of privacy concerns along with impulsive tendencies and SDB (N = 2729). Age, education, gender, race, income, and impulsive tendencies were linked with some privacy concerns. If people with above-average concerns also disclose personal information on impulse, it might explain part of the paradox. Large coefficients on the SDB measure suggest that individuals who adjust their responses to be consistent with social norms may also overstate specific privacy concerns. For these individuals, their high expressed concerns may be inconsistent with their privacy behaviors. When researchers try to explain consumer attitudes or actions that involve privacy, multiple privacy concern dimensions should be considered and demographics, impulsive tendencies, and SDB should be included in the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from the concept of anemoia, the authors propose a new typology of nostalgia called vintage anemoia. Vintage anemoia encompasses consumers' positive and nostalgic response to vintage cues, regardless of specific historical periods or individual lived experiences. Through a series of seven studies, the authors demonstrate that vintage typography, by evoking feelings of vintage anemoia, can enhance consumer perceptions of product safety. This effect has positive downstream consequences on key marketing outcomes, including brand attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay. Furthermore, the effect of vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions remains unaffected by whether product safety information indicates that a product is safe or unsafe. However, the effect diminishes when an explicit indexical cue (year of establishment) is utilized or when promoting futuristic products. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge in marketing and provide insights for marketers on leveraging vintage typography as a strategic tool for creating emotional connections with consumers and enhancing perceptions of product safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many patrons, libraries are synonymous with books and reading. However, people don't always take advantage of reader's advisory services offered by libraries. Rather than approaching librarians for suggestions of what to read, most people instead turn to their personal networks or express a preference for more passive approaches to recommendations. As a halfway point between in-person reader's advisory interactions and algorithmic recommendations, Worthington Libraries staff leveraged the NoveList and Polaris APIs to create custom book recommendation kiosks. Recommendation Stations, as we call them, allow people to scan a book barcode, browse read-alikes, check local availability and print shelf locations, all in the guise of an interactive fortune teller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owners value heritage goods, items that connect them to a shared past, whether through their alma mater or their family history. This research considers the impact of heritage on owners who wish to sell such goods. In five studies, the authors demonstrate that sellers have a lower willingness to accept when selling heritage goods to buyers with a shared heritage connection relative to buyers without this connection (i.e., a heritage discount). This heritage discount cannot be explained by ingroup favoritism, sentimental value, or appropriateness of buyer usage and persists even when sellers perceive that the buyer has a higher willingness to pay. The authors provide process evidence that the effect of the buyer's identity on the seller's willingness to accept is driven by concerns about heritage loss. The findings contribute to literatures on sharing, sentimental goods, psychological ownership, and the endowment effect and have marketing implications for consumer goods (e.g., collectibles) that derive product value by connecting consumers to meaningful history and traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of reuse and resale has been receiving extensive attention worldwide for the sake of sustainability. The current research provides insights into this area and identifies a "reuse and resale cycle," whereby consumers are more willing to resell products they originally obtained second hand, compared to products they obtained brand new. One potential mechanism that accounts for this effect is the relatively weak connection consumers form with the second-hand items they own. Six studies confirmed this effect across various product categories. Study 1 tracked consumers' actual resale of the possessions they owned in real life. Subsequent studies provided further empirical evidence for the proposed effect, uncovered the underlying mechanism concerning the strength of the connection with the product, and showed that the effect diminished among consumers who chronically have a high tendency to link themselves with their possessions. This research advances the understanding of resale behaviors. It has implications for consumers to avoid retaining excessive possessions and for the second-hand market to develop in a healthy manner, eventually contributing to society's sustainability in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an abstract from the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, which covers various topics related to personal selling and sales management. The abstracts summarize recent research articles in these areas, providing valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the field of sales and marketing. One article discusses the importance of considering cultural differences when conducting international sales force research and proposes a method called "response standardization" to improve the comparability of survey data. Another article explores the use of automation and technology in B2B salesperson pricing decisions, suggesting that a human-machine hybrid approach can improve pricing accuracy and efficiency. The collection of research articles covers a wide range of topics, including the impact of social media on B2B buying behavior, the role of AI in enhancing the customer experience, and the relationship between ethical leadership and salesperson creativity. [Extracted from the article]

This systematic review of research on gambling sponsorship provides insight into the current state of the art of gambling sponsorship research, a theoretical framework for understanding the mechanisms underlying gambling sponsorship's effects, and a future research agenda to guide advertising scholars. Literature searches in Scopus and Web of Science resulted in a total of 46 publications that focus on gambling sponsorships, which can be grouped into three research clusters: exposure, impact, and ethics of gambling sponsorships. The review shows that extant research has mainly focused on sports sponsorships by gambling companies and that these sports sponsorships are omnipresent in the lives of both adults and minors. Although a positive association between exposure to gambling sports sponsorships and consumers' gambling attitudes and intentions may be assumed, causal and longitudinal research investigating the impacts of gambling sponsorships is limited. The review also shows that there is a lack of theory explaining consumers' responses to gambling sponsorships, although the gambling industry is a very specific industry and gambling sponsorships can be considered unhealthy sponsorships. We therefore propose a theoretical framework to better understand how gambling sponsorship works, which may guide future research on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While prior work has examined the effects of emotions on consumers' attitudes toward ads, little research has explored how the joint presence of positive and negative emotions affects ad-related outcomes and to what extent such ads are common. This research leverages recent advances in emotion recognition technology to identify emotions based on the facial expressions of actors in Super Bowl ads aired over the past five years. We examine how the joint presence of happiness—a basic positive emotion—and sadness, disgust, anger, and fear—basic negative emotions—in these ads predict USA TODAY Ad Meter scores (the premier tracker of public opinion on Super Bowl ads). Results show that the joint presence of happiness and sadness enhances ad liking, the presence of happiness and fear reduces ad liking, while the presence of happiness and anger or happiness and disgust do not affect ad liking. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of these findings and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has been conducted to understand the impact of sexual appeals in advertising on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Yet, romantic advertising, advertising that focuses on romantic relationships, has received less scholarly attention. To counter this imbalance, the present research investigates the influence of attachment anxiety, an individual difference variable, on consumer reactions to advertising featuring romantic relationships. As hypothesized, our findings suggest that consumers high in attachment anxiety respond more favorably to advertising that highlights romantic relationships. This effect is consistent across trait- and state-level attachment anxiety and consistent across product type (i.e., goods vs. services). Specifically, the results of four experiments demonstrate that compared to securely attached consumers, those who chronically experience high attachment anxiety (experiments 1A and 1B) as well as those who are primed to experience attachment anxiety (experiment 2) respond more favorably to advertisements that focus on the potential romantic rewards associated with an advertised product's use. Consistent results were obtained using a different advertisement for an experience versus a material good (experiment 3). Implications of the findings for advertisers, marketers, brand managers, and scholars are discussed, and several opportunities for future research are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike previous research that suggests a predominant preference for older brands, this research takes a contingent perspective to examine how consumers' preference for older brands is affected by their expectations of category innovativeness. Results from the analysis of sales data from Amazon and seven experimental studies demonstrate that consumers' preference for older brands decreases with their expectations of category innovativeness. The rationale is that with expectations of category innovativeness, consumers place less importance on consistency-related brand traits (e.g., stability, reliability) and more on excitement-related brand traits (e.g., dynamic, adventurous). Because older brands are associated with consistency, preference for older brands diminishes with expectations of category innovativeness. Further, this research identifies two factors that moderate the effects of category innovativeness on preference for older (vs. younger) brands. First, familiarity with the older brand moderates the effect of category innovativeness on brand preferences such that category innovativeness increases preferences for younger brands only when consumers are choosing between unfamiliar brands. Second, consumers' need for uniqueness reduces the effect of category innovativeness on preferences for younger brands. Together, the findings suggest that the dominance of older brands reduces with expectations of category innovativeness. The findings are important from both theoretical and managerial perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creative media advertising is a specific type of unconventional advertising in which a regular physical object serves as a medium to carry an advertising message. To better understand the workings of this type of advertising, we conducted a meta-analysis. In this study, we explore the direct effects of creative media advertising, several moderators, and the possible underlying mechanisms. The results show that exposure to creative (versus traditional) media advertising has an overall positive effect on brand association strength and persuasion (i.e., ad attitude, brand attitude, purchase intentions, and electronic word of mouth [eWOM]). Both these effects are moderated by metaphor use, meaning that the effects are stronger when the physical object is a good metaphor for the message it carries. Furthermore, indirect (e.g., social media, printed picture) exposure to the message positively moderates the effect of creative media advertising on brand association strength but not on persuasion. Brand familiarity does not play a moderating role. Finally, a meta-analytic structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure was used to show that the main underlying mechanism of creative media advertising persuasiveness is surprise—and not perceived persuasive intent. For practitioners, this study shows that creative media ads are more effective when leveraging surprise and metaphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are a form of one‐way, technology‐mediated selection interview that can help streamline and increase flexibility in the hiring process and are used to hire millions of applicants per year. Although applicant reactions to AVIs in general tend to be more negative than with traditional interview modalities, AVIs can differ widely in how they are designed. For instance, applicants can be provided with more or less preparation time, response length, rerecording options, or rely on different question formats. This study examines how AVI design features impact applicant reactions, as well as the moderating role played by applicant age and gender. Data from 27,809 real job applicant's AVI experiences were collected in 11 countries (69.3% English‐speaking) from 33 companies and relating to 72 types of positions. Data were fitted with linear mixed‐effects models to account for nesting. Results showed that allowing more preparation time and offering the opportunity to rerecord responses were related to more favorable reactions, while including more questions was related to more negative reactions. Applicants above the age of 31 reacted especially negatively to AVIs with more questions while those below the age of 30 preferred being allocated longer maximum response lengths. Women reacted more positively to increased preparation time. These findings might help both AVI vendors and hiring organizations design AVIs that facilitate a positive applicant experience. Our research also expands knowledge on applicant reactions to interviews, highlights crucial differences from traditional formats, and calls for integrating applicant characteristics into current theoretical frameworks on applicant reactions to AVIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although consumers often value minimalist aesthetics, little work has examined why and when simple packaging designs of consumable products enhance consumer outcomes. The authors theorize that simple packaging evokes a symbolic association whereby minimizing design complexity signals that the product contains few ingredients, which increases perceived product purity and willingness to pay (WTP). A field study examining a supermarket chain's product packages (N = 1,353) provided preliminary support for this increase in WTP and two boundary conditions. Six preregistered studies replicated these effects and tested the underlying process. Studies 1a and 1b showed that the increase in WTP for simple packaging is driven by few-ingredients inferences increasing perceived product purity. Study 2 demonstrated the increase in WTP using an incentive-compatible design. Study 3 reinforced the proposed process via moderated mediation. Lastly, Studies 4 and 5 tested the boundary conditions in the field study, showing that WTP for simple packaging decreases when the product is from a store (vs. nonstore) brand and when consumers have an indulgence (vs. health) goal. These findings offer theoretical and managerial insight into minimalist aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the authors examine how consumers perceive the fruits of university–industry collaborations (i.e., new products codeveloped with universities). Eight studies document a positive university effect and highlight its practical significance and boundary conditions. An Instagram A/B test utilizing a video that refers (vs. does not refer) to the underlying university–industry collaboration results in higher click-through rates and ad engagement levels. Another field study demonstrates that university-codeveloped products are more attractive to consumers, even after an actual product trial. Further, several consequential studies reveal that consumers are willing to pay up to 65% more for products marketed as codeveloped with a university. The authors argue and show that collaborating with a university infuses the underlying firm with a stronger sense of scientific legitimacy, thereby making the resulting product more attractive to consumers. Congruously, the authors find that the effect is more pronounced when the scientific legitimacy engendered by universities is more important to the focal product (i.e., high tech vs. low tech), underlying company (i.e., new vs. established), or target customer (i.e., high vs. low belief in science). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have found that allowing customers to self-design products using customization configurators generates high value for customers. However, in practice, high abandonment rates cast doubt on these findings. In the present article, this contradiction is resolved by analyzing consumers' experiences during the creative process. Six studies provide converging evidence that consumers abandon customization because their valence during the process is U-shaped: initial high expectations prompt consumers to start self-designing in the first place, but they quickly find, to their frustration, that their (interim) design solutions are less attractive and the self-designing process is less enjoyable than they originally anticipated. Unaware that their enjoyment of the process would ultimately increase if they persisted through this phase, they abandon the self-design process altogether. It is only if the consumer overcomes the minimum of the U of valence that they harness the potential value from self-designing. This problematic pattern can be managed by providing social feedback during the self-design process. These findings contribute not only to the customization literature but also more generally to the understanding of consumers' goal pursuit by enhancing its scope to creative tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the growing transformation from offline to online shopping urges marketers to understand the impacts of this shift on brand loyalty, conclusions from the existing marketing literature have been inconsistent. Drawing on the distinctions between online and offline shopping, the authors develop a theoretical framework that focuses on uncertainty avoidance (UA) to reconcile the inconsistencies in the literature. Specifically, the authors argue that high-UA (vs. low-UA) individuals are more (vs. less) brand loyal when shopping online than when shopping offline because the product experience is less predictable in the former (vs. latter), a distinction between online and offline shopping that increases (reduces) high-UA (low-UA) individuals' tendency to stay with the brands. In findings consistent with this logic, the authors uncover that intangible value salience, a theoretically and managerially relevant boundary condition, attenuates the interplay between online (vs. offline) shopping and UA. Across eight studies that consist of secondary data, field studies, and online and laboratory experiments, the authors find converging evidence to support this theoretical stance. This research contributes insights to the loyalty literature and cross-cultural research. The managerial implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fight for legitimacy, understanding the rules of status games is critical. This idea holds true in the wedding marketplace. However, when legalization of marriage for same-sex couples disrupted the binary wedding script, the rules of the game became less clear to consumers. Couples sometimes found their gendered bodies, roles, and expressions were out of sync with the evolving script of a destabilized wedding field, thus raising legitimacy questions. This situation is defined as hysteresis—meaning delays in the realignment between habitus and the field. Hysteresis results in consumers' disorientation about what forms of capital are valued as well as perceived absences of materials or recognition from the market. This study investigates consumers' attempts to mobilize gendered capital to resolve hysteresis through realignment of habitus and the script. Grounded in a Bourdieuian field-level analysis of depth interviews with 30 same-sex couples and ethnographic observation in the wedding field, four consumption alignment strategies are identified that consumers leverage to address hysteresis: confronting, masking, collaborating, and experimenting. Consumers' variations in gendered capital explain which consumption alignment strategies they use, with different possibilities for updating habitus and expanding the script. Throughout this process, consumers' moral judgments hinder this pursuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can marketers create slogans that consumers like and remember? We answer this question by analyzing how the lexical, semantic, and emotional properties of a slogan's individual words combine to influence slogan liking and slogan memory. Through a large correlational study with over 800 brand slogans, laboratory experiments, a biometric eye-tracking experiment, and a field study, we unearth the word properties that make slogans effective. We predict and find that linguistic properties that make a slogan easier to process (i.e. more fluent) result in slogans that are more likable but less memorable, whereas linguistic properties that reduce processing fluency result in slogans that are less likable but more memorable. Across our multi-method investigation, participants indicated a more favorable attitude toward slogans that are shorter, omit the brand name, and use words that are linguistically frequent, perceptually distinct, and abstract. In contrast, participants were more likely to remember slogans that are longer, include the brand name, and use words that are linguistically infrequent, concrete, and less perceptually distinct. We conclude by offering marketers practical advice into optimal word-choice strategies and delivering actionable guidance for creating slogans that are either likable or memorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, U.S. gun rights lobbying groups, politicians, courts, and market actors have sought to responsibilize U.S. consumers to use firearms to address the societal problem of crime. These efforts center an interpretation of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment as an entitlement for individuals to practice armed self-defense. Using interview and online discussion data, this research investigates consumers' responses to responsibilization for this morally fraught set of behaviors, and the role of consumers' various understandings of the right to bear arms in these responses. Findings show that consumers consider multiple, specific armed protection scenarios and accept responsibilization in only a portion of these scenarios while rejecting it for the remainder. Acceptance is determined by their appraisals of the morality of consumer responsibilization subprocesses. Consumers' understanding of the constitutional right serves as a heuristic in these appraisals, with some understandings leading consumers to accept responsibilization across a much larger proportion of scenarios than others. Contributions include illustrating response to consumer responsibilization as a proportionality; illuminating consumers' active role in appraising responsibilizing efforts; and demonstrating how some consumers come to understand a responsibilized behavior as a moral entitlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media offers brands the ability to gauge consumer reactions to marketing and brand crises. While social media listening has focused on aggregate patterns, consumers differ in how they react to a crisis faced by a particular brand. Analyzing consumer behavior for 39 brands pertaining to 77 brand crises through the lens of consumer posts on brands' Facebook pages, we find that consumers' prior online interactions with the brand and the nature of the brand crisis moderate the language they employ in their posts. Specifically, these factors affect the extent to which consumers express anger and the familiarity of their language. While consumers who have not engaged with the brand previously employ more familiar language and self-referencing following values-related crises compared to consumers who have interacted with the brand, these individuals express more anger after performance-related crises. In contrast, consumers who have previously interacted with the brand express more anger in the wake of values-related crises. We discuss the implications of our findings for brand managers using social media posts as a means of monitoring consumer perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of consumers expect brands to engage in important societal issues. Brands like Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and Gillette have launched ads promoting their stances on highly salient issues in public discourse. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising research has explored issues such as skin cancer, heart disease, and abortion, this research stream has yet to investigate how an issue's salience in society influences consumer response. Because salient (versus nonsalient) issues make information more accessible and generate debate, the advertising context (i.e., public issue salience) may influence consumer response to CSR ads. Applying the salience theory of party competition to CSR advertising, this research shows how an issue's consensus level and individual issue importance differentially impact brand attitudes and purchase intentions when an issue is salient. Through a series of four experiments with real ads, the present investigation shows how and when public issue salience affects marketing outcomes. This research adopts an issue-centric view and contributes to CSR advertising scholarship by (a) opening a new theoretical corridor, (b) demonstrating empirically how the advertising context (public issue salience) influences marketing outcomes, (c) providing a more holistic, comparative advertising perspective on issue selection, and (d) generating new insight into individual issue importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's online environment, children inevitably encounter personalized advertising. However, research suggests that children are not yet able to cope with this advertising type. This study therefore investigates whether literacy training helps children recognize personalized advertising. The 2 (personalized versus nonpersonalized ad) × 2 (literacy training versus no training) between-subjects design experiment (N = 166) suggests that personalized advertising decreased children's (9 to 13 years) brand attitude but increased their purchase intentions. Moreover, training helped children to better recognize personalized ads. Contrary to the expectations, this targeting recognition positively affected brand attitude and purchase intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To promote an academic library makerspace, the University of Mississippi Libraries hosted a "3D selfie" booth which used body scanning technology. This booth, advertised on campus and set up outside the library during the first weeks of class, was designed to attract attention and perform outreach through the use of body scans to be printed in the makerspace at a later date. Although the hoped-for printing of "selfies" did not materialize, the project resulted in data about interested patrons and ideas for similar projects going forward. This paper serves as a case study for other academic library makerspaces interested in similar outreach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging virtual-reality technology, virtual fitting rooms (VFRs) allow online shoppers to virtually try on clothes. Despite its increasing popularity, how VFR technology influences different consumer groups is hitherto unknown. Neglecting such nuances may significantly undermine VFR effectiveness. From a large-scale field experiment with real-world transactional data and five laboratory experiments, the authors document the asymmetric effects of VFR use conditional on consumer body types, characterize the theoretical underpinnings, and identify a systematic set of managerially actionable moderators that can mitigate adverse effects. Specifically, while VFR use enhances product evaluations and purchases among consumers with relatively low body mass index (BMI) levels, it negatively influences responses from high-BMI consumers due to self-image threat induced by avatars that resemble consumers' own bodies. To cope with self-image threat, high-BMI consumers tend to shift the blame to the apparel item, resulting in negative product responses. The authors identify four feasible solutions to alleviate the negative responses among high-BMI users of VFRs, namely, promoting diversified beauty standards, featuring mannequin faces for VFR avatars, providing consumers opportunities to engage in prosocial behavior, and presenting high-status products. These findings offer guidance for retailers to leverage this new technology smartly to enhance both business performance and consumer well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing rise of liquid consumption manifests in the growing popularity of ephemeral, access-based, and dematerialized forms of consumption that contrast with traditional solid forms of consumption characterized by possession and strong object relationships. The literature already presents a robust understanding of what makes liquid and solid consumption appealing to consumers. What has received less attention is the co-existence of liquid and solid consumption in consumers' lived experiences. Furthermore, the literature does not explain how the balance that consumers achieve between liquid and solid consumption fluctuates over time. This study illuminates the co-existence of liquid and solid consumption through a phenomenological inquiry of subscription-based clothing libraries, a context where solid personal possessions frequently mix with liquid accessed items in everyday use. Findings show that changes in consumer desire play a major role in consumer decisions to liquify or solidify consumption, especially over time. Overall, the study provides new theoretical insights into liquid and solid consumption, consumer desire, and burdens of access-based consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many firms are beginning to replace customer service employees with bots, from humanoid service robots to digital chatbots. Using real human–bot interactions in lab and field settings, we study consumers' evaluations of bot-provided service. We find that service evaluations are more negative when the service provider is a bot versus a human—even when the provided service is identical. This effect is explained by consumers' belief that service automation is motivated by firm benefits (i.e. cutting costs) at the expense of customer benefits (such as service quality). The effect is eliminated when firms share the economic surplus derived from automation with consumers through price discounts. The effect is reversed when service bots provide unambiguously superior service to human employees—a scenario that may soon become reality. Consumers' default reactions to service bots are therefore largely negative but can be equal to or better than reactions to human service providers if firms can demonstrate how automation benefits consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authenticity is increasingly seen as a source of competitive advantage in many industries. Accordingly, authenticity work, the organizational efforts to develop and sustain believable authenticity claims, has emerged as an important organizational practice. We examined the interplay of materiality and narratives underpinning producers' authenticity work in the context of incumbent and micro-distilleries operating in the Canadian whisky industry. We found that producers' material endowments, especially central product features, anchored which authenticity claims they could credibly narrate. Other material endowments, such as key people and architectural design, were used to reinforce the integrity of authenticity claims. Our study extends our understanding of authenticity as a valued organizational resource. First, we identify two mechanisms, anchoring and reinforcement, through which materiality both constrains and facilitates organizations' authenticity narratives. Second, our research brings to the fore how audience members' experiential closeness to producers colors their perceptions of authenticity, and we show how material artifacts can enhance such closeness. Third, our findings highlight the competitive value of authenticity by unpacking how producers' material endowments may constitute a resource or a liability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Packaging waste makes up more than 10% of the landfilled waste in the United States. While consumers often want to make environmentally friendly product choices, we find that their perceptions of the environmental friendliness of product packaging may systematically deviate from its objective environmental friendliness. Eight studies (N = 4,103) document the perceived environmental friendliness (PEF) bias whereby consumers judge plastic packaging with additional paper to be more environmentally friendly than identical plastic packaging without the paper. The PEF bias is driven by consumers' "paper = good, plastic = bad" beliefs and by proportional reasoning, wherein packaging with a greater paper-to-plastic proportion is judged as more environmentally friendly. We further show that the PEF bias impacts consumers' willingness to pay and product choice. Importantly, this bias can be mitigated by a "minimal packaging sticker" intervention, which increases the environmental friendliness perceptions of plastic-only packaging, rendering plastic-packaged products to be preferable to their plastic-plus-paper-packaged counterparts. This research contributes to the packaging literature in marketing and to research on sustainability while offering practical implications for managers and public policy officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has highlighted a difference in the way consumers approach choice sets. Some consumers focus on products' quality benefits (vertical differentiation): their selections are driven by the level of quality obtained relative to the price paid. Other consumers focus on products' taste benefits (horizontal differentiation): their selections are driven by acquiring personal tastes at favorable prices. This article aims to investigate how consumers' benefit focus, a continuum anchored by quality and taste, drives their preferences between retailers differing in pricing strategies. All else equal, consumers who focus on taste benefits will prefer EDLP stores (infrequent discounters), while consumers who focus on quality benefits will prefer Hi-Lo stores (frequent discounters). Findings from our experiments and an analysis of consumer panel data corroborate this relationship. This work also shows the mediating role of perceived value and the effect of several moderators: the strength of the price–quality relationship, the pattern of discounts, and cherry-picking costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has documented the emergence of embedded entrepreneurs within consumer collectives. This phenomenon is increasingly prevalent as social media enables ordinary consumers to become social media influencers (SMIs), a distinct form of embedded entrepreneur. Whilst research has considered the implications of embeddedness for embedded entrepreneurs themselves, we lack insight into embedded entrepreneurship's impact on consumer collectives. To address this gap, we draw from a longitudinal, qualitative study of the YouTube beauty community, where SMIs are pervasive. Informed by interactionist role theory, we document the Polanyian "double movement" prompted by the emergence of SMIs within the community. We demonstrate that the economy within the community was initially highly embedded, constrained by behavioral norms linked to established social roles. SMIs' attempts to disembed the economy created dysfunctional role dynamics that reduced the benefits of participation for non-entrepreneurial community members. This prompted a countermovement whereby SMIs and their followers attempted to re-embed SMIs' economic activity via role negotiation strategies. Our analysis sheds new light on the negative implications of embedded entrepreneurship for non-entrepreneurial members of consumer collectives, highlights the role of social media platforms in negotiations of embeddedness, and advances wider conversations surrounding the evolution of consumer collectives and the impact of SMIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African catfish farmers used animal waste as feed to reduce production costs, a practice that raised concerns among consumers, causing them to avoid it. Consequently, this study aimed to explore factors that influenced the acceptance of farmed African catfish. The data survey involving 2294 participants from Egypt was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. The results indicated that 67% of participants abstained from consuming it, while 2.30% consumed it regularly. The chi-square test revealed significant consumption pattern variations (p < 0.05) based on most demographic factors. Entirely, 43% were uninformed about the nutritional value, market availability, and the potential impact of using aquafeeds on pricing. About 55–57% lacked information on feeding practices, had quality concerns, viewed catfish consumption as a health risk, and were unaware of its prices. Additionally, 68% were worried about pollution, and 76% found the available information insufficient. The main reasons for this challenge lie in consumers' health, religious, and psychological concerns. To address this, we propose a targeted marketing strategy focusing on improving safety and quality through safe and cost-effective aquafeeds. This involves requiring farmers to obtain quality certifications and adhere to best management practices, adding value to the product, and transparent communication with consumers to provide them with reliable information about cultivation practices and the nutritional value of African catfish. Effective collaboration among key stakeholders in implementation, efficient sector management, establishing an activity licensing system, and prohibiting current feeding practices will enhance sustainable demand and reverse the declining production trend of this promising species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: People with a learning disability are at increased risk of becoming homeless, but little is known about how learning disability is viewed by people accessing homeless services. This study aimed to obtain the views of people experiencing homelessness about learning disability, in the context of a project that was exploring how to increase identification of learning disability. Methods: A qualitative approach was used, and 19 adults were interviewed who were receiving support from homeless services in the North-East of England. Information from the interviews was analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four themes were identified relating to understanding of learning disability, the role of identification, day-to-day challenges, and experiences of services. Conclusion: There is a need to: promote better understanding of learning disability; for early identification processes that involve the person in a meaningful way; and the provision of support that is non-stigmatising, practical and which addresses health concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]